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I�ve also learned that I�m capable of learning much more than I thought I could, that the program here is set up to do just that, and that all I have to do is keep my nose in the books and my faith in the system up, and I�ll be fine.

First Year Student Blog: Mark Williams, Class of 2010

“Final Exams and Sleep-deprivation”
Or
“How I found out I can learn more in less time than I ever thought  humanly possible”

beep. beep – beep. BEEPBEEP BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!!!!
mmphrgl … wha …? … errrrrr – wha-tim-izit???                      5 AM???????
Hmph! It’s pitch black outside, I’m completely sleep-deprived, and I have to get up and keep on studying.  Grrr….

This is finals week, more or less. And while the exams aren’t comprehensive, there are 4 of them in 4 days, plus learning assignments and a report and presentation to finish. On Sunday night all of this was looking like an almost-insurmountable mountain. Now on Thursday morning, 3 exams and seemingly countless assignments later,  the summit is almost in sight! I only have to review my notes one last time, take (and pass!) the Orthopedics test, and wrap up an Evidence-Based Medicine Powerpoint presentation for tomorrow. Then I’m free for 3 weeks!

8 am: Sitting in class in front of my laptop for the exam. Hopefully I can clear my brain of sleep haze and caffeine metabolites long enough to finish this. Comminuted fractures, impingement tests, Toradol vs opiates for chronic back pain – how can I possibly keep this all straight in my brain! I finish and submit the results. Fingers crossed…..  yes, a good grade!!! You’ve gotta love the instantaneous exam results. And I even impressed myself with how much I managed to recall. On to the Powerpoint.

10:30 am: My group partners and I finish the Powerpoint presentation for tomorrow. We’ve reviewed the research study on vitamin E and C Supplementation in the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and are ready to show our stuff to our classmates. (Unfortunately we don’t find much evidence to support the use of vitamin E and C for this purpose, and this was a pretty rigorous long-term randomized control trial (RCT) – not good news for this fan of antioxidants. It’s hard to argue with the results of a good RCT, I’ve learned. But there are always other studies to review…)

11am: One final review of the answers on my Cardiology REA (Required Enrichment Assignment) for Diagnostic Methods – Ambulatory Cardiac Monitors before I turn it in. Again, the instant performance feedback is nice thing.
Noon – 6pm: The afternoon is spent almost entirely doing the things I’ve neglected the past two weeks: laundry, a few groceries, paying bills, scraping the stickiness off the kitchen floor, and some packing up for the flight back home tomorrow. It’s funny how secondary these things can seem when exams are looming!

7pm: I’m off to a friend’s house for a post-exam celebration with a bunch of classmates. It’s time to reward myself for all the hard work of the past week! Heck, of the past 4 months!!!

What have I learned? What haven’t I !! The sheer volume of information is stunning, and I know there’s  no way to learn it all. And, yes,  I do worry about looking like a dunce during clinicals, or missing that important lab value or physical exam clue once I’m practicing. I’ve learned that I can get by - and even perform well - after a week of averaging 5 hours sleep a night (though I hope  I won’t need this skill when practicing!). But I’ve also learned that I’m capable of learning much more than I thought I could, that the program here is set up to do just that, and that all I have to do is keep my nose in the books and my faith in the system up, and I’ll be fine. And in a short 18 months, I’ll be a Duke PA grad!

 

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