I know, I know, I haven't been updating this weekly like I promised. Still, I have been busy! Exams start on Tuesday - I've got one MCQ (a.k.a. multiple choice question a.k.a pain in the hole!) and one exam on Wednesday, a CAL (or Computer Assisted Learning - they show you pictures of cells and dissected hands and stuff and ask you what you're looking at. Yes, it is as boring as it sounds!)
I've studied a little bit more than some of the other lads in our group (there's six of us that hang round together) and I get my fair share of slagging because of that. The lads keep joking on me that there's a lot of pressure on me to do well in these exams, and while I know they're joking, I do want to do well. Don't get me wrong, I'll be happy to pass, but not only would it take some of the pressure off for the summer (when we get examined on this stuff again!) but it'd make Mam and Dad happy as well. Still, I think the best thing to do is do the exam, go out, enjoy myself and forget about them!
I think I started studying too early for these exams. I mean, when I'm learning stuff for the first time, I'm fine, because I'm interested or mentally engaged or whatever. But when I'm going over stuff that I understand (but not necessarily remember) for the third or fourth or fifth time, I'm just bored! I haven't studied all the embryology lectures yet. Maybe I'll try studying that for a while.
Embryology's a weird subject. While sometimes it's very interesting intellectually - like, "Oh, yeah - that's where the umbilical cord comes from - at other times it's a bit off-putting looking at pictures of deformed babies and miscarried foetuses. (Is that right? Should it be foetii or something? I dunno.) At the same time, though, it's always going through the back of my mind that (A) I have to start getting used to looking at things I'm not comfortable with - that's part of being a doctor; and (B) that these are somebodies kids. So like I said, it's weird.
Lectures are over now for Christmas. We're finished exams on the 9th of December, and not back until the 10th of January 2005, so we've got a month off for Christmas. That's pretty cool. A guy in our class is having a big fancy supper-party for his 21st on Saturday January 8th as well, so it should be a lot of craic, especially seeing as it'll be the clases first night out together since the holidays.
Speaking of which, I'm trying to get a job the holidays as well. I'm really broke - went to the bank last week thinking I had about €150-€100 in my account, and it turns out it was €400 overdrawn. Ouch. Add that to the €300 credit card bill, and I'm not exactly swimming on a lake of cash or anything. It's really funny - Mam does ring during the week sometimes, and it's like:
Mam: "There's a big envelope here for you from the bank. It's marked URGENT. There's two more of them two. Should I open them for you?"
Me: "Ah, no, I know what they are. Junk mail. Leave them there for me and I'll get them myself when I get home in a week or two."
My sister claims it's very funny when I do actually arrive home. I wait until the Late Late Show is over, the parents go to bed, and I get the stack of mail from beside the phone. I then take them one by one, open them, quickly read through them and toss them into the fireplace. It's like destroying secret documents or something!
Finances do get a bit worrying, though. I mean, I I started work in the hotel in September, but had to give it up near the end of November. Study was getting to be too much! The lads are planning two-three nights out after the exams, and at €50 per night (at least) it's expensive! I don't want to be Mr. Dry-Shite that doesn't go out, but I don't want to be wasting my parents money either. I rang last week and Mam was telling me how Dad doesn't get home until ten or eleven some evenings, as he's working double shifts in the run-up to Christmas. So they're obviously going without so I can have money up here - I can't exactly drink it all down the drain! Still, we'll have to see how it goes this week. The pharmacy down the road is looking for someone to work two evening shifts a week, and that'd suit me down to the ground. I'll have to throw in a CV and see how it goes...
As for the course itself, it's going well. I never realised how much work went into college behind the scenes - organising subjects, timetabling, etc. But two weeks ago I got roped into the Systems I Review Board, which means I'm on the committee for making decisions about our curriculum for next year. The changes we make will also affect the current year's PreMeds - it could even affect you if you decide to study over here! It's kind of interesting though. They're modularising the Medicine course next year - indeed, they're modularising the whole university! - so some courses are gonna get trimmed. It also means we can pick up extra modules here and there though, much like the American system. They're looking for suggestions for modules: I think I might put forward the idea of a language module - I think having French and/or Spanish would be of great benefit to any doctor, especially the ones wanting to work abroad in the USA or Africa. I'm also thinking about a Genetics module - we have an option to do some extra work and gain a Bachelor of Medical Science (B. MedSc) at the end of 2nd med, and I'd love to do mine in Genetics. I think it's really interesting - for example, as far as I can see no one has ever done a genetic study of a wide variety of the traveller population of Ireland. It's early days yet, but like I said, it's very interesting.
I was shocked the other day when I realised that once we have these exams over us, we're one-quarter of the way through medical school. Wow doesn't cut it! It's weird too how accustomed to it I've become. I mean, when we first moved in to the medical school branch of the university in the city at the start of this year (we stay in the main campus for PreMed year) I didn't like it that much. It's a really old building, built in jumps and leaps, with no cohesive plan. There's stairs going everywhere, some leading to blank walls (it's like Hogwarts!) and to go one floor down to the left, for example, you need to first go two floors up to the right! But it grows on you in some weird kind of way. The only other major down-side is the lack of campus activity in the city. I mean, I'm in the main campus now (only the main library is open on a Sunday) and it's only when you see all the posters and events plastered around the place that you realise how much we're secluded in the city! Still, I suppose that's the price we pay....
We had our last dissection before the Christmas last week as well. I'm not sure if we'll have the same cadavers after Christmas. I hope not - ours is starting to decompose and smell really strong. It's kind of sad at the same time. I don't know what happens them after we're finished with them. They even have a poster up, telling you each cadaver's first name, general address (they're almost all from Dublin) and cause of death. It really personalises the bodies, whicn is both a good and a bad thing I suppose. I mean, it's really easy to get all clinical and stuff (oh yeah, there's the glenoid fossa!) but at the end of the day, these are somebodies relatives. So while I hope we have a new cadaver after Christmas, I hope the one we have gets a nice send off.
Speaking of send-off's, I'd better sign off! Back to the study....
Take care, Katie, and I'll try and write again soon.
