Vorklinik is officially OVER!

Hey Everyone! Its over! Has been for about 2 weeks now. The end result was amazing. The last few weeks of MediLearn just started being daily life. I got so used to working all day. Once the whole thing was over and the day came to write the exam...I felt nothing! Absolutely no adrenaline. None. I went in there and just worked my way through the 160 questions. I didn't even really have a different feeling going out of it which kind of upset me. I had hoped that the adrenaline would have kicked in because I feel that this is a vital part of such an important exam. On the other hand, I had been studying my butt off the past few months and I had the feeling that I was prepared. Of course I didn't know everything but you can't study for every last protein or enzyme there is. We were able to put our results in on the internet and the results were compared to the answers of all the other students that added their results giving us an estimation of what our score could be. As the day went on, MediLearn posted their answers. For the first day I most likely have a 2 (equaling a B) which was what I wanted. The second day wasn't any different on the adrenaline level. However, I was done after about 1.5 hours and spent the rest of the time drawing. I could have left but then I would have had to give up my answer sheet and pick it up later again. Since I wanted to wait for my friend anyways and wasn't going to start studying anymore on that day I had nothing better to do. I went home after the exam and put my answers in the internet. Again, most likely a 2! I was so bored and didn't know what to do with myself and was very happy when a friend of mine asked if I wanted to go to the pool with him. It was nice laying in the sun for a while.

The next week consisted of studying for the oral exam giving each subject two days. The day of the oral my adrenaline gland finally decided to do something. We got our histology glass plates and got to look at it under the microscope for 15 minutes. The next 4 hours was just sitting there and waiting to be asked. Since I was the first one to be asked I always had an hour between the subjects. They usually were quick hours because I was waiting for the next subject but once I was all done I had to sit through another hour which took forever. End result....1..!!!! We were a bit shocked when they told us but overly happy. To be fair, they did ask some really tough questions (even admitting that themselves) but we also rocked it. 

The next day I was cleaning and packing and then the next day I was on my way to my grandmas house so I never had a minute to just breathe. The next morning I flew home with a friend and spent the last 10 days shoving America down her throat. Today was my first day since the monster that is Physikum is over. In the end it wasn't a big deal. If the rules that I have heard are true my final score will be a 1 (=A) which would be fabulous. Now I am going to sit back and relax for the next few weeks doing things I like to do :)

9 Days MediLearn In

 So I have to make a little correction to the last post. I only have the course for 5 weeks and 1 day. Not 7 weeks. 

Anyways. Today was our last physiology lecture day. This concludes the section for physiology and physics with a practice exam tomorrow morning with 80 questions. Since I have been answering 80 questions every night, it really shouldn't be a big deal. Through all the different mediums of exam questions, a lot were either very similar questions if not exactly the same so I am guessing my score kept getting better in part due to that.

I really don't have much else to say. The lecturers are all pretty good. In the end, it is mostly all review. I am hardly learning anything new. Its more of a better understanding of somethings after having had all the classes over the 2 years.

On my free day, I went grocery shopping with one of my girl friends and then went clothes shopping with a guy friend. His girlfriend came too. End result: I got a nice pair of jeans, 2 tops and a pair of shoes. He got a sweet pair of jeans and shoes.

Physikum isn't as scary as it was at the beginning of the last semester but I only have 9 of 36 days behind me. Who knows how much is going to still be stuck in my head by the time the real deal rolls.

MediLearn

Hi Friends!

So I finished the fourth semester succussfully. The last few weeks were spent almost exclusively in the library in my little study box. In between I had to teach English and still had my cadavers job. Once the biochemistry exam was written, I got to see my dad. He had been in Denmark for a week with relatives and was then in Gö to visit me and be there for my concert that night. A bunch of my friends showed up as well to watch me play. :) 

We had two weeks "off". I didn't really do any studying in the first week. Rather, I got things done that were always on my mind but things I just didn't have time for. My roommate was gone for 2 weeks. To show him that he shouldn't leave me like that, I took pictures with our skeletons doing things around the house such as baking, cleaning and decorating. I started studying a bit in the second week. 

