Home

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Sometimes I am amazed by how much people can complain. They complain because they are not at home and they miss their parents, their family and their bed, they complain because they are at home and they miss some friends, good internet conection and independence. Then I remember that I used to be like that and I am just grateful that I am not anymore. In the past year I've learnt to enjoy the little things of life. My hot coffee in the morning, the sunshine in my face, the laughter of my goddaughter, the smell of an old book, the background noise of both the city and the countryside. In the past year I've learnt to feel at home wherever I am, I've learnt that as long as I keep being who I am and loving the people I love I will always be home. And that if for some reason I cannot feel at home, I just have to wait a little, 'cause all will be well. 

Today I am grateful for being abble to be happy. 

Now relax and go out with friends!

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It's done. Actually, it is ALL done, with better grades than those that I was expecting. So now is time to catch up on Grey's Anatomy, How I Met Your Mother and Parenthood, go out with friends and spend some time with my family. I'm home until the end of the week and it feels amazingly good.  You can't imagine how I missed my bed.

Now Panic and Freak Out! #4

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I've studied as much as I could. I really did. I worked really hard for this. I studied for classes, I ended Pathophysiology for the test that I had a few weeks ago, even though it didn't count. In the last 5 and and half days I studied what was left of Pharmacology and revised everything. But this exam is a monster. So please, I really need a miracle. Please.

The best medicine

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If laughter is the best medicine, why do I have to study pharmacology?

Now Panic and Freak Out! #3

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Here we are. The night before this semester monster. I am tired. But I hope that I'll pass. 

Breakfast notes

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Two more days until the exam. I am tired and I am freaking out. I have been studying as much as I can but, honestly, I am not confident. I am supposed to study 7 lectures of Pharmacology and 8 of Pathophysiology today so I can have time to revise tomorrow and Tuesday morning. It is doable, as long as I keep motivated. I think I am getting a cold, and this isn't helping either. Let's see how it goes.

Breakfast notes

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Sometimes certain people surprise me. I just received a document that resumes ALL the drugs, mechanisms of action, effects in mortality and side effects that I need to know for the exam. It seems amazing. And who sent it? A colleague friend that refused to let us copy the 'end-of-the-chapter-tables' of Katzung. Yeap, that's right. So I'm still a little mad about the tables, but if he was here I would give him a really big hug.

Now Panic and Freak Out! #2

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I couldn't finish everything I was supposed to do today. I guess tomorrow must be another chance.

Now Panic and Freak Out!

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It is done. I'm not sure that I'll pass the four exams, and they sure went really worse than I thought, but I'm confident that I'll pass 3 of them. Next one is on tuesday: Pathophysiology and Pharmacology. Five small days to go. 

Yup, now panic and freak out!

Don't Panic!

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In less than 10 hours I will start a marathon of not two, not three but FOUR exams. Four exams in four hours, not much. 50 multiple choices per exam. 200 questions. Of four different subjects. Epidemiology, Public Health, Mental Health and Aging Diseases. Starting at 8 am. Oh boy... I still have a few things to revise. Well, wish me luck.

I'll need it.

Breakfast notes

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Today's morning coffee is going to be taken at a cafe near my house. Actually, my whole study is going to be made there. *sigh* This means that I had to take a shower and some things that I haven't done in at least five days:

• Comb my hair
• Put my trainers on
• Put real clothes on (I've been wearing my pajamas for a long time... I was afraid of having some kind of alergic reaction when I started to put on my jeans)

Let's see how it goes today...

Breakfast notes

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My cup is empty already. Time to get another one.

Plan for today:

* Study all the lectures of Introduction to Aging Diseases

* Revise all lectures of Introduction to Mental Health

Breakfast notes

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A cup of coffee makes everything better.

Breakfast notes

This was my breakfast today. Yummy! 

Now, time to study.

This is how I felt today

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But it is done.

NEXT!

Study Break

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No-Coffee Friend: I'm gonna watch How I met your mother.
Me: It didn't come out last night.
NCF: Why is it never out on our exam season?
Me: 'Cause they know we have to study and that we lead into temptation!

(...5 minutes or so...)

