The human body is a beautiful thing. Why? Because of how effectively and reliably it establishes homeostasis in an environment which is in constant flux. Most of us take our inner workings for granted, but every second of every day, our body is constantly fighting against change. Obama would be appalled.

It feels like just yesterday when I was at orientation with my PRN group in July. Now we’re already 1/3rd done with all of our pre-clinicals and staring down block 4 (head/neck, immunology, pathology) after the Christmas Break.

Over the last three weeks, we’ve dissected through the female perineum and explored the reproductive system thoroughly. Psychologically, I’ve gone from feeling confident about my anatomy knowledge to a guessing game of how severely I’ll fail the practical; however, yesterday’s sample pinning quickly restored my confidence.

Tuesday afternoon, I had my first encounter with a standardized patient (SP) as part of the PPS I HX/PE exam. I was responsible for taking the patient’s complete history and vital signs as well as conducting a cardio, respiratory, and abdominal exam. Though this encounter was purely for practice, I learned a great deal about […]

Someday in the future when I get married and have children, I’ll probably be asked: “Daddy, where do babies come from?” A year ago, I would have confidently voiced the “when a man and woman fall in love” lecture which would a.) not answer their original question and b.) make them ask what love is. […]

It’s been a while since I’ve written an entry about my experiences in the anatomy lab, so I’ll play some catchup.

Today was the first day of Block 3 – GIMNER (Gastrointestinal, Metabolism, Nutrition, Endocrinology, and Reproduction). Whew, just typing that list wore me out. I can’t imagine what the coming weeks will bring.

Yesterday afternoon, the emergency medicine interest group (EMIG), a student run organization, showed students how to insert a chest tube, how to intubate, and how to administer simple interrupted sutures. We also got to learn some off shoots like basic neck anatomy (to help understand the intubation process), using a staple gun (in place of […]

The last few anatomy labs have been relatively easy, and today’s was no different. This morning’s agenda consisted of peering deep into the thoracic cavity uncovering the structures below the heart and lungs, particularly the vessels/nerves of the mediastinum.

Today, we explored the incredibly unique structure of the lungs. Most of the tissues we’ve dealt with so far have been rather dense and/or fibrous, but the lungs presented us with far more spongy and pliable dissection. Since the rib cage had already been removed for the heart dissection, the lungs were readily accessible.