Unexpected day off

It has been a whirlwind of a month and we are now preparing for a whirlwind of the natural kind. Hurricane Ike has closed the school for tomorrow, throwing schedules into disarray. I haven't had time to comment on classes, but now, in the calm before the storm and lack of electricity, I think I will.

Medical school is fun and hard. End of story. I am learning some really cool things at a blistering pace that makes me wonder how effectively the material is sticking in me and my classmates. The typical day involves me leaving the house at about 6 am, driving to the park and ride, riding a bus downtown, walking two blocks and then taking the train to the medical school. In all it takes about an hour to hour & fifteen minutes each way. I try to use the time wisely by looking over flashcards, listening to podcasts of lectures, etc. but it is a big chunk out of the day.

I am taking five classes: Histology, Developmental Anatomy, Gross Anatomy, Introduction to Clinical Medicine and Biochemistry. They are all very interesting and quite challenging. Histology is the study of bits of flesh that all basically look the same to me under the microscope. Each lecture about each cell type is followed by an exercise in frustration in the lab of looking at various slices of cut up people. Developmental anatomy has been very interesting, especially since I have had kids. It is the day by day play by play of a developing embryo and fetus. Wow, it is a wonder that people turn out OK more often than not. Gross anatomy is the study of all body structure and the dissection of the cadaver. It is pretty unnerving to skin another human and the smell is not the sweetest thing either. I go to lab with Vicks Vaporub smeared all over the inside of my nose. I have almost thrown up twice. I have to eat before lab, but not too soon before, that seems to be the key. Our tank has a dainty lady that we have named "Betty" who was 91 when she passed away of COPD. I think that it is a pretty amazing decision that someone is willing to make. Intro to Clinical Medicine is where we are learning all the doctor skills like taking vitals and doing the various exams. We have standardized patients who we get to practice on every couple of weeks. My first experience with this was great. It is a nice reminder that one day we will actually get to work with people instead of books.

The final class is Biochemistry. We are not friends yet. There is a bunch of cool information, but it is nit-picky and confusing at times. I am working hard to stay ahead of it.

I spend much of my day in the "pit" as we have named group study room #1 in the Learning Resource Center. I have made some terrific friends in the few short weeks and I am stressed but happy.

Family life is changing. My husband does so much, along with my mom and my in-laws. With the kids back at school, it is more like the job routine, but it is really hard to leave for both days of the weekend to go study. But, I need to do well and until I take my first round of tests, I don't know if I am doing the right or wrong things.

I could go into so much more detail, but I think that I will go do bed and enjoy the last night of air conditioning for a while. I just hope Ike goes easy on us. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers.