Still A'ways To Go

Nothing going on my end, except studying for finals. I can tell that it's the end of the semester: I'm tired and my body just wants to shut down. I'm finding myself taking frequent naps and pumping myself full of caffeine. How's everyone else coping? It doesn't help that I'm excited about going home and celebrating the holidays. Every semester, it's the same story for me: studying for finals is the biggest hurdle that I come across.

Just a few days more...13, I think.

As Promised

I took some pics of the Christmas trees today after med pysch lab. I wanted to take some more pics of the decorations, but all of a sudden, first semesters started flooding the rotunda. I think they were leaving lab. Anyway, I'll get some more later.

Here at AUC, whenever we hear that the administration has made changes, we tend to automatically groan. But today, during a 4th semester meeting regarding ICM changes, I was extremely happy. ICM time is no longer 3-6 pm. Starting next semester, it is now 12-3. This is because of the new BBCM (Kaplan) changes that have been made: no more formal class. It is all now self study. YIPPEE!!!!!!

After that meeting, there was a general town hall meeting regarding clinicals and registration for Step. Mainly 4th and 5th semesters there, but a few anal 3rd semesters were there as well. These people honestly think that you can finish 5th semester and immediately take Step within the same week. um, no. This was explained to us at the beginning of the meeting, but for 40 minutes after that, people kept asking the same question over and over again: "Can i take the Step right after 5th?" NO! Bunch of whiners who want administration to bend the rules just for them. Especially these 3rd semesters. "We wanna take it right after 5th semester. That's our plan." They haven't finished 3rd, haven't finished 4th. Anything could happen, God forbid. Not to mention, you have family matters and finacial matters that could come up. I don't understand why people can't learn that you cannot plan life to that extent. And for those who want to criticize me, don't bother. I'm allowed to get on my soapbox and harp on them b/c I used to be like that and look where I am now: I'm here an extra semester b/c I didn't plan on unforseen thing popping up on me.

Anyway, I left to go to med psych lab. Absolutely nothing was accomplished in that town hall meeting. Nothing. Well, one thing was learned: the earliest I can take step is June 1st. Which is fine. That gives me a good 6 weeks to fully focus on studying for step. Some of my friends that have already left and taken step say that is more than enough time. Too much time set aside for step will actually hurt you, because you start procrastinating.

Anyway, this is my two cents. The normal and cheerful Dr. J will once again be featured on tomorrow's entry. Tune in...

"Good Grief!"

I just finished watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special. I have watched it every year for as long as I can remember. This is just the kick off...next will come Frosty, Garfield, and Rudolph. Gotta keep the kid in me alive.

No news is good news, I suppose. Things are starting to wind down here at AUC as the semester starts to come to a close. Just waiting to hear when the new gym is finally put together so I can start using it (I tripped again while running around Mullet bay).

I'm beginning the countdown for when I fly outta here and home to my family and some good home cooking. 16 days....

Found It!

I found the pic I was looking for: the Christmas tree in the rotunda from last year. I'll take a pic of this year's and see if it's any better.

Count Down

And the note service calender says.... 17 days left.
17 days. You can look at it one of two ways: 17 days until you can go home and relax. Or, 17 days left to memorize the stacks of notes that are still coming at you. I'm trying to stay positive and say that I'm one of the people counting down to go home, but in all honesty, I"m tetering on the edge and about to fall into the "holy crap! 17 days to memorize all of this??!!" thinking.

Not too much has been going on worthwhile to talk about. 5th semester party was on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were spent sleeping and studying. Told you not too much excitement on my end.

Today, the rotunda was being decorated for Christmas. The green nicely balances all of the gold in the rotunda. I'll take a pic later. I tried finding some of last year pics, but they all have friends in them, so I won't post them for the sake of their privacy.

Anyways, I don't want to bore anyone (too late, right?) with my uneventful weekend , so I'll sign off now.

P.S. the pic is of Josh Groban, who sings the best version of my favorite Christmas song, "Oh Holy Night." Yes, yes. So uneventful, that I needed to throw out a random fact, so that I could post a random pic. I'm sorry .

