Breather

I'm knee deep in the festering muck of shelf exams. I always approach them with a little bit of apprehension - they're supposed to be an external measure of (1) how well and comprehensively they're teaching us and (2) how diligently and aptly we're learning. That being the case, there tend to be a whole lot of things I've never heard of - not things I forgot to study, or just plain forgot - things I've never heard of. So, I split my studying between reviewing high-yield course information, and reviewing 1st Aid for the USMLE. Quite honestly, I haven't given that book enough credit - it wasn't particularly useful when I bought it first semester, but I've made some notes here and there. It was far more pertinent when we began looking at organ systems, and I wish I'd added more notes - it was invaluable for the microbiology review. Not so much for path.

Micro Shelf: The First One. I thought it went alright; one never can really tell with these things.
Pathology lab Final: I love these lab practicals - it's like playing a matching game, only with disease.
Pathology Shelf Exam: You know, as much as I enjoy pathology and as well as I tend to do, I wasn't overly thrilled walking into this one - maybe that's because it was only 19 hours after the last one.
Pharmacology Shelf: Even 1st Aid didn't help too much here; some things I knew without reading the rest of the stem, some things I had to sit and think through, and some things I'd never heard of. I wish I'd reviewed diabetic drugs a bit more, and I should have paid a bit more attention to antipsychotics, but oh well - what's done is done.

Next up we have the ICM (introduction to clinical medicine) shelf, and then MINI III (and then I'm leaving Dominica forever!).

The shelves this time around carried a bit more weight in my mind - whereas the shelf exams after the second semester (physiology, histology, anatomy, neuroscience, and biochemistry) felt somewhat arbitrary, this last round of NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners) Shelf exams is more geared to the the kinds of things we'll see on the USMLE Step 1. Sure, it'll all be covered, but there's a hell of a lot more path than histo - tons more pharmacology than biochem. That being the case, it really puts my learning thus far into perspective. Am I on the right track? Have I learned things well, or just "learned'n'purged"? There was definitely some of the latter, let me tell you - a month ago, I knew those diabetic drugs.


I guess we'll see. I'm anticipating 5th semester in Miami - whereas my colleagues are daydreaming about the reliability of hot water, and the complete absence of cows on the road, my thoughts are a bit more direct; since my building has a gym, I'll be able to work out every day - and I'll be able to do thousands of practice USMLE questions. In the words of one of the rednecks who lives in the backwoods of my mind, "I'm gonna whup that puppy."