View Full Version : Finals
Chuck Munyon
23rd June 2003, 12:20
In about four hours, I will be done with my first year of medical school. The next time I post, I will probably be drunk. :D
Right now, though, I'm just nervous as hell. I've been studying for 9-10 hours a day for about two weeks now, and I still don't feel like I know anything. :(
monkeyboy_ssj
23rd June 2003, 12:41
You go for it mate!
Just remember, think things through and don't doubt your abilities ^_~
Ja,
Vapour
23rd June 2003, 13:22
:karatekid
fifthchamber
23rd June 2003, 14:04
Hi Chuck...
Well done sir...For the last few months around my University I have seen quite attractive people turn into old, grey spinsters with the exam stress they are facing....I was lucky....We had a final year show that runs until Tuesday..And it really came out well...Better than I had thought it would...And it was great fun..Honestly....But exams?....Unnnggghhhhh..... :(
Now I need a job.....Life's great....
Good luck on your next year too...I would like to say it gets easier...But it does'nt....Sorry!
Enjoy yourself sir...
Regards.
heatMiser
23rd June 2003, 17:58
Med studnts make me glad I'm an arts bum.
I just got a passing grade in 2nd year of a three year degree. It feels so good to be free of exam stress, but keep your eye on the ball. You'll feel good when the achievement catches up with the effort. :)
Good Luck.
Chuck Munyon
24th June 2003, 11:40
A bad sign is when your test begins with:
1) Which of the following drugs has NOT been associated with the sequela of gingival hyperplasia?
a) a drug you've never heard of
b) a drug you've never heard of
c) a drug you're pretty sure they made up
d) phenytoin (a drug that can't be the right answer)
Fortunately, the rest was not that bad. Still not fun, though.
Ben, are you in theater?
Ev, congratulations!
Cady Goldfield
24th June 2003, 11:56
Go Chuck!
Go Chuck!
We wish ya lots o' luck! (and an equal amount of caffeine)
I'm looking forward to reading drunken posts from you later. ;)
heatMiser
24th June 2003, 18:35
Thanks, Chuck.
Now it's time for me to enjoy a year out. No more college till september of next year! :D
I can highly reccommend ayone to do the same...
j-lane
24th June 2003, 20:39
Hey Chuck!
Congratulations! I've been there, so I know what you've been going through (I graduated Med School in 1991).
Now, just think- another year of classes and exams to go. Then part one of the USMLE (used to be called the National Boards when I was in school). Then the hard part really begins! Long hours during clinical rotations. Then residency (even more hours). Parts 2 and 3 of the boards. Maybe a post-doc fellowship. Then licensing exams in your specialty, and perhaps another exam for a subspecialty. Recertification every 8 years or so. But I'm sure you already know this! :D
Hang in there! I'm sure you'll do fine on your exams. Enjoy the summer.
Jerry
Shitoryu Dude
24th June 2003, 21:36
The conditions of doing residency needs to be reworked. I don't know what idiot came up with the hours those guys keep, but whomever it was needs to have their ass kicked. I certainly do no look forward to being treated by someone who may have been on duty for the last couple of days and now has to stitch me up. To hell with tradition - reform the program.
:beer:
hobbitbob
24th June 2003, 22:24
Watching people go through residency is what made me decide against med school! :eek:
Chuck Munyon
24th June 2003, 22:32
Bob,
I love Cold Comfort Farm! What a great flick! I never thought I'd see it quoted anywhere, though. :D
As for residency, they are in the process of scaling it back. Now, instead of 100hrs, the maximum is 80 hrs a week, and instead of 36 hour shifts, the max is 30 hours. In fact, Yale almost lost their accrediation for surgery residency because they were working their residents too hard.
Of course, those are the limits on what they can MAKE you do. They don't apply to the stuff they can "strongly suggest" that you do.
hobbitbob
24th June 2003, 22:41
After watching the Surgery residents at Hopkins (I worked in the SICU as a tech while doing my MA in history at UMBC) I have to salute the dedication of those who choose that path. I am rather too fond of sleep, myself....
