Intership....done

So, I made it. My internship is over. The last few days were not all to special. I brought the station a present on Thursday. It is a picture from Lichtenstein (The Woman with a hairband) and is created using Gummibärchen (Gummy Bears). 

Various doctors and patients said good bye to me and wished me the best. On the last day I still got my report done. I had to listen to a doctor-patient conversation and then write about it. At the end of my day I even got a card from the nurses. I think they liked me and I definitely had my fun there. I learned a lot and am very thankful that I got to watch operations.

Probably the most touching moment was this one: I was rushing around the halls to put stuff away and one of our patients (she is life threatening sick at the moment and was lying on a specialized bed in the hallway (it works with sound)) stopped me. She told me that if I made it through all the studying and became a doctor.....I would be a very good doctor.

I was very touched.

So another part of my journey to becoming a doctor is done. The next time I am in the hospital, it will be more doctors works than that of the nurses. I am going to enjoy my vacation now and my semester starts on the 18th of October again with my communications class for one week before the real semester begins :)

Finally sterile!

Operation start 10:05AM

I call Dr.N to see if I should come to the operation room yet and the operation nurse answers the phone. She informs me that it is about to begin and that if I want to see something I should probably hurry up. So I jog to the dressing rooms basically. I arrive in room 1 and introduce myself. The nurse sticks me in the corner and tells me to wait until the patient is cleaned and then she would tell me where I could stand. At this point I am thinking "crap, she doesn't know that I am supposed to be sterile for this operation and Dr.N is in the room and isn't saying anything". Instantly my mood was down. I had met Dr.N earlier in the day and asked when I should come to the operation and already got the feeling that he wasn't having the best day ever. He seemed a little bugged.

Dr.N continued to clean the patient and then got all sterile himself. My mind keeps thinking "crap, crap, crap, he forgot! Should I say something? No, he seems a little annoyed with life at the moment." Then the assistant Dr. gets paged and Dr.N informs the operation nurse that as soon as he arrives, I should wash up with him! Yay, he didn't forget!

Finally Dr.W arrived and took me to the washing room. He showed me how to wash my hands, act in the operation room and then took me to get my sterile clothes put on. Then I got to stand next to him (with the patient's arm between us) at the table. The position was a bit stupid because I couldn't see all to much at first. It has been the same with every operation, within the first 15 minutes I get a really weird feeling, it is not a problem with blood, blood doesn't bother me, but rather the standing (although its only 15 minutes to begin with), the bright lights and who the heck knows what else. My vision went black on the sides and I just concentrated not to pass out and at the same time not let anyone notice what was going on with me. I concentrated on my breathing and making it look like I was attentively following what they were doing. Once the black was gone my vision was in super over exposure. The operation area was a big bright white area, I looked to the window and instead of seeing the landscape I saw a big white bright area. My eyes didn't focus right, even after opening and closing them. Then I saw the pattern of my iris in my vision field. I am telling you, it was totally crazy. As if someone had totally over exposed my vision. I really concentrated on my breathing and again not letting anyone notice what was going on. Thankfully, after about 10 minutes it was over. Then I became a crazy sensation of thirst and I was sweating like crazy. I really could have killed for about a gallon of water at that moment. That feeling was thankfully over after about 3 minutes. Then came the hunger for about 2 minutes and then, as if nothing had ever happened, it was all over and I was absolutely fine!?! Crazy I tell you! Below is an example of what I kind of was seeing.

Normal Vision

Then this

Then this! But almost even more intense!

I got to hold a few clamps, cut some string from the stitches made and had to name a few structures. Like I said, Dr.N wasn't having his best day but thankfully Dr.W explained a lot and we had our fun. He started speaking pigeon English for fun and I answered in English to see what he would say. We spent the next 15 minutes speaking English with one another and German with the others....it was pretty funny. I was situated on his side of the table, so that I could assist him in what he was doing and otherwise hold clamps and hooks for both of them. It was a fun (minus the weird senstations at the beginning) and interesting operation and it was nice to be there sterile and be able to help a bit.

After 4.5 hours we were done and I headed back to my stuff to get changed and then catch Grandma for a ride home.

I have three days left and then it is off to Gö again! I still have to fit in a 2-4 hour shadowing of a doctor for my psychology class. I will have to discuss it with the nurses tomorrow. I will have to write the report on my way back to Gö/ in Gö before my vacation because the teacher wants it 3 weeks in advance of our 1-week class and I won't have the opportunity to send it to him within the month of September so I really need to get on it.

I made about 40 cupcakes with my best friend for the nurses and doctors yesterday and brought them to work today. I won't have time in the next 3 days to do so, so I took them with me today.

3 more days!

V

Operation Update!

To date I have been to a total knee replacement (both legs) and Skin-resurfacing (if you want to call it that). The surgeons of the knee operation were pretty funny. It was so much different than a OBGYN operation. Here they were hammering, sawing, drilling....so cool! The male nurse explained a lot for me which was really nice of him. The main surgeon didn't really know who I was because he came in after I had introduced myself to everyone. I didn't really want to shout into the middle of the operation and be like "Um, Hi, would you like to explain stuff.....!?".

The skin resurfacing operation was 4 hours long and the beginning was super interesting because the patient had skin missing from their last operation and the muscles were basically free! The bulk of the operation was spent transplanting their own skin and sewing up. I was pretty dead after standing for so long.

I talked to the surgeon afterward and he invited me to watch some of his other operations on Tuesday (tomorrow!). I called the next day to ask if I could scrub in and he said yes!!! Let's see what I actually end up getting to do. I will post (this time a bit quicker hopefully).

V

The quietness in the halls is nice, the crazy patients...amusing

Well the first night was good. The patients got more and more disoriented as the night went on. It was a bit of a hassle, but otherwise it was fine. I kind of liked the quietness. I could do my job without having a ton of extra people running around. I even got to do a little bit more than I get to during the day. I wasn't even that tired the whole night, as long as I didn't sit down and have nothing to do. Officially, we are done at 6:20 but I didn't leave the hospital until 7. At that point I was wide awake again and ate breakfast before I laid down to sleep. I slept until 2PM and the day has been so short. Now I am going to lay down for 45 minutes before heading back to the hospital for the second night. I am more tired today than I was yesterday. But I also haven't drank coffee yet.

Yesterday was crap!

