Neuroscience

All right ladies, this story is one for the books.

So this morning we had our second neuroscience test. After not performing so well on the first one, I made sure to go to as many classes as humanly possible and to not skip, despite class being at 8 AM. The only times I didn't go to class was when I was going to catch my flight to Chicago. Anyways, so this exam was on the PCML, ALS, Auditory, Taste, Olfaction, Visual, Vestibular, and Visual Motor stuff of the brain. Essentially what the sensory neurons are, what part of the brain it goes to, how does it get there, what are all the different cell types involved, what artery supplies that area, and some clinical concerns. Alhamdulillah as I've been going to class more or less everything makes sense - not like some of the other classes where you need to just memorize different languages.

Anyways, last week my plan was to finish all studying by Friday so that all day Saturday and Sunday I could review the material with other people. The best way to learn something difficult is when you grab the notes and someone else has a copy and you two just take turns firing questions back and forth. I wanted to do that all weekend. Needless to say, it didn't happen. As a matter of fact, I didn't finish going through all the material for the first time around until last night around 6 or 7 ish. And a huge population of my classmates were in the same boat, if not worse.

The problem was, just as it always is, the sheer volume of information that you need to fit into your brain in an organized way with the short short short time that you have. Your ability to succeed in higher levels of schooling is directly proportional to one's ability to slowly and steadily keep on filing away information in your brain by managing your time to the minute.

To make a long story short, it was imperative that I find a study buddy to reinforce as much material as possible, considering that it took me about a week to finish all material once, and now its 12 hours before the exam; we need some synergy action to maximize our time at this point.

So I find this kid, Asim. He's from Chicago too, we actually went to the same undergrad. Masha Allah very smart kid, very well-disciplined, and a hard worker. When I say disciplined, I mean that I've seen students sit down to study and not get up. Ever. For me, I go 30-35 minutes strong, then I take a 10 minute break. If I try to change that strategy, then I will waste time. But anyways, the main idea is I found someone to study with and who was willing to grind it out throughout most of the night.

We study, we study, we study. At first the plan was to sleep by 2 or 3 am. Then it was to sleep for 2 hours after fajr. I told him by the time we are done with fajr it will be 5 am and the test is at 7. And he says no its at 7:30. This is where I say "Are you SURE?" and he goes yea. Then I say, aiight cool. But we get tired by 3, 3:30 then we decide to pray witr and sleep for an hour, then get up pray fajr and study again then.

The thing was we were at this kid's apartment named Akber who was in Chicago during the time. He lives alone so he only had 1 bed, to which this other kid (Waseem) from Detroit was sleeping in because Waseem was babysitting Akber's apartment. So there was a couch, and nothing else. No pillows, no blankets, no nothing. And this dude is a bachelor he doesn't have too many things in his apartment. Going home to sleep was too risky for either of us. So we decide to tough it out. He takes the couch. I take the floor. And I take a bag of basmati rice (you know those brown burlap bags) to use as a pillow.

I laid there, high on No Fear energy drinks, a few hours before a massive exam, still epically behind in reviewing, laying on the floor trying to get an hour of sleep with my head on a bag of basmati rice as a pillow. My dad used to tell me stories of the sacrifices they had to make back in Bangladesh to be students. Though I don't think I could compete with them, that moment was so broke, so ghetto, and so desperate (but Alhamdulillah these are good times), that maybe I could earn my place in the pages of the pain one has to go through to survive in this journey.

We wake up after an hour and a half, pray fajr, study, and then we go. I should also mention that Alhamdulillah I've gotten into the practice of reciting a handful of dhikrs every morning after fajr and every evening before maghrib. These dhikrs are so comprehensive in nature that it is very difficult to become worried and stressed throughout the day, knowing you took 15 minutes out of your day to remember Allah (S) and ask him for a ton of things. I also got into the practice of praying salatul hajjah every night before I pray my witr. On this day I prayed hajjah as usual, and then again right before I left for the exam. So after covering these bases, its difficult to become stressed or excessively worried.

We get in the car, we go, we walk, and we wonder where the heck is everyone. As we walk from the parkinglot, we start to joke that maybe the exam started at 7. Then the laughter becomes a nervous smile. Then we walk faster. And faster. Then we get to the hall and they are on question # 13 of the practical.

