Alright, well it has been over a month since I last wrote in. It was really good to have the 3 days off for Thanksgiving break. Although after the break, I was not ready to go back to school. Now I’m just looking forward to Christmas break.

But to get to Christmas Break, I have to get through another test week. Stress levels are up now. During our last set of exams, the class didn’t do so well on the Physical Diagnosis (Cardiac) exam. We need a 68% to pass the class. Class average for the exam was 66%. Yeah, there weren’t very many happy people after that week.

Fortunately, the professors decided that its more important for us the learn the material. They said that they will take all the questions from the first test and put about 5 in each of our tests from now until the end of the year. At years’ end, we will be able to replace the score from our first test by adding up the points from the cardiac questions that were scattered throughout the year.

Since the last set of exams we have also started Auscultation Lab. Its pretty cool. We sit in this amphitheater and each student is given a pair of “stethophones.” The top part is just like a stethoscope but there is not diaphram attached to it. Instead, there is a box that holds the battery, volume control, and IR receiver. The instructor then can play any heart sounds they want and we all hear the same thing. Next quarter we get to use the simulation lab with the dummy where we can listen to all the heart sounds, measure JVP, BP, and other vitals. Oh what fun $250,000 can buy you these days.

Last week was test week for the Freshman class here at Loma Linda University. On Monday we had Gross Anatomy; Tuesday we had Cell Structure & Function; Wednesday was Medical Biochemistry and Medical Physiology; Thursday was Neuroscience and Evidence Based Medicine. And Thursday afternoon we had our Anatomy Lab Practicum as well as our Histology Lab practicum.

All of the exams, except for the two lab practicums were scantron exams. It was nice because we got most of the results emailed to us within two days.

So how’d I do? Well let’s just say that I learned a great deal about what not to do when preparing for exams. From the time we got to campus, people were congratulating us for making into medical school and then telling us not to stress out too much. The problem with me was tha I was not stressing out enough! They also told us that we could not study like we did in undergrad. I should’ve listened.

At this point, all I can do is learn from my mistakes and make sure to avoid them for the next round of exams that are coming up in about 4 weeks. I’ve re-organized my day so that it will hopefully aid in more efficient study. Hopefully that will be enough.

Loma Linda University held a White Coat Ceremony for the incoming class of 2010 on Thursday evening (after our first day of orientation). Prior to this ceremony I had heard many opinions that the White Coat ceremony was just a big waste of time. After all, the faculty members just help the students to put on a short white coat. These same people conceded that the ceremony was more for the families, spouses, and significant others than for the medical student.

Is it worthless? Well the opposing viewpoint is that the White Coat ceremony symbolizes transition from layperson to physician. It marks the beginning of one’s journey into the profession of medicine.

In the morning, during orientation, the Dean of the School of Medicine (Dr. Hadley) spoke to us about the significance of the white coat. He spoke on the responsibilities of a doctor – responsibilities and obligations that continue to exist outside the walls of a hospital and in the absence of any white coats. That evening Dr. _____, famous for the first infant transplant surgery, spoke to us about being a doctor.

So maybe it was useless. Maybe it was worthless. The white coat ceremony was probably of little use to the students, as far as our medical education goes. But we were warmly “welcomed into the profession.” Maybe it was our first baby steps as we received our new white coats and stethoscopes, and recited the Physician’s Oath.