I'll Be Home for Christmas

"I'll be home for Christmas/You Can Count on Me/Please Have Snow..."

How appropriate. Just purchased my tickets home. Yippee!

Twinkle, Twinkle

My Christmas lights!!! (p.s. as you can tell, i'm not the world's greatest photographer).

Construction Zone

Just some pics of even more construction going on nearby...this is right by the Sonesta hotel, on the way to Marigot.

I'm A Christmas Freak

I've said before how I (and my entire family) get: the end of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade ends with the appearance of Santa Clause, and for me, that marks the beginning of CHRISTMAS!!!!!

My Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I love it. It's a little mini fiber optics one, so I turn it on at night.

Oh, and today, I strung Christmas lights on my balacony. I'll post a pic of that later.

I love Christmas.

Giving Thanks

I've had a really good day. So good, that it helped with the homesickness.

I found out that I did well on both the pharm exam and my presentation. I went to the french side to do some shopping, since I need formal wear for tomorrow's 5th semester party. Unfortunately, 2 hours later, nada. But that's okay. I got some really good pastries and got to enjoy the nice view. The pics are of Marigot's mall and of AUC (in the very, very distance). The whole getting -as- far -away- as- you- can get- on -this- island idea was totally appealing. I still don't know what I'm going to wear tomorrow night, though.

I decided not to cook this year, as I was just too burned out from all of my exams, so I just got dinner from Ric's: turkey, ham, green beans, mashed potatos, sweet potatos, bread, and stuffing. All yummy (though it still doesn't beat my family's cooking).

In reflection however, I am truly blessed, and have much to be thankful for. I have many friends and family that love me, are healthy, and are truly some of the greatest people ever.

To All My Family, Friends, and Loved Ones...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Nearing the Finish Line

My last exam before finals finished today. All that I have left is tomorrow's group presentation for med psych. Then I'm in the clearing and I'm able to just sit down and study for finals.

How did the pharm exam go today? I don't know. I'm actually up in the air about the whole thing... some parts were really, really easy and other parts were left you thinking, "how in the world did he expect us to know that??!!" It's kind of scary, though, when you hear that 40 people are failing pharm right now...that's 40 out of 110.

Since it's been literally 2 straight weeks of hard core studying, I went to a dinner and movie. I had some really good salmon at Pineapple pete's, and then saw Borat. Not as funny as I thought it would be, but it was pretty cool recognizing some of the scenery (several scenes were shot in Maryland and DC). Everyone from 4th and 5th semester was out tonight. It was nice finally being social and getting to talk to everyone outside of school. Still lots more to look forward to this week: Thanksgiving and the 5th semester party.

Nice Day Today

Mmm...Mmmm...TOASTY!

I had to make a quick dinner run (and needed a study break), so I decided to head to Citrus, which still isn't open. Seeing that, I started heading towards Simpson Bay, planning on stopping at Go-Go's, but something told me to just grab something from inside the airport instead.

I'm glad I did. Why? BECAUSE QUIZNOS IS OPEN!!!!

Amazing how something so simple can cause so much excitement. I had a nice turkey sandwhich with broccoli and cheddar soup. Believe it or not, my studying became much more productive after my dinner.

Oh, and the airport is really alive and kicking now. I couldn't get over how many people are coming and going.

Halfway

I've gotten through half of my obstacles for this block of exams. I survived monday's med psych, but I'm pretty sure that I (and everyone else) got taken down on today's path exam: never have i studied so much and felt like I knew so little when actually taking the exam...it was a feeling 20 times worse than when I had Dr. B for phys (and trust me, he's gone soft on the past two semesters). Needless to say, today's path exam I knew was going to be hard, but Dr. L. def. lived up to his name today. This may mean that I need to pass the final for the class. ugh.

Pharm is on Tuesday. I'm about to start going crazy on that right now. I'm on total lockdown until that exam. Then, all day Tuesday is dedicated to my med psych group so we can get our presentation top notch for Wednesday.

Almost there.

