Sleeping In

This was my first weekend without having to wake up at 6am for hospital volunteer work. It was such a nice change! Unfortunately, I still woke up at 6am! On Sunday, I did better and slept until 7am. But it's not all relaxation. I had to review notes and read for AP I class and the upcoming lab quiz. :/

Also, I added some new links on the side. A PA forum, PA news blog, and a PA student's blog that I found as a link on the news blog. I liked the thoroughness and insight into his PA schooling. More info to help me navigate through this maze! Hope he won't mind. :)

My Aching Back

Isabella by
The North Face

My 10+ lbs of books for this one class is killing my back and shoulders. Currently, the backpacks I own just aren't cutting it. One is much too large and the other is more "fashion" than utilitarian. So I did some research online and settled on The North Face's Isabella. Being petite, I don't want a bag that makes me resemble a turtle, but I still need something that will be roomy enough and make the weight manageable. It seemed to receive rave reviews and I liked it was designed to fit women. The bungee cord system on the front will be good for bulky things, like an extra sweater or jacket.

I visited a sports store in the city that I knew carried it, to test it out. Definitely a huge difference! It was so much more comfortable around the shoulders and plenty roomy. Also, the load seemed to weigh less than the bag I'd been using. Since Zappos' price was cheaper, I ordered from there. For some reason, the black color is $6 less than the other colors, but that's perfectly fine for me! I can't wait till it arrives!

I also bought the mandatory white lab coat for class at Barnes and Noble 18th Street. M. had shown me the 3rd floor where it's all medical and law books (mostly medical) and I remembered they had lab coats. They had run out of the XS unisex size at the school bookstore. B+N had both unisex and ladies sizes, so I took the ladies style since it fit better.

Need CME Credits?

I listen to a lot of different podcasts. About a month ago, I added Persiflagers Infectious Disease Podcast. I was browsing for some interesting medical-topic podcasts and this is one that stuck. I don't know anything about infectious diseases, but I still find it interesting and the guy humorous. Sometimes it's groan-inducing humor, but it's definitely not boring!

For those who need CME credits, some of the episodes are also CME-accredited and you can earn (I think) 30 mins of credits. Most of the info is over my head, but as you can imagine, I have been surrounding myself with medical "stuff" these days. Part of it is purposeful: the more exposure at different angles of everything, the more knowledge connections I make and therefore, the more it sticks (so I hope). Part of it is just that phenomenon of concentrating on one thing and then seeing it everywhere. Is there a word for that? If not, there needs to be.

Appendicular Skeleton

I've survived first week of AP I. Next, I find out if I survive the first of the weekly quizzes. Today in lab, we learned 126 bones of the 208 in the human body. This is the Appendicular portion of the skeleton. That would be everything except the cranial, thoracic, and vertebral portions, which would be the Axial skeleton. It sounds difficult, but broken down, it's not that hard. Since left and right are the same, we only needed to know 63. We'll learn the other 80 in the next couple of labs. Being visual, this is easier for me. So far. :)

Celebration + Lecture

Got my English Comp I grade: A !! Despite knowing I had at least an A-, the final exam's grade left things questionable. As I have mentioned: I don't do well writing essays in a timed environment. I have no idea what I got on the final exam, but the final grade is all that I care about at this point. I just hope I can continue this trend into the science classes. Which leads me to...

Tonight was also my first AP I lecture class. It was long and without breaks (unless you chose to leave the room briefly). But the positive side of that was, we got out an hour earlier! It was a lot of material, sometimes more in depth than I thought needed; other times, incredibly simple. I have a good feeling about the class, but I'll know better after the first tests. Every week there will be a quiz for the lecture class and another for the lab. Oof. But at least there will be no cumulative exam (except for the practical lab exam). So far, so good!

AP I - Day 1

My first AP I class (lab) was tonight. Lecture is M/W, lab is T/Th. And I am going to be geeky and say, "I really like it". It was a full class (about 24 students) and I feel fortunate to get a really good professor. We're also lucky that he teaches the lecture, so it will make things consistent.

Talking to other students, they told me he is really good. I agree! What I like about the professor is that he is very clear and concise, has some humor, doesn't just "lecture", makes the class interesting and go by relatively quickly (it *is* a 4-hr, class after all), and truly wants the students to do well. He is strict (will take 5 pts off your grade if your cell phone rings, you get an F if you miss more than 1 class) but has an excellent memory and says he will know all of our names within the week. And while lecturing in lab, he specifically says "write this down", and proceeds to rattle off specific information that you better know. He's not trying to make learning difficult or be mysterious of what will be tested.

Today's class was primarily the policies, but we also had a run-down of how to use the compound light microscope, how to measure field of vision, and learned anatomical positioning. We also got out 30 mins early. Granted, it's the first class and lecture remains to be seen tomorrow night, but I think he'll make it a good class. I can exhale a little. Just a little. :)

Down side: book/lab book cost me $270 combined. And I still have to buy a lab coat. Up side: they will also be used for AP II class.