Pressing Matters

The exams having finished, and my voice and health having returned to more or less normal (I can sing now, without flinching at the sound of my voice!), I now turn my attention to two pressing matters: The Thyrotoxicosis Seminar which will take place on the 5th of Feb and the final decision on my ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) Project.

We had a rehearsal of sorts on Thursday (21st Jan) for the Seminar. My presentation took 15 mins, more than 2.5 times the alloted time. I have to cut down on a lot of matter, something which I am so NOT interested in doing. I've spent ages on making the presentation just right. Lets see what my guide has to say about what we can cut down upon. But, as such the experience of standing up there and talking was brilliant. I did not have jitters. That might not be the case on the 5th, when there would easily be a huge crowd, and the venue would be the MGA. I'll be doing all that I can this week, to make sure I'm fully prepared.

The ICMR project deadline has come, and it is the 15th of Feb. Having come down to two topics, I'll hopefully be making a decision and submitting a report to the Ethics committee of our college for approval of the project. I am hell-bent on doing this project and I do hope things work out well.

Moving onto the earliest and most enjoyable event of all, we have a trek to Purandar Fort next weekend (29th, 30th, 31st). This reminds me a lot of the Lohagad trek we had last year, and I can't wait to go for another one. We will have a meeting mid-week so that we can be told of the itineary and the stuff we need to carry. But, I'm a hundred percent sure this trip will be a major fun trip for me.

The weekend was a welcome break for me, with all the remnants of my illness bearing down on me during the week. Also, we missed out on almost 17 days of our paediatric posting because of the terminal examination. So, the last week in college hasn't been a restful one, complete with 3 hrs being spent in the wards. I love paediatrics. The patients are so CUTE!!! And, I get to unleash all of my sweet side onto those patients. We have an amazing lecturer teaching us too. A Dr. Chhaya, who has a certain way with children and us too. I really wish we had been able to finish the entrie posting. It would have been an experience. But, now I do know that there's one branch I wouldn't mind specialising in.

And I saw my Micro marks. They are pretty ok. I've passed by a fair amount. It wouldn't have hurt to score a little more, bu then medicine isn't about scoring marks, it's about learning and enjoying the subject. So, that has been able to console me a bit.

This week has been fun. Hope the next one is too :-)

OVER!!!

And so they are. No more formalities left, and no more last minute prayers. My exams have officially ended and I am taking the deepest sigh of relief I can manage.

Practicals turned out to be ok. When I look at each of them separately, of course, I can easily point out the best and the worst. Because, I did have them. So, since I do have time right now, I'd like to reveal my best and worst. Here goes,

12th January, 2010:

FMT- We went and waited for almost an hour and half before something actually happened. And that something was quite an event. One of the peons told us that we'd been called in groups of 10. I got up ( I am amongst the first ten in our batch from r.nos. 145-174). Making a quiet and steady line, we went to the cold room where they conduct all the post-mortems. God! The only thoughts wandering in my otherwise empty mind, were," Crap, please don't tell me you are going to take the Viva here!!! Surrounded by dead decaying partially open bodies!!! I'll faint before you manage to finish your first question!"

The HOD was there, with a fresh body beside him. A 'mama' (that's what we call the ward boys in coll) was standing next to him, fully loaded with knives and scalpels, already having finished half the job of removing the viscera. This was the body, our HOD told us, of a criminal, killed on the previous evening. He had received three bullets, and the bullets were being looked for, in the viscera.

Frankly, this is what I'd expected to find when I came into medicine. A dead body, as fresh as live.....raw, red blood oozing out on every cut.....the viscera all shiny red with sickening yellow mucous attached at places....the bones looking all glistening yellow.....

One entire year and I finally saw what I was looking for. It was quite a sight! The criminal definitely looked like a criminal. I could imagine him, and the scene around him, when he was alive. He looked frightful even in that state!!

The HOD showed us one bullet which they had managed to find, and the organs it had managed to pierce. The liver looked bright red, and very innocent!! (the second batch that went in, came out telling us that the second bullet was found in the liver. It didn't remain innocent any more!)

The only thing that grossed me out more than the dead body, was the smell. We're used to formalin now (although it never fails to bring tears into my eyes:-( ). But, the smell here was the one associated with the slaughter-house, the cutting up of raw meat....the smell of dead rats...the usual smell we all run away from.

Thankfully I did not faint, and came out pretty impressed. The viva took place after that and I had a good time. I had our HOD questioning me and I answered everything. It was a satisfactory viva, and I think he understood that I knew my subject. He looked particularly excited when I mentioned 'Panchanama' and descrobed what a warrant was. Day 1 was successful amd satisfactory.

13th January, 2010:

Pharmacology- The first thing to mention here is that I fell ill. Again. I got another round of cold and cough, and fever in the evening. I think it is Pharmac. Even before the theory paper, I was in a state. But, this time was worse. I decided that it did not matter, how the practical went.

