One more week!

This is the last week of classes until we go on Easter holiday, which also means there is only one more week until clinical placements start. I'm nervous and excited for it, but I'm also more nervous because the amount time I have to study is basically cut in half from last year.

I must say, though, we had a mock EMQ exam last week and it went better than I thought it would. I don't think I'd go so far to say that I'm completely prepared for the May exam, but I do feel much better about the format. Results for that come in on Friday, so we'll see.

The weather here is finally getting sunny and warmer. Not as warm as back home (70 in Providence RI this past weekend?? What?), but warmer for UK weather. It's a bit schizo, though; sometimes the sun is out in the morning and it rains by mid-afternoon, and then gets sunny at around 5:30 (just in time for the sun to set...), but hey. Any sun is better than no sun at all! Unless of course you sleep through the sunny morning bit.

Also, my birthday is right around the corner (literally). I'm not old, but most of BVetMed 3 is on their way to turning 21 this year...so that makes me feel a little old. But hey, another year wiser too, right? Hopefully?

Lame? Heck yes.

I'm part of the Equine Clinical Club, since I'm a huge geek about horses. The club sets up various things in the year to expand our horsey knowledge. A few months ago, we had a lecture about horse behavior and such, and today we did a mini-seminar about horse lameness.

It was pretty awesome. The sky cleared just in time for us to be outside for it, and the equine vet that ran it did a pretty good job. A lot of it was revision for me, since I've shadowed vets that were very invested in my learning and would quiz me and make me guess which leg was lame, and why, and how I could tell, etc etc. (I have some pretty awesome horsey mentors back home). Plus, he was a riot. The pony wasn't exactly the perfect patient and tried more than once to bite/kick the people who handled her, and he got visibly annoyed. I was close enough to hear him mutter some not so nice things to the bratty pony. I actually took a turn trying to get her to trot back and forth, but I was wearing steel toed boots and my legs would NOT move fast enough.

Renal module started this week. It's nice to have a new subject to listen to; I was getting a little sick of Respiratory. And renal physiology is something I can wrap my head around. I studied it so much last year because I was so worried that we would get an essay question on it for the exam (AND WE DID), and thankfully I feel pretty comfortable with renal stuff.

Less than 3 weeks until my first clinical placement (and my 26th birthday..wah). I realized the other day that I didn't bring any good office clothes with me, so I've got a major shopping trip in store sometime in the next few weeks (yay!).

Too early for revision?

So I may be crazy, but I've started to do objectives for our different strands/modules. Yeah, the exam is the first week of May. I know this. But that eager beaver side of me is just taking over.

For those of you who don't know, all of our lectures/DLs/CALs/etc come with a set of learning objectives; what we're supposed to get out of them, really. Last year, I included writing out these objectives as part of revision, which really helped (or at least I like to think they did, since I managed to pass). Not for everyone, since they're really time consuming, but when you have nothing to do all day for 10-12 hours, writing out objectives for about...100ish lectures is doable.

This year, my study tactic has been a little different. Since getting the trusty iPad, I've not been writing out every lecture. Instead, I've been making flashcards from each lecture through Quizlet.com (an amazing website, if you've never heard of it, you better go over there now). First of all, it's FREE (the best word in the world for students), and you can upload them to your iPad or iPhone (or iPod, I hear those still exist) through Flashcardlet. So basically, I've got all my lectures on hand to study from all the time. Granted, I haven't really had time to take advantage and actually DO all the sets, but when I'm on placement it will come in extremely handy when I'm on lunch or have absolutely nothing to do.

Mmmm..placements. I'm both nervous and overexcited for them. I managed to clinch another 2 weeks at a mixed animal clinic in Gloucestershire, which brings me up to a total of 8 weeks. Probably going to book another 2 weeks at the very end of the summer with whoever will have me, but that's contingent upon me passing exams first round. Otherwise, I'll be doing my last 2 weeks during Christmas 2012.

This term is flying by so damn quick! Scary to think that it's almost over.

Theory test passed.

So today, I braved 3 hours of public transportation to take my UK driving theory test in Watford. It was definitely as easy as the first time I took a written driving test, although this time there was a video portion.

They called it "Hazard Perception", and it's actually a pretty good idea. You're given a bunch of videos and you have to click the screen when you see a hazard developing and when it gets in your way and have to stop or slow down. It's not the easiest thing ever, but I passed it.

Now on to the practical driving test! Hopefully I'll be able to pass that sooner than later and buy a car before my first placement at the end of March.

