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Frankly, the joy of discovery in gross anatomy is irreplaceable. Actually seeing peripheral nerves, holding visceral organs, looking inside of another human and thinking “oh, so this is what the lecturer was talking about” is the definition of applied biological science. And I miss it. A lot.

We finished our cadaver-based anatomy course in the middle of February with head/neck anatomy, and then transitioned over to a neuroanatomy course. One would think that physically studying the brain would be of great interest considering my goal, but there’s something about it which just isn’t “exciting” like finding muscles, tendons, vessels, etc. Maybe it’s because the overwhelming majority of the brain’s elegance cannot be visualized? Maybe it’s because there aren’t any cool lever systems which attest to the body’s incredible mechanical design?

The infectious disease course has also spanned two blocks (four months), and just like anatomy, there’s a lot of memorization; however, unlike the former, there’s very little application until we get to clinicals. Initially, much of my time went into memorizing the Latin-root-heavy terms of anatomy, but I immediately applied that knowledge in locating structures during lab. Who cares if P. aeruginosa causes otitis externa or E. histolytica can cause bloody diarrhea? I won’t really remember any of this stuff until I see patients.

…but I guess that’s how medical school goes.

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As a third year medical student at Baylor College of Medicine, my posts are intended to educate others and share my experiences from this incredible journey without violating patient privacy at all costs. These blurbs are not to serve as a replacement for recommendations provided by licensed physicians under any circumstance.