dinner parties!

so it seems my friends and i have started an awesome new tradition! last night was our 2nd dinner party! the theme was "fiesta," and we went all out with fajitas, beans, rice, guac, tortilla soup, dessert, etc - add to that hilarious convos, and it was an awesome night! have i mentioned how awesome med students are? so funny. and dorky. we may or may not have been criticizing grey's anatomy for their medical (in)accuracies.

AND we've already planned an italian themed dinner "partido!" for after the next test... bring.it.on.

also, i had my first skills exam this week... we learned how to do the head/neck exam, musculoskeletal exam, and heart/lungs/abdomen exam, and then we had to rotate through stations and perform the exams on standardized patients... well, this braniac attempted to feel for the heart on the RIGHT side. now i'm not sure how much you know about anatomy, but the heart definitely points towards the LEFT. luckily, i corrected myself and laughed it off. even better, i almost told the patient that i felt the heart beat on the right side, bahaha.

so we started a new unit called MCT: molecules, cells, and tissues. good news: we only spend 2 hours a week in lab instead of 10. bad news: i already miss anatomy! development, biochem, and histology are about to eat my lunch! but on the plus side, we only have 1-2 hours of lecture a day. and lots of days we have even less! bahaha - i'm really not sure how my friends go to class 9-5pm: CRAZY. i complain if i'm stuck in class past noon...

other than that, life is good! andddd halloween shenanigans are happening all weekend! hooray! pro for being in med school: you can still be immature college kids, and no one judges you for it.

sweet, sweet freedom!

just got out of my anatomy final, i can't even begin to tell you how happy i am right now! we had a 2 hour written exam this morning, followed by 2 (more) hours of cramming for the lab practical, and then a 2 hour lab practical.. BUT NOW WE ARE DONE!!! no more anatomy! no more formaldehyde!

and i am now 6.25% of a doctor :) - 1/4th of the way through my first year AND 1/2 way to christmas break :) - hoorayyyy!

it feels so good to lay on the couch, watch tv, read blogs, and NOT feel guilty about it for the first time in a whole month!! that's a LONG time to be so high-strung! i got out of the final and was hugging everyone and jumping up and down. and like yara says, i'm not a "huggy person!"

anyway, the plan is to clean my disgusting apartment then head to houston for the weekend. hana wants to carve pumpkins, go shopping, and play :) - i'm thinking that baking, running, and sleeping also need to happen! hopefully i'll snap a few pics to spice up the next blog entry. hope everyone enjoys their weekend!!!

why am i blogging

so it is wednesday night, and i have a test on friday morning... i should NOT be blogging. but i am... why? because i'm in a particularly good mood and figure i should document such an occasion.

have i mentioned how utmb is pretty much the perfect school for me? and how i'm so thankful that i did NOT get my way and end up at houston's med school? i totally love the people here. i love only going to class until noon. i love the atmosphere. i'm even kind of in love with galvatraz. i've only been off the island ONE day since school started, and i actually missed it while i was gone.

today was our LAST day of cadaver lab. kinda bittersweet. i do love dissecting. however, after 8 weeks in lab this semester, and 6 weeks in lab this summer, i'm a little bit over smelling like formaldehyde. so while i'll miss it, it will be nice to smell decently. and have more free time. CON: not having an excuse to wear scrubs to class on the daily. and see all the guys in scrubs. yes, i'll admit it. i'm a med student, and i find guys in scrubs to be 10x hotter.

other than that, life is good. i've been cooking a lot, have a trip to houston coming up this weekend, a "fiesta" with my friends on tuesday, and hopefully some beach time!

did i mention that as of friday's exam, i'll be 1/4th of the way through my first year?! that is UNREAL. we are like 10 days away from november. when did THAT happen?

oh and for kicks, i have been suffering from the plague all week. i have no idea what it is, but basically when i try to sleep at night, i wake up every few hours with insane coughing fits. it has been so bad that my abs are sore.

okay i really should go study now so that i DON'T have to write an 'i hate med school' post next week when i find out i failed my final... k bye!

drowning

it is saturday night here in the galv, and i'm spending the night at home. studying. like i have been all day. the test isn't for 2 weeks, but I AM DROWNING. it is amazing how much we have covered in 2 weeks.... ahhhhhh - do you know how many nerves and tiny muscles are in the head/neck?? about a million. believe it or not, med school is NOT as glamorous as you may think...

anyway, to catch-up, last weekend i ran home to houston and went to lindsey's first wedding shower! it was really fun getting to see her and finally help out with the wedding!

this week was busy busy. lots of class and studying. you know, the usual.

we did take a study break thursday night and had a dinner party + carved pumpkins!! let me just tell you, nerds take pumpkin carving seriously. we had a drill attachment specifically for hollowing out the pumpkins, a drimmel for more precise carving, and a probe stolen from anatomy lab. yep - it was pretty awesome.

last night, there was a fancy white coat dinner put on for the 1st years and utmb faculty. everyone got dressy and enjoyed a few hours away from textbooks!


anyway, i've probably wasted enough time now. back to the grind :X -- already counting down until the 21st!!! hurry up, freedom!