Yesterday was the worst day at work so far. It was just no fun and I just wanted it to be over. I had the late shift, I was supposed to work the early shift but was asked to switch because we have so many students and interns at the moment (6!). The newest intern had the in between shift from 8 until 3:40PM. She followed every step I took and asked a million questions. I mean, okay, I was a new intern once but I was certainly not that annoying. I was afraid to go to the bathroom because I thought she might follow me!

When she was finally gone I thought I would have my peace and get my job done. Well, then almost all the patients decided to be super annoying, having to use the bathroom every 10 minutes and just being complicated. Usually all the nurses are nice and maybe yesterday was just not their day (it didn't really seem to be my best day either) but they were both not that friendly. When it came time to get the patients ready for bed, the one nurse would tell me to get the patients in room 08 ready and if I just so happened to be in the hallway because I had to go get something, the other nurse would tell me to take care of the patients in room 20. When I told her that I was in room 08 she reacted as though I had chosen to be in room 08 and would rather be there than listen to her and go into room 20. What was I supposed to do?! Either I could split myself or leave the patient in room 08 half naked so that I can take care of the ones in room 20 and then get a bratty reaction from the nurse that told me to go to room 08! Seriously! And to think that there were 5 "extras" (nurse students and interns) in the early shift.....one of them could have done late shift with us. Usually the late shift doesn't need that many people but the patients are all very needy at the moment.

I guess a day like that had to come though. It had been so good until now that it couldn't possibly continue. 

Tonight I work the night shift (8:35Pm until 6:20AM). I am a bit nervous as to how it will be. I would have liked to do the night shift last week when the patients were all so uncomplicated. Now I think I will be running from one patient to the next all having to pee or something. We shall see. Tomorrow I work the night shift again. I haven't had coffee yet today because I am saving it for tonight. If I don't sleep all day tomorrow I will post how it was.

12 days through, finally a free weekend!

After a nice weekend in Göttingen with my best friend, it was off to work again today. We were SO many people. Three nurses, 2 nurse students and 3 interns! Then we had about 5 physical therapist students running around and the doctors. I think we had more workers there than patients!

There wasn't anything interesting that happened though. I took care of the new intern; ate breakfast with her, showed her the department and a bit of the hospital.

I work the late shift tomorrow and then I work two nights in a row. But then I have a long weekend free (although Thursday and Friday will be spent sleeping because I work from Wednesday night to Thursday morning and Thursday night until Friday morning.

Blood, lots and lots of blood!

The weekend was rather chill.

Yesterday we got two new people in our department. A nurse student and another intern (not a med student intern though). Since we were so many, I jumped on the opportunities to do stuff. At the end of my shift I went down to the birthing department to see if I could come work there for a week. They were super unfriendly....from the doctor to the nurses....and they didn't really seem to want me to come. I decided that I wouldn't fight to work there because if I am going to work there, I want someone to care and explain things to me like they do now on 3C.

Today I got to watch an operation again. It was the removal of breast cancer and lymphatic nodes. I only had a brötchen for breakfast and didn't drink a lot of water but I was called into the OR so quickly that I didn't have time. I had to leave for a second to drink about half a liter of water and than it was okay. The doctor was very nice and explained a lot. I thanked her at the end and said that I hoped to be there in one of her next operations and she said that would be no problem.

I am so happy that I am in this department!

How may I help, Dr.A?

Finished my 5th of 12 days in a row of work. Nothing big to report. I have continued to hang around Dr.A. I got to help him with a few more examinations. Other than that, I wanted to see what my shifts were on floor 1A but they didn't even know that I was coming! I don't know why the people who organize where people work didn't get it to work that I am on 3C for 3 weeks and 1A for three weeks! Seriously, is it that hard?

Well, since the situation on 3C is really good (they often let me leave early) and I have contact to some of the doctors and am allowed to watch operations, I will most likely stay on 3C. The nurses and Dr.A. said that they would get me on 1A for a day or so and more often into the operation room and into the baby department (hopefully to see a live birth!). I work until next Friday, everyday early shift! That means getting up at 5 every morning. Oh well, at least I like it there :)

V

Taking blood, C-sections and more

WOW, sorry I haven't posted.

Okay, so last week I worked the morning shift (6AM-1:50PM). I will condense the interesting stuff.

Monday: First day, after a lot of confusion I ended up on the OBGYN and accident surgery.

Tuesday: I met some more nice nurses.

Wednesday: I met Dr. A. The male doctors have to have a female worker with them when they do their last check up before the patient goes home. I got to go with him and watched the check up and doctor-patient conversation.

Thursday: Dr. A. showed another intern and me how to take blood which ended with him helping us take each others blood!! So cool!

Friday: I got to go into the operation room for the first time and watch three operations. The first was tissue removal of the cervix. The second was a uterus removal. The third was a c-section! The first (after my own) birth that I got to see.

Friday after work I flew down to Stuttgart to visit relatives. It was a very, very nice weekend. I flew back Sunday night.

This week I work in the afternoon (1:10PM-9PM). In this shift there is a lot less to do. I got to watch Dr. A. do an ultrasound and he explained what he was doing and looking at. At the end I met another doctor, Dr. B. (the letters are the first letter of their last name, not randomly A, B, C,...). She delivers babies, so I will be seeing more of her when I switch to the newborn department.

This time around is so much better than last year. The nurses are a lot nicer (to be fair, there were a few really nice nurses in neurology), the patients are a lot less complicated and the doctors are teaching me more. I enjoy going to work. The rest of the week will kind of drag because there is much less to do, but today I had the new German Vogue to keep me occupied :)

1st Day

A little info before I report, to help understand what I am about to write.

1A Newborn department

3A General surgery

3C Ob/Gyn

SOOOOOOOO, there was a lot of confusion this morning when I got to the hospital. In the papers that I signed it said that I was going to be on 3A for three weeks and 1A for three weeks. However, I was then told I was supposed to be on the 3C for the whole 6 weeks! Supposedly some lady said she had talked to me about it...negative ghost-rider. After all the confusion we finally came to the conclusion that I am on 3C first and then 1A. Its all good. What I am super excited about is that ALL the nurses are nice and the patients can take care of themselves to the most part. Its pretty chill. There is another intern that is still in school and wants to go to med school. She asked me a bunch of questions and we ran around the hospital together. So far nothing all to excited. I'll keep ya posted :)

V

Just FYI

Tomorrow I start my 6 week internship in the hospital. Three weeks surgery and three weeks new born department. I will post if I experience anything worth telling ;-)

SUMMER TIME!!!!!