I took some pics last night when I was up late studying... new parking lot near me (it used to be a tennis court). I'm just now getting around to uploading them. I also played around with the video option on my camera...i want to see if i can get the video to work on here. If you don't see a video, then it didn't work.

Sorry for the blurriness... I had too much caffeine and my hands were shaking :)

Roadster Update

I have received some updated pics of the roadster that my dad is building. I'm posting them so the family can see. The seats are customed ordered from England...it took a lot to get them. I had to help out, too, and ended up getting almost getting scammed by a stupid Brit who refused to take a credit card but insisted on wire transfer only. Not to mention that he (an owner of this supply place) somehow got my IM screen name and started messaging me one time at like 5AM. I don't know how he got it, b/c i don't post that anywhere. Kind of freaked me out a bit, so my dad decided not to deal with this bozo and went to another company in London. (FYI: you can't get these seats in the US). Long story short: my dad got the seats that he wanted, just had to switch from leather to vinyl.

Choo Choo!

So, I'm in the middle of my crazy week right now. I squeaked through the med psych exam on Monday, and had my last standardized patient interview on Tuesday. It was on substance abuse, a touchy subject. My group was nervous going in, as we were expecting hostility from the "patient." We did well, working together as a team. After it was over, we critiqued ourselves and decided that we did an okay job. When we got to med psych lab today, however, we found out that we did better than expected. In fact, we had the highest score out of the whole class. Pretty cool.

Now, I'm working on path that's on Friday. I'm starting to get a little worn down, so it's time to break out the caffeine. My coffee maker will def. be utilized these next couple of days.

Gotta keep chugging...like a choo choo train. :)

For My Sister

This is for my younger sis and for all girls who just need to vent some frustrations due to the opposite sex.

Throw rocks at boys

Goooooood Morning, St. Maarten!

So I'm up at an early time, going over some last minute things for my exam today. It's not until the afternoon, so I have some more time to prepare.

Since I was up, I took a pic of the "sunrise" on my side of the building (the sun actually rises on the opposite side of my building). I'm also taking the time to repost an old pic of the new building: you can see the progress that they've made in just a few weeks. They're still going at it, too. You can tell that yet another floor is being added. My view is really getting blocked now. :(

No News On This End

Nothing interesting has been happening, aside from my wonderful studying (gag, gag).

I did decided to go for a run today, and, on my loop back to home, managed to trip on the 1 curb that this island has (i.e. right by the casino) and managed to fall flat on my face for everyone to see. I managed to scrape up my palms and knees pretty badily. I feel pretty stupid, as my little cousins are not as clumsy as I am.

Med Psych Stuff

First off, I'm apologizing for the lack of posts, as the workload for my semester is piling up. I have a med psych exam on monday, patient interview on tuesday, and path exam on friday. The following week, i have pharm exam on tuesday, med pysch presentation on wednesday, and then thanksgiving dinner to cook on Thursday, followed by the 5th semester party on Friday. (Okay, so the dinner and party don't really count as work, but I wanted to put it in so you can see how busy I am).

I have been learning some really interesting facts while studying for med psych. For example, 50% of the alcohol consumed in the US is done so by the top 10% of people who drink. That's a lot of alcohol for such a small population, considering 1/3 of all Americans refuse to drink at all. 75% of car accidents that occur at night is due to alcohol, and 50% of all homicides is due to alcohol. There are alarming figures.

Now, about caffeine, the most overused drug, and the drug of choice for most medical students. 80% of the population consumes 200-250 mg of caffeine per day. This is enough caffeine to actually cause anxiety and dysphoria. The common misconception about caffeine is that you start feeling its effects once you take it. Not so. (That's in your head). You don't start to feel in until at least 30 minutes later, with the peak of the effects not felt until 2 hours after consumption. That means that, when cramming all night before an exam, don't wait until you're tired to drink the coffee.

What I was surprised about that Dr. Pepper, my favorite soda, has actually less caffeine that diet coke (2nd favorite). Weird, huh. Oh, and if you really want to load up on the caffeine, drink an expresso or essentially anything from Starbucks. It's a good way to get a ton of caffeine and to get addicited (that explains why Starbucks restaurants are popping up all over the place...they're drugging all of the customers!!)