The exam has a written portion and a practical. The practical is X number of questions shown on the projector with 1 minute for each question. In previous quarters they would go back and show each slide one last time for 30 seconds. I was hoping they would do that, but after the last question the teacher said to take a minute and look over your answers - implying that this was the end and they wouldn't reshow the questions one last time.

Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah Alhamdulillah to make a long story short I quickly filled in A's for all the ones I missed and I turned it in, then I took the written portion and I left. The attitude I had towards the whole thing was that of a detached third person - and that is, this was very very funny. People trickled out, people asked me what the hell was I thinking, me and Asim spoke to the professors afterwards asking one last time if there was any way we could make up those questions (the answer was no), and there was nothing more we could do. But I didn't overly stress. Unfortunately Asim was freaking freaking freaking out, and I believe that undermined his performance on the written portion as well. But he is a smart kid, hardworker, so I'm sure his written portion was good.

Anyways, I just got the results back, and Alhamdulillah I passed the test. This story was for the books.

Amazin

It's amazing, I'm the reason
Everybody fired up this evening
I'm exhausted, barely breathing
Holding on to what I believe in

No matter what you'll never take that from me
My reign is as far as your eyes can see

I'm a monster, I'm a killer
I know I'm wrong, yeah
I'm a problem that'll never ever be solved

And no matter what you'll never take that from me
My reign is as far as your eyes can see

I'm a monster, I'm a maven
I know this world is changin'
Never gave in, never gave up
I'm the only thing I'm afraid of

No matter what you'll never take that from me
My reign is as far as your eyes can see

I'm amazin', yeah, I'm all that
If I ain't on my grind then what you call that?
Victorious, yeah, we warriors
We make history, strive off victory

Standing at my podium
I'm trying watch my sodium
Die high blood pressure
You even let the Feds getcha

I'm amazin', born on the full moon
I was bred to get it in, no spoon
That's why I'm so goose, summer time, no juice
Big family, small house, no rooms

They like, oh God, why you go so hard?
Look what he's been through
He deserves an applause

A great song

Hey guys, its been a while. Im just trying to work at double the speed I have a physio exam this Friday and an immuno exam this Monday but I am going to be super super super super busy this weekend so I'm going to lose all of Friday Saturday and Sunday so I have to squeeze in as much immuno studying this week as well before Friday so that kind of sucks. I just got done with male and female reproductive physiology oh my God I wanted to shoot myself those notes were so damn terrible and sooooooooo many things happen inside a womans body i wanted to kill myself multiple times sadaf was like "oooo thats so easy!" yea. ok. GnRH, LH, FSH, androgens progesterone estrogen thecal cells granulosa cells aromatase corpus luteum blah blah blah. I was supposed to be done with this stuff 2 days ago but the notes were soooo bloody uuuuuggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I have onemore lecture by this professor something about pubertal physiology and man it aint lookin pretty. But once this is done hopefully if i can finish 3 more lectures by the end of the day (not including puberty) then it wud be not a bad day insha Allah. Then tomorrow i jussssst might be able to finish all of physio (it'll be a stretch) which leaves me 1 day to maybe maybe maybe bi idhnillah grind out maybe 3 lectures of immuno... then ill have to figure out a way to squeeze in 4 lectures of immuno over the weekend... which is gunna be very very very difficult. But o well.

Here is a song that i really like, both the lyrics as well as the musical talent behind it i really like the tabla play in the background if u can notice it. maybe one of the bangali viewers can translate this insha Allah. sorry guys i dont know how to embed this into the blog


http://www1.banglamusic.com/music/index.php?action=song&id=686

Warning... this video is not for kids

This is Hilarious. and im sorry if you people don't have a sense of humor. But it's perverted hahahahahaha

Back to the Grind

Well, I came back from Chicago last night. Our flight got delayed about 3 hours, and by the time we got home it was close to 1:30 AM as opposed to the original planned 9:30 PM, so yea that did a number on us who were flying back (and who had to pick us up) especially since we had school the next day. Needless to say, we didn't do so well in attendance today =D Whatever, it's all good. It is essential for the Muslim to adapt to his/her circumstances - to accomplish your goals no matter what curveballs you are faced with. Anyone interested in the hadith supporting this statement, let me know. It's quite interesting actually, props to Hafiz Amin of Darul Qassim.