Two days ago the MediLearn curse started. The first day was an introduction at 10am with tips and tricks. At 2pm we took an exam that took 4 hours to see where we stood. I did pretty well. Better than I thought I would. But a lot of details are missing in my brain somewhere.

Yesterday we had 5 hours of physics. The curse goes for 7 weeks non-stop except for 3 days "off" in between there somewhere. The daily plan looks as follows:

8:30-13:00 Lecture

Daily Exam containing 20 questions to the day's topic

Study and review daily scripts 

Night exam with 80 questions 

If time is left over (haha hardly) there are 100 extra questions to answer.

And that every day unless we have a practice test of a block of lectures.

In the end it should be helpful to make this Physikum thing work. It doesn't scare me as much as it did at the beginning of the semester.

An go!

Plastic Surgery

Hello World!

For the fourth semester we have to shadow a doctor for 3 hours and write a report about it. Since I am such a lover of anatomy and have always been interested in plastic surgery, I wrote an email to the director of the plastic surgery department and asked him if it would be possible that I shadow him. He was happy that I was interested in the department and asked me to come in to find an appointment where I could also watch an operation.

When I did go to the meeting he basically asked my life story. He asked me why I was so fascinated with anatomy. Why, you ask? Why NOT?!?! I told him that I put in a lot of effort during High School in my anatomy class and couldn't wait to be in the cadavers class and then be a TA. He had the same view on it all and was also anatomy TA when he was in school. He asked me about the USA and the process of getting into med school here with my American qualifications. Then, out of the blue, he asked me what else I did in the US in me free time, like maybe being artistically active. Affirmative. I told him that my friends kind of kid and say that I will have a Hasselhof Anantomy Atlas coming out soon because I drew everything during anatomy. He was so happy about this that he pulled out two anatomy textbooks and showed me drawings that he had drawn for them. He asked me if I would be interested in drawing for publications as well. I didn't hesitate to answer with a big YES!

He also asked if I could translate papers from German to English which I was also happily willing to do. 

Since the department is such a small one, they have a list of students that they call when they need help in the operating room. I am now officially on this list!

I finally came in to do my shadowing today. I didn't follow the doctor that interviewed me but rather his assistant doctor. She is from Ireland and super cool. She told me how the plastic department is a cut throat area to work in, especially if you are a woman. The men think they are the big shots even if they don't know what they are supposed to be doing. The universal problem for women is of course that the hospital employing you always has the fear that once you sign the contract, you will go off and get preggers. I guess I have a battle coming at me! But today everyone was really, really cool.

I got to scrub in on a gynakomaestie. This is a condition in which the breast tissue of a man is enlarged and resembles a woman's breast. Additionally, this patient had some extra fat that got liposuctioned off and a piece of skin lap cut off. For some reason, thankfully this doesn't just happen to me, the surgery started and I felt myself getting weezy....although nothing had even happened yet! My dad warned me of this and told me to take deep breaths. I knew this feeling from the first operation I got to scrub in on a year ago. Last year I could fight it. This time I don't even remember what happened but from the point on that I can remember someone was holding my hand and giving me a chair to sit on. EMBARRASSING!!! Well, it would have been if it wasn't for the understanding everyone in the room had for the situation. The surgeon just kept saying it was no big deal and that she fainted when she did her first surgery. I took a few minutes break and drank some water, scrubbed in again and got back into my position and the rest of the operation was no problem (like a year ago). I helped eject fluid to loosen up the fat (before my semi-faint incident) and then she showed me how to liposuction and even let me do some of it! Then I assisted her in that i coagulated the blood vessels that were cut, held hooks, stapled skin together and cut the thread from her knots. She explained everything and in between we chatted about just about everything. When the operation was done, we got a bit to eat and chatted in the plastic surgeons office. I was supposed to observe a pretty interesting surgery but I had to go to my lecture (we HAVE to go to this lecture, sign papers and everything showing we were there, so I couldn't skip it and besides, I like those lectures). The surgeons have my number, so the next time they have a busy day and need help, I will get a call or text. Of course I will be pretty busy now until the biochemistry exam on July 1st and then Physikum preparations. But I think it is super cool that the department has taken me in so nicely and genuinely wants me to learn and do stuff. Reports will follow :)

Fasting day 7 and 8

My build up days have been going fantastic. My stomach isn't giving me problems at all. The only downside is, now that I am eating again, I am constantly hungry and feel the need to eat. Well tomorrow after my photo shoot in Paris I will have a nice dinner with Raquel! Gotta get the last few things together before I have to leave, sorry for the tiny post :)

Fasting day 6

This morning I felt fine. None the less, I did have applesauce for breakfast because I want to be able to eat normally in two days. I probably could've gotten through today without a problem but Paris is calling ;) In the end I will have fasted for 8 days, 5 complete fasting days and 3 build up days.

