Martha's So-Called Life

rest day

Dogs don't understand rest days.  Nor do they appreciate homework.  Don't let her fool you though, John walks her every morning.

I'm elbows deep in pharmacology and health assessment.  It's funny how you read something and think that it would be easy to reproduce, and then you go to do it and realize how much you forgot to ask about the first time through.  I'm sure getting a complete health history is like any other skill, it gets easier with practice, but it sure seems like a daunting task.  At least I can make stuff up to fill in the holes when dealing with theoretical patients (I would never do that with actual patients).

#gradschoolprobs

the mess on my desk

I currently have a giant mess on my desk which is 99% related to the wrap-up of my first semester of grad school.

There are a few other bits in there (boarding passes from January that need to be sent to Alaska Airlines so I can get my miles!), but it is mostly a school mess.

There are separate piles of notes from my two classes waiting to be "filed" once the unit/test is done next week, a giant stack of papers related to vaccinations and lab work required for starting clinicals in A YEAR; binders with old notes from previous units and pens!  It's not possible to take notes with any fewer than three different colors of ink (five is better). Also included in the mess is my planner and paperwork related to tuition reimbursement from work, and more pens...

 

the internet is a slippery slope

I have fallen off the slippery slope of the internet and into a giant river of self doubt.  Allow me to explain.  

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I realized that in the 18+ years of attending school I have developed ZERO study habits.  Why? This is going to sound totally arrogant and conceited, but it's because I never needed to study.  I made it through nursing school with a solid B average and spent very little time outside of class actually studying.  While all my classmates were trying to memorize every word of our textbooks, I was watching movies, writing blog posts, hiking, fishing, and skiing.  Yes, I could have done better, but my motto has always been one of minimum input for maximum output. 

Obviously I absorb knowledge from somewhere or else I would not be a walking vessel of useless and random facts.  The question is, from where? And, how do I purposely absorb this knowledge?

While I was trying to wrap my brain around neurophysiology (see what I did there?), I sent some frantic text messages to JRW proclaiming my studying ineptitude, at which point he suggested I google "how to study" and see what I could learn.  After reanalyzing my problem, I came to the conclusion that it would first be more useful to find an outline for what I was studying.  You see, I have three textbooks for this course and a list of objectives.  Having multiple texts makes it very difficult to take notes in any sort of meaningful manner, so I thought an outline would at least put some order into the chaos and lead me in the direction of learning.  

Googling pathophysiology outlines somehow led me to several blogs written by medical students (I was immediately attracted to the photos of their color-coded notes).  After being distracted by their notes, I got distracted by the content of their blogs.  The most interesting was one written by a Canadian RN who had been working in very rural areas and decided to apply to medical school.  Reading her blog made me wonder if I made a mistake.  Should I have applied to medical school instead?  Every time I skip over something in my textbook I think gee, I sure am glad I'm not a medical student because otherwise I would have to know that. But then I feel like maybe I am taking the easy way out.  

Applying and going to med school would definitely be a hardship (I'm pretty sure you can't work three 12s and go to school at that level), but would it have been the better option?  I guess I don't know the answer and the only way I'll ever know is to either do it, or don't and see how things turn out.

So thanks Google, for making me doubt all my life decisions.