My weight going to Chicago was around 231.5 - 232.0, This morning it was 234.6, so I am actually not too upset, considering that I threw all discipline of working out and eating right out the window for a full 8 days. But then again, it will take about a month to bring it down to a solid 230 pounds because this is resting metabolic rate we need to increase (ie. it isn't water weight, and to change my RMR won't happen overnight). It will also take that long because we have a stockpile of calorie rich foods from Chicago that will take a couple of weeks to deplete before we resort back to our military-discipline (and oh so palatable) fat & sugar free diet. But insha Allah since I will be here another 10 weeks minimum before Chicago, I am planning to be around 225 (insha Allah lower) by the time I go back again.

As far as weights are concerned, I maxed out at 245 on the bench, compliments to Marin for the spot. Tomorrow insha Allah at 4 AM bright and early I'll resume the weight lifting once more. I have a goal in mind with respect to how much I want to be benching by the end of the quarter, but I'd rather not say it in case I don't reach it. I would like to say however that even though the most I was ever able to bench was 225 back in college, I am happy but not content with 245. I do not want any props because props are not due here. A guy my size should be benching minimum 300 for any type of respect. I would like to give props to Adnan for weighing around 165 and benching 205, which is pretty baller.

Lastly I would like to thank everybody back home for the great time in Chi town; 1 week is definitly not enough especially coming out of the most hellish quarter of medical school, but Alhamdulillah it was a lot of fun while it lasted. It was a pleasure hanging out with you all, driving from place to place, eating everyone's food, and spending the night shamelessly.

I do want to say though that I did notice a lot of people gaining a lot of weight. Weight gain will occur as you get older by virtue of not being as active as you used to be when you were younger (less time to go outside and play basketball, etc). Do not set yourself up for metabolic syndromes (such as hypertension (high blood pressure), hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol), congesive heart failure (when the heart stops working), diabetes mellitus (sweet urine (hehe thats literally what it means)), or a stroke or MI (myocardial infarction = heart attack)). If you guys don't actively do calorie burning things, then before you know it you will be in a whirlpool of problems.

Also I noticed a lot of people are weak. Just because you are not obese doesn't mean you don't need to build strenght. You may sincerely not give a damn about lifting any weights, but Wallahi wallahi wallahi i am 100% sure your life will suffer in some way shape or form if you don't actively maintain a minimum muscle strength. TRUST ME... lift weights for 2 months (nothing too heavy or discouraging)and you will testify that there is a need for it. We will talk about this later because I am taking way too long to write this post and I need to get back to the books. By the way, I know i misspelled strength a hundred times, but I'm too lazy to run the spell checker. Oh, and yes, this above paragraph was for girls just as much, if not more, as it is for guys.

So please keep us in everyones duas. Make sure you keep in touch, comment, drop me an IM or text once in a while. And I will continue insha Allah updating as long as there are people willing to read.

Hilawrious

Free iPhone

Hey you guys, I'm trying to get a free iPhone Insha Allah. Even if you guys don't want one for yourself, can everyone click on this site and just complete one of the trial offers? There is a way to cancle it and not be charged for anything. It will only take a few minutes of your time. If you do end up paying a minimal amount for like shipping (of a free trial product) then I can cover that for you insha Allah. I appreciate it you guys. If you need more information on how to do it, then just hit me up.

http://www.YourFreeiPhone.com/index.php?ref=5744451

The new me

I just want everyone to prepare themselves, I gained a little bit of weight. But it's all good cuz a big belly means a big wallet where I come from.

The next 2 weeks, insha Allah

Nobody is going to hear from me for the next weeks, insha Allah. This is why:

Anatomy: 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, and all lab questions
Histo: 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67
Physio: 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49
Biochem: 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, workshops 7 & 8, diet analysis
OMM: Plan out practical, study for written
ICM: Plan out practical, study for written
Human Behavio: 5 lectures

Let's estimate 2 hours/lecture to study, practical planning takes 6 hours, and written studying takes 6 hours. That means I have to squeeze in, bi idh nillah,, 102 hours of studying material for the first time, into next week. A week has 168 hours, minus 49 for sleep, 14 for other projects, 14 for transit time, and then 102 for studying material for the first time... that leaves us with negative 11.

