Block 1

Our schedule this semester is a little crazy. Normally we are in class from 8-5 which is pretty hard on my attention span. With so much of the day spent in the classroom (therefore decreased independent study time), every minute of learning from the profs counts. Then during lunch I will sit with the girls and eat while discussing the micro material. And if we get out of any class early, Craig and I go right to an area in the building called the “fishbowl” to study neuro.  Then I go home, eat supper, study, sleep, get up early to pre-read the day’s micro lecture and do it all over again. Block 1 exams are on Monday so I guess we will see if it is paying off.

My new courses are Microbiology/Immunology, Neuroscience, Psychology, Medical Ethics, and Doctor-Patient Relationship III. I am excited to be doing some things I’ve done before (neuro/psyc), but also nervous about micro because it is supposed to be “the one to fail.” I am actually enjoying the psyc material, but I don’t get to spend as much time with it as I would like because I am usually focused on micro and neuro.

Unfortunately, we are down 6 students from our class. Some are now in the class below us and a few didn’t come back at all. We also ended up picking up 6-8 people from the class ahead of us. It is disheartening to see so many people repeating, but it isn’t as many as I expected. Our neuro prof has come into the class twice now though and encouraged people to drop micro. He said it’s an overloaded semester and we should get some money back while we can. Lovely.

Either way, I am still finding my own ways to stay sane. We get up and do pushups when we need to wake up. We play a game of darts (and I usually grab something sweet to eat) in between subjects. We try to make studying as interactive as we can by reading out loud, discussing the processes, and quizzing each other. I am also looking forward to making a big meal for us on the weekend after blocks.

Wish me luck... Sounds like I am going to need it...

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