Emily Wolcott

Emily's November - December Diary

Wednesday 11/19/03

7:15

I roll out of bed, and really don’t want to go to school.  BUT, I have S&I (Synthesis and Integration) at 8:00 which means quiz!  So I get ready as quick as possible and am out the door by 8:05

8:10-10:00

Today’s S&I is over our Leukocytosis CBL cases.  It’s kind of nice that Dr. Jenkinson is here because he’s the one who taught all the cancer pathology.  Sometimes S&I will drag on, and I feel like people ask silly questions, but I find all the cancers really interesting.  We always get an unknown case, and I was the transcriber.  All that means is that I got to stand up at the front of the class and write all the info on the overhead about the case.  At the end of S&I we get a quiz.  Luckily it’s open note, and today’s was really easy.

11:10

Nervously I meet for out Venipuncture lab.  Oh yes, we get to practice sticking each other and drawing blood.  Hip Hip Hooray.  We watched a quick video on the appropriate technique for drawing blood and then went into the patient simulation labs and practiced on each other.  It’s really not that bad.  The arm stick was really easy, but we weren’t very successful with trying to draw blood from our hands.  My partner missed my vein on my left hand, and then went through the vein on my right hand.  So, I left venipuncture lab with a big bruise on my right hand.

12:00-5:00

I go home and eat lunch, and iced my hand for thirty minutes.  The weird part about icing my hand is that it cooled my blood and I could feel it going up my arm.  It kinda hurt too.  Anyway, our Blood and Immunology block exam is coming up, so I spent the rest of the afternoon studying at the LRC.  Most Mondays, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons are free time or designated for ECCs.  It’s really nice to have those afternoons to get caught up on everything.  HINT: If you have the chance, take Histology and Immunology in undergrad.  You have no idea how much it helps!

5:00-10:30

I ate dinner around five and then studied until 8:00.  I always try to relax a little in the evening so I don’t become brain dead.  So, I watched Ed and West Wing and then talked to my man, Chris, and went to bed at 11:00.

Monday 12/01/03

7:30

Today is the first day back from Thanksgiving Break.  I drove back with friends from Kansas City, Missouri last night, and didn’t get back to Athens until 11:45 last night.  Let me tell you that I am really excited to be waking up early today!

8:10-12:00

We had our Dermatology Block introduction from Dr. Marazon via video.  He’s in Kenya right now with the Share Kenya project.  It was actually pretty funny because he was dressed weird and had a spear in his hand.  You’ll understand when you meet him!  We then had a Histology lecture over the skin. Again, take Histo and Immunology before you come to med-school if you can.  We also had our first Gross Anatomy lecture.  I have never had anatomy besides fetal pigs in high school.  I have a feeling human anatomy is going to be different.  Our final lecture was a OMM lecture over counterstrain by Dr. Burns.  She is so passionate about OMM, and that makes it easier for me to pay attention.

1:00-3:00

My very first Gross Anatomy lab.   I change into some old scrubs, put on my gloves and lab jacket and go into lab. We are supposed to be dissecting the back muscles, and my group quickly realizes that none of us have ever had anatomy.  It takes a little bit to get used to the smell, and all the juices in the body.  It felt so weird making those first cuts into the back, like you were cutting chicken or something.  My partners and I were really tentative about cutting out the different muscles, but after lab TAs came over and showed us different muscles we realized that you can be really rough with body.  After a while we were all cutting, tearing, and ripping in there with ease.  I also found out that it helps if you study the back muscled BEFORE you go to lab.  I definitely didn’t, and spent most of my time just trying to figure out what was what.  We also learned how to cover up the bodies so they don’t dry out.

3:00-5:00

My lab partners walk uptown to the bookstore to buy scalpel blades for GA.  Apparently it helps if you have a new blade every lab.  The entire walk we talked about how bad our hands smelled like formaldehyde even though we wore gloves.  We tried everything from washing our hands, lotion, hand sanitizers, and have realized nothing really works.  I actually spent most of the night washing my hands trying to get the smell off. 

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to organize my Derm block materials, and reading for Tuesday’s lectures.

7:00-10:30

I review a little more in the evening.  I also went to Walmart to get a new binder, air freshener for my GA locker, hand sanitizer for GA, and a headband to keep my hair out of the cadaver.  I also told my fiancé about the GA smelly hand syndrome.  I’m sure he was fascinated.  I also went over all the back muscles so that I would know what to expect next GA lab.  Then it was off to bed.

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