It's true.....I finally am on break! Today was my first study free day in over 14 weeks! But what happened yesterday you ask?

I rode my bike home from my aunt's and uncle's place. It was a nice way to free the mind a bit before the exam. I went to the hospital to take care of my elective class, choose my new one for next semester and return library books. At home I tried not to think about all too much. I honestly must say though that I was not nervous. The day before I was not in the mood to study but none the less sat at my desk for 5 hours and studied. 

Everyone was pretty nervous before the exam. I on the other hand was rather chill-laxed. I just hoped that the time factor wouldn't be a problem. Once we finally got to start and I started to answer one question after another, I knew it was good. Shockingly, I had about 20 minutes of the 45 minutes left over to check all my 30 answers again and again and make sure that my answer sheet was filled in correctly. Three minutes before the end I just sat in my chair and smiled waiting for the professor to announce the begin of our summer break. Once it was over I just turned to my friend next to me and said, "cool, cool exam, I thought that was really nice of the Profs". She did not share my enthusiasm. She thought it was pretty hard and so did most of the others. Except of course for the one smart guy at my table.  I was glad to have found someone who didn't find it that difficult either. We went to the anatomy building to see if they posted the answers yet but they hadn't and wouldn't until 2PM. It was 1:30 and so we decided to go eat something first. When we were back at the anatomy building we all ran and crowded to see the answers. I just started counting the questions that I answered right. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven,......opps, one wrong, fourteen, fifteen,....twenty-nine!!!!!!! I only got one wrong! I mean, that isn't the official score but I remembered what I answered and so I am pretty sure that is what I got. The actual results won't be posted until Monday. 

After having seen my score, I went into town and hung out at my aunt's for a while. When I was finally home I chatted with my family. At first I wasn't in the mood to go out and party but I felt I needed to push myself. First thing on the list was grilling in front of the hospital. I ended up staying until 10:30 or so and made my way to Sausolitos with a couple of people. We were only there for about an hour and then went on to the Blue Note Club where we danced until 4 in the morning. After having showered and gotten ready for bed, it was just about 5 in the morning. I woke up just before 8 and then actually had to get up because I had so much to get done in town before the various doctor's offices and stores closed.

This was the most difficult semester of my life but it was almost the most insightful, rewarding and fun semester of my life. I am sad that the cadavers part is over but am happy that I can now relax and be artsy again and hang with my friends outside of studying. (A few of us went to the pool today. I don'T remember the last time I was at a pool! It was SO much fun). Tomorrow we are going to drive to a near by sea. 

  
I love Summer!

4 Points

Yuppers, I got 4 points.

My first questions (What is this hole and what goes through it) where fine and I could answer them without difficulty. The other two girls I was with had a much harder time getting anything said. My second part was describing the mouth and its boundaries. I talked for a while and then got to the roof of the mouth. He started asking me what neurons took care of it and what arteries and veins could be found in that area (one of the most complicated areas to learn, I think) but I answered all of his questions. Then I got to the tonsil and he asked me where a disease could spread to if it where to break through the wall. That part I could answer. Then he asked me what the lower boundary would be....I thought about it, in my head I was thinking there isn't one but before I could say that he said "Well if I am asking like that, there probably isn't one". Well great, then don't ask. Anyways, I was still doing a whole lot better than the other two. My last area was the brain and more specifically the Hippocampus. I had to describe where it was at, what could be found around it and function. Then there was a tiny little bump of brain and he wanted to know what it was.

Quick inter-story: In one of the first weeks of the neurology section of our cadavers class, our manual said to show the "calcar avis". I asked my table Professor and my TA where I could find it. Neither of them knew what it was let alone show me where I would be able to find it. I had looked it up in my anatomy atlas at home but since neither of them seemed to find the calcar avis very important, I left it at that.

Back to my examining Professor asking what "that" is. I told him it had to be the calcar avis. I was right! I was beaming on the inside that I had looked it up that one day. But that wasn't enough for him. He wanted to know what neurons run through it!!!!! I had absoleutly no idea. I hadn't heard the term calcar avis in refrence to anything I had read or heard. First I told him "kommisuren Bahnen" which wasn't totally wrong since he said there were a few and then I told him that I didn't know. He said it was part of the optical track. Well great. 

So I left the room with 4 points. That was my initial goal so I was happy that I got them but couldn't stop playing with the missed possibility of 5 points. But after talking to a few people I noticed once more how much luck is in this examining process. From the examiner to the questions asked. One of my friends said that she thought she might get 2 points and left the room with 5 (she had my table Professor who generally was quite generous). I asked a guy from my table (known as "the Brain", I do have to say that he started learning earlier and is really motivated and talented but he works for it so people shouldn't mean it in a bad way) if he could tell me anything to "calcar avis" and he told me that he wouldn't even know where to start with that because he had no idea what it was. So you see, there is a lot of luck in what you get. 

I haven't had a study free day in over 14 weeks. I will start reviewing in about an hour after a little break and all day tomorrow except for the Germany vs Spain game. I have really worked hard and studied so much that in the end it is a big portion of luck as to what questions will be asked and I have to live with that. At least I can't blame myself for not having studied.

And with that I leave you until my next message. Probably tomorrow or latest Thursday :)

V

T minus 70 minutes

Lab coat is ironed and washed, a lot has been studied and now all I can do is wait until my oral exam. I don't have to wait long though, in less than an hour I have to be in the anatomy building and at 2PM is my exam. At this point it is a bit of luck as to how well I will do. If the Professor asks me some really specific brain connection I'm most likely screwed for that point. However, if he sticks to the anatomy that can be seen on the table I should be fine. My brain is still in off mode a bit and I keep having to turn it back on and it won't have any other choice than to work after the exam because I will have today and tomorrow to review what I have learned in the last 14 weeks. Hokey dokey, I am going to brush my teeth and soon I will be on my way over. Considering that most of you are probably still sleeping, I will most likely have posted my results before you have a chance to read this post :)

V

Juhu Germany

Why hello!

First off, YAY GERMANY for beating Argentina 4-0!

