"...Trying to Drink with your mouth over the end of a Firehose."

The title of this post is something that I was told by a physician in reference to what med school is like. I have already come to the conclusion that he is right! It's pretty intense with all the information thrown at you in such a short amount of time!

Our first block exams were last week and they went pretty well. Didn't do as well on my Histo block as I would have liked, but it wasn't horrible and it's easily reversible with a little more studying. I made the mistake of studying too much for Anatomy and neglected Histo. On the other hand, Anatomy went pretty well! The lab exam was HORRIBLE, although I didn't do terrible. Only 16 people passed the lab exam which is 40% of the first block of Anatomy. (By the way, to pass the block, you have to receive a score higher than 75%... anything lower is failing. It's a lot higher standard than in the States where you only have to be above a 60%.) But I did really well on the theory part of the block and the average equaled out to a solid B. 45 students failed the first block in Anatomy which was a pretty high number. The average was about a 77%.

So, overall I am ok with the block. I now know how they test and what to focus on, et cetera. I have also adjusted some of my study habits to be more useful of my time. After the block, I went down to the port and swam in the ocean with some people which was nice! Felt kinda weird to not be doing anything school related all night. But that feeling was short-lived... Wednesday soon arrived and we were thrown into 2 days of a double Embryo lecture with Dr. B. His lectures are VERY overwhelming! There is soooo much content and he just reads through it very quickly and it does me no good to listen to the lecture because there is no time to digest the material before another slide full of information comes. So, after those lectures, I have to go through the PowerPoints on my own and teach myself the material, which sucks because I spent 4 hours in class not learning this so I have to spend 6 outside of class teaching it to myself.

This block (exam is on June 7 and 8) for Anatomy covers the Embryology of body cavities, the cardiovascular system and the respiratory system, as well as the Upper and Lower Limbs. We are finishing the upper limb lectures tomorrow and jumping into lower limb on Friday. There is sooooo much we have to know for this block because we have to know everything from the brachial plexus and shoulder to the tip of the fingers and everything in between (muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, lymph, bones, tendons, ligaments, joints and fascia). Its not just a know what it is a where it is, but we have to know all the intricate details which makes it a lot of work. For example, a possible test question would be...
A 14-year-old boy falls on his outstretched hand and has a fracture of the scaphoid bone. The fracture is most likely accompanied by a rupture of which of the following arteries?
A) Brachial Artery
B) Ulnar Artery
C) Deep palmar arterial arch
D) Radial artery
E) Princeps pollicis artery

(the answer is D incase you were wondering)

SO, its kinda overwhelming and we are only halfway through the material for the first block. A ton of information in less than 3 weeks! You can't get behind... it's as simple as that! But the thing is, it is doable, you just have to have focus and know how to study efficiently.

The island experience for me right now is pretty much limited to looking out my window to the ocean in the distance and then walking down to class and back to my room to study. I got to take a break this past weekend and played flag football on Saturday then hung out with some friends in Windwardside after. I then walked back from Windwardside to The Bottom which was a pretty intense walk with a major change in elevation between the two towns (I should remind you that Saba is a volcanic island).

Well, I could blog more about the past few weeks, but the medial cutaneous nerve of the forearm is calling my name... wow, I'm a nerd now! haha Until next time, Keep it classy North America!

Cheers from Saba!

First week of Medical School

Whew! I finally have some time to breathe! It's been a long week, but it has also been a good experience! We didn't start classes until Tuesday but the profs have laid it on HARD! I have heard from some upper classmates that they hate the island because there is nothing to do. Problem that I have in understanding their arguments is that, I haven't had any time to do anything anyway! So far this week class goes from 8-12:15 and then from 1:00-3:00 (or 3:15-:500 depending on which Anatomy lab we are in). After class is over, I came back to my dorm and took a 30 minute break to relax and either nap or catch up on world events. SIDENOTE: We got our internet hooked up in our dorm a few days ago and it was amazing! I don't feel like I'm in a 3rd world country anymore! Anyway, after the R&R time, its time to study. We are given at least 200 PowerPoint slides every day and depending on the prof, you have to do more studying to understand the material. Dinner break for about 30 mins then back at the books til bedtime. I don't have time to go out and do anything anyway, so it's nice not having anything that could possibly distract me!