My stomach is kind of upset that he needs to work again, even after just self made applesauce from one apple. He will have to get used to it! After two hours of lecture and 2.5 hours of biochemistry seminar, I am excited to make my soup!

Fasting day 5

I was honestly about to give up this morning. I had a stomach ache, head ache, felt noxious and just blah. I dragged myself to lecture. By the end of the two hour lecture I was feeling better. But I have changed my game plan. Since I want to eat a nice meal in Paris on Friday and I can't just switch from 0 to 100, I am starting the "build-up" days tomorrow. This is when my intestines have to get used to processing food again. For breakfast I'll have an apple, for lunch I will make myself potato soup and for dinner I haven't decided what I will make yet, the website gives some options. 

The rest of the day was absolutely fine but I am sick of this weakness feeling which according to the people who have done it before reported being a great feeling on and after the 4th day.

Fasting day 4

Almost half way done. I woke up feeling great this morning. Last night, lying in bed, I had a bit of a stomach ache and just wanted to fall asleep. Thankfully, any sign of discomfort was gone once I did wake up. The first half of my day was fine. Wasn't hungry but what is killing me is the thoughts about all the yummy food there is, how I could be baking chunky chocolate chip cookies and eating the dough or the three cans of salt and vinegar chips standing in my kitchen. The appetite for food is what is really getting me every time and I have to tell myself every time that it is all in my head and that a craving passes. I am not about to stop half way although my friends tease me with sayings such as that they are about to go and enjoy some ice cream. I don't let that bother me though. Tonight I will be half way through and the rest of the week is busy as always and I have to start packing for Paris!

The second half of my day, during our lab, I was a bit cranky. The experiments didn't really go as planned (which probably bothered me the least), there was a lot of sitting around from the others and talk about food and the Lab TA was always on my back about things although I was following the exact protocol. So I became a little bit cranky. Now I am home, enjoying a short break before I continue with biochemistry.

Fasting day 3

Honestly, this morning has been the worst so far. I woke up feeling totally weak, couldn't concentrate and hardly wanted to get out of bed or even drink water! I did sum up the energy to drag myself into the living room with a glass of water and tea and pulled up the fasting website and started researching a bit. Turns out I am allowed to drink fruit juice during fasting. It has to be held in moderation but especially in the first few days it is important so that the blood sugar level doesn't drop harshly. As I was reading the description, it basically all applied to what I was feeling. Translated from the German website:

"In the first 1-3 days of fasting, it can occur that your blood sugar level drops off- especially when you also workout (I was running two days ago and yesterday I had a party/dance marathon with 3 parties to attend)."

"A too low blood sugar level can show symptoms such as fast heart beat (check), dizziness (check), sweating (check), chills (check), fatigue (check), muscle weakness (check), pale (check) , food cravings (check), nausea (check), restlessness (check), confusion, nightmares, communication difficulties, loss of concentration (check), impaired vision or speech disorder."

So you can see from all the "check"s, my blood glucose level was definitely too low. Luckily, I still had a bottle of fruit juice. The website recommends a 1:3 mix of fruit juice to water. I made it a 1:1 because I wanted to get out of that state. I laid on the couch and watched a little TV until I started to feel a little better. I will stick with drinking 250-400ml fresh (not from concentrate!) juice a day because I do have a rather busy schedule and if I don't I might become under sugared again.

In my current state I really don't have an appetite for anything. The thought of broth makes me want to gag and I'm not to hot on drinking tea or water either. Of course I will force myself to drink water and tea atleast because I don't want to become dehydrated and I hope that later on I will be able to drink some broth so that I get some salts in my body. 