Okay, so its Sunday, my oral exam is Tuesday, I should totally be studying non-stop right? Wrong, ... well partly. I studied all morning yesterday and then watched the game and grilled at my Aunt's and Uncle's house. Today I have been way more productive but I really have to force myself to sit down and study. I'm a bit burned out from the semester although its not over yet. After my oral exam I really have to but the petal to the metal because I will have 1.5 days to review everything from the last 14 weeks. Thursday morning I will do absoleutly nothing in order to be fit for the final exam that starts at 12.

I might complain a lot about how hard and exhausting this semester is, none the less I don't want the fact to go under that I love studying medicine and that anatomy is still my favorite class. The problem is the extreme time pressure. My TA had a good point though the other day. I was talking about how stupid I thought it was to have neuroanatomy in 4 weeks. She said that we could have started in the semester breaks (as one of my fellow students did and is not half as stressed). I basically didn't have a semester break because I was constantly studying for the exam on the first day of classes which concentrated largely on bones. I would totally advise the students that are in the first semester now to defineatly get a heads start in their break so that it is not as stressful with in the semester. Also, they have a LOT more time to do so (kinda unfair, but that's life). They have a 3 month break to get ready for the class....I had about a month. Also, they will have their Christmas break with in their class which gives them even more time and a break (we had two days "off")...ugh! Oh well, I will have made it in 4 days time.

Of course I will inform you all how my oral exam went as soon as it is over with :)

V

Oh the fun I have.

Well I can say that my last oral exam is on Tuesday at 2PM with the non-neurology Professor! Non the less I still have a lot to get done till then. My final exam is Thursday at 12pm. I am so ready for a break!

JUHU GERMANY!!!!!! 4-1 against England. I will say that I think it's too bad that Endland didn't get that deserved goal, but in the end it didn't make the difference. So congratulations Germany, I am excited for whats coming!

For the time being, in English

HELLO PEOPLE!

So, I changed my mind for the time being. No more bilingual for a while. I've decided that it keeps me from posting because the most time is spent translating it and I feel bad that people who actually take the time to follow my blog aren't getting posts (Sorry!). Since it was more of a luxury anyways, it can be taken away for a while until I have more time again (haha, yea right, like that will ever happen).

I just got home from a day in the library. I hadn't really studied there the whole semester because I needed my skeleton at home and my personal library of books and I didn't want to lug them back and forth all the time. A few days ago I had my elective class which takes place in the hospital so I left a bit earlier and studied in the library again, it was so nice that I decided to power it through until this semester is over and spend more time there.

Let me catch up on what has gone on in the last 8 weeks or so. My weeks are about the same every time. I wake up, go to lecture, go home and study until lunch, eat lunch with friends, cadavers class for 2.5 hours, eat dinner and study until I can't anymore, sleep. The funny thing before my second oral exam was that a few days before the exam I was weirdly relaxed. I had studied so much that I felt I could answer anything. Some of my friends had this weird relaxation feeling as well. The weekend before the exam we even took an ice cream break and enjoyed the weather a bit. The exam itself was great. The professor asked fair questions and I walked out of there with the 5 points that I wanted.

The next day in cadavers class, we knew that there was absolutely no time to relax anymore and that the next 4 weeks would be H-E- double hockey sticks. I think it is absurd to expect people to learn the complete Anatomy of the head, neck, skull and neuroanatomy! I am afraid that a lot of the information will just slip right into my short term memory. For the past exams I studied the material until I understood it so that it wouldn't just be memorized. I am trying really hard to do that now but feel that the time is just not enough. I don't understand what the university is thinking while expecting us to do so. Don't they want us to really understand what we are learning, don't they want us to stand in the operation room later on and actually know what we are cutting into, don't they want us to be great doctors? Especially with something like anatomy which is the basics of being a doctor!?!? Well, I can't change it now and will just have to get as much done as possible. I won't lie though, my life is stressful. My best friend is studying law and her life isn't all sunshine and butterflies either. We skyped about a week ago and just bawled our eyes out to one another. There are people who are on the outside and don't understand what we are up against and go and say stupid stuff which just upsets us.  I sent her chocolate the next day and I received some 2 days later. That is what best friends are for.

Even with all the stress, I have had some moments of fun. For instance, there is a thing called Teddy-bear hospital. The concept is from some scandenavian country and its goal is to rid children of their fear of doctors and hospitals. Med students are the doctors and kids come from the local kindergartens to the hospital with their stuffed animals. Our set up had 10 check up stations equipped with just about everything you would find in a regular check up room. We would take one of the children from the waiting area and then check out their animals. I had many come to me with broken limbs, belly aches, coughing, etc. I even had a complete body break, all the bones were broken and according to the kid, so was the stomach! Oh, and both ears, as if they didn't belong to the body :)  One child came to me and I asked what was wrong with the teddy-bear, the answer.....coughing and cancer! I told the child that we would first take a good look at everything before to quickly saying it had cancer. After checking everything and asking the kid about the teddy's habits, I found out that the teddy ate a lot of chips and watched TV all day. I told the child that the bear didn't have cancer but felt so sick because it wasn't living a very healthy life and that it should exercise more and eat a lot of fruits and veggies. We also had an x-ray area with pre-taken x-rays of teddy-bears with coins or screws in the stomach. There was also an operation room where the med students wore operation gear and had all the utensils. Additionally, there was a dentist area and pharmacy. It was so much fun and a nice break from the studying.

For those who might not be the biggest soccer fans, I am sure you know the World Cup is taking place in South Africa at the moment. I have only watched three games so far and those of course being the German games. I can't allow myself to take anymore time off for more games considering they all take at least 2 hours. So far I have always been to public viewings which are a lot of fun. Now Germany is into the next round and their next game is Sunday.

My whole family is in Germany at the moment. I spent some time with my Dad, Max (younger brother) and Karoline (younger sister) when they were the first to arrive in Gö. My mom went directly to her parent's place so I have't seen her yet. Fran (older sister) arrived on Tuesday and I hung out with her for a while and watched the game on Wednesday. This Monday I am off to Stade for my grandma's 80th birthday. It is a bit stressful for me to travel there and back in one day but I got a good seat on the train so I will be able to study while on my way. I am a bit sad that I don't have more time for them but I can't make my grandma change her birthday!

I got my confirmation for my internship this summer yesterday. I will be on the general surgery department for 3 weeks and then on the new born floor for the last 3 weeks. It should be so much more interesting than my last internship since I will have a knowledge of all the anatomy!

