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'Ephraim in the Philippines' >Mental Meanderings - week two |
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Week 2 -- Medical School: Upperclassmen You know what I found in my apartment complex this Thursday? A human skeleton. He/she died of a massive blow to the apex of the skull. The eye socket is cracked, and there is nothing but fragments left of the top-rear section of his head. What did I do? I bought it. Seriously. One of the upperclassmen in the apartment complex had a partial human skeleton for sale, with all the important parts like the skull, innominate bone (hip bone), and scapula, and other assorted long bones. We have a lab practical on Monday regarding this, and the lab is so full this weekend, that it is tough to get the more difficult stuff. So I bought this one for 1000 pesos ($18). Besides, with Halloween coming up . . . . . Well, I got through my first exam in med school. It was in microanatomy/histology. 30 questions. Multiple choice. You would love this: some of the multiple choice answers would be spelled incorrectly, and you had to choose the correct one. Not as easy as you would think. There was also a lab practical in the same subject. Anyway, they posted the answers to the theory part right after the exam, and I got 4 wrong. 26 right. From what I gathered, the average was around 20 (and this class curves!). 21-23 is passing. Thank GOD! Next came the practical. 5 stations, 5 slides, two questions each, 30 seconds at each station. An inhuman bell signals time to move on. Sometimes you had to name the parenchyma (primary functioning cell of the tissue), or maybe the tissue, or maybe the primary function of the tissue, or maybe the supporting tissue. They grade right when you turn it in. Two professors that have had their humor surgically removed. I gave mine to one, and slash, slash, slash, slash. All the way down my page.I nearly broke down. It turns out that they slash through the correct answers. I found that out when the next person in line turned it in, and, the same thing happens, and he starts playing an air guitar. I actually only got a 95, because I didn't completely answer a question. I put "bone" instead of "Compact bone." Again. Thank God. There are two exams next week. One for gross anatomy, and the other for electrophysiology. They are relatively straight forward. I am studying hard, but not sweating it. The upperclassmen Phil-Ams here have been wonderful. They have shown us the ins and outs of the school, and offered a lot of good advice. More than that, just hearing "American" English in Jersey, New England and California accents is welcomed indeed. In the States, I hated the word "Dude," but here it is just one more touchstone to the world I knew. One of them graduated this summer, and had so much good advice to render. For example, he said, if it is possible, try to do most of your clerkship in the States. Avoid pediatrics at all costs in the Philippines. However, you definitely want to do your ER/Medicine and OB/GYN here. That is because you get exposed to so much more and get quality experience that is actually illegal in the States for someone who isn't an MD. For example, the first 30 minutes he was on in OB, he was the only one present for a regular delivery. In the ER, he was regularly doing sutures and sticks. He got so fast that for major surgeries, like a bowel resection for a stabbing (done in an ER bay because all OR's were full), the resident would leave him to close it up. He can do a stick in the dark without a flashlight (black out's are fairly common in public hospitals). One story really stuck out: one of his olderclassmates was just a mediocre sticker in the Philippines. When he got into a residency in the states, he was "the" man to do the sticks. His suturing was so efficient compared to the other first year residents, that he quickly became teachers' pets throughout the hospital. He was actively recruited to other Residency programs within that hospital. The upperclassmen also mirrored what my dad said about "sampl-ex" (sample exams -- old exams from previous classes). Don't be too proud not to look at them - they are definitely not hard to find - but save it for the last thing to study. Know the material first, and then see how the questions are asked. He also said to start using the US MLE (United States Medical Licensure Examination) as a supplement to the classroom lectures. He has the entire DVD set that he has made available to us. Not only does it show emphasis on what the US MLE considers important, but the explanations are sometimes better than what is provided in the school. I plan to do that with biochemistry. He also warned us that during the group projects, do not expect the maturity from classmates that Americans would think is prerequisite for medical school. Again, most of the local classmates are barely in their 20's, and I can certainly remember that time in my life and empathize. Well, back to work I go. I do not have DSL yet, but I have found a wifi internet cafe just around the corner from my house. It is free, but you have to buy something. No problem, they have a full menu. The only problem is that I can blow a bunch of time there, so I just check my email, look up stuff and download, eat a meal, then leave for my place to study. I still haven't gotten my other box that was shipped, so I can't send you pictures of us in our uniforms. I will, as soon as possible. I will leave you with another funny thought. I was actually asked to try out for the basketball team. Yeah. Me. Not the tallest person here, but I am certainly in the upper 10%. I told them, no, I am too busy. They persisted. Then I told them that I have 30 year old knees. They understood. Damn getting old. What is worse is not. Click here to return to the Mental Meanderings list
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