I hope this was just a minor incident and with the gained knowledge I now have from the website, I will be able to forgo such states.

Fasting day 2

This is a lot easier than I thought it would be! I woke up this morning and wasn't hungry! Throughout the day there were two times where I was a bit hungry but I think it was more of appetite than really hunger. I could have eaten a bar of chocolate this morning when I was so upset about my neighbors. They feel the need to BLAST, not just a little loud but BLAST!!!! their music at 8:45 in the morning and do that for 3 hours....break and 2 more hours of heavy metal rock and their accompanying screaming. They can't sing and are annoying, I wish they would move out. I tried to get them to turn it down but every attempt failed because, well the music was so loud that I couldn't get their attention. I wrote them a letter and taped it on their door hoping they would get the message. The next time it happens I am calling the police. Seriously, no person in their right mind would turn their music up that loud!

Anyway, I bought a bunch of different tea varieties today so that I wouldn't get bored. We shall see how it continues! I will keep you all updated with anything half interesting :)

Sprained ankles, fasting and jobs...hurry!

Howdy!

So most of my last post holds true. Physikum is still always there, lurking like an evil munchkin. I am also active in all the things I said I was with the exception of the work out classes. 

On a Monday a few weeks ago, my friend asked me if I wanted to go play volleyball with her. During warm ups I fell to the ground with a twisted ankle. Great! The first thing I said to my friend when she ran to my aid was, "I felt my malleolus on the ground!" This makes me a huge nerd. For those who haven't been absorbed by what is known as Anatomy, the malleolus is the last bit of bone of the two bones in the lower leg. Nerd....I know. Anyways, I got ice on it right away and even rode my bike home. I wasn't about to go to the ER for a sprained ankle. Later that night, my roommate tried to convince me to go though. I didn't really want to listen to him and instead called all my friends to find someone with a bandage I could use the next day to get to lecture. Nobody had some! This really surprised me with all of us being med students and all. Three of my friends advised me to go to the ER. Manu called up his friend that lived nearby and has a car and he came and picked me up. I was checked out rather quickly in the ER and they told my I tore a few ligaments on the outside side of my ankle. Fabulous. I got crutches and a light bandage with some pain relieving cream on it. I got home around midnight and promised my ER buddy that I would invite him to dinner sometime as a thank you. This ER visit was followed the next few weeks with 3 more appointments. Every time, the doctor would mention something regarding my last name. Apparently the first doctor I had went around telling his colleagues that he treated a relative of the Hoff. At the second appointment, I was supposed to get a brace but my ankle was still too swollen. I finally got it at the third appointment. This brace allowed me to walk without crutches. This was particularly useful because I flew to London the next day over Easter and was able to run around the down without looking like a total gimp. At my follow up appointment 2 weeks later, the doctor told me I could stop wearing the brace and start working out again. He didn't have to tell me that twice and the next day I was on the elliptical, bike and treadmill!

Classes are keeping me busy as are my jobs. Psychology stress is now hopefully over because we had the exam today. I don't think it went very well I must say. This was the first exam where the German language created problems for me. I haven't had that problem on any exam so far. The way they worded questions was difficult sometime and I even found 2 words that I have never heard before! We don't get the results until Wednesday. I hope I passed. But I won't be very happy either if I just pass. Those who know me know that is just how I am. I don't see the point in just passing an exam with 1 or two points. Then I might as well fail. But let me not get ahead of myself, I will know Wednesday.

Last weekend I was in America. My big sister graduated and I surprised the whole family. This was only possible because my grandma paid half of my ticket. That said, the ticket was one of the cheapest I think I ever purchased to get to America and that less than a week before take off! The surprise was a huge success and I had an amazing weekend with family and friends.

My newest challenge is fasting. We've been hearing it in lecture in reference to biochemical reactions and after talking to a few people about it, I have taken on the challenge to fast until Friday night. I will try to post my experience here. I have heard that the hunger feeling goes away after 2-3 days. I wasn't planning on starting until tomorrow, but after breakfast I just didn't eat anything anymore and I figured I could just go with it. I even sat through dinner with friends at a restaurant tonight where they all had pizza and I happily sipped my tea. The people who have fasted before reported that they felt so good after the 2-3 days where they were hungry. Can't wait to see what that feels like. But it wasn't hard at all today. Since I am willingly doing this, my stomach seems to play along.

