A month and counting...

Hi everyone. Sorry for the lack of update, for those keeping up. It has been a crazy week. I instituted my new study strategy which entails never falling behind in classes, i.e. reviewing and studying every lecture before going to bed at night. That has kept me up late, combined with an evening run and attempts to do nightly lab sessions has prevented me from writing sooner.
Block exams are in just over a week so it will probably be another week before I write again. In retrospect, noticing that it is now a month since I have been here it is kind of unbelievable. What would I have done on any other June 1st? Would I have been working, been in summer school? Revelling in the newfound Canadian warmth? Meanwhile, it is quite hot and has been this way since I have arrived. I never check the weather; I am not sure how accurate it would be anyway, I just assume that it will be hot and perhaps rain. Bu t you can easily wait out the rain spells here.
Now to what’s going on with school. We have finished the arm, and now I can tell you all the muscles, where they originate and insert, the nerves, their course in the arm, which muscles they innervate, what part of the skin cutaneous nerves receive stimuli from, joints and their accompanying ligaments, movements, and arterial supply and venous drain. This along with an assortment of other anatomical features. After an initial struggle with the number of muscles to learn, I have found that most anatomists are not actually crazy, they at least try to name this logically. For instance, flexor carpi ulnaris, is a muscle that assists with flexion of the elbow, it attaches to the carpal bones, the wrist bones, and it runs close to the ulna and is innervated by the ulnar nerve. I feel like I am learning some latin and it is fun how they name things. At least I enjoy some of it!
In histology we have moved from hemopoeisis (the formation of blood cells), to cartilage, and today we will begin bone and bone formation. I have been relatively good at keeping up with the class this block, though I wish I spent more time on it this past weekend. I was pretty tired out from the week, and spent Friday catching up on lecture reviews, Saturday I spent concreting my arm knowledge and Sunday I was out of steam, slept a large chunk of the day to make up for during the week, and worked on getting reviewed on the leg for Monday (including some muscle memorization). So the weekend was a bit of a mix-up of things. I really hope I have kept up with what I have needed to, and that this week will not be too bad. The way things are starting out today is not good though – 3 ½ hours of sleep due to going to bed at 2:30am, and not being able to sleep past 6am.
In running matters, I have been running in the evenings every day pretty much. The best time of my day, as I am sure I have mentioned. I constantly want to be taking pictures, but I feel like there is no way that the picture could possibly convey how beautiful the landscape is on the island. I saw a giant lizard too the other day, the wildlife is pretty varied! I feel like Saba could maybe be like another Galapagos island because it is so isolated and the wildlife can specialize here, perhaps like the birds in the Galapagos. I have almost increased my route to the point where I can get to the beach. But – the thing is – there is only a beach here about 6 months a year. It depends on the tides, and every June it disappears until October. I think by the time I am able to reach that distance that there will be no beach left. I have heard there is hardly any at this point!
Anyways, my running is going fantastically, and it is a great way to see the island. I love it. I think training for a marathon here would be impossible though due to the terrain. It looks like my marathon goal is going to be delayed at least for a couple years. Well – you never know, but it looks like planning for training here would be difficult. If anyone has tips in terms of training on very hilly terrain let me know!
Interesting things for the day:
1. I love it when anatomy is easy, while reviewing the femur last night and fractures I learned about the Bumper fracture, which has to be the simplest fracture to remember. Aptly named, it is the name for a compound fracture that occurs when the bumper of a car hits a persons’ leg.
2. Histology is getting really complicated – I knew bone was difficult from the complicated presentation during studying for my MCAT. But the understanding of the cells in that context was quite simplistic, simply an understanding of osteoblasts and osteoclasts (different types of bone cells) was necessary to understand the constant breakdown and creation of bone. Now identifying the more complex parts of bone is more challenging. Also contrasting to other connective tissue will be difficult.
3. I feel like I go in and out of feeling comfortable with material. It’s such a roller coaster. I loved in undergraduate courses to feel confident about the material that I am being tested on. I feel like I cannot ever master anything! As soon as I do, I have spent too much time on something, or I am falling behind in some respect on another concept or class.
4. The vending machine here is terrible. It took my money on one occasion, and then yesterday, the dollar change machine ate my dollar. I would stop using it, except for the fact it is the ONLY food source on campus past 4pm. That is just ridiculous. They need a cafeteria expansion, or at least a better vending machine!
5. Block exams in a week and I am so scared. I really want to do well. Let me be clear, I want to be a knowledgeable doctor – and I want to know as much as I can! Learning more will help me be the best I can be at what I do.

Have a great week everyone!