The Past Two Crazy Weeks: Week 1

So the past two weeks have been extraordinarily jam-packed and exciting. I could try to combine both weeks into one post, but you guys would probably hate me and stop reading the extremely long post. Therefore, I shall divide it into two.

The week before last mainly consisted of studying for my last neuro exam. That last exam consisted of mostly psychological and pathological components. I enjoyed the neuro block, but at the same time I was extremely glad when neuro was over. The entire system gave me a newfound appreciation for neurology. It was extremely interesting to see how one small lesion could cause so many massive deficits. However, I will never say that I miss seeing slices of the brainstem and all of the brainstem nuclei. To whomever gets super excited about brainstem nuclei, more power to you and mad respect.

A few hours after the exam, the school hosted the First Patient Memorial. This annual event allows the first-year students, like me, to show our gratitude and thanks to the selfless donation of our cadavers, who we call first patients. Friends and family come to the event, so it is a very moving and emotional time for students and families alike. The ceremony this year was beautiful and conveyed each anatomy group's appreciation and indebtedness.

I will never forget my first patient. My anatomy group named him Frank, but I do not know his real name. We spent countless hours with Frank both in lab and out. Personally, he taught me so many things. He was fascinating in so many ways. There are experiences that my lab group had with Frank that are unforgettable. I can still recall my awe during several lab sessions. I can remember how hard it was to say goodbye during our last anatomy assignment. I came back after lab to finish the assignment. That night I talked to Frank for hours, thanking him and telling him the impact that he had on me.

Once Friday ended, the entire weekend was free for me. I had no exams to study for and wanted to enjoy my first true free weekend of the semester. On Saturday, I went to visit some of my relatives in the area. I had not been able to see them since I moved down here due to how the hurricane messed everything up. (More on the hurricane will come in a future post.)

Sunday was an adventure as well. My friend from Iowa, who I will call S here on this blog, her boyfriend, J, and I went to Panama City on an adventure of sorts. After dodging many rain showers on the way down, we stopped at Schooners restaurant. J was super excited about the seafood, but he swears that a local joint, named Hunt's has seafood that is as good or better than Schooners. I cannot verify this, but I will probably go try Hunt's soon and get back to y'all. While we were waiting on our lunch, we watched a surfer try to surf in the rainy weather. Luckily, the sun came out once we finished eating so we went to St. Andrews State Park to look for shells. I had never been to the state park before as I normally go to another beach when I shell-hunt. However, that other beach and several good shelling beaches are still closed due to the hurricane. So we tried this new place. It was okay. We found many fragments of shells and some whole pieces. Still it was extremely nice to just enjoy the sunshine and walk on the beach.

That was the extent of the fun of Week 1. We had our first classes on our new system - MSK (musculoskeletal system) - on Monday. And, like everything else in medical school, we hit the ground running with a ton of material and assignments.

I'll tell y'all about Week 2 on Thursday.

Good luck! Way to survive the Monday blues!