First official day in medical

First official day in medical school. Preceded by a three day weekend of unprecedented studying. Who studied for 10 hours straight on sunday? Fiona! Who now knows quite a bit about the spinal chord and vertebral column, but not enough to feel very confident in the course? That would be Fiona again.

We had our white coat ceremony last friday. It was really great- very moving. All sorts of doctor people welcomed us into the medical profession and gave us sagely advice. Then we, and all the physicians present, recited the oath of geneva, which is a revised version of the hippocratic oath (one that acknowledged women as potential doctors as well). I got a bit choked up at several points in the ceremony, but especially at the final sentence of the oath, which goes "I make these promises solemnly, freely, and upon my honor." For some reason, that one really got to me.

More than anything, that ceremony filled me with a warm satisfaction and sense of anticipation: this is really what i want to be doing with my life. This is my job now - to learn the art of medicine. I'm ready. Granted, I felt all that before i studied for 10 HOURS on sunday, but the principle remains the same. I am happy.

We had our 2nd anatomy lab today. Tiny little Rose (our name for our cadaver) has given us her back muscles, vertebrae, and spinal chord. She is an amazing teacher. The spinal chord was unveiled today, after a lot of crude chiseling and plying, and it was breath taking. To see all the little individual nerves... very cool.

I have decided to put in my journal occasional pointers that i have come across. Not that i think anybody is reading this, but they bring up interesting topics. I will denote the pointers with little asteriks.

* Tip #1 - in gross anatomy lab, pick a little old lady if you have the choice. She will be easier to turn over, and her muscles won't be ocluded by fat. Also, there will be less tissue and bone to get through. Big old men are a lot more work.

* Tip #2 - double glove! There is a very distinct smell to the embalming fluid, and, as you will discover right away, it has the incredible ability to somehow get under the gloves and into your hands. Smelling dead bodies everytime you take a bite out of an apple is not that appetizing. If you are at a school like OHSU that only allows 1 pair of gloves per lab session (what? what the hell is my $23,000 going for if not to allow me enough gloves to get through a 2 hour lab - even gen chem at LC offered unlimited gloves. Honestly, its not that much to ask). Anyway, if you find yourself in this situation, buy your own, or double glove it secretly. Its worth it. (oh, and put a layer of liquid soap between the gloves).

* Tip #3 - If, like me, you have big hands and go to a school where the gloves are neither big enough nor long enough (what is it with this place? They have severe glove issues), AND you don't want your hands to smell like dead people, then try this trick: rub some liquid soap on your wrists and leave it there. It will wash off at the end of lab, and your wrists will be free of that pesky odor! I invented it myself. But just so you know - there WILL be some live skin to dead skin contact. Its unavoidable. But its not that bad.

--------