The 1 week hour by hour count is from this Sunday at midnight till next Sunday at midnight. Which means insha Allah I will have 24 more hours to play with because I will have all day of Sunday, 7 of which will be lost to sleep, and another 4 to miscellaneous, leaving 13 hours. Aside from that extra 2 hours of safety, I will lose time to classes that I have to attend, and reviewing. But I am also hoping that I overestimated the study time for a lot of these things. My schedule for finals is:


Monday Feb 16: OMM Written
Wednesday Feb 18: OMM practical
Thursday Feb 19: ICM Practical
Monday Feb 23: Histo & Anatomy
Tuesday Feb 24: Human behavior
Wednesday Feb 25: Biochem
Thursday Feb 26: ICM Written
Friday Feb 27: Physiology

Pray for me.

On sleeping

I don't sleep to not feel tired. I'm always tired. I sleep to keep the hallucinations away.

Another nice quote

This was stolen frm one of YOU but since you don't check my bog often, you won't notice this anytime soon. Cheers.

Dreams are not those that you see at night after going to sleep. They are those that keep you from sleeping all night long.

War

Yesterday we had 2 exams, Anatomy and Histology back to back. We've done that before last quarter a few times and usually it wasn't too bad. What made it so bad this time was we had a biochemistry exam on Monday, so like all of last weekend we were doing biochem (which was brutal - my God...) so essentially those of us who are not the top 5% of the class who dont think and plan lightyears ahead had 3 nights to study for an anatomy and histology exam. Now after winter break I've been trying my best to develope my work and study ethic (despite it going against the title of this blog) by trying to focus and study at home in my little study room. I mean it worked for a few exams... i mean I passed... but for the biochem exam the results were catastrophic. So Monday after the exam I lay in my bed thinking about how life feels like it sucks (cuz in reality it doesn't suck Alhamdulillah) and how screwed I am for the next double header exam. Then I said ok.. rule #1.. study in the library. No buts, no ifs, juuussssst shut up and go to the library to do any amount of studying. I looked at the material that was going to be covered and I said I basicaly need to cover 7-8 pages a day and I should be able to survive. So that Monday night I got to the library at 6 pm and grinded till midnight until I finished my quota for the night. I was feeling pretty good.

The next day I got off class at 2 and man I felt like a millionaire cuz I had 2 until midnight of time to spend at the library! So I study and study and then around 4 I start taking breaks... then at 5 I start losing the momentum... then at 6 I go out to play basketball.. and at 7 I want to drop out of school. From 7 - 10 I was out of it (Sadaf was at her master's class at this time) and when I finally got back to the library and got my head together it was 10 oclock and only churned out 2 hours. So I turned a potentially 10 hour work day into 5 hours. I went from potentially being ahead of schedule to grossly behind schedule.

To make a long story short, Wednesday I didn't get done with going over all the material for a first time until around 11 PM. Going over material once essentially means you don't know Jack.

The library was a war zone, and every single one of us was preparing for war. The trashcans were stacked with starbucks cups and energy drinks and ppl were in every chair and desk and sofa and every study room and every reserve book and model was checked out and good God it was insane. The boundaries between night and day dissappeared. Fun times.. fun times...

After the exam I seriously wanted to kill myself. Not because I was depressed or because I felt like crap or because of any emotional issues. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I slaved away for so long just for an exam with 60 questions, a large chunk of which I was unsure about.. I frequently feel like I am not good at anything in life, so I thought I should do humanity a favor and just end it now.

Well I just got the results back and Alhamdulillah I passed both exams, and I did better than I thought I would do in Histology, which is perfect because I needed to do better in Histo to pull that grade up. So the moral of the story is, if you feel like you failed an exam and you want to kill yourself; don't. Wait till you get the results and make sure you failed first before you do it.

And remember all that crap I said about not asking people for dua? Disregard it and make dua for me. Thanks.

Quick Update

I had an exam yesterday, will have 2 exams on Thursday, and another one on Monday. After that will be finals week. I am struggling in 2 classes (Histology and Biochemistry) so please make dua for me). Finals week will be rough - an exam every day. I know all you high school and college cats are like thats normal... but this is a whole different animal. I am not going to call anybody anymore for duas, I am trying to reach a level where I study so much I actually feel like I got this under control and a dua before my exam will suffice. The main reason why people call others and beg for duas is because they are not as prepared as they should be (which is true in my case), and I don't want to be that person. Who does the nonmuslim who has 95% and above averages in every single class call up before exams and ask them to make for duas? a Muslim should be prepared... and then make dua.

Or maybe I'm wrong. O well.

Whoever comes to my house the night of the 27th insha Allah (the night me and Sadaf fly back) they will be able to see an amazing display of human performance.

Whats new in everyone else's life? Hey I need an effing working copy of age of empires with the conquerors expansion with a crack or a patch. I downloaded like 4 copies and I had to use an iso thing to even open the file and I was able to install it to my comp and everything, but everytime I try to run the program it says I need to insert the CD. I am going to delete everything I have and rely on marin or raqib to get me a working copy. I need to put it on everyones computer so that we could hav a massive 8 way age of empires showdown. Get to it you guys stat

The Ironies of Iron

Iron is the 4th most abundant terrestrial element, comprising 4.7% of the earth's crust, yet fully 1/3 of the earth's inhabitants are iron deficient.

Gold for the mistress, silver for the maid, copper for the craftsman, cunning at his trade. "Good" said the Baron, sittin in his hall. "But iron - cold iron - is master of them all."

Overdue Account

From: Jane Gilles
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.19pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Our records indicate that your account is overdue by the amount of $233.95. If you have already made this payment please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles



From: David Thorne
Date: Wednesday 8 Oct 2008 12.37pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
I do not have any money so am sending you this drawing I did of a spider instead.
I value the drawing at $233.95 so trust that this settles the matter.

Regards, David.






From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.07am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Overdue account

Dear David,
Thankyou for contacting us. Unfortunately we are unable to accept drawings as payment and your account remains in arrears of $233.95. Please contact us within the next 7 days to confirm payment has been applied to your account and is no longer outstanding.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles



From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 10.32am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,
Can I have my drawing of a spider back then please.

Regards, David.



From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.42am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear David,
You emailed the drawing to me. Do you want me to email it back to you?

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles



From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 11.56am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Dear Jane,

Yes please.

Regards, David.



From: Jane Gilles
Date: Thursday 9 Oct 2008 12.14pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Overdue account

Attached





From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 09.22am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Whose spider is that?

Dear Jane,
Are you sure this drawing of a spider is the one I sent you? This spider only has seven legs and I do not feel I would have made such an elementary mistake when I drew it.

Regards, David.



From: Jane Gilles
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.03am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David,
Yes it is the same drawing. I copied and pasted it from the email you sent me on the 8th.
David your account is still overdue by the amount of $233.95.
Please make this payment as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles



From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.05am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Automated Out of Office Response

Thankyou for contacting me.
I am currently away on leave, traveling through time and will be returning last week.

Regards, David.



From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 10 Oct 2008 11.08am
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Hello, I am back and have read through your emails and accept that despite missing a leg, that drawing of a spider may indeed be the one I sent you. I realise with hindsight that it is possible you rejected the drawing of a spider due to this obvious limb ommission but did not point it out in an effort to avoid hurting my feelings. As such, I am sending you a revised drawing with the correct number of legs as full payment for any amount outstanding. I trust this will bring the matter to a conclusion.

Regards, David.





From: Jane Gilles
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 2.51pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Dear David,
As I have stated, we do not accept drawings in lei of money for accounts outstanding.
We accept cheque, bank cheque, money order or cash. Please make a payment this week to avoid incurring any additional fees.

Yours sincerely, Jane Gilles



From: David Thorne
Date: Monday 13 Oct 2008 3.17pm
To: Jane Gilles
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

I understand and will definitely make a payment this week if I remember. As you have not accepted my second drawing as payment, please return the drawing to me as soon as possible. It was silly of me to assume I could provide you with something of completely no value whatsoever, waste your time and then attach such a large amount to it.