Alrighty, my last oral exam is on the 6th of July and my final written exam on the 8th. Until then I will be living in the library again :)

I leave you know with an interesting fact I read today: The cerebellum (little brain) has more neurons than the cerebrum (big brain)!!! It is super important for motor movements. 

V

My Study partner for the next 4 weeks

Whooo-hooooo 5 Punkte!

Hey Y'all,


Sorry that I haven't posted. I am super duper busy but wanted to check in real quick and let you know that I had my second spoken exam yesterday and got......da-da-da-da 5 POINTS! Now I have to hit the books even harder than before to get through Neuroanatomy in 4 weeks and review all that stuff I learned in the past 10 weeks. Soccer may be over tomorrow if the boys don't win but I hope they do. Other than that, partying last night was so much fun! 

Hallöchen!

Tut mir echt leid dass meine Posts so wenig sind in letzer Zeit. Ich habe im Moment so viel zu tun. Wollte aber mit teilen dass ich gestern mein zweites Testat hatte und 5 PUNKTE geholt habe! Jetzt muss ich aber noch viel mehr lernen da ich Neuroanatomie in 4 Wochen lernen muss und alles von den letzten 10 Wochen. Fußball mit den Jungs könnte morgen vorbei sein sollten sie nicht gewinnen, was ich natürlich nicht hoffe. Sonst war feiern gestern genial, ich hatte echt total viel spaß. Und wer feiern kann muss auch arbeiten können und deshalb begebe ich mich jetzt zu meinem Trepel (Neuro Lehrbuch).

Nächtens!

Interesting Fact of the Day

I am smack dab in the middle of another learning marathon but read something interesting I wanted to share. Currently I am reading about the digestive system and it says here that the epithelial of the small intestine is renewed ever 24-72 hours! Or how about the fact that each Lung has about the area of a soccer field!




Ich bin mitten in einer Lehrphase wieder aber hätte hier zwei interessante Fakten für euch. Bin grad dabei übers Verdauungssystem zu lesen und hier steht dass das Dünndarmepithel sich jede 24-72 Stunden vollständig erneuert! Ach ganz interessant: Jede Lunge hat die Oberflächengröße von je einem Fußballfeld!


V

Meet my boyfriend....his name is Anatomy

I am truly sorry that it has taken so long for me to post something. I know, I know, almost a month. The thing is, I have no social life or free time for that matter. Yesterday was our first spoken exam for Anatomy. This meant spending the last two weeks doing nothing but sitting in front of the skeleton, book and photo atlas of the human body. There were some personal issues that didn't make life a whole lot easier (don't worry, I wasn't the main person in the stories, mostly my best friends were effected, ergo I got to deal with it) but I managed. To spare you all the long details of what I learned (since like I said, I have to social life to talk about) I will let you know my score....5 Points!!!!! That is the maximum we could achieve! It was fantastic. I was questioned with two other girls and I rocked all of my questions and answered all of the questions the others couldn't answer. I felt like a rock star when I came out of the room. That feeling didn't last long though. Michele wasn't questioned until 4:30 PM! Which meant jitters that I tried to calm. To make it all worse, there was a 1.5 hour delay until she actually got to go in. I waited with her in the Anatomy building until it was her turn which took time away from cleaning the apartment. (I finally cleaned my room after my exam for the first time in a LONG time) When she was finally done (and having also received 5 points) we each went home to eat/clean/get ready to go out. I meet up with some guys at Mickey D's and walked with them to Alpenmax (known for not being the best club but drinks where only 49 cents until midnight). It wasn't that bad though, that is once it started to fill up. Again a few personal issues dampened my party mood, but when the right song came on, I was dancing. I went home at 2, took a shower and hit the hay so that I could attend the lecture this morning. I probably won't post again for a while considering my next exam is in 4 weeks, my 3rd in 8 weeks and my final exam two days later....that includes all the Organs and Neurology.....yup, good bye social life.

Also Leute, tut mir Leid dass ich jetzt erst mal wieder schreibe. Es ist mir völlig klar dass es fast ein Monat ist seit dem ich geschrieben habe. Die Ursache ist dass ich kein Privatleben oder Freizeit mehr habe ich diesem Semester. Gestern hatten wir unser erstes Testat in Anatomie. Das bedeutet dass ich die letzten zwei Wochen nur noch vorm Skelett, Buch und Atlas saß. Da waren ein paar persönlich Probleme die die ganze Sache erschwert haben (keine Panik auf der Titanic, ich war nicht der hab Spieler in den Problemen, es betraf mehr meine beste Freundinnen und ich musste mich halt drum kümmern) aber ich hab's geschafft. Ich möchte euch jetzt nicht mit dem was ich lernen musste langweilen (und interessante Ereignisse in meinem Privatleben gab es ja nicht) und werde euch meine Note mitteilen…..5 Punkte!!! Das ist das Maximale dass wir erreichen konnten. Es war genial. Ich wurde geprüft mit zwei weitere Mädels und ich habe nicht nur alle meine Fragen beantworten können sondern auch noch die, die die anderen Mädels nicht beantworten konnten. Ich fühlte mich wie ein Rockstar als ich aus den Präpsaal kam, Dieses Gefühl hielt leider nicht lange. Michele wurde nämlich erst um halb fünf geprüft und dass bedeutete Aufregung von ihrer Seite und ich habe versucht die Nerven zu beruhigen. Um die ganze Sache ein bissl schlimmer zu machen gab es noch eine 1.5 ständige Verspätung. Ich habe mit ihr im Anatomiegebäude gewartet bis sie dran kam. Das hat mich vom putzen zuhause abgehalten. Zum Glück hatte ich schon nach meiner Prüfung mein Zimmer mal gründlich sauber gemacht. Als sie dann endlich fertig war (und auch 5 Punkte bekommen hatte) gingen wir beide nach Hause, haben was gegessen/aufgeräumt/ fertig gemacht. Ich habe mich mit einigen Jungs beim McDonalds getroffen und wir sind zusammen zum Alpenmax gelatscht. Alpenmax ist nicht grade bekannt dafür ein guter Club zu sein aber Montags ist halt 49 Cent Party und da sind alle Getränke bis 00 Uhr nur 49 Cent. Es war aber eigentlich ganz nett als es anfing sich zu füllen. Wiedermal haben persönliche Probleme meine Stimmung runtergebracht aber wenn das richtige Lied spielt war ich auch am tanzen. Um 2 ging ich nach Hause, duschte und schlief damit ich heute morgen fit war für die Vorlesung. Ich werde bestimmt nicht all zu bald wieder schreiben können da mein zweites Testat in 4 Wochen statt findet, mein drittes in 8 Wochen und meine Abschlussklausur zwei Tage später….das beinhaltet Situs und Neurologie…..Jop, Tschüß Sozial life.

