M3-- WEEK FIFTY ONE

This coming week is the last week of my third year of medical school! Wow. Time is moving so fast.

^^ This short coat's days are numbered! 4 to be exact!

SCHOOL
Yesterday was my test with the actor-patients. We had 15 minutes in the room with each of the 8 to get their history and do a physical exam. They would sometimes have, for example, a joint colored red. But often they would just spit out a physical exam finding when you did the right exam technique. After the exam, we had 10 minutes to write a note about the findings and the orders we wanted (labs, imaging, treatments, etc). Like all tests, there are parts that are easier than you expect and parts that are more difficult. I'm trying not to replay the test and dwell on the easy points I will likely miss for not doing as thorough of a physical exam as I could have or w/e. That time-limit sure had me nervous! I also realized how much I depend on "inspection" as I am interviewing and examining a patient. I may not always do a formal neuro exam.. but I am always looking at their pupils, eye movements, facial expressions, gait, body movements, etc. On this exam, the healthy actors could be playing a life-threatening scenario and you can't tell by speaking with them. Yuck. Glad that is over!

Today after church, we had a get-together at a doctor's house for all the members of the Primary Care Program. We had a chance to chat, get to know each other, and steal some advice from the residents & attending physicians. It's starting to feel very real! (I brought a raspberry torte from Tasty Pastry to share. It was a hit!)

LIFE
I've had the house to myself the last few nights as T was at a family reunion. He was most excited to tell me about playing Polish Horseshoes with his cousins. Today he is fishing and who knows what else! I wish I could have been in two places at once this weekend. I love T's family :)

The kitchen in action! (Everyone's favorite place in Gram's house!)
[I love T.. but this the only photo he had to contribute to the blog from the reunion. Weak-sauce!]

**EDIT** Hot off the press! I bullied T into taking one more picture of whatever they are up to at the moment.. Looks like they are fishing:

Most of my alone time this week was spent studying for the exam I just took. But Friday night (post-exam) I was lazy and instead spent my evening talking on the phone to an old friend and doing chores around my house. I can tell we are near the end of a rotation because my house (and my office especially!) is cluttered with all sorts of randomness.

NEXT WEEK
The rest of this week will be spent working in the hospital and studying for my final exam on Friday. (This test will just be clinical questions on the computer and EKG interpretation.) Then this weekend off is my summer break! Wahooo! Haha. How I miss the old academic calendar! Everyone is looking so tan.. I'm tempted to sneak in a CWS game but my guilty-student conscious may win-out. Only time will tell! Have a great week!

xo,
Krista