*Phone rings*
NCF: Hey! I'm watching the video from last year's party and...

Yup, not airing HIMYM is not going to stop us to lead into temptation...

Breakfast notes

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Just one more day until the exam. 

Revision time!

Breakfast notes

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Good morning, sunshine!

I can't tell you how much I love the first coffee of the morning...

And now, it is time to study!

(2 more days until the exam...)

(Continuing with radiology...)

1

At my school, in the first year, you have to choose (/it is given to you the name of a) a 2nd year student to guide you through your course. This means that you an get his/hers advice, notes and sometimes even books. It does work in the first year, but after a while you get tired of asking for stuff   and you tend to get more independent. However, there are some questions you keep asking to the person above you no matter what. One of them is "was this* on the exam?". When you can't seem to talk to the person that helped you in the first year, you ask anyone you know**. But sometimes the answer is just not what you expected...

me: Do you think you can ask your brother if the theory related to how the radiology methods work was on the exam last year?
GS1: Yup, I'll ask him tonight.

(...hours go by...)

GS1: He says it was just theory.
me: just theory? We just had lectures, I just wanted to know if the theory related to how the radiology methods work was on the exam...
GS1: Damn! And now I'm already in bed. I'll ask him tomorrow, is that okay?
me: Yeah, sure.
GS1: oh, yeah, he did say there were some questions about "x-rays and stuff"!


Really?! Really?! A radiology exam with questions about x-rays?! I didn't see that coming...




*- this can be anything, but is usually a specific lecture.
**- and yes, this includes GS1's brother

Breakfast notes

A new day has already started for me. 16 possible hours of study!

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Surprise...

My OSCE was yesterday and it was fine. I did fail to recognize the heart sound, but that was it, so I guess I will still be able to get a good grade... Let's wait and see. 

At the day of the day I was so tired that I couldn't do anything, so I went to bed and slept 10 hours, more or less. So I woke up today and started studying for my next exam, Introduction to Clinic and Radiology. Or so I though. Later on I discovered that there isn't one exam but two on the same day, which means that I have to pass both of them. While I realize that it does make sense (I should acquire some kind of knowledge of imagiology), I just wan't counting on studying that much. I was planning on studying a lot of Introduction to Clinic and just have a look at imagiology. Guess what? Not going to happen... Radiology, here I come!*

* And I do hate it. I do.

OSCE

Next Friday I will have an OSCE about Objective Examination of the Heart, Lungs, Blood Pressure and Pulses and Neurological System, and that's what I've been studying to. I already know the protocols by heart*, I've studied the theory associated with 3 of the 4 stations** and have been listening to the heart and lungs sounds for quite a while, now. I am actually quite good at it, since I associate each sound with something of my almost daily life.*** Here's the problem: I am, indeed, quite good at it, at night. Why is that?, would you ask. Over night I forget all the sounds. All of them. I don't really know why that happens, but it's starting to annoy me. So here's what I'm gonna do: I'm gonna go to bed and keep my ipod on for about one hour, while I try to sleep; tomorrow morning I will listen for those sounds like crazy and I really hope that I can identify them. I really, really hope I can.

This is my study group trying to listen to the heart sounds. We do have a model of a thorax,

 but the sound keeps changing every time people in the other room change the sound on their model.

 So professors decided to have a "back up plan": this little machine with nothing

 more nothing less than 32 heart sounds and 16 lung sounds. Amazing, hum?!

* That was actually quite easy for me as they are quite simple and logical

** Which doesn't necessarily mean that I know it

*** Let's just say that mis-systolic murmur is now associated with the upstairs neighbours, if you know what I mean

Study Time

These days I'm kind of lacking epiphanies...

(And now I'm going to study the protocols for my OSCE)

Can you tell the exam season has started? (I)

No matter how organized you are, you have a lot of used clothes on the floor/bed/chair/radiator*. When you decide that you can't live with that and start to fold it, you discover that you only used kangaroo and polyester sweaters for the last two weeks.



*Yup, this is true. But in my defense, it was only my pajama, and I intended to wear it the night I putted it on the radiator, but then forgot about it.