Regards, David.



From: Jane Gilles
Date: Tuesday 14 Oct 2008 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Whose spider is that?

Attached

Digital Rectal Exam

I want everyone to guess what a digital rectal exam is. If you know it, don't say it. And don't look it up.

Why do we procrastinate?

I have a theory on why we procrastinate. I need feedback from everyone answering the following question:

Why do we procrastinate?

Plantar Foot

We had an anatomy quiz the other day. Alhamdulillah I got 100% on it. Don't get too happy for me, so did 176 out of 250 students in my class. The quiz was on every muscle of the lower limb. Essentially everything from your hip down (including the psoas major/minor and the iliacus). We needed to know every muscle, where it originated from and where it inserted into. I was pacing myself in studying and I figured that the morning of the quiz, I would have enough time to cover the 2-3 pages that I still had to go over for the quiz. Essentially I had to go over anterior leg (including dorsal foot), posterior leg, and... plantar... foot....

There are so many teeny weeny muscles in palmar hand and plantar foot you just want to rip your hair out. Anyways, when I got up at 5 to study, I decided you know what, I'm gunna eat the biggest, ugliest frog first. I am going to start with the hardest section - plantar foot. And I had Sadaf help me study and everything. By 6 and 6:30 I made so little progress I was going crazy. I fired Sadaf and sent her back to bed and I was like whyyy can't I remememmmber this stuff?!? And I grinded through it... and Alhamdulillah, you wanna know what my favorite area and muscle group is of the lower limb? Plantar foot =)

Some neat things

In the OMM class yesterday we had a quiz like we usually do, but last week we did not have a quiz. Usually we don't spend too much time studying for the weekly quiz, normally just the night before or during the lunch break before the class. So when I was studying for the quiz yesterday, I was studying and studying and it seems intuitive enough, but before class I heard a murmur that the information from the previous class would also be covered in the quiz. I asked around and decided that I would not study any of the previous material, partly because it was rib and thoracic dysfunctions and holy hell that sheat was a paaaaaaiiiiiiin and so in depth it was ridiculous. So anyways, when we were taking the quiz, lo and behold, and first 2 questions were stuff that was not on the written material specific to what we were supposed to study last week. The questions were what muscle elevates the 2nd rib in forced inspiritation: anterior scalenes, middle scalenes, posterior scalenes, pectoralis minor, or something else. The 2nd question was what nerve comes out in the C3 - C4 intervertebral foramen: C2, C3, C4, C5. Well, needless to say, about 99% of the class got the last 2 questions right unanimously, but these first 2 questions the class was pretty much split very very very evenly. The first question almost 33% of the class answered anterior scalenes, 33% said middle, and 33% said posterior. There were 1 or 2 people who said pec minor, but man if you were stupid enough to say a pec minor ELEVATES the ribs then i personally think you should shoot yourself. As for number 2, like 45% said C3 and another 45% said C4. I was sitting behind the type of students that I hate with a passion: desi girls. Why? Because all they do in life is study. It's my personal goal to be the best in everything I do, and to do a lot to show the world that you can be the best student and do other things too. But I digress. The reason why I bring up the row of 4-5 desi girls sitting in front of me is because they also missed the first 2 questions and they bitched and bitched and bitched and biiiiiiiiitched and wouldnt stop! They turned from nice proper good model students to the foulest ghetto fabulous personalities in no time flat. They were like this isnt fair they cant ask us these questions blah blah blah (I think they were so pissed off because these people actually spend time studying for OMM, like time the typical student would spend to study for anatomy or something) and dude they wouldnt shut the hell up they were like its not like we arent putting in the effort blah blah blah. Well, it was pretty clear the class was a little upset for the first 2 questions, so when the lecturer for the day came up he said something that changed my life forever:

So, a lot of you are upset because some of these questions were from previous weeks. Guess what? Medicine is cumulative.

It's not entirely about cramming the information into your brain to spit it back out on a quiz or exam. It's about that time when there will be a patient coming to you to help them breathe, to help them take the pain away, to help them turn their neck to the left, to help them walk normal or to stand up straight. Are you going to remember what to do, what nerve is compressed, and how to treat it?

