The many hours I spend with a cadaver these weeks make me contemplate death more than I might otherwise, and make me think of—and appreciate—Donne’s view on the subject all the more:
DEATH, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so:
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death; nor yet canst thou kill me.
From Rest and Sleep, which but thy picture be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow;
And soonest our best men with thee do go—
Rest of their bones and souls’ delivery!
Thou’rt slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke. Why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die!
So there, death.
I went 5/5 with the morning runs this week. Tuesday was the warmest, all the other mornings hovered at 30.º I think my subconscious must be fan, because I woke up just before my alarm sounded each morning, even though my weariness increased as the week progressed.
Meanwhile, I feel slightly less on top of my game in the med school world. I think they have crammed more more to learn in this third block than earlier blocks. We’ve had 4 anatomy lab dissections just this week. Yes, 4. And I think we have 3 more next week before our next exam. And we’re up in the head/neck/brain/face area, which is just a little complex. And the pulmonary physiology is not the most intuitive of systems. And have I mentioned the “self study” modules they expect us to complete this block, too—on the histology of the ear and the bones of the skull and face? Do you have any idea how many distinct bones and foramen and fissures and fossa are your skull?
But I digress. It’s Friday! And in three weeks I’ll be with the family in Austin!
New for loss of daylight + HSF block 3:
early morning runs. I’m 2 for 2 this week: monday the run started at 29º at 6.15 am; today, same time, 49º and drizzly. It feels good so far, and provides a little more study time in the evening when I previously took a break for a run. I’m slightly concerned how this will go once the snow commences, but I’m pretty sure I’ll beat winter with my gore-tex trainers and reflective jacket. Pretty sure.
thinking about running barefoot:
(barefoot running?)
mostly because of Born to Run and its buzz in the NY Times:
I am concerned about my feet getting cold as winter sets in, so maybe Walt can tell me how it goes with these:
As is evident in the picture of his hobbit-feet above, he was always the most intense, cutting-edge, and coolest among us. (Sorry, Macon. And yes, those are Walter’s feet above.)
We’ve not yet progressed to the lower limbs portion of anatomy and physiology; but once we do I’m sure I’ll have a more complete picture of the biomechanics of the run. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, if you’ve taken to the barefoot running, do let me know.
anatomy of a gross anatomy exam:
7:55 am: arrive in the halls outside the 5th floor anatomy labs; stow backpacks in locker; clipboard in hand.
7:58: professor passes out answer sheet: 2 pages, 26 numbers, a and b for each number, one number circled in red; enter lab.
7:59: standby at the cadaver station corresponding to your circled number for buzzer to sound.
8:00: buzzer buzzes; find the little pin somewhere in the body, stuck into nerve, vein, artery, lymph duct, muscle, fascia, organ, or something you hope you can recognize; answer the 2-part question corresponding to pinned item; do this before the buzzer sounds again in 1 minute, 45 seconds.
8:01.45-8:46: move to next cadaver/question, and repeat above, twenty-five more times.
Important rules: The anatomy exam is not comprehensive, but only covers the dissections from the past three weeks: the thoracic cavity (heart, lungs, and everything around them and within your rib cage) and the neck. You cannot touch the cadavers. This is hard, because you’re quite used to touching them (with gloves, of course) to see where vessels are coming from and where they’re going. This is especially hard for the heart questions, because the hearts have been removed and seemingly haphazardly placed on the table in various rotations; it takes too much time to get your heart bearings. You can’t go back to any of the stations or questions; once the buzzer buzzes, you must move on.
Of note: I imagine that we’re a funny group of test-takers to watch. We stretch our heads and necks as far as we can in and around the cadaver to see what’s going; we often palpate our own bodies to figure out the action of a muscle, or where on the body geography to listen for the mitral valve or the best breath sounds. I dropped my pencil at one point, and worried it would fall into the body; it bounced off and fell on the floor instead; I had to pick it up and keep using it, of course.
When the anatomy exam is finished, move on the histolab, for an exam similar to the anatomy, except with 26 microscope stations instead of cadavers, then move on to that much more comforatble physiology exam with 8-option multiple choice questions and entire blank pages on which to diagram the baroflex response to a hemorrhage.
And repeat again in 3 weeks.
But now: a nap, and then a run on the most gorgeous clear, blue fall day.
Woke at 4 am to study; love the coffee.
(http://www.bu.edu/histology/p/01811ooa.htm)
Oh histo.
For Monday: remember the names AND identity of all these cells. And more.
Mnemonics:
for erhytrhopoeisis: PB-PORE (proerythroblast, basophilic erythrocyte, polychromatic erythrocyte, orthochromatic erythrocyte, erythrocyte).
for granulopoeisis: My prayers make me believe more (myeloblast, promyelocyte, myelocyte, metamyelocyte, banded neutrophil, mature (segemented) neutrophil).
And don’t forget to remember the microscopic look of all the organs you’ve studied. And various kinds of lymph tissue. And how everything looks different in electron microscope imagery.
And stack this histology comfortably between the anatomy and physiology, please.
It’s a good thing for the collateral flow; otherwise a serious blockage might be developing.