Shitoryu Dude
24th June 2003, 23:26
I think that legal limits of perhaps 5 12-hours shifts per week would suffice as long they are enforced. Tossing a few people in jail for a month for trying to force residents to work longer would most likely open a few eyes. I don't know how the residency program got into such a state of retarded working hours, but there is really no excuse for it.
:beer:
hobbitbob
24th June 2003, 23:58
The attitude everywhere I've been, and this includes military and civillian, has been one of: "We went through it, so it is only fair for you guys to go through it." There are some protective measures in place, usually an intern (R1) can't write an order without consulting his senior (usually a 2 or a 3), but even so, consider the fate of the poor medicine or sugery resident who comes in at 5:30 for pre-rounds, rounds at 7:00, sees patients in clinic all day (or sees patients on wards if rotating in house), then, if it is his call night, stays in house, sees all the admits to his service coming in via the ED, then repeats the previous days work, before managing to finally get home, with all the scut accomplished, by 11:00 the next night, only to repeat the experience in two days. Some places have gone from the every third night on call model to the every fourth night, but still... :(
Kimpatsu
25th June 2003, 01:45
Originally posted by Shitoryu Dude
The conditions of doing residency needs to be reworked. I don't know what idiot came up with the hours those guys keep, but whomever it was needs to have their ass kicked. I certainly do no look forward to being treated by someone who may have been on duty for the last couple of days and now has to stitch me up. To hell with tradition - reform the program.
:beer:
I'm with Harvey on this one. Studies have shown that towards the end of a residency cycle, residents are so tired they exhibit behaviour akin to oxygen deprivation. And you want them to prescribe medication?
Chuck Munyon
25th June 2003, 17:41
In our health care systems classes, we talk about the "iron triangle" of healthcare. Its three sides are Quality, Access, and Affordability. When you work residents for long hours without having to pay them very much, you increase both the Affordability and the Access available at that Hospital. Unfortunately, if you increase two sides of a triangle, the third side (Quality) has to shrink.
The "we went through it so you can to" definitely plays a role, but also there's simply the fact that the demand for healthcare is increasing a lot faster than the number of doctors, and it's convenient to make residents, who are essentially powerless), pick up the slack.
That situation is good for medical students, though, because it means we get to do a lot of things that med students didn't used to be (and probably shouldn't be allowed to be) able to do.
Shitoryu Dude
25th June 2003, 18:22
Perhaps costs could be driven down by drastically cutting away at the paperwork involved (50% or more of the cost of medical care) and doing something about the stupidly high costs of malpractice insurance (let's start by hanging tort lawyers)? I'm sure there are a few items that could use some reform as well.
Just some thoughts on the subject.
:beer:
hobbitbob
26th June 2003, 00:01
My best friend, who practices in Seattle, had to quit doing OB as part of his Family Medicine practice due to the cost of insurance. He initially worked for PACMED after residency( a group/HMO thing), and now is affiliated with Group Health.
fifthchamber
26th June 2003, 16:13
Hi Chuck,
Ben, are you in theatre?
...Not yet! Although the NHS has had an ambulance standing by over the last three weeks just in case!
No....My course was actually in "Special Effects", included theatre but also film work, and radio forms of effects....It sounded good at the start but ended up just slightly un-focussed on any of them....The last year was good...But only because it was all on our own shoulders....The show might still be advertised online here;
http://www.sbu.ac.uk/designshow/2003-html/2003_html/sfx/sfx.html
...It was quite good fun getting the whole thing setup and back down again....And the stuff we put up there was also good....Onwards and upwards!.....But it was NOT as hard as yours' sounds to be!
Regards.
Ben.
(Marcello Santos and Lee Quinn's pieces were among the better things in the final show....And the Flash version of the website is better than the HTML one that I put down above....Just click 'home' and re-navigate to it...)
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