Links

>> New Scientist has launched its very own blog. Short Sharp Science contains a "daily round-up of science news" served in bite-sized chunks that go down easy.

>> I can't believe I missed this before: Potential Ebola Vaccine passes first human tests

>> DNA can reveal a person's last name: Turi King and her team discovered that in 20% of cases they could predict a man’s surname by matching his DNA with that of another man with the same last name. "This discovery means that forensic scientists may eventually be able to use DNA to help determine the identity of a suspect, or at least narrow a search down to a few pages in a phone book."

what's going on in pisay?

High school will always be high school, but the recent turn of events in my alma mater is not something I'm particulary proud of. It has gone too far already.

I do remember the innumerable stupid things I did back in high school. I remember being late for curfew. I remember that as a dormer I went out of campus several times without a gatepass. I remember strolling around the campus with friends whose idea of fun was throwing stones at street lamps and seeing who could bust the most bulbs. I remember friends who sought thrills by lying down in the middle of Agham road. I remember the incident where the F-word was spray painted on one of the classroom blackboards. I remember the time when the dormers from the Boys Residence Hall smeared feces all over the dorm manager's room. Yet, in all these I have to agree with what Ina has to say, at least then "the only person you can kill is yourself".

getting some zzz's

1:30 p.m. right after lunch break, having taken an antihistamine for my allergic rhinitis I was close to falling asleep. I kept taking notes only to find out later on that my handwriting was not legible at all. It's not even funny. I was pinching myself, trying hard not to fall asleep as my professor discussed sleep disorders. I kid you not. I almost couldn't tell whether I was dreaming about sleep apnea or my professor was lecturing on it.

The first letter I saw when I checked my email this afternoon came from my grandmother. I didn't even have to open it to know what it was all about. The subject gave it all away: My sister is dead.

She didn't even try to put it nicely. I suppose with death there really is no way of breaking the news gently.

Here's to remembering being read bible stories when I was a little girl and hearing my grandmother pray the rosary in Spanish. Here's to a long life of having loved and cared for family and being loved and cared for in return. I'm sure she is in an even better place today.

caffeine nap

Achieve-IT! blogs:

Sleep researchers at the Loughborough University in Britain did several tests on fatigued drivers to compare the effects of different methods a driver can use to stay awake . . . What researchers found worked the best was a caffeine nap.

The Caffeine Nap is simple. You drink a cup of coffee and immediately take a 15 minute nap. Researchers found coffee helps clear your system of adenosine, a chemical which makes you sleepy. So in testing, the combination of a cup of coffee with an immediate nap chaser provided the most alertness for the longest period of time. The recommendation was to nap only 15 minutes, no more or less and you must sleep immediately after the coffee.

Hmmm, so that's what it's called. I've been taking caffeine naps without my actually knowing it. I do, however, have a tendency to prolong the duration of the nap. I suppose that's the reason why it doesn't work for me all the time :)

sa wakas

Finally through with midterm exams.

The exam for Applied Nutrition went well enough but I was rather upset about the last 15 items of enumeration and identification. I'm glad I the the computations, because as with the prelim exam, the computations (done correctly) are the only ones I can count on.

The second exam, Legal Medicine, wasn't so good to me. While I did get questions 2 and 3 (legal definition of rape and quantities of prohibited drugs that warrant a penalty or lifetime imprisonment or death and a fine ranging from P50,000 to P10,000,000) I wasn't able to enumerate and define all the personality disorders for the first question. Not that I didn't know what the personality disorders are or how to differentiate them. It was just that our professor specified that our definitions should be based entirely on his book. So you see, the recent lecture in Psychiatry about personality disorders was of no help at all. After the exam, we finished the day by discussing firearm wounds (how very interesting?!). Next week's quiz/recitation will be on impotence and sterility and medicolegal investigation of wounds. I promise to read his hand-out at least twice this time. I definitely need a better grade for the subject.

midterms pa rin

There is nothing much to write about especially after my post about 37-pound woman with osteogenesis imperfecta giving birth to a 3-lbs 7-oz baby got lost in cyberspace. Today is officially the last day of our midterms although I do have 2 other exams which were rescheduled for Thursday. As such, the studying and the toxicity continues. This is how it has been for the past few days:

Thursday
A break from the exams (no scheduled exams for today, but of course the studying continues)
>> Level of Toxicity: 4 cups of coffee + 2 colas

Friday
Internal Medicine 7:30 - 10:30
>> Level of Toxicity: 4 cups of coffee + 1 cola

Saturday
Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery 7:30 - 10:30
>> Level of Toxicity: 3 cups of coffee + 1 cup of tea

Sunday
>> Level of Toxicity: 3 cups of coffee + 1 cola

Monday
Gynecology 7:30 - 10:30
Rehab Med 2:30 - 5:30
>> Level of Toxicity: 4 cups of coffee . . . so far

[And yes, I'm blogging just a few hours before an exam. I really just want all this to end.]

rant

It is the second time this week that I’ve been stood up for a study session. When you have absolutely no life, going out to meet friends to study is a big deal. It’s practically the highlight of the week.

I'm pissed. Life sucks. To compensate for my sorry state I ended up buying a roll of film and looking for postcards to send to people I don't know.

Back to studying.

phdcomics

Piled Higher and Deeper

I’m not exactly taking a PhD (I would have if I wasn’t taking Medicine) but I still think this comic strip is cool and funny. My friends in grad school think so, too. As well they should if they have a sense of humor. It pokes fun on their daily trials and tribulations, and the frustration that research and the academe invariably bring about. In short, it practically depicts their life.

Does anyone out there know of a nice comic strip about medical students and doctors? Please, please do tell me about it. I really would love to check it out. Thanks.

[If you’re wondering how I find the time to surf the net and blog in the middle of midterms, there’s only one word to explain it all – PROCRASTINATION. Okay, okay. Enough of it. Back to studying.]



Oh, I almost forgot. Here’s another interesting and informative blog I’ve happened upon: Aetiology. Blogger Tara C. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at University of Iowa and is also the Deputy Director of the university's Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases.

midweek midterm madness

My present state is such that if I close my eyes even for a few seconds I fall asleep. Imagine my paranoia when taking exams. I can't even close my eyes to try and search the recesses of my brain for the answer to a hemorrhage-inducing difficult question. Stretch the paranoia a bit more and understand that with too little sleep I am afraid that when I do get to sleep I won't wake up in time to take my exams. I have reached a point where I am setting two alarm clocks to wake me up in the morning and it is still not that effective since I always hit the snooze button. Yesterday I was awakened by the phone ringing and found out that I was holding one alarm clock as I slept. It seems that I had stood up to turn it off, and with it still in my hand, I had gone back to sleep.

My midterms sched:

MONDAY
Pathologic OB 7:30 - 10:30
Psychiatry 11:00 - 2:00
Dermatology 2:30 - 5:30
>> Level of toxicity: 4 cups of coffee + 2 glasses of cola

TUESDAY
Clinical Therapuetics 7:30 - 10:30
Surgery 11:00 - 2:00
Neurology 2:30 - 5:30
>> Level of toxicity: 3 cups of coffee + 2 glasses of cola

WEDNESDAY
Pediatrics 7:30 - 10:30
Community and Family Medicine 2:30 - 5:30
>> Level of toxicity: 3 cups of coffee + 1 cup of tea . . . so far.

The midterm exams go on until next week.

Kaya ko to!

midterms

Last night until about 3 in the morning I was hanging out at McDonald’s along with a couple of friends determined to get some studying done. In one of our 10-minute breaks I couldn’t help but comment on how we deal with exams and our expectations for the results. As the years go by our standards seem to be going down. You can say that it takes less to make us happy (that is, lower scores) but really it’s just that exams are becoming immensely more difficult. Plus, there certainly is just too many things to remember.

To illustrate, here is a typical conversation after exam results are given:

As first year students:
Kumusta ang exam?
Ayos lang. Mataas naman ang nakuha ko.

As second year students:
Kumusta ang exam?
Pumasa naman. Ayos na rin kahit sabit lang. Babawi na lang ako sa susunod

As third year students:
Kumusta ang exam?
Syempre, bagsak. Buti na lang high failing. Sana makabawi pa sa susunod.

I suppose this is how it will be like next year:
Kumusta ang exam?
Anong exam?