Now, I mentioned about the study time depends on the prof... There is one prof in particular here that I have some problems with. His lectures are sooo spaced out and confusing. He does not spend much time at all actually teaching you, but rather reading his powerpoint slide and moving on. Today, we went through 140 slides in 1 hour and 45 minutes. It is so overwhelming when he is flying through the material and you haven't been able to even grab at the major points. When I get back to the dorm that evening and start going through the material, I have found that I can easily understand the material when it is presented in a better way. There are several profs here that are great! They explain it and ask for questions to make you understand it (not rush through and intimidate you by their interaction with the students). I have been told by several upperclassmen that this one professor lightens up in his student interactions by the end of the semester, but he is trying to scare us right now... and it's working!

This week, we went through an intro to the nervous system, embryology from Gametogenesis to the end of the 3rd trimester of pregnancy, cell strucures and cytoskeleton, and spinal cord osteology and neurology. A lot of material and a lot of studying! Our first block of tests are a week from this coming Monday. Anatomy Lab block is on Monday and then the Histo and Anatomy theory blocks are on Tuesday.

But its the weekend!! Tonight at 5:00 is the white coat ceremony and then the Welcome Back Party at Saba Groove! Gonna be fun to not be studying tonight! I'll put up some pics later from the ceremony!

Gonna be a fun-filled weekend of studying too! Gotta get this weeks material down before next week comes up with a TON of new stuff! I'm ready to get the first block behind me so I can begin to figure out how they test and what to study!

Well, time to get ready for the White Coat Ceremony!

Caribbean Style

Well, I finally got a chance to take my computer to a place where I could get a wireless signal! The past two days were exhausting! I left on Thursday afternoon and spent the night in Dallas because the flight schedules work out so that I cannot make it to Saba in one day. It was good though because I got to see 2 good friends in Dallas that night. I couldn't fall asleep for some reason even though I was really tired, so I ended up getting about 2.5 hours of sleep before getting up at 2:45 to get ready to head to the airport because I had to be there 2 hours before my international flight. Well, that was a joke! No one even showed up to the ticket counter til 4:15 and was in no hurry to help any faster! And, for those who ever travel through DFW that early, nothing opens until 5:30, which was when I had to be on the plane. Blah!

ANYWAY, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Sleep on flight, wait in airport, sleep on flight, wait in airport. The last flight however was not one that I wanted to sleep on! It was AWESOME! 10 minute flight (compared to a 2+ hour ferry ride) and landing on the world's shortest commercial runway! It was so cool! The pilot was great and got it stopped in the shortest distance that I have seen (from watching YouTube videos). Believe it or not, all my bags made it with me all the way to Saba! (My boxes however have not arrived yet and will probably be here on Monday at the earliest). Took a taxi to the school and checked in to my room.

The rooms are pretty nice, nothing special though. 4 walls, a bed, dresser, desk and closet. I share a bathroom with one guy (Josh, from Liberty) and it is one of the smallest bathrooms I have seen! ITTY BITTY shower, toilet and sink. You could almost brush your teeth and sit on the toilet! And everything around here is about water conservation, they say to shut off the shower while you lather up... you pretty much have no choice because there is no where to go to get away from the water while it is running! haha

I have gotten everything unpacked and mostly settled in (minus my boxes). The bed is not anything special, but I have a mattress pad coming in my boxes so that should make it better.

There is nothing special or beautiful about the island (any more than I expected anyway). When I was in the airport in St. Maarten, there were several upper semester students who were flying with me and I asked them if they liked it. Everyone responded with "No." Great.... But going on to talk with them, the reason they said no, was because the island is so small that there is nothing to do. I really expected this though, so it's not something that I am ill-prepared for. I am sure that it will get to me eventually, especially once school starts, but I know it's coming and am ready for it.

I have met sooo many people since I have been here and I guarantee that I can't remember half of their names! Everyone is very friendly and helpful with is awesome! I'm kinda at the point where I am ready to just get this train rolling! The sooner it starts, the sooner I can get back to everyone back home. I miss you all a lot! Thank you guys sooo much for your prayers.

I have today and tomorrow to hangout with people and then Monday is orientation, followed by the first day of class on Tuesday! I haven't taken any pics yet, because the sun set about the time I got to the dorms, so I'll start taking some today! I'll try to keep updating this blog often since I can't talk to everyone of you! I do have Skype, so if you guys want to chat anytime, my screenname is colipj. I'm gonna try to keep my Twitter account going strong (kewlwhip) and I'll be on Facebook too.


Well, I guess that's about all there is to update so far! I'm gonna find some people to get some food with! I need to make a trip to Windwardside today to go to the market (the rest are closed today, and everything is closed on Sunday). Once again, thanks for your prayers; they were definitely heard! :)

The Back-up Plan

This could be my last movie review for a while. I will be going to med school next week and will probably transition this to a blog about my medical school experience in the Caribbean! So, with that...

