Finals Week

So it starts. The beginning of the end... of the term. One semester almost complete and I can say medical school is tough. There is a lot of information to learn and it comes from all different directions. Fortunately, there are topics that crossover into the other classes, and that help ease the load. Despite that, I easily spent a good 14-18hrs. cramming for my biochemistry final (after regular daily review) and I would have enjoyed another day to prepare. But that's over now, and I've moved on to histology. This entry is actually my histology study (18hr. cramming session) break.

Really, clicking through countless slides of various tissues, structures and stains has made appreciate just how much variation can exist. Thinking back to just over three months ago, I could only differentiate general color and shape differences between the slides. Ok, that's a bit overstated. They all looked the same to me. But now, I can glimpse at an image and say "oh, that's from the kidney", or "hey, look Meissner's corpuscle." Although, I believe our professor would be dissapointed if I didn't shout "Osteocytes extensions in Canaliculi!"

After tomorrow's test, we get a day's break before diving into the Anatomy final. Fun. 8am virtual slides and written test. That's followed by a half-hour lab practical in the afternoon. Then, we're done. First term of medical school will be complete. My bags will be packed, I'll finish the last load of laundry before a few items are put away into the campus storage room and I'll head out for an evening with my classmates.

Although I may be getting ahead of myself. I already started picking up books for next term. That better not jinx me.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me luck in the last few days. It helps to be reminded of all the support I have.