Okay, that's enough for now. Lots of studying still to do. Gotta go make some coffee :)

I'm a Princess

I had to pay bills today, so I headed into Simpson bay to do so, and, to my delight, no traffic to worry about.

I've had a rough couple of days, so I decided to relieve some stress and get my hair done. I needed new highlights, as I haven't been outside to catch enough Vit D this semester, so my hair is really dark (and my skin a pale vampire color). I went to Marie Antoinette on the airport road and the staff there is wonderful. Not only did I get my hair done, but I treated myself to a pedicure, as well (they gave me a 35% discount. And guys...it only costs 15 bucks for you to go get your hair trimmed). Having 3 people working on you at the same time is quality treatment. I chatted away with some of the ladies, who complimented me on my eyes, which made me feel good, as I feel like the lids are getting heavier and the circles are getting darker, as the semester winds down. They told me I was like a queen since I had so many people working on me at once. No way. I'm too young to be a queen. I'm a princess. Take that, Princess Juliana. I should have an airport named after me, as well.

Randomness

I'm cleaning up my little memory card thingee to my camera and found some more pics of the airport...they're not of any imporantance, but since I took the time to take them, I'm going to take the time to post them.

Oh, FYI: I saw a Winamp plane pull up to a terminal today. First time I've seen a plane utilize the new ramps to the new airport.

Since I haven't gotten a new desk chair yet, I am studying Japanese-style: sitting on my floor, using my coffee table as a desk.

Signs of a Bad Day

My desk chair broke today. I'm sad about this.(RIP, desk chair). It was a really cool desk chair. Since I study at home and need a chair to sit on, I was heading out tonight to quickly buy a new one. Once again, I got stopped by the massive traffic. That's when this local came out of nowhere and came up to my passenger side window and said to open the door. I shook my head and luckily, at that moment, traffic moved forward, so I left him behind. Good timing. I had my phone in my hands in my left hand and had a feeling that was something was about to happen when I first saw him, so by the time it took him to walk the few steps to the car, I had already checked to make sure that all the doors were locked. (FYI, I was trying to call home...cough, cough, mom).

I got creeped out and turned right around (I was at the bridge), but decided to make a quick stop at the grocery store. There were two guards out in the parking lot, and everything seemed cool...I even talked to a friend that I ran into. I was only inside for 5 minutes, but when I came out, a car had pulled really close next to mine, and the driver had the door opened and was hanging really weirdly outside of it. That creeped me out, too.

What the heck is going on today?
I know.
It's the curse of the Note Service calender. I hate that thing.
It made its first appearance for this semester today.

Ca c'est fini

French for "It's finished." I'm referring to med ethics. Thank goodness it's over. A lot of work for only a little bit of credit. What's frustrating is that no matter how well you do on the quizzes or presentation, it comes down to the final for everyone, since the final was 70% of our grade.

I passed, so yippee!! My frantic schedule will calm down some, as this class no longer sucks away 2 hours of my afternoon (3 days a week).

Want some advice? Never lie to your patient. Otherwise, you not only ruin the patient-doctor relationship that you have established, but you also deface the reputation of the medical profession. This is common sense, yes, but was also taught in class. Now, here's the kicker: patient comes in and needs a kidney transplant. She has 2 sisters who go for donation testing, and one sister is found to be a match. The doctor discusses with this sister about donation, upon which, she decides she's too scared to undergo the operation. What does the doctor do? Tell the patient that her sister is a match but doesn't want to donate OR tell the sister that both sisters were not compatible?

The right answer would be the latter: to tell the patient that neither sister is able to donate. I didn't agree with this and talked to the ethics professor. My arguement was that it was lying and would therefore ruin any rapport that the doctor had established with the patient. The prof's response was that you were protecting an arguement within the family. My next thought was what would happen if the sister decided to admit that she was a candidate, but was too scared to donate? The patient would remember the doctor lying to her.