Zoe (Jennifer Lopez) is a single woman who is tired of trying to find "the one" that she is looking for to start a family with. She decides to put all of her dreams and plans behind her and jump to her back-up plan. Zoe goes to a doctor is artificially inseminated. As she is leaving the office after the procedure, she runs into Stan (Alex O'Loughlin) who changes her back-up plan altogether. Will Stan and Zoe get together and stay together, or will the new circumstances change everything?

Ok, I'm going to put this out there at the start... If you are a guy and are considering going to see this movie (without a reason that probably has a higher voice and long hair), stop reading this, walk to the kitchen and pick up a wooden spoon. Now, begin hitting yourself in the head until you change your mind... trust me, you will thank me later.

Now, with that said. The Back-up Plan had very few positive things for me. It was supposed to be a romantic comedy, but I feel like the comedy was lacking--a lot! Yes, I laughed, but it was few and far between. There was a lot of dialogue and time that was used to set up the funny lines. I really felt like they were fishing for things to make this movie funny. And several times they resorted to crude and unnecessary lines to make you laugh. There is no need to cuss to draw a laugh... seriously, its unnecessary!

I was very disappointed with the chemistry between the two lead roles. JLo and Alex did not work well together. I felt awkward watching them interact in the movie. They just didn't click. I feel like this fell on O'Loughlin's shoulders. JLo has done some decent movies and worked well with other actors, but the awkwardness was very apparent from Alex and less from Lopez.

I found myself trying to keep from falling asleep in this movies. The plot was about as predictable as it is to predict whether the sun will rise in the morning... Girl hates guys, girl falls for guy, guy falls for girl, girl pushes guy away, guy comes back, girl is happy, and they live happily ever after.

There was also the traditional Hollywood view of marriage. They mocked the idea of one spouse for life. They applauded single mothers and put all focus on children conceived out of wedlock.

There isn't a whole lot of good to say about this movie. Most of the funny parts were in the previews, while leaving a small amount that I had not heard already. I have never been in the room where childbirth occurred, but I can tell you that the 2 scenes (one of which was somewhat traumatizing) were not even close to a normal childbirth. So, if you watch this movie and it freaks you out... get a grip and don't look to Hollywood for real life situations.

I could keep going, but I will spare you the terror that was The Back-up Plan. I will prolly hear about this, but I give The Back-up Plan a 1.5 out of 5 stars. I was being generous for the somewhat funny lines and I will submit that the only reason it got an extra 0.5 was because of Anthony Anderson who played a dad at the playground and was full of laughs.

All this to say... Don't go see The Back-up Plan; its not even a good back-up plan if the movie you were going to see is sold out.

Date Night

Well, it's been a while since I have reviewed a movie, so tonight is a good night to start back.

In Date Night, Phil and Claire Foster (Steve Carell and Tiny Fey) are just an ordinary couple who come into contact with extraordinary circumstances. While on a nice date in New York City, the Foster's take someone else's reservations at an upscale restaurant and that decision dictates the rest of their evening. With mobsters and cops chasing after them, their only hope is to find what they are all looking for and return it to them before they catch up and take their lives. Will they put all the puzzle pieces together in time?

I enjoyed this movie. The acting was pretty good. Steve Carell usually can't let you down as far as his comedy and he definitely did a good job with this movie. It kept you laughing almost non-stop. I liked how the writers put together a good combination of funny and serious scenes, while allowing the plot to continue.

There was a good number of recognizable faces in this movie, which I liked. Mark Wahlberg (Shooter), James Franco (Spiderman), William Fichtner (Prison Break and The Longest Yard), Will.i.am even made a short cameo appearance.

There was quite a long scene that took place in what was supposed to be an adult club or a stripper club, however, you never saw any nudity. Because of this scene tho, it definitely isn't for the kids. There is also a few scenes where the characters are exchanging insults and the insults become pretty crude, but it was done for the comedic effect.

The ending was a little odd and difficult to completely figure out how it got to that point, but my guess is that there was a deleted scene that explains this and it was deleted by the director post-production in an effort to shorten or keep the film running smoothly. I always hate it when you get the DVD and watch the deleted scenes and feel like soo much of the plot was left out because of the removal of the scene ro partial scene!

Overall, I liked the movie! It's not a "thinking" movie, just there for a good laugh. I think it is worth a 4 out of 5 star rating and a solid movie to go see sometime. Don't buy it though (will be a while for the DVD, bc it was just released to theaters in the US on 4/10), just go see it; it will make for a good Date Night! (Pun Intended)