On Tuesday, the highlight was our first gross anatomy lab. I was really really nervous beforehand and I was completely psyching myself out that I would not be able to handle the formaldehyde, or the cadavers, or I just would not be able to perform a dissection. Dressed in fresh, bright blue scrubs, we all descended into the basement of one of the clinical buildings and walked the long walk through bright green and orange hallways to the lab. Yes, it smelled like formaldehyde, but it was not as bad as I had Imagined it to be. The entire class gathered together with the professors at the start for an overview and to take a moment of silence to honor the people who had so generously donated their bodies to science. Next, standing beside my cadaver with my three anatomy teammates, all of the anticipation was getting to my head and I felt a bit iffy. Yet, the second we were given the thumbs up to open the bags and proceed with the dissection I was fine. In fact, I was more than fine. I had a terrific and exciting time in our first anatomy lab. Even before the go ahead, my group knew that we had a very petite cadaver compared to many of our classmates. Turns out we have a small older woman, probably less than 100 pounds, whereas others have large men and women - one group has a 300-pound individual who lived to be 91 years old. Turns out my group is lucky to have a petite, slender cadaver, since we do not have to deal with vast amounts of fat tissue during dissection.
We started with a midline cut from the top of the sternum to the bottom, then we made cuts from the midline across each clavicle, and then lower cuts across the lower ribs. Our objective was to separate The skin and deep fascia from the muscle so that the pectorals major (your breast muscle), the ribs, and other muscles would be exposed and ready for further dissection on Thursday. I left the lab that day feeling like I was on top of the world. Gross anatomy lab has the reputation of serving as a rite of passage for first year med students and I had successfully completed my first day.
After lab, I worked on some school stuff before heading to a personal training session with my classmate Nicole. We have become workout buddies and after our inaugural workout on Tuesday (a strength and cardio circuit that sufficiently kicked my ass), we did an ab session and a run on Wednesday, another circuit on Thursday, and a run with Alex on Friday. Hopefully we can keep up that routine amidst all of the other time constraints we have.
Wednesdays are technically our days off, but I arrived early for a learning strategy workshop, then worked out (the run Nicole and I have adopted is the campus loop which is gorgeous!), and then I studied, studied the rest of the day, both on my own and in a small study group, as we prepared for a histology quiz. Many people in my class felt surprised by the initial and sustained onslaught of information and how, as we studied for this quiz, we felt like we were preparing for a midterm, even after just 2 days of class. Well, after our study marathon, I went home to get things together and ready myself for Alex's arrival. He had spent all day Wednesday driving from Hood River to Palo Alto and was set to arrive around 7. I finished up school stuff, then we grabbed dinner, I completed my quiz and we called it a night.
Thursday was another good and very full day. We had lecture in the morning, a patient presentation with a family with myotonic dystrophy which was fascinating, a lunch pertaining to the Medical Education scholarly concentration, and anatomy lab in the afternoon. This time, during the anatomy lecture before the lab, we were able to test out how well our iPads accommodate drawing on the slides the anatomists give us to learn the tissues of the day. It was great and fun too. Dr. Gosling taught us about the muscles of the chest wall, the organization of the breast and about the innervation of the skin. Love it! Our dissection task was to separate the pectorals major from the pectoralis minor and expose the lateral side of serratus anterior muscle which rests along the outer edge of your rib cage. Once again, lab was successful, exciting, and very interesting.
Nicole and I made another visit to the personal trainers after having a brief literature discussion session and then I went home to meet Alex for dinner,
The rest of that evening was quite traumatic and I won't give the details here, but let's just say that I was kicked out of my apartment for no justifiable reason, Alex and I packed up all of my stuff that evening, and we both moved into our new place in Emerald Hills. The silver lining is I was able to move earlier in the month, move very quickly, and I don't have to deal with a crazy roommate situation that highlights the pitfalls of Craigslist-based deals. Ugh!
Friday was busy, but the day seemed to drag. I think all of us were so ready for the weekend and drained from the intensity and density of the first week, that we were all starting to tune out by the time our journal article discussion sessions commenced in the afternoon and, if not then, certainly by the time we got to histology lab.
At the end of the day, the Stanford Medical Students Association hosted a barbecue on the lawn in front of the med school building and Alex was able to join me for that. I was so happy to have him there and introduce him to many of my classmates. He heard a broken record story about how crazy the first week had been, how it had felt like a month, not a week, and how we are all still feeling the shock and awe of it. He connected easily with people and we both had a great time. Burgers, hot dogs, beer, and great people. What more could you ask for?
After that we met up with my friend Nick from high school and his fiancé Laurie for a little bite and some drinks in Palo Alto. Alex had never met either of them and I had not seen them since they so generously hosted me for my med school interview at Stanford. It was a great time for the four of us to connect in a better way and I am sure we will be seeing them more often.
Yesterday was largely all about outfitting our new place. We picked up a futon from the Stanford classifieds, went to a med student run tailgate for the Stanford - San Jose State game, went to Target, Costco, then back home to unload, and then we turned back around and went to Ikea for more furniture. I think we reminded ourselves of how exhausting moving can be. It was no big surprise that we crashed last night.
So, the first week was largely a big success. The quiz that me and my study buddies had frantically tried tried to prepare for was actually not that bad - we had over prepared. Actually, I think we were probably preparing more for the exam, but that's not a bad habit to get into. My roommate/apartment fiasco, while it has not been resolved, translated into an early move-in for Alex and I. I get to sleep in a place up in the hills, away from busy roads and the sounds of trains passing by at night. Today, I get to play catch up a bit, tutor a few kids in math and chemistry, meet up with some other med school couples at an old-fashioned creamery in Palo Alto and relax a bit more. A busy day, but busy in a great way.
Below you'll find a picture of my class after receiving our white coats (right before our stethoscope ceremony). Hope you all are well! Lots of hugs and love!
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