End of Anatomy Block

Today, we had our anatomy lecture final, concluding the anatomy block of medical school year one!
I thought about this for a while, but I won't be holding and observing the body's internal organs for a long time... maybe never... definitely never for those students not interested in surgery of any type. From now until the third year when clinical rotations begin, we'll be studying from books and lectures, with the occasional patient interview and clinical skills lessons (giving physical exams, taking blood pressure, phlebotomy next year...).

Now that anatomy (and the stress of the exams) is over, I'm beginning to miss it already and am developing an even greater appreciation for this course.

Really and truly, I don't think I would have been able to learn half as much if we had learned anatomy by lectures and anatomy atlases alone. First, how do you truly visualize depth perception? Orientation of all the organs and blood vessels? When I think about anatomy, I actually think about the dissections I've done, where I saw the structures, to what they were connected, and their general orientation. Also, Netter's Atlas may show the typical body, but there is a lot of subtle variation that I think is important to understand.
And then, there is nothing like holding a heart in your hard, looking at it from all angles, and connecting what we see with the functions we've learned through lecture. Now that's real integration.

This week, our class is holding a vigil for our donors and their families. My tank mates are to write a note of some sort to "Gertrude," to be cremated with her, and hopefully we'll also write a letter of gratitude to her surviving loved ones. It must have taken great courage for them to allow the body of a loved one to be used for our learning. Because we've learned a lot from her. Head to sole of the foot, we've dissected and looked into ever space and crevice.

Hopefully what I've learned these past few months will stay with me for a lifetime.

Waimea Canyon - Kauai, Hawaii

snipers vs. gunners

We all know what gunners are (and who the gunners are in any given class).
Urban Dictionary defines them as: "A person who is competitive,overly-ambitious and substantially exceeds minimum requirements. A gunner will compromise his/her peer relationships and/or reputation among peers in order to obtain recognition and praise from his/her superiors."

Not that I have anything against gunners. They are smart, do well in school, and I know that even my father who I respect enormously was a gunner in his student years. So, for all the gunners out there, carry on.

Those I do NOT appreciate, though, are the snipers.
There isn't an entry for snipers, yet, but it's growing in popularity as the word to describe those students who act really cool, nonchalant, and act as if they spend little to no time on their studies outside of the school or classroom.... but no.... at home, they're going at that textbooks and paper stacks like crazy. What is their motive? Do they want to seem like they're smart without even having to try? Are they trying to influence others to "also not study" and actually take on the attitude of aloofness so that the grade curve will be better? Or maybe they just don't want to openly stress out like everyone else? For whatever reason, I just find it a form of dishonesty and deceit.
Of course, in the end, we are all adults becoming professionals, so we should study and do our best regardless of what others do. But, I like medical school because my friends and I are like a team, helping each other, encouraging each other, pushing each other, teaching each other, learning from each other....   That kind of bond can't be formed, I don't think, with or among snipers.

So sniper vs. gunners, I'd take a gunner any day.

Toys in Babeland, New York City