Phlebotomy Part 1

So before the break i had a phlebotomy lab in which we had to get into groups and draw blood from each other. We had the option of not getting stuck and only practicing on a prosthetic arm, but i wasnt about to be known as a girl anytime soon, so i signed the waiver with everyone else. My professor said that it was important to know what it feels like to be the victim as well to do the sticking.
Our teacher before the lab made us watch an instructional video (which i embedded to this post for your pleasure). I made sure to rewatch it again on my own time because i was really nervous about it all in a positive way. When i got to the lab, we had to get into the groups they split us up into and each group had a proctor who would be teaching us individually. The proctors were either EMTs, phlebotomists, nurses, or basically people who have to stick other people for a living. So getting a "good" instructor was sheer luck. Alhamdulillah I had a GREAT instructor. He was pretty young, id say around 30 - 35, and jacked beyond belief. He was like look, you all are scared and nervous. Dont be. But even if you are, dont show it, cuz the last thing a person who is about to be stuck wants to see is that the guy who is sticking him is sweating and shaking and the needle is all over the place. He goes somebody is going to get stuck, so let that person be the patient and the patient only, because what happens is a lot of times people dont have great form and technique and they end up also sticking themselves with the needle. This is like super dangerous because you have no idea what the other guy had in his blood. He said that when I first started after 10 days I stuck myself and my whole world burned down in front of my eyes in 7 seconds because I didnt know if I would be able to kiss my kids again. From what I remember, this is what you do when you draw blood. First you gotta open up the kit that has the gauze, iodine, alcohol swabs, bandaids, the needle, vacutainer, blood tubes, and turniquet. You gotta set up your little station. Tear open the gauze and set it down, open the bandaid and put it halfway on the patients arm so you could easily put it on when you take the needle out. position the blood tube right up close to the vacutainer, but do not push it in because the blood tube is vaccuum sealed and once u break the seal then you lose the vaccuum. Thats why when you ever have to get blood drawn and you are brave enough to watch, then you would see blood SQUIRTING into the blood tube. That's not cuz you are bleeding that bad, its cuz the tube was a vaccuum. Anyways, first you wipe with iodine, 2 circular wipes, then 2 circular wipes with the alcohol to clean it off. I asked my proctor that what if my gloves touch my clothes, are they no longer sterile? He goes, the guy you are sticking probably has been doing illegal drugs for some time now with contaiminated needles.. i dont think hes gunna care that you touched your clothes with your gloves. Then I go dude if i set everything up my alcohol is gunna like touch the table, won't it become non sterile? And he goes dude... its alcohol... it sterilizes everything it touches. I was like sweeeeeeeet. Aiight ladies ill continue part 2 later iA I gotta study for anatomy

Fasting Alert

I just wanted to remind everyone that the Islamic month we are in is called Muharram, which is a very blessed month in Islam. The Prophet (S) used to fast on the 10th of Muharram, a day known as 'Ashura. The Jews of Medina used to also fast on this day as well, and when asked why, they replied by saying that Musa (A) used to fast on this day to thank Allah for for saving the children of Isreal from their enemies (in Egypt). The Prophet (S) responded by saying that Musa (A) is more dear to us (Muslims) than to you (Jews), so He would also fast on this day, and recommended that we add a day before or after, so that we distinguish ourselves from the Jews.

So the day of 'Ashura insha Allah is this Wednesday the 7th. It is highly meritorious to fast on this day, plus another day before or after. I'm pretty sure the majority opinion is to do the 9th and 10th, which would be tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday. Here are 2 hadith describing the merits of fasting on this day:

Ibn `Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "I never saw Allah's Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) so keen to fast any day and give it priority over any other than this day, the day of `Ashura', and this month, meaning Ramadan." (Al-Bukhari, Hadith 1867) In another hadith we are told that fasting the day of `Ashura' expiates the sins of the previous year as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Fasting the day of `Ashura' (is of great merits), I hope that Allah will accept it as an expiation for (the sins committed in) the previous year" (Muslim).

For more information you can go to http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?pagename=IslamOnline-English-Ask_Scholar/FatwaE/FatwaE&cid=1119503543248