Farewell, Dr. Savgaonkar

A Week In Winter

The past week has been just fine. I've finally opened my eyes, and am studying. Regularly. This in itself is an improvement. So I'm pretty happy with myself and the way I've taken things. It eats into my sleep, but I guess, the final outcome should be worth it.
From this week onwards, we have dissection from 11 to 1 in the morning and pracs from 3 to 5 in the afternoon. It isn't a pleasant event to look forward to. Imagine, having to eat your lunch, after finishing dissection. And that means, our break will be an hour only. Usually, if the practicals get over early, we get a longer break. Thats not going to be the case now. So, all that reading up Anatomy in the break and stuff will stop, and we'll be a little less prepared for it all.
It isn't as bad as it sounds. There are things to look forward to. When our practicals get over earlier, we'll be going home early. It won't make much of a difference for me, as such. Most of the times, I wait for one of my parents to pick me up, so I guess, I'll just hang out in the library.
We've started with the examination of the eye in the physiology practicals. It's interesting, and much better than the Examination of abdomen, where, there is really no observation as such. You can only feel the organs, when they are enlarged. You can only hear the vibration when there is fluid in the peritonneal cavity. You can only see the tonsils in the oral examination, when they are enlarged. We had " Normal" written in every column of examination in our journals.
We have a long weekend. Really, looking forward to three days at home.

Back To College

It hasn't been the easiest of tasks really. I actually like staying at home. I guess college is , well, not as great a place as home is. There were times when I used to look forward to going to school. And there were times when I used to look forward to going to class. Now, there's these times when I don't look forward to going to college. I've had to get myself ready, mentally, to just go through the days. That's what I don't like. The going to college thing. If I had it my way, I'd just sit at home and study. Thats way better and much more interesting.
Any way, college has been boring. We got about half of our results. I, sort of, did well in Biochem. 34 in theory and 30 in my pracs. A whole of 64. I passed. And that's what had me smiling. Anatomy marks just told me that I suck at it. And its gonna be much more than mugging up anatomy books thats going to help me there. My marks aren't worth disclosing, as much as I talk on this blog. Lets just say, I've got a lot to catch up in the prelims, and Thank God we have Anatomy for just a year. We're getting Physiology tomorrow and I think I'll pass, unless my pracs give me a big nightmare.
Among the newer stuff, Head and neck is quite tough. And I've sort of gained the will to study. So I'm studying quite a bit. Lets see how long the momentum lasts. It should last till about my prelims, so that I'll be ready by May to give the University exams.
We've now got an Anatomy seminar coming up. I'm quite interested, so I'm hoping that I get the chance to speak. Thats all thats happening. I'm just trying to adjust to college once more. Somehow those five days were so relaxing, my entire state of mind had changed. Its time to come back now, 'coz its show-time!! Yeah, right!