I love my life...once again

Alright people, I am almost done with the second week of my second semester and I can tell you that I love it. The cadavers class is amazing even though we are 20 people with one cadaver (10 at a time, 10 right and the other 10 left) which is a downer but other than that....grrrrreat. I really wanted the hand as my region but the Prof said that we weren't doing that region yet so I fought for the unterarm and got it. The next time he said I could start working on the hand. So basically I have two body regions while others are standing with two people on one region. Since I switched to the afternoon class, Michelle and I have been studying after our lectures and then meeting up with friends for lunch.

Our boys started a soccer team for the University League. The team name is "Juventus Urin"which is a word play on the actual existing team "Juventus Turin". Since urine is in the name, they got a urologist to be a sponsor. Funny enough, he now wants the boys to put his website on the uniforms www.hoden.de which translated means www.testicles.de. Joke aside, Michelle and I started a Fan club and found a printer to print fan shirts. The boys had their first game last night and won 5-1. Sadly it was a bit rainy. After the game we went to the near by bar for a victory drink and then some of us ordered pizza and watched a movie.  Check out the boy's website to see some pictures that I took at the game.

http://www.juventus.urin2010.de.vu/

That's all I really wanted to say.

Also Leute, ich bin fast mit der zweiten Woche von meinem Semester fertig und ich liebe es einfach. Der Präpkurs ist super. Auch wenn 20 Leute an einer Leiche stehen (also 10 auf ein mal, 10 rechts und 10 links) da es ein bissl eng werden kann. I wollte unbedingt die Hand haben aber der Prof hat gemeint wir sollten mit der Hand warten und dann habe ich am Unterarm präperiert. Am nächsten Kurstag hat er dann gemeint ich könnte nun mit der Hand anfangen. Ich habe also 2 Gebiete während andere mit zwei Leuten an einem Teil stehen. Ich sag aber nichts bis einer was sagt. Morgen muss ich außerhalb der Kurstage präpen da ich sonst nicht alles fertig bekomme. Da ich ja in dem nachmittags Kurs bin lerne ich mit Michelle nach de Vorlesungen und vorm Mittagessen.

Unsere Jungs haben eine Mannschaft für die Uni-Liga gegründet. Die heißt Juventus Urin…das ein Wortspiel ist da es die Mannschaft Juventus Turin gibt. Da "Urin" im Namen steht haben die Jungs einen Urologen als Sponsor aufgetrieben. Der fordert nun dass sie seine Website auf den Trikos schreiben, www.hoden.de. Spaß beiseite, Michelle und ich haben einen Fanclub angefangen und haben einen Drucker organisiert um uns Fan T-Shirt drucken zu lassen. Die Jungs hatten ihr erstes Spiel gestern und haben 5-1 gewonnen. Leider war es ein bissl regnerisch. Nach dem Spiel sind einige von uns in den Dorfkrug gegangen für ein Siegesdrink und danach haben wir Pizza bestellt und ein Film geguckt. Guckt euch die Website von den Jungs an und da könnt ihr Bilder vom Spiel anglupschen die ich geschossen habe.

http://www.juventus.urin2010.de.vu/

Das war es auch schon :)

Great start to a new Semester!

I'm back! My break was filled full with learning for my Anatomy Exam but it was nice. I even got a little surprise vacation in to Gulf Shores to see my family. The day after I got back was the Exam. There were 15 questions and contrary to rumors going around that we would have 45 min to complete it, we only had 25. The kind of threw me but that is the same kind of time we have for our first Doctor Exam. I really wanted 10 points but "only" got 9. At this point we are just collecting points. We need 36 pts to pass the class and we still have 3 Oral exams each worth 5pts and the end exam worth 30pts. So 9 is not a bad start.

The last two day were super weather and since we only had the one or other lecture in the morning, the rest of the day was spent soaking up the sun with friends. The girls and I went to the gym but ran outside instead and then watched the boys play soccer for 2 hours. Yesterday we went shopping a bit and helped Michelle paint her summer furniture for her balcony. Today the weather isn't that great but that doesn't bother me because.....today my cadavers class starts!!!

I was originally in group A which had class in the morning and I really liked that. However, there were scheduling difficulties for a lot of people who had a class at the afternoon time and had to switch into my group. I volunteered to switch because my girls are in the afternoon class and its nicer to have the same schedule. Its not like I have a job that I have to be at, I am here to study, so what does it matter when that is?!

In about an hour I am meeting the girls for lunch before heading over to the Anatomy building to start the class I have been waiting for ever since I can remember wanting to study medicine. Its kind of monumental for me. It just has always been something I've wanted to do.
Oh, I also have a new roommate, Manuel. He is fantastic. We get along great and hang out a lot. Michelle and Melly already say we are like an old married couple; live together, do stuff together but sleep in separate bedrooms :-) Yesterday he had his meeting for his elective class (I didn't want one in this semester because I wanted to focus on Anatomy) but he didn't want to go alone so I tagged along. We could not find the room we had to be in and just kept running in circles basically. Eventually the Doctor came out of his office and saw our confused faces and asked if we were looking for him. The meeting was really interesting and I decided to take up the elective class as well. Its once a week and the title is " Basics of experimental bone regeneration". The group only contains 6 students so it will be pretty personal and intense but I am excited. Dr. Rolf seems to have a passion for it and wants to teach us what he knows.

As a guide line to my semester; I have Anatomy lectures of various types every morning of the week, Cadavers 3x for 2.5 hours a week, every few weeks an "Introduction to clinical medicine" and every few Fridays we go to the hospital to have patients from the neurological department presented to us. Finally its starting to become medical. I am very excited for this semester to get under way, and in a few hours it will!