I also got myself a new job. I will be writing I blog about my Anatomy experience in a Blog for an organization here called MediLearn. I don't know when it is officially starting. The guy wanted to get back to me sometime soon. Once I have a link for it, I will post it here.

That is all for now. :)

4th Semester: A lot to do and Physikum is always in the back of my mind

Hello out there!


I officially welcome you to my fourth semester. This means a lot of stress ahead. Its my Biochemistry semester with a dash of psychology and a pinch of integrated seminars to spice things up. I am continuing my job as English teacher for the MTA Radiology students and have been accepted as anatomy cadavers class teachers assistant (a dream job I've wanted for a very long time and which allows me to jump into my father's footsteps). I will continue to play in the Medical Faculty Orchestra, be active in the student body government and still have to choose the work out classes I will attend. Oh and on the side I think I will study medicine, lol. No, but seriously, this semester will be a challenge. The Anatomy semester was the hardest I ever had but it only focused on one subject. I have to know everything I learned in the last 1.5-2 years by the 23 and 24 of August when we have our written 1st doctors exam. The anatomy job will keep me up to date on anatomy and I am planning on taking one day in the week to review a subject in physiology and histologie. My goal is to learn a lot over a long period of time and not start after the biochemistry exam.


Last Monday we started our biochemistry lectures. The professor is so motivated and gets really excited when he gets to taking about the chemical bonds in amino acids. Its quite comical but at the same time motivating. The fourth semester starts the lectures 2 weeks before the official begin on request from the students so that we have more time to study for Physikum (first Med exam). We also have to take psychology curses that last a week and run all day. I was supposed to have that week at the end of the last semester but then they offered another class during the first week of lectures. I switched which gave me an extra week of vacation! Most of my friends already had their class so while they chilled in the sun, I sat in the room listening to presentations. My presentation was about sexual medicine. It just seemed natural after taking Human Sexuality 160 at UW Madison. My professor even mentioned that he learned something from me. All in all the week was fine though and the other presentations were mostly done well. Friday I used my 20% missing allowance and drove to Stuttgart for a wonderful weekend visiting my grandma, great aunt, great cousin and his baby. 


Now we are in the second week of lectures and I still really haven't found out what exactly we should know from the lectures. The professor always shows a lot of structures and tells a lot about it but none of us know how much we really need to know of it. We also started with psychology lectures yesterday. The lady is not the nicest and her presentation was 95% the same as in my block curse. I hope it'll be better today. I guess I'l see!

3rd Semester....check

Hey everyone!


Guess whos on break......I am. In fact, I have been in the states for the last 1.5 weeks. The original purpose was to renew my passport which ended up not happening due to formalities. Regardless, I had a terrific time back home. I saw all my college buddies and a few from High School. I went and talked to the High School Anatomy class about my life. That was not my initial intention. I wanted to hear what they were doing and thought I might talk about myself for 10 minutes tops....but after all of their questions...I talk the entire hour! The students in the class were all seniors which makes them my frosh. If I come back next year, I won't know a single soul anymore and will feel really old.


Even in my breaks I am not totally away from school. I have some pages to read about Sexual Medicine for my psychology class and have to write a report about my shadowing in the ER with my Dad. I'll admit I've only read about 5 pages on the sexual medicine and haven't written a sentence yet for my shadowing report.


Just to finish up last semester:


I passed Physiology nicely. The exam wasn't terrible. Physiology is actually really cool because you learn so much about how your body works. Once that exam was taken, we all had to start with Histology. We had about 4.5 days to get as much histology in our heads as possible. I set up a learning schedule on the first day and actually stuck to it. I met up with Toni every day to go over things. The exam went great as well. So all in all, the really long studying hours paid off. I wouldn't say that this semester was as stressful as the last (anatomy) but it was right up there with it. Mostly that is my fault for adding so many extra things to my schedule. I don't regret it though. The elective anatomy class was definitely an experience and I learned to view the human body more precisely. I like teaching English to the MTA students and being an anatomy TA was probably the most fun. I heard from my roommate that he heard that the firsties really liked my anatomy demonstrations which make me really happy.