The spots were a little tough. But, I think I got the drugs right in the table-work. I'd expected to totally be lost when that came along. So, I was more than just satisfied. The pharmacy viva was good and simple. My label turned out to all correct, and I answered all the questions correctly. There was a lot of participation from Dr. Momin (my examiner), with his gestures of agreement. So, I'm assuming that to be a good sign. The grand viva was plain horrible. I was reminded of what Anatomy used to be last year. The difference was that this was worse, because instead of a PG student, I had in front of me, a Professor, who got the impression that I was at the other end of the intelligence scale. It hurt. Illness not withstanding, I did not deserve such a bad viva. But, it was over, and thats all I cared about.

14th January, 2010:

Microbiology- The one started with tough spots. They were pretty out of the world. But, I realised later on that I had got the Spore Stain correct, and I couldn't feel more proud of myself. if I could get that, I could definitely get above 5 in the spots. The Viva on culture media and biochemical tests could have been better. I knew the stuff she was asking, but I needed her to prompt a bit. But, the 'her' in question was Dr. Suvarna Joshi ma'am, who was smiling all through. Its always nice to have a teacher in front of you, who can put you completely at ease, and calm you down. And Dr. Joshi's smile does exactly that. So, despite knowing that I did not do as well I could have done, I came back saying that it had gone pretty ok. The Gram stain and Zeihl-Neelson stain were a little messy. A lot of pink and purple on the fingers. Also, it is difficult to look for bacilli in the ZN stain. Luckily, I showed that slide to Manoj sir, and he said wat I thought was the bacillus, was actually a bacillus! Wow, that's new! I'd neevr gotten the hang of ZN staining. The Gram stain was easy, and I got Gram +ve rods, which the teacher said, were correct.

Dr. Dohe ma'am took my grand viva. It revolved around the two stains only. She only asked me about differences between Bacillus and Clostridia, because they were the differential diagnosis of my result in the Gram stain. I liked the viva a lot. I answered almost everything. There was some question, to which my answer was,"I don't know", but I don't even remember what it was. She asked me if I was a localite, where I stayed and said I could go! I felt happy and at ease.

15th January, 2010 (today):

Pathology- If there ever were an average practical, this would be it. The spots were good, the slides were easy. The first viva (on the two slides I had to identify) was ok. I could answer some, could answer a question on Typhoid. The slides in question were, that of Acute Ulcerative Appendicitis and Tuberculoid Leprosy.

The grand viva was ok. She didn't ask me much, I answered a fair amount. Nothing that led to "I have no idea ma'am", but nothing that had me jumping up and down with the answer. So, thats what it was.......quiet.

Note: Pathology might have gone better if I hadn't ended up with my worst stage of laryngitis today. Now, I have even given exams in this dreadful voice!!

So, thats the description. Its pretty easy to decide the order of practicals according to my performance. So, here goes.....

1. FMT

2. Micro

3. Patho

4. Pharmac

Thats my order of liking. And my marks should be accordingly. I'll come to know within in a few days...

Till then, it is going to be two days of complete rest and silence. I can't even bear to hear my voice. And I desperately need to eat, sleep and live like a loser who has nothing to do in life :-)

Ok, now eyes are tired and the HCl in the stomach is screaming out aloud for food to acidify. Hail, 2010 again!!! May the start be a good one!!

Year 2010.....Begins...

Happy New Year to one and all!!! We’re half way through our terminals, and I have already suffered through the horrors of having to stay up late into the night. It is my fault. I HAVE to do everything one day before the exam. To my luck, we had papers in the afternoon. So, I was able to do whatever I wanted to.

The papers have been good. Pathology was the best followed by Microbiology and then Pharmacology. I would partly blame my cough, cold and fever for the debacle that Pharmac was, but then, it would also be because I was never as well-prepared for Pharmac as I was for the other two. Forensic Medicine and Toxicology was good by its own standards. I’d spent more than half of the time I had for preparation, sleeping. So, considering all that I’d managed to study in the rest of the preparation, I had a decent paper. I wrote everything I knew, pushing it into one answer or the other. Over all, I had a much better terminal than the one last year. Of course, practicals are still left. They start on the 12^th and finish on the 15^th. But, I should say I’m quite satisfied with whatever I’ve written. The rest of my satisfaction can only be determined by the marks I manage to procure.

I’ve spent the past two days resting a bit. Not that the cold has reduced a lot, but at least I’m feeling much better than I was two days back. Now, just waiting for my practicals to get over so that I can breathe a breath of relief.

The New Year again this year, wasn’t very great. I was studying. And I haven’t made a lot of resolutions this year. I’d just like to be a little more regular than I have been in the first term. That’s all.

I definitely hope that 2010 brings, in terms of peace and brotherhood, a surge of hope for all of us. It hasn’t started all that well. What with the lastest news about a policeman being beaten to death by some criminals in front of the stopped cars of two Ministers. And, the Ruchika Girhotra case which evokes the dormant barbaric anger from the deepest corners of our hearts. 19 years on, and the sheer position of the accused is enough to help him get free with just a fine!! We talk about our country moving ahead, as new years come. But the examples we see seem to pointing in a completely different direction.