Ich bin wieder da! Meine Ferien waren schön aber ich musste auch sehr viel lernen. Ich bin sogar noch für eine Woche nach Golf Shores Alabama geflogen und habe meine Familie überrascht. Am Tag nachdem ich angekommen bin hatten wir unsere Eingangsklausur für den Präp Kurs. Es waren 15 Fragen und im Gegensatz zu manchen Gerüchten dass wir 45 Minuten haben sollten, hatten wir nur 25. Das hat mich ein bissl geschmissen aber so eine Zeit haben wir auch im Physikum also können wir jetzt schon üben. Ich wollte 10 Punkte ergattern aber habe "nur" 9 bekommen. Im Moment sammeln wir auch nur Punkte. Wir brauchen 36 Pkt um den Kurs zu bestehen. Wir haben noch 3x Testate je 5 pkt wert und dann noch die Abschlussklausur mit 30 pkt. Also 9 Punkte sind ja kein schlechter Anfang.
Die letzten zwei Tage hatten wir echt super Wetter. Da wir nur morgens die eine oder andere Vorlesung hatten, haben wir den restlich Tag damit verbracht die Sonne zu genießen. Die Mädels und ich sind zum FIZ (Fitness Studio von der Uni) gegangen aber sind draußen gelaufen und haben dann den Jungs 2 Stunden lang beim Fußball zugeguckt. Gestern haben wir Michelle geholfen ihre Balkon Möbel anzumalen. Heute ist das Wetter nicht so super aber das stört mich nicht sehr weil…….heute mein Präp Kurs anfängt!!!

Ich war eigentlich in Gruppe A eingeteilt und so wollte ich das auch da die morgens präpen. Es gab aber viele Probleme mit der Einteilung da manche nachmittags eine Vorlesung hatten aber für den nachmittags B Kurs eingeteilt wurden. Ich habe also mich freiwillig umgeschrieben damit ich jetzt auch in Gruppe B bin. Das schöne ist dass mein Mädels auch in Gruppe B sind und so haben wir jetzt wenigstens den gleichen Stundenplan. Ich hab ja keinen festen Job also was ist der Unterschied ob ich morgens oder nachmittags präpe?!

In ungefähr eine Stunde treffe ich die Mädels für Mittagessen in der Mensa. Danach gehen wir zum Anatomie Gebäude und fangen den Kurs an auf den ich schon warte seit dem ich entschieden habe dass ich Medizin studieren möchte. Echt was großes für mich. Ich wollte halt schon immer so ein Kurs belegen.

Oh, Ich habe einen neuen Mitbewohner, Manuel. Er ist echt super. Wir verstehen uns total gut und machen viel zusammen. Michelle und Melly machen schon ihre Witze dass wir wie ein altes verheiratetes Paar sind; wir leben zusammen, machen viel zusammen und schlafen in getrennten Schlafzimmern. Gestern hatte er seine Vorbesprechung für sein Wahlfach und wollte nicht allein hin also bin ich mitgekommen. Wir haben vergeblich für das Zimmer gesucht bis endlich der Doktor aus seinem Büro kam, uns sah mit unseren verwirrten Gesichtern und nahm uns mit zum richtigen Zimmer. Die Vorbesprechung war richtig interessant und ich hab mich entschieden auch in diesem Semester ein Wahlfach zu haben obwohl ich das erst nicht wollte da ich mich auch Anatomie völlig konzentrieren wollte. Es findet ein mal in der Woche statt und heißt "Grundlagen der experimentellen Knochenregeneration". Dr.Rolf interessiert sich sehr für sein Thema und möchte sein Wissen uns vermitteln. Wir sind nur 6 Leute also wird es sehr direkt und intensiv aber ich freu mich.
Als Info; Ich habe die verschiedenste Anatomie Vorlesungen jeden morgen, Präp Kurs 3x für 2.5 Stunden jede Woche, alle paar Wochen ein EKM (Einführung in die klinische Medizin) und alle paar Freitage begeben wir uns in die Klinik wo uns Neurologische Patienten vorgestellt werden. Endlich wird es medizinisch. Ich freu mich total das es bald richtig anfängt, also in einer Stunde!

Done with round one!

I'm done! I had my Chem exam on Tuesday and now I am on break. I had people over at my place that night and then we went on to a party from someone in my semester. Yesterday was spent relaxing. Today I am at my Aunt's store working a bit. Tomorrow I am going to go pick up my certificates. If I don't hear from my agency with in the next two days, I am going to start planning my vacation. I'm thinking Amsterdam, Brussels and maybe Austria...we shall see.

Ich bin fertig mit dem ersten Semester und hab jetzt Fereien! Hab Dienstag meine Chemie Klausur geschrieben. Ich hatte ein paar Freunde rüber an dem Abend und wir sind dann weiter gegangen zu einem aus meinem Semester. Gestern hab ich mich dann erstmals ausgeruht. Heute bin ich bei meiner Tante im Laden und arbeite ein bissl. Morgen früh hole ich dann meine Scheine noch ab. Wenn ich in den nächsten 2 Tagen nichts von meiner Agentur höre wegen Verträge werde ich meine Ferien plannen. Amsterdam, Brüssel und vielleicht Österreich stehen auf dem Plan!

Physics is done....now Chem, Chem, Chem

             I had my physics exam yesterday and I think it went fairly well. A lot of the questions were in the format of the old and practice exams. They did however change either a number or ask for a different value, this means that if someone only memorized old exam questions and answers but didn't understand the priniciple behind the question.....that someone made a lot of mistakes. I paid attention though and am now hoping for an equivelent score of an A or at the least B+. Again, here the thing is pass/fail not grades.

           What is more interesting to write about though is my chem lab that I had on Friday. We started out by making explosive cotton. It was rather fun to ignite. Then we moved on to producing elementary silver. I even got to sneak the test tube filled with it because the assistant pretended not to see ;) Then I got to pee in a beaker glass and have my urine tested for sugar. If the test had turned out positive, it would have meant that I have diabetes. There shouldn't be sugar in urine, that is a bad sign. Which brings me to an interesting fact. Before we had all this technology mumbo jumbo, doctors tested patients for diabetes by actually tasting the patients urine to see if it was sweet. Doctors were pretty hardcore back then. Another experiment we did was to see if my saliva could break up starch, I also passed this test.

           Now all I have left is chemistry. I still have labs and discussions but no lectures which means all the free time will be spent studying for the up coming exam. This one will be a little trickier because it is not completely multiple choice. However, I will make it work. The exam is on the 16th and then my first semester of Med school will be over....crazy right?! Didn't it just start yesterday?