This next semester will be packed with biochemistry, being a cadavers anatomy TA, teaching English, orchestra, student body government and review seminars for the first Med Exam. But before that happens, there is still a lot of traveling happening. To get the details, check out my travel blog


www.viktoriasglobalwalkoff.blogspot.com


Check back after March 28th for new updates about my quest to becoming a life saver ;)

Video update! 19.01.2011

3. Semester

I have a four hour layover in Chicago so I thought I would finally use this time to catch up on this blog that I haven't been attending to the whole semester. So let me start from the beginning.

After a wonderful summer of working, traveling, exploring and learning I returned back to Göttingen. I missed the deadline to become an anatomy TA for the second semester Med students (3x a week, 2.5 hours cadaver TA). It wouldn't have brought me much anyways because the spots were all ready filled with the fourth semester students. To fill the void I was feeling from not getting the job, I packed my schedule full. I will admit that I might have added a bit much, but I am managing it and seeing it as preparation for what will certainly be a busy job. I will have to lay off a bit next semester thought because it is the semester before my first med exam. The main focus of my semester is physiology. That is the study of the human body functions. It deals a lot with physics and chemistry but it refers to the human body and the labs contain things like measuring our blood pressure or having an EKG done. I have lecture every morning from 8-10 and afterwards I have discussions and labs. Besides physiology, we had histology (studying tissues under the microscope) the first two weeks every day with 2 hour lectures and 2 hour labs….every day! Then we had it only for 2 hours once a week for 4 weeks. The histology exam is on the 9th of February which means we will be crashing for that after the physiology exam on the 4th of February. I studied more than my friends did for histology parallel to the lectures in the first two weeks which gives me a head start. So this semester could have been really chill. I could have only had Physiology. But those of you who know me know that that would just not do.

I am still in the student body government like I have been from the beginning. We meet about every second wednesday and organize events and work at parties. The beginning of the semester party was fun but also very stressful at the wardrobe station.

I also tried out for the orchestra and got a spot. We have practice every Wednesday from 8 to 10 PM. Its nice to be playing again. We had a little concert for a dentistry event  and then had our christmas concert on the 8th of December. I even got to take home a christmas tree from the concert (it was way to big for our living room but I was happy we had one). On the weekend before the dentistry event, we had a whole weekend of practicing….7 hours each day.

I am an english teacher for radiology medical technician assistant students. They have class every Thursday for 1.5 hours. I got referred there by a good friend who previously taught the class. It is a required class for the students but it doesn't have a final exam. I try to make the classes fun and interesting so that they pay attention. We've played games and I even let them watch an ER episode were they had to answer questions and I brought popcorn to add to the fun.

I am also an anatomy TA for the newbies (first semester med students). In the first semester, among other classes, they attend anatomy lectures (well at least I hope they do). On most Fridays, the come to the cadaver hall and we talk to them for an hour about what they did in lecture and try to give them a feel for the cadavers class they take the next semester. We didn't have this when I was a newbie and I went into the cadavers class not knowing what to expect let alone know what the things looked like that I was looking for. I told the newbies on the first day that I didn't care if they listened to me or not (although I preferred it) but that it was more important for me that they use the opportunity and come in to see the cadavers and get a feel of where stuff is and what things look like. There are two times on the Fridays; 10-11 and 13-14 o'clock. Well of course I am doing both. I am one of only two people doing both times. The professor leading the program was pleased when I told him I would do both.

I took an elective class last semester because my roommate didn't want to go to the meeting alone and I ended up in the class. We only have to take one in the first two years but the one I really wanted to take only happens in the winter semester so I am taking a second one. The professor leading the class is my favorite, Prof. S. He is actually retired but still does a lot for us students (more to that in a second). The elective class is "Advanced cadavers". We are working on the cadavers that will be used for the med exam this spring. We aren't doing as much as we did in the 2nd semester cadavers class but everything is done more intensely and we are graded on how beautiful our work is done. My first area was head and neck. We have a lecture Wednesday mornings and then we go to the cadavers and work on them for two hours. It doesn't stop there though. Any free time we have everyday from 10AM-6PM is spent in that hall working on the cadaver…..every free minute.