Exam Time - 3 : The Lessons Learnt

That's the end of it all. A nightmare, a bad dream, a lesson in life, a lesson of life, an experience, a treat, a premier college event.....whatever you'd like to call it. fact is, its all over, and I couldn't thank my stars enough for putting me into Batch C. We finished our practicals first. Batch E started theirs yesterday. So now we have a five day break, and it really couldn't come at a better time.
So how was Anatomy yesterday? Well, it wasn't good, in fact, if there's one paper I know I'm definitely failing in, its Anatomy. When both your paper and practical suck the way these did, well, there's no option but to smile and sigh and say, " Well, I really couldn't help that!" Yesterday was nightmare Anatomy relived, actually. Afetr having studied so hard for Embryology, I went blank. B-L-A-N-K blank. Never in my life have I gone blank in a viva. I get nervous and really cold and pitch-white, but I DON'T go BLANK! Guess, the teacher was sorry for me too. She really tried to put me at ease, talking about my braces and how long my treatment has been going on and all, but all to no avail. I couldn't hide my head enough in embarrassment.
Bones were better, but not as good as I wanted them to be. Thats all I really want to say. I don't know how I lived through it all. And the soft parts were a 50-50. They weren't great, but they weren't all bad. I did answer some things.
So, I wasn't all happy ( as I'd predicted before yesterday) at the end of my practicals. After all, there've been lessons learnt and they haven't exactly been sweet ones. So what have I learnt? Its very simple.
1. STUDY and study regularly and from the beginning.
2. Learn every practical once you finish it, and not a week before the exams. Or, as in my terms' caase, one evening before the exam.
3. I hate Anatomy. There's no doubt. I can't even think of thinking about imagining organs and where they're situated. But, that doesn't mean I don't do it. It means I take more time for it, at least this year, to score in the University.
4. I was always weak at Anat and its time I accepted that fact and worked towards beating it. Thats what all my idols have done with themselves, right? I should learn something from them.
5. Whenever you study, study forever. I mean, study it all in such a way that you could think about remembering it forever. If you can't even think of doing it, the first time you've learnt something up, you're just not up there actually.
6. Discuss with Dad. He's your best bet to sail through in Anatomy.
7. And finally, do NOT cramp up everything in your evening or day before the exam. Thats how much your preparation should be.
8. Do your bones everyday. One bone everyday.
9. Do your reactions every day. Biochem would have been much better if you'd finished your cycles before and given more time to the theory, a week before the exams.
10. Be regular. Even if you have to sit up till 12 am every day, just to finish the work of the day. Don't leave anything for the weekend which comes up next.
11. Weekends are to enjoy. To revise whatever you've done in the week, an old chapter or two. And then ENJOY. You're given a break. Use it the way it should be.
12. And lastly, stick to all that you've just written, my dear girl. It'll help to sail through the exams.
They look pretty ideal rules, but I have to follow them. There's no other way for me. I don't want the embarrassment of having to repeat a term. So I'm gonna start from today itself.
Looking forward to enjoying my break. Thank God, the exams are over. I almost know my result, so it couldn't come as a shock to me in any way. Looking forward to some easy relaxed times!!!

Exam Time - 2

We're officially half way through the terms now. We had our third and final theory paper today. It wasn't as good I wanted it to be. But, I've learnt to make up lines and lines of absolutely meaningful bullshit in these three papers, and that counts for something. Today was no different. There were questions I could have answered in one line, but because they were for 4 marks, I had to fill up the page with serious crap!! Guess, if any of my teachers come across this entry they will be nodding their heads off in agreement. Sorry guys, sorry having to make you go through the torture of reading some of my answers, but please know that if it hadn't been for the marks, I wouldn't have bothered!
Tomorrow starts the second innings of our term-match: the practicals. We have biochem tomorrow, and on the eve of such a practical, my friends and I are battling the big questions. " Are the journals allowed for the Quantitative analysis? Or do we mug up our entire journal?" Well, its a funny life during exam time, really. I've just finished with about 6 experiments, and am pretty sure I don't exactly remember which principle stands for which experiment. But, we've got about three hours in hand. So I'm hoping to be successful at mugging. And hoping my head off that the journals are allowed.
Am I scared of the viva? Well, not really. And thats not because I know my subject very well. I have become accustomed to really bad areas of experience. Tomorrow might just be one of those. So who cares! I'm looking at the university examination as my goal. So if things go terribly wrong tomorrow, I've made up my mind not to take it to heart.
Guess, that about explains my attitude. Looking forward to tomorrow in ways........

Exam Time - 1

Anatomy was bad. I won't spend much time describing my feelings when I saw the paper. The gist of it all is simply that yesterday, I realised what people mean when they say that medical is vast, and that anatomy is never easy. I can't believe that I studied as much as I did for a paper which turned out to be a disaster really. I might just pass, but failing looks like a more dependable option here.
Physiology was good. It was as different as as it could be from the Anatomy paper, and I felt so COOL looking at the paper and realising that I could actually choose which answers to write and which not, because almost all of them! I am definitely passing in this one. The only way I can fail in here, is if they're way to strict about the checking.
Biochem up next. I'm studying for it, hope things will work out well. Good Nite!!

The New Year

I am terrified of the idea of writing my paper tomorrow. And when I say terrified, I mean it. I am going through the usual, pre-exam ritual of forgetting things, that I had learnt so well about a day back, so you see it geta a little tough. Still, I might manage somehow in Anatomy. Physiology is nowhere within my reach at the moment, and half a day is just not enough any way.
So obviously, my New Year's resolution is to study more, and more regularly. So that by the time I finish with my first year, things won't be in the state they are right now. How glad will I be when Jan 9th gets over!!
Its the first time I haven't stayed up till 12 to welcome the New Year. But I guess, things do change with time. And 2008 wasn't all that great. I got into BJ Medical ( something way beyond my dreams) , yeah. But the life after that hasn't exactly been a smooth sailing. So this was a mixed year. Regrets? Not many. I wasn't able to write my usual favorite year-end in my diary yesterday. That has been a hard one to swallow. It just won't be the same when I write it on the 9th.
Well, gotta get back to pushing things into my head now. Just really nervous. I want at least 30 so have to make that happen. I am gonna be happiest creature on earth when I finish with the terms.....And even happier ( and that is possible) if I pass all my subjects! I promise to study more and regularly, God! Just let me off this time and pass me in all three,PLZ!!!!