Gestern habe ich meine Physik Klausur geschrieben und es lief eigentlich ganz gut. Viele von den Fragen waren so aufgestellt wie die von den Alt- und Probeklausuren. Die haben dann zwar Nummern geändert oder für andere Werte gefragt also musste man schon aufpassen dass man die Frage durchliest und genau weiß was die Fragen. Ich habe aufgepasst und hoffe nun auf eine Note die eine eins oder wenigstens 2+ entspricht. Bei der Klausur geht es ja wieder mal darum nicht was für eine Note man bekommt sondern ob man bestanden hat oder nicht.

Was vielleicht ein bisschen interessanter zu berichten wäre was wir im Chemiepraktikum am Freitag gemacht haben. Erst haben wir Schiesswolle hergestellt und es war schon ganz lustig die anzuzünden. Dann haben wir elementares Silber hergestellt und ich durfte sogar das Reagenzglas damit nach Hause nehmen da mein Hiwi so tat als hätte er nichts gesehen ;) Dann musste ich in ein Becherglas pinkeln und mein Urin wurde getestet um festzustellen ob es Zucker enthält. Wäre die Probe positiv gewesen, hätte ich Diabetes. Man sollte kein Zucker im Urin haben, das wäre ein schlechtes Zeichen. Hier kann ich eine interessante Kleinigkeit einfügen. Früher, vor dieser ganzen Technik, haben die Ärzte den Urin von Patienten probieren müssen wenn verdacht auf Diabetes bestand. Ganz schön hart drauf waren die Ärzte damals. Wir haben dann auch noch getestet ob mein Speichel Stärke spalten kann. Die Probe hab ich auch bestanden.

Jetzt habe ich nur noch Chemie. I habe diese Woche zwar noch Praktika und Seminare aber keine Vorlesungen mehr. Das bedeutet das ich bis zum 16 nur noch Chemie lerne. Die Klausur wird auch ein bissl schwieriger sein da die nicht komplett aus Multiple-Choice Fragen besteht. Ich bekomme das aber schon irgendwie hin. Am 16 ist dann also mein erstes Semester vom Medizinstudium vorbei. Verrück, oder?! Ich hab so das Gefühl als hätte es Gestern erst angefangen!

From the beginning of the Semester but still fun!

Greek letters are ruling my world!

So, currently sitting in my Physics review...I know, I know, I should be paying attention but I thought I would check in real quick and let you know what is going on here in Gö. The semester is actually already over. All the semesters are already on break (except the second semester people who still have their Anatomy Exam tomorrow) but not us. We have our Physics exam Saturday and Chem exam on the 16th. Our Anatomy lectures are reduced from 5 to 3 times a week, so basically Chemistry and Physics are ruling my life. I don't have Physics labs anymore but instead Chemistry everyday except Thursdays. I am waiting to hear what I will be doing during my break but it will involve studying for Anatomy because we have an exam on the first day we are back. Okay, now translation and then I have to pay attention again and then study.

Also, ich sitzte grad in meinem Physik Tutorium.....ja, ich weiss schon, ich sollte eigentlich aufpassen aber ich dachte ich schreib mal schnell was in Gö grad so ab geht. Das Semester ist eigentlich schon vorbei. Alle anderen Semester sind schon fertig (außer die zweit-Semestler die morgen noch ihre Anatomie Klausur schreiben) aber wir nicht. Wir schreiben Samstag Physik und am 16 Chemie. Wir haben jetzt auch nur noch 3 mal in der Woche Anatomie Vorlesung statt 5 mal, also eigentlich haben wir nur Chemie und Physik. Ich habe keine Physik Praktika mehr aber dafür jeden Tag Chemie außer Donnerstags. I warte noch auf einer Nachricht wegen meiner Plannung für meine Ferien aber egal was ich mache werde ich Anatomie lernen müssen da wir eine Eingangsklausur am ersten Tag schreibe. Okay, ich muss jetzt weiter aufpassen und dann gehts wieder ab in die Bib um zu lernen!

Histo-Termi-Chemie juhu!

My vacation in the US was nice. When I got back to Göttingen I was thrown right back into the college life. Not that I really was ever able to stop because I had to study everday that I was home. Things started off with my Histology Oral-exam. My tester was nice and I had a nice slide so that it wasn't bad. I had part of the intestine. The tester did however go into detail about a few things and I was relieved to be able to answer all of his questions but one. I also recognized the nerve when he pointed it out. On the Monday I had my medical terminology exam. It was a joke. Terminology is however a subject that you have to study for the sake of knowing the material and not necessarily for the exam because knowing the terms makes the whole medical world so much easier to understand. Just yesterday I had my first of two Chemistry exams. This wasn't a pass/fail exam, rather, we were able to collect points for our final exam.

The Thursday before the Chem exam, my Anatomy professor took us in little groups to look at two cadavers and observe the muscles that we have been discussing in lecture. It was very interesting to see the cadaver and I am very excited for next semester when the cadavers class starts!

Mein kleiner Urlaub in Amiland war nett. Als ich wieder in Göttingen war find die Uni aber wieder stark an. Ich hatte in Amerika aber eigentlich keine Uni-freie Zeit da ich jeden Tag lernen musste. An dem Freitag hatte ich mein Histologie Testat. Mein Prüfer war nett und mein Präparat was auch gut. Ich hatte den Zwölffingerdarm. Das einzige knifflige war dass ich zwei Färbungen auf einmal hatte. Der Prüfer war aber sehr auf Detail aus, ich konnte aber alle seine Fragen beantworten außer eine. I konnte auch erkennen dass es sich um einen Nerv gehantelt hat als er was anzeigte. Montags hatten wir dann unsere Terminologie Klausur. Die war echt so was von leicht. Termi ist aber ein von den Fächern wo man den Stoff lernt um es wirklich zu wissen und nicht nur um die Klausur zu bestehen. Denn, wenn man die Termi kann, macht die medizinische Welt viel mehr Sinn. Gestern hatten wir dann unsere erste Chemie Klausur. Das war aber nicht eine die man entweder besteht oder nicht. Wir konnten halt Punkte für die Abschlussklausur sammeln.



Am Donnerstag vor der Chemie Klausur hat uns unser Anatomie Prof ins Präpsaal genommen und hat uns die Muskeln von den Vorlesungen auf einer echten Leiche gezeigt. Es war sehr interessant die Präparate zu sehen und ich freue mich immer noch total auf den Präpkurs im zweiten Semester!