Listing

It's Sunday and my mood is pretty different from Friday morning. On Friday I felt like I'd had a pretty good week, wasn't as intense as the first week and it felt a lot more coherent than the previous week, things were tying up and relating to one another a bit better. Pretty pleased with myself I sat down with my PBL to discuss the case thus far. Very quickly it became very apparent why I thought my week had been easy. Not only was the topic I'd had to cover for the case covered in our workshops but I hadn't read much to back up the weeks lectures. It was evident I was alone in this. Bugger. So this weekend has been mostly trying to squeeze information into my brain. *sigh*

It's fun but there's a lot to learn, below are our learning outcomes. Not for the year, nor for the module (each module has 6 cases and cases are given weekly) nope the list below are the learning areas for the previous 2 weeks. It's a long way to Christmas.


* Amino acids and proteins
* Basic introduction to metabolism
* Essential amino acids
* Inheritance, DNA and genetics
* PKU
* Breastfeeding
* Composition of baby formula, and breast milk
* Genetics: Carrier status
* Genetics: differences bewteen identical and non identical twins
* Introduction to genetics: genetic crosses/pedigree/punnet squares/cross diagrams
* Consequences of phenylalanine accumulation
* Normal and abnormal phenylalanine metabolism
* Effects of illness on other family members
* Impact of neonatal diagnoses on family members
* Acute inflammation basic principles and features
* Blood cells
* Blood flow in capillaries
* Defence against extracellular pathogens
* Natural defences
* Nature of bacteria
* Recognition of extracellular pathogens
* Types of blood vessels including lymphatics
* (PPD) The importance of familial and social support and implications for prospective old age
* Antibiotics general principles
* Antigens
* Complement
* Inflammatory mediators
* Allergy (definition not detail)
* Fever
* Immunoglobulins
* Antibiotic sensitivity.
* Identification of organisms.

sleep eat study beer besos sleep eat study

ok ok I knew what I was getting myself into before I started but even so it's a bit of a culture shock. It wasn't that long ago that I thought working Fridays was for suckers* and found time for siestas during my working day. Not now though, oh no it's all lectures, workshops and relentless inforbloodymation. Well actually tomorrow's timetable is ok and Wednesday isn't too bad. And I went for beers tonight (actually it was a meeting about teaching schoolkids about sex) and I have a meal with my teaching group tomorrow night.** But apart from that it's pretty busy. In fact I went in yesterday to catch up on stuff (week1 and I'm already a bit lost) and managed to cover a 3m by 2m whiteboard with notes. Slightly worrying.

Still it's only 5 weeks until my first exam and i quote, "if you know everything the exams will be fine."

That's the exam officer.

"If you can hold on until Christmas you'll be fine." That's the support officer.

Slightly nervous and more than slightly tired but it's interesting, it's the challenge I need and every time I step into a clinical scenario I get a buzz that this is what Ill be doing for the next 30 or 40 years.***




*working Fridays is definitely for suckers

** Have i mentioned that my yeargroup includes an olympian, several linguists, several international athletes and Matt damon's body double?

***if I pass the exams ;)

want!

(has an ebb so can run it ss)

SSWC

looks a helluva lot of fun



stolen from the Durango Herald

deeeeeeeeerby

Well we're in! Tinterweb is all sorted, bins cutlery and other stuff you never think of buying until you have to furnish a house. Uni is starting to gain momentum it's only been 4 days but already people have been telling us to have a life outside the course, make sure we get enough rest and that we will almost inevitably be pretty burnt out come christmas. *gulp*

Photography has fallen by the wayside for now, don't know my coursemates well enough to start snapping them (it'll come) so I built up my new/old 'cross bike and had a quick blast around the parks here. It's fricking awesome fun! Can't wait for a longer pedal although I'm not sure when that will be...

This isn't a million miles away from where we now live, saweeeeet:

A Cross The Peaks from Will Beresford on Vimeo.

beer, bikes and smiles

Seen a lot of my mates recently, in fact I'm just back from a banterful beer fuelled session, and it's been awesome. Missing friends back in Madrid really wish I could combine mates that are scattered across the continent but that's not to be so we count ourselves lucky we have such great friends in so many places. Meeting more mates again tomorrow, think I may have missed Johan though-by days it would seem :'(

tired

It's not even been 2 weeks but I already feel like I've been through the grinder. Student loan is probably going to be delayed (arse on the phone), bank loan is now up in the air (eejit on the phone), auntie is heading for radio and chemotherapy tomorrow (twat in the lab fucked up results) my vaccinations for uni are providing a never ending source of questions (no-ones fault just endless) can't get internet banking to work for account in Spain (probably my fault) plus we need to furnish a house and move the stuff several hundred miles south. (totally our own fault)

So I'm looking forward to uni* as I'll be able to get my head down and work like buggery rather than spend every day on the phone either on hold or chatting to twunts-one woman when I asked her how I would know if my loan had been approved said, "just hope for the best." To be fair there's not a whole lot more I can do.

Riding bikes on friday should help :D


*assuming loans appear at some stage and I have time after selling my body on the street