OPQRST

So, things got a little busy :) but I'll try and back up and tell yall everything important that happened since last week.
Last Saturday I worked in another of our student run clinics. This one took appointments so I liked the flow a lot better (you also get better patient continuity with appointments as opposed to walk ins, and you turn away less people). Highlight of the day: I got to do a patient interview! A patient came in with the usual chronic conditions (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol) and complaining of knee pain. So, right before we walk in, the second year student I'm with goes "so there's a mnemonic for pain..." and I go "OPQRST!!!!!" and he's like "oh, you know it already?" and I said "I've volunteered as a first responder"... shout out to Ski Patrol! :-D (for those who don't know its: Onset, Provocation/Palliation, Quality, Radiating, Severity/Scale of 1-10, Time, all ways to describe pain). So basically clinic was awesome. This Saturday I'll be at a third clinic, and this one focuses on serving IV drug users and sex workers (its a "harm reduction" program) so it should be really interesting!

Last week was really really lecture intensive so the volume of information was really overwhelming. This week there's been less lecture but the labs have been overwhelming. This week we've had 8 hrs of anatomy lab, 4 hours of physiology lab and 2 of histology lab. Anatomy has been frustrating, we're working through the shoulder and arm now. There are an obscene number of nerves, veins, arteries and muscles in our arms. And they all have long names. I did however learn that your funny bone is the ulnar nerve and the "rotator cuff" is actually a group of four muscles around the shoulder blade (in case you wanted to know, they're called the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, teres minor and subscapularis... but you probably didnt want to know that).

Our next quiz is on Tuesday next week so this weekend should be full of studying... but then NEXT weekend, I get to go to the mountains (and I'm totally counting down the days...). For my mountain friends: my desk top background is a picture of pinecrest at sunset (I'd shout out a photo credit but im trying not to use names...). At least once a day someone in lecture goes "oh my god thats BEAUTIFUL, where is that?". I wish I could live in the mountains and teleport to school.

Thats all :)