Just too much!

Erm... I'm meant to be revising now.

But I get distracted so easily. It's quite funny actually because I find the smallest thing to get distracted by. You really don't want to know. =D

If that isn't bad enough, after about twenty minutes of revising I find myself falling asleep at my desk! It's just too much. The stuff isn't boring, I guess my brain gets overloaded with all the information.

Before writing this post, I imagined my brain swelling up with all the learning. Then I thought of Pinky and the Brain (an old cartoon series). Why? Have you seen how big Brain's head is? It's just filled with intellegence and wit! Here's a pic:

I don't have much else to say.

Oh, I'm looking forward to the summer though! I'll make sure I post something about my plans for the summer soon... after exams are over. =)

To those who have already had their exams or are waiting to sit them, I wish you the best of luck!

Happy revising.

Dissection Room

I was in the dissection room today with two of my friends. We decided to revise the anatomy of the upper and lower limbs in prep for our exam which is in about three weeks.

If you're marvelling at the image on the right, it's a picture of a man lying on a table and being studied by cadavers and a skeleton (and a skull on the stool!). I found it on Google and thought it quite amusing!

I clearly remember the first time I was introduced to the dissection room. I got lost on the way there because it's in the basement of the medical school. The first sniff of the room is always overwhelming as it's a strange mixture of formaldehyde, rotting meat and death. You sort of get used to the death part. It's the other smells you never get used to!

Anyway, back to my first experience. I went into the massive grave yard of a room (which was bright compared to what you see in movies). The sight of the bodies covered in white sheets on long bed-like trolleys was frightening. We all gathered around our designated cadavers. The lady, who was to be our tutor for the morning, was nice. She understood how terrified yet excited we all were. She explained the DR (Dissection room) rules to us and told us that we must respect and take care of the bodies and prosections, as they were donated to assist our learning. She then carefully revealed the cadaver's leg and asked us if we were OK. There was no skin or blood, just dried up muscle on bone, so it wasn't too bad. After revealing the whole body (leaving the face which was covered with a towel), she let us poke around and ask questions. I felt strange throughout. To be able to see death so close, yet be so far from it, is overpowering. DR always reminds me of death. Sometimes I find myself thinking of what that person must have been like and just that they were once living laughing individuals. I wonder if they had ever imagined being revealed head to toe, cut, have their organs taken out and put back in, and even have students say "Come have a look, this guy's got a wicked sciatic nerve!". I wonder what they must have felt like signing the form to donate their body to the hands of man. I will always wonder.

Just.

Haven't written anything in so long so thought I'd give it a go. I've got my MBBS first year exams at the end of this month. Looking at the pile of text books and lecture notes on my desk is pretty depressing. But come to think of it, I was expecting this. I knew what I had gotten myself into... a life time of studying. The constant updating of knowledge as the medical world advances. I'm proud of where I am and how I got here. I still get flash backs of battling with time as an A level student. Sleepless nights thinking of whether my dream of becoming a doctor would ever come true. The tears that I had shed by each rejection of my medical application by my top 3 Universities. I'm so grateful. I almost never made it.
It's like it was yesterday, waiting to be interviewed for the chance of becoming a medical student. I didn't let my nerves get the best of me that day. I made many friends with some of the other candidates who were there, most of whom are studying with me on the course. The interview went well. Obviously. But I remember calling up my mum after and crying. She shockingly asked me what had happened and I replied "Nothing, it was good but... I just want it so badly."
It still hurts when I think of how I almost didn't get in. To cut a long story short; my health form for the Uni got lost in the post and as it hadn't met the deadline, they said that I wouldn't be given priority when they selected candidates on results day. On top of that, they offered me a place for three A's at A2 level. I got AAB. I thought that's it... I'm stuck with doing Biomedical Sciences in East London. My friends who had gotten all A's happily asked me what my results were. When I told them disappointedly, they told me to quickly call up my University as it wasn't too late. I called them up telling them that I was only 1% away from an A and if they could please consider my application. The friendly voice on the other end told me to wait. I waited. Those were the longest 2 minutes of my life. And in those 2 minutes I prayed with all my might. "Congratulations. You're in." Thank you God. It felt like a dream. I still can't believe it. But I'm here now and this is only the beginning of my journey. I still have to reach the top of the mountain... and that would mean going back to revising now. =)