On every friday, Prof. S. does a 3 hour anatomy class. The first hour is held as a lecture where we discuss a specific topic. The second and third hour are held in the cadavers hall where we discuss what we heard in lecture on the body and get clinical information from him. It is a lovely review and he does it quite nicely. Its not a required appointment, but he sees it as an extension of his elective class and likes to see us there. Even if it had nothing to do with my elective class I would still go. He is a great teacher and I want to learn as much as I can from him until he deicides to no longer do his extra classes.

On a few Fridays of the semester we also have a one hour long event where we have lecture in the hospital about a sickness or condition and a doctor talks to us about the clinical aspect, a professor explains the anatomy or physiology behind it and a patient is presented and interviewed.

To help me relax from my busy schedule I ironically added more appointments. I signed up for a Yoga class that runs every Monday for 1.5 hours and a hip-hop class every Tuesday for 1.5 hours.

You can see that I am quite a busy person. My friends joke about having to make appointments with me to even see me anymore. In a way its true. The first week or so of my full schedule was tough. I had just gotten back from a summer of fun and few appointments and now I had things to do, places to be and people relying on me to know what I was doing! I was stressed the first week. In the second week I had it down and it was normal for me to run from one appointment to the next, spend any "free" time in the cadavers hall and study from 10PM-?? every night. I sometimes fear that my physiology and histology are taking the back seat but I won't allow that to happen.

Some other events that have happened during the semester so far were:

Orientation week: I actually had my psychology class that entire week but we got to miss one day. I missed Wednesday to get together with my orientation leaders when I was a newbie and greeted the new newbies and took them around town and had a lot of fun.
Cadaver's memorial service: I am not a churchy person but this service was nice and I feel important for the relatives of the body donors.
Aktionstag: We had the same thing last year where I watched the live operations of the esophagus tumor being removed and the stomach replacing the void. Well, this year we saw a patient get his whole (!) large intestine removed!
Christmas market: the oh so loved christmas market with plenty of hot spiced wine and overpriced crepes. A group of girls and I went to the Kassel christmas market which is much larger than ours in Göttingen.
Nikolaus Party: I was here last year as well. Everyone watched Feuerzangbowle, an old German movie that basically everyone knows. Afterwards the city orchestra plays and then there is a show and DJ.
New friend!: Katy comes from Wisconsin! I met her in Thanners one night. She happens to be the roommate of my former physics TA. We have hung out a few times and she is a lot of fun and reminds me of home.
EKG: After having my EKG taken during a physiology lab and reconfirming my extra heart beat, I went to the cardiologist to have a long time EKG done. I have an appointment with the cardiologist on the 18th to discuss the condition and determine if it is harmless or something to monitor or correct.

So why am I at Chicago O'Hare you might be asking yourself (or not if you know the reason). I flew home the 16th of December, missing a week of school, to visit my family and friends. I had so much fun. I took a day trip to Chicago with a friend, went to Madison a lot, hung out and home and met up with some friends. My puppy (okay so he is 8, but still) Toby had to get his eye removed because it was getting to big. He has had a big eye since he was born and has most likely only ever seen with his left eye. In the last year it got worse and although my mom treated it with eye drops, it didn't want to get better. On the 30th of December I took him in to get it removed. I was allowed to watch. I had done a 7 week internship with the vet so we had a fun time catching up. After the eye was removed we cut it open to take a look inside. The whole eye was filled with blood and the lines was completely cataract. The recovery is going really well. I have gotten used to his one eye. Honestly, I think it almost looks better now than it did before. The big bulging eye just didn't fit his face. Now it looks like he is always winking at you. Once the fur grows over and the scar isn't visible anymore it'll even look better. I was glad that I was there in the time were it was done so that I could comfort him.

Now I return to Germany with a very busy schedule (due mostly to that fact that any minute what so ever will be used to study) that will be done February 9th. My mom and I have a fun Greece trip planned for March. My biochemistry classes will be starting 2 weeks before everyone else starts with classes.

Well my friends, that is my update. I will try to post more regularly but there probably won't be more to say than all I do it go to class and study. If anything interesting does happen however, I will be sure to post!

Baci

V