11 weeks.

Soooo....exams are coming up in a couple of months (just under 11 weeks, to be exact), and I'm already starting to get a bit worried. I mean, I'm pretty much on top of lectures and things. We've been doing our Respiratory strand for the past 2 weeks, and we have 2(?) more weeks before we start Renal. And then we have Easter break for 5 weeks.

But.

For some reason, I'm sincerely terrified. Last year, my body did not have the best reaction to stress, and it manifested in some not cool ways (panic attacks, really). I don't want that to happen again, which is why I've tried to stay on top of things with lectures and clinical scenarios and such.

This year, instead of 5 separate exams, we have 2: an MCQ paper and an EMQ paper. I'm still not really quite sure what an EMQ is, but it's basically like multiple choice answers with a bunch of different (short) clinical scenario questions. The real reason I'm worried is because a large portion of last year's class failed the first time around, and some people from that group failed the second time around also. Long story short: I don't want to be put in a situation where I have to defend why I deserve to have a second shot at 3rd year...hence why I'm starting to worry about exams 11 weeks from them.

So. I think I will set up a revision schedule (Hermione anyone?) so that I feel more comfortable/less stressed about the upcoming exam in May.

Will it work? Probably not. But it makes me feel better at the moment.

On a personal note...my family had to say good-bye to one of our beloved cats, Cosmo, this week. I'm still having a pretty hard time coming to terms with the fact that I couldn't be there to say good-bye. I will really miss him.

Driving on the wrong side of the road.

Today was my first foray into driving in the UK. I drive a manual at home, so I figured I'd try and get a manual license (because if you don't, you're restricted to buying a car that's an automatic). Anyway, my instructor picked me up at 9am (ungodly hour that I am for some reason repeating next Sunday) and brought me to a nice quiet street not far from my house. He gave me the run-down of what his strategy with me would be teaching-wise, and then handed me the keys to the car.

My first thought was "f*ck I just forgot everything." (A similar thought ran through my mind the first day of exams last year).

It ended up being ok, though. The pedals are all in the same place that I'm used to, which made my life just that much brighter. The main difference is the way I am supposed to drive in order to pass this test. Granted, I completely understand why they are so super aware about driving here. One, the roads are a heck of a lot smaller than in the US. Two, the roads are SUPER narrow and windy. Three, did I mention the roads? I mean, god. They're small.

Anyway, today, my instructor told me that I was a very good driver, but I was too fast coming to junctions and I didn't check my mirrors enough. For the test, I need to be checking my rear-view mirror every 5-8 seconds (to which my reaction was WHAT). For my speediness, I will blame the Mini Cooper that I drive at home, because darn it, it's just more fun to be zippy in that thing than cautious! But really, the checklists I need to remember to drive here are just bonkers.

Example: moving off from being parked on the side of the road. First, place the car in 1st gear (note: it's still got the handbrake on). Second, find the bite point (basically where the clutch picks up the gas and you no longer need to have your foot on the clutch). Third, 6 point visual check (left blind spot, left side mirror, ahead of you, rear-view mirror, right side mirror, right blind spot). Fourth, release the handbrake, move off, and check ONE MORE TIME on your right side to make sure you're not about to run some poor person over.

Suffice it to say that I had a hard time trying to remember everything in the order I'm supposed to do them. And I've been driving for 10 years. I mean, I'm sure I do similar things at home just because I'm in the habit of doing them (and I've managed to remain accident-free for the majority of my driving career thus far). But goodness. It can be a bit overwhelming.

Bottom line: re-learning how to drive on the wrong side of the road is a bit of a drag.

I heart cardiology.

We finished our cardiology module this week. It was seriously one of the most fun module thus far. And really, I think one of the reasons that it was amazing as it was, is because the lecturers were SO invested in us learning the material.

I will say, though, that all of the lecturers here are invested in us learning the material. But the cardio lecturers seemed to just have so much fun teaching us.

For example: for our ECG lecture, the lecturer literally acted out (in interpretive dance) the heart cycle. And then gave examples of what different arrhythmias would do to the heart cycle. Also, Adrian Boswood is hysterical and cracks jokes all the time during lectures, which makes paying attention very easy.

So yeah. I'm sad that the cardiac module is over.

And I just realized that I've only got 7 more weeks until I begin my clinical EMS. Yikes. And only 3 months until exams. Double yikes.

PS: here's the video for the Mad Professor, who our ECG lecturer got his ideas from.