he said WHAT?

I just had to post this: we're doing the neurophyophsis in physiology, and right now (literally) we're talking about oxytocin (which stimulates milk release in lactating women). The professor said, that if a woman comes into the doctor's office, and is suckling her baby, but no milk is coming out, your first questions must be "Are they real?" Because, as he so eloquently explained, natural breasts are for suckling babies, but breasts that have perhaps been augmented somehow, are "for adult babies". I've never heard so much applause.

"Drink up me Hearties - Yo ho!"

It's a rainy Sunday evening. This has been a slow, although fairly productive weekend so far - yesterday after a morning of studying, Nicole and I went the gym and then to a birthday party for the husband of one of our good friends - Glynis the P.A. It was nice to get out of the house and socialize for a bit (I've always been accussed of being a little antisocial). After that, Nicole and I researched some of the hotels we're thinking of booking with in Buenos Aires - we found some bad reviews we hadn't expected, so it was nice to narrow down our choices and make some serious headway in the matter. (Oh dear...I hope that isn't a surprise to anyone...)

This morning, Nicole, Glynis and I pounded through some endocrine histology. We've got a very picky professor who seems to take pride in writing tricky questions(I only say that because it's true), so we dug down through thyroid hormone formation and ovulation. It's ironic -for all the pride he takes in his trickiness, his lectures left a lot to be desired; I had to go do a lot of outside research to get things to make sense. But you know what? I'm all OVER the pituitary gland.

I'm sure that's useful to someone. I mean, if I had a pituitary adenoma, I'd care. Endocrinology just doesn't interest me that much - it's something I have to learn, for the grade, and that's that. On the first day of this semseter, our anatomy professor (of whom I'm not the biggest fan - he talks too much, and still manages to not cover a whole lot) presented us with a quote from someone old and dead and Latin - "Non scolae sed vitae discimus" - which means "Don't learn for school; but for life". Give me a break. I'm learning all of this insignificant minutiae so that I can pass tests right now - I'm learning so that I can jump through hoops. Will some of it be useful? I'm betting on it. Will some of it form a firm foundation upon which I can build a mental library of medicine, which I will revisit every day during my practice? I'm betting on that too. However, is the most important reason I memorize the difference between red-staining and blue-staining pituitary cells because it's useful in practice? I...uh....I think that's just a test question.....I think for now, I'll scolae discimus.

Speaking of useful versus non-useful information, why can't someone explain to me why the theme song from the Pirates of the Caribbean ("Drink up me Hearties - Yo ho!") has become stuck in my head more profoundly than any other song I've ever heard? I have no idea! I remember when I dissected out the abdominal vessels - I closed my eyes, and I saw arterial arcades on the jejunum. This is like that, only so much worse! I'm listening to the theme song by Hans Zimmer right now, but if I were to turn it off, it would keep playing on loop just below my conscious perception, as if somewhere in my superior temporal gyrus (primary auditory cortex, that is), a new tract has been formed - one that connects to all memory stations, and somewhere, swimming in the neuronal cell bodies, are miniature Jack Sparrows!

Maybe it's just because I'm IN the Caribbean, and I really AM a pirate. Well, if med school doesn't work out.....

The games we Play

Most of the ones I play are in my head - I'm having to secondarily live vicariously through myself...if that makes any sense. I haven't really gotten a break - the first mini-exam was on Monday, and grades came out today. I did alright, but we have our neuroscience practicum tomorrow. I took a practice test yesterday, and another one today, and while I could walk in there and do fine, I'd like to grab my grades by the scruff of the neck and yank 'em up to where they oughta be. It's similar to the heart - I felt that I should understand all things cardiac because Dad's an interventional cardiologist - and I feel like I should be doing better than everyone else in neurosci because I cut open sheep brains as part of my major. Anyway, not having a break has pushed something deep down in my psyche to take little unscheduled recesses, like an antsy little kid. I'm studying for this neurosci practical, and in the thoracic cord central gray, I see an alien cat. Seriously. When I'm looking at the midbrain, I can't help but see a fetal mouse. Trust me - there's a moth in the shape of the rostral medulla (actually I see moths everywhere - have you ever seen a uterus?). Seriously...it can't be just me...I mean...don't you see the demon pig too?

Another day, another test

It seems like forever since I last wrote, but I've been noticing a certain bleakeness in my posts as of late. Perhaps it's a combination of the oppressive Caribbean heat and the increased volume of information, or maybe it's just weariness - maybe I'm still getting over a little bit of a cold. Whatever the reason, I'm beat. We had our first mini on Monday (which was a beast, but I think it wnt pretty well). We have neuroanatomy practicum on Friday, and in between those two, we've got 8-hour days full of classes.

There's a bit more stress, because I'm trying to figure out how to get home. The loan money is there, but it's not a gift - everything's going to be paid back with interest. That being the case, the ever-rising airline tickets and the fees that seem to be multiplying like hybrid demon rabbits (all bags are charged extra now - not just that extra 25 lbs) are making it more difficult to get home than it should be. I flew down to the island using a rather unhelpful travel agency suggested by the med school, but for future tickets, I've been trying to break down the trip into different legs in order to save a little money. The way it's looking, though, I'll have to get a ticket from home to Fort Lauderdale, another one from there to San Juan, and another one from San Juan to Dominica (I already have my return ticket). It's such a frustrating hassle, I'm wondering whether or not it migth be better to just do another vacation, and save the homeward journey for Christmas.

Nicole and I are thinking about somewhere in South America this time - and it seems like that's what God wants, since every time we check, plane tickets home get more expensive, and hotels in Buenos Aires get cheaper. We were jokingly talking about touring the Chilean wine country, but it's getting more serious - that may actually end up being more feasable than going home for a week. This sounds absolutely crazy - it's easier to vacation in South America than it is to get back to Texas - but I am on a tiny little nowhere island in the Caribbean, and things are different here. Something else in the back of my mind is the question of whether or not I'll ever have this kind of chance again. I don't believe it'll ever be this easy to get to South America.

I'm not starry-eyed with the prospect of travel - when I was living in Germany, my family and I visited France, Turkey, Spain, Switzerland, Greece, Italy, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, England, and I'm sure I'm leaving something out. I've been to Jamaica, the Bahamas, St. Lucia and now Dominica, and there's been a bit of travelling in the US as well - Hawaii, Texas, Washington (state and D.C.), Georgia, New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Alaska, Nevada, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan - in other words, I've been lots of places. I should have kept better journals, but now I have the opportunity to go somewhere I've never been before. Buenos Aires is the most attractive option right now (I'd joked about Veneuzla, but one look at the state department's website told me that'd be a bad idea), and this may very well be a once-in a lifetime chance.

I think my Spanish is good enough. I hope it'll be, at least.

It's unreal - that might end up bein my break between second and third semesters. I've got some thinking to do -the least of which concerns parafollicular cell histology and thyroid biochemistry. And brains. Lots of brains.

And miles to go before I sleep

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep -
But I have promises to keep;
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."

Today's Thursday and I'm going to start my weekend. That doesn't mean I get to relax - oh no no no. That means I get to do some serious, serious study. The days now typically run from 8am to 5 pm, and 3 out of 5 days, I've got 2 hour review sessions in the evenings. Things are kinda hectic right now, and I've just caught a cold, so I'm constantly attempting to divert a snot waterfall from washing away my notes on the thalamic nuclei and the embryological formation of the gut tube.

On the other hand, though, the sea has been incredibly warm and clear.