March Madness

           We are back from spring break and I think that helped everyone get ready for the rest of the semester!  Yesterday we had an Intro to Disease Mechanisms exam and it was on a lot of information.  My biggest piece of advice for this class is try to study in advance.  With exams in other classes it can be difficult to study for this class every day, but if at all possible, make the time!  It is too much information to learn just a few days before the test!  I had my second gross room rotation yesterday too!  I was much more comfortable and I felt like I knew what I was doing.  I did a few breast core biopsies, a prostate core case, a gallbladder, an appendix, and a bunch of GI biopsies!  Although the biopsies are not complex specimens, it is really nice to get some repetition in and practice dictating.  I was excited to do the gallbladder and appendix because we have an Anatomical Techniques test on Monday and we have to know how to dictate these specimens so it was some good practice! 

            We found out that Michelle loves college basketball so when we came back from break, we had an extra assignment.  Everyone in the class had to fill out a bracket for the NCAA tournament and turn them in.  The winner receives a gift card to Kroger (the grocery store in the area).  What broke grad student doesn’t want free groceries?!?  Unfortunately, I do not think I am going to win.  I only have one team in the final four left as of this morning and they haven’t played their game this round so we will see! This year already has a bunch of upsets!  Who knows what will happen with the rest of the tournament!

Spring Break

           We have made it to spring break of our first semester!  I feel like I blinked and we are here. School is flying by!  This is a much welcomed break for everyone!  In case anyone was wondering this is our schedule of classes for this semester:

Monday and Thursday:

Anatomical Techniques 9:00-11:00

Intro to Disease Mechanism 12:00-2:00

Tuesday:

Microanatomy 9:00-10:00

Anatomy 10:00-12:00

Histology 1:00-3:00

Wednesday:

Cadaver Lab 1:00-5:00

Friday:

Anatomy 10:00-12:00

Online Class-Educational Methodologies

            Up to this point, we have had two Anatomical Techniques exams, two Intro to Disease Mechanisms, two Anatomy tests, three Histology tests, and three lab practicals.  We will have a similar number of exams after we come back and a few extra because of finals.  Exams for Intro to Disease Mechanism are all multiple choice, matching, or true/false.  Anatomy lecture exams are a mixture of question types.  We always have 50 points that are straight labeling of diagrams.  Every unit we are given 10-15 diagrams that we are told to learn and our instructor picks any 50 structures he wants and puts them on the test.  The rest of the exam is a mixture of multiple choice, short answer, and fill in the blank.  Histology exams are always 50 multiple choice questions.  The lab practicals are typically 100 points and straight identification of structures pinned on the bodies with a few short answer question at the end, and always a few bonus points (we take them when we can get them)!  Our Anatomical Techniques exams are the most challenging in my opinion.  This class where we learn how to do our job.  On these exams there are a few dictations of specimens, short answer question, multiple choice, and fill in the blank.  The exams we have are challenging and frequent, but as long as we study and stay on top of things, I feel like we are well prepared.

            I plan on staying in Morgantown for most of spring break because my husband is also here for graduate school and he doesn’t get spring break.  I am going to catch up on some studying, but I plan on taking a few days off as well.  One day we plan on going to Pittsburgh since it is only around an hour away.  The last part of it we are going to Charleston to visit my family and I am going to see the Broadway production of Cinderella.  It was one of my favorites growing up so I am pretty excited.  Like I said it is a needed break and we can be prepared to come back and hit the ground running and make it through the rest of the semester!

Bowl of Fun

This week was another busy week of tests!  We started with our first Anatomical Techniques test on Monday, Tuesday was our second histology test, and Wednesday we had our second lab practical.  The studying never stops, but we do have a little break in exams because our next one isn’t until next Friday when we have the second Anatomy lecture exam.

Today I had my first gross room rotation.  One of the great things about this program is throughout the first semester, each student gets to go to the gross room three times to actually gross specimens. Today, I grossed some GI biopsies, a cervical cone, and a few breast cores.   They start us with small biopsies and depending on the case load, gradually move us up to larger specimens.   The more comfortable we are in the gross room, the easier the transition into clinical rotations will be.

           There is a fundraiser coming up in Morgantown called Empty Bowls Monongalia which raises money to feed the hungry in Monongalia county.  Local restaurants bring different kinds of soup, and with the price of admission, people can eat as much as they want of however many different types of soup they want.  Our program specialist Beth Anne emailed us about the fundraiser and the opportunity to paint a bowl that will be used as decoration at the event.  So tonight, the majority of our class met at a pottery painting studio to paint bowls. We were not the only ones there, our director Michelle and Beth Anne came as well!  It was a lot of fun to hang out outside of school and get creative!  Just what we needed at the end of this week!

My classmate Michelle's awesome brain bowl!