Monday, January 31, 2011

Week 3 over

I forgot to update. Yes, it's been a great week. The classes are fine still. The material is all stuff that I learned in the FTM (foundations to medicine) before I even started real med school. Furthermore, it's my favorite courses - Physiology and Neuroscience. The teaching style is similar to engineering in both and the material overlaps tremendously. For physio, I just have to sit back, relax, and listen as it is just a story. For neuro, I just have to do some math (yay). Genetics and Parasitology require a bit more work since it involves lots of memorization, but it's all-do-able.

I have volunteered to become an Anatomy 'demonstrator' to help Term 1 students in the Anatomy lab every Fri from 8-10 pm. Last Fri was my first shift. Yes, I do get paid - it's only 10 ec per hour, but that means 20 ec every time I do it, which is equivalent to one free meal. It was great, I have access to all the course materials that Term 1 students have. I basically read 2 weeks of their material (~9 lectures)+lab videos in 3 hours after my class on Fri. Then, I even finished my own lectures that I had on Fri. By the time, it was 8 pm, I was already ready to go to the lab. I wasn't expecting many students during 8-10 pm, on a Fri, especially when it's only end of Week 2, but there were many. I helped a lot of students.

It's a lot better than joining clubs in my opinion as it forces me to review anatomy from 1st Term, which will be on my board exams. It also gives me an opportunity to refine my lab skills, which when I do clinical rotations, is going to be of prime importance.

I'm also working out 1-2 times per week now, which I think is reasonable.

Friday, January 21, 2011

Week 2 over

The 2nd week is over. Nothing has really changed. Still the same courses: Genetics, Neuroscience, and Physiology. I am still enjoying my on-campus living. I am able to cook breakfast and dinner everyday. Here are some of the things I've cooked:

Vegetarian Penne Pasta

Egg & Cheese Sandwich
I also volunteered to help with Anatomy dissections once a week. This way I can keep up with what I learned.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Term 2 begins!

I didn't have time to update the blog. My vacation was awesome. I came back to Grenada on Jan. 11th night. It was a 20+ hours trip, but after I landed, I still had work to do. I have officially moved on-campus now and the room is great! Single room with kitchenette right behind charter hall - it doesn't get any better than this. All my classes are in charter hall, I literally can reach my classroom from my house in 1 min. walking. The view from my window is great too. Only sad part about all of this is - some of my pots and pans were missing when transferring from my off-campus house to my on-campus house. It seems somebody just went into my room and took them.

Class started on Jan. 10th, I was 2 days behind. It's Saturday now though and I'm fully caught up with everything. I'm doing the same routine - making my own notes for every lecture. I have 3 courses right now - Genetics, Physiology, and Neuroscience. Genetics is just like biochem from last term. Physiology is the closest thing to engineering I'll ever get and will probably be my favorite course. Even missing the whole week, I could still teach the course. Neuroscience is also an awesome course and is similar to anatomy from last term.

This term is a lot better than term 1. All the classes end before lunch time and the best part is I don't have to commute, which means I might actually start liking Grenada. I can now study as much as I want in the library and eat conveniently.