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.