Big Exam on Tuesday, but wait, more clinicals

This semester: Semester 3: "Honestly The Hardest One Yet":

Pretty Accurate, minus the desk top computer...also there would be 10 empty coffee cups!

• Clinical skills and interview skills practice every Monday and Thursday:
• ex: I volunteered for the "Special Interview" a.k.a. the head of the Behavioral Dept. acts the role of a "unique" or "outraged" patient and 3 volunteer med students must try to get through an entire clinical interview, gathering all the necessary information.
• Me and two other women in my interview skills training group happened to volunteer at the same time. We had 10 mins prior to make a "game plan"...we thought we'd surely crash and burn like all who had gone before us...we didn't.
• Dr. Abney (the Dept head...who in this scenario was an outraged, belligerent patient recently