I didn't win my arguement, and I still don't see why. What do you guys think? Part of our medical training (in 4th semester) is learning about setting up a rapport and proper communication skills with patients. This means that, if, God forbid, you make a mistake, you own up it. You never fluff, and you are always straight with the patient, even when giving bad news. This allows the patient autonomy...by presenting the patient with complete facts and options, the patient can decided what is best for themselves.

Shoot me a comment and let me know what you think!

Shout Out (,..to my peeps)

I've talked to some old friends from college and wanted to give a shout out to fellow McDaniel (WMC) alumni who read my blog! Say hi next time you're on!!

Just Another Mundane Saturday

Today was the first Saturday in like, oh, forever, that I was able to pull myself out of bed at 8 AM. I had a lot to do today, and, due to the ridiculous traffic delays on the island, I needed an early start. I finally got to go eat at one of my favorite breakfast cafes and had delicious cappuccino and french pastries. It was really packed, but it was a bright morning and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

I headed to Phillipsburg after that to do some much needed shopping. It took about 45 minutes to get there. The traffic, by the way, is not due to the construction. I really think it's because we've hit high season again, which means more people and more cars. Cost-U-Less was packed...I've never seen it like that. I drove around the parking lot for a while and had to wait for someone to leave, it was that busy. I waited in line to check out for 20 minutes.

Not much else to say. I noticed that I've had a lot of hits lately, b/c my friend linked my site to valuemd.com, since I took pics of the new airport (I still have more that I should post...I'll do that later). So, to all the newbies: HI!

Okay, I'm in drug withdrawal right now... gotta go hit the pharm books.

The New Airport

I thought Quiznos was open, so I stopped by to grab a sandwhich for dinner tonight...I was wrong. The lights that were on and the people in line belonged to....(drumroll) Domino's. Yes, yet another Domino's for the island.

I took a lot of pics of the inside of the airport (I've already taken a lot from the outside and posted those, so I didn't feel it was necessary to do it again...the building hasn't changed any). It's quiet this time of night, so it was a nice, relaxing study break (believe it or not).

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The Quiznos store...when oh when will you open??


The millionth Domino's for this island:


Where I ended up eating a toasted sandwhich (and a slice of cheesecake that was really, really good).


View of the check-in gates:





Map of the airport...look at the restaurant and store listings. I'm excited that L'Occitane is going to have a store (guys, don't worry if you don't know what this is).


That's about all for now...still waiting for Quiznos to open.. mmmm mmmm toasty!!

Still Up

I made the stupid mistake of taking a nap at 7pm tonight...and didn't wake up until 10:30 (thanks to a bunch of 3rd semesters who found it appropriate to have a loud conversation outside of my bedroom window). I would've fallen back asleep, but luckily, a friend called me...my phone has the most annoying ring, so it brought me back to reality quickly.

Anyway, because of that nap, I'm still up. The moon is really bright tonight, so I took a pic.

Physician, Heal Thyself

I always find it amusing that, as med students, we are probably the biggest hippocrites in the world. We learn to (politely) point fingers at people and tell them to take better care of themselves, yet, when we get sick, we regress and forget to take our own advice.

AUC is officially full of invalids: everyone around me is hacking, sneezing, or just looking worn down. Granted, the stress of the semester is really getting to everyone, but a lot of people are starting to get really sick. And now, I'm one of them (thanks, guys). Sore throat, a little bit of cough. Will I go to the doctor? Heck no. Take medicines? Most likely not. I'll just drink my OJ and go along my merry way, infecting others as I go. Hippocrite.

On a side note, things would be different if I were younger and back at home. When my aunt (a nurse) ever got word that I was sick, she would stop by with special treatment: a McDonald's milkshake and french fries (i like to dip the fries into the milkshake, even to this day). Greasy food seemed to make me better (and my mother's love -> i have to add this, otherwise, when she reads this, i'll get an upset email from her...love you, mom!!!)



I found the perfect picture: a McDonald's located INSIDE a hospital... it's the perfect treatment for me!!!

Okay, enough reminiscing. This sicko has to get back to studying.