The Weekend Before The Exams

Its tough, trying to think of exams from next week, precisely, next Friday. And I'm not exactly completely prepared. So I'm in major soups of all sorts. I'm really worried about Physiology. But hopefully I'll manage somehow. What I really wanted to write about was the dissection we started this week. Its the Head and Neck, and we dissected the scalp and even the brain. AND I LOVED IT ALL!!!!!! Its like one of the biggest things in my life really! Me and liking dissection and even doing it. The brain looked amazing! It looks just like the way we draw it. The other body parts differ, but this looks exactly the same, as the diagrams we take mintues to master. Guess, that really took me by surprise. I was thinking of sitting in the library today. Unfortunately, the maintenance work had to come up today itself, so well, my experience of studying in the library has to wait a little longer. Maybe Monday. I'm thinking of trying to finish with Biochem this weekend. Hopefully I'll be successful in this attempt at least. I've put pictures of our brain dissection.....Its not as gross as it looks!

Seminar Over!! Oh and also the Submission

It wasn't all that bad. In fact, I think I would have given a great presentation had I not been told to finish a 15 min gig in 7 mins. But, I enjoyed doing it. I wasn't scared at all, as I thought I might be, and it was amazing to come up with a presentation which garnered comments like, " The slides were amazing, the animation great. I wish you'd had more time." We had a situation in the middle, with one of my friends fainting and going into a fit on stage while giving his presentation. He really scared us all. But, thankfully, we got it all back. Basically, it was a good seminar. I wish we'd communicated more with the teachers. It would only have turned out better. The audience was about 50 people. We expected less, but thought that people would attend the seminar at least for the sake of attendance. Guess the thinking was wrong, but the expectation right.
The gist of it all is that I'm thankful that I took Therapeutic Uses, really grateful to Mom for doing what she did and simply enjoyed presentating my entire slide show. Even the laser beam, which hadn't worked throughout the seminar, worked for me!!
Moving over to the submission, I really thought I'd go blank when I stood in front of our batch-teacher. But, luckily, he called us in groups of three and asked Prajakta, Prabhjot and me questions whose answers we actually knew. We all got 24 out of 30, the highest in our batch. I know, I don't really deserve it, because I'm basically still clueless about Abdomen, but for the sake of a good day, I wanted the submission to go well. Didn't want it like last time, where I got a 12 and was left cursing myself all through the remainder of the day. So, 20th Dec, considered to be a sort of landmark in the last few months of year 2008, has passed and passed well. No real regrets , just a terminal exam to look forward to. Not a nice thought, but if I could manage today, I can manage that too.

4 Days For The Seminar

I know it sounds strange, but I'm more worried about the seminar than my abdomen submission, which happens to be on the same day. But I guess, when I take something really seriously, I do get worked up.
The presentation has turned out beautifully. Its actually what I wanted it to be, when I gave my name for the seminar. All thanks to my Mom, who's converted my average presentation into a delight to read, watch and teach. I'll never say this to her, but she's actually done something I can never thank her for enough. She's given yet another instance to say," You're the GREATEST Mom in the world!" Thanks a ton! I know how much work she has, and yet she can come up with time to sit and turn my presentation into what I wanted it to be. And look at me, after all the 2 o'clock nights that I put in, I came up with something that did need fine tuning. Any way, at least its done, and I'm sure it won't bore people to death.
We had revision of all the microscopic physiology pracs today. I just couldn't bring myself to prick me, and when i did, well, I simply had to do it all again. Its so wierd. Only on sunday was I thinking of how I'd managed to prick myself months back, when now, I couldn't even think of putting a pin on my skin. And hey presto!, the entire package just came up!! Well, as happens every time, my ring finger is blue-black again, and pains at a slight touch. And I'm pretty disgusted with myself and the teachers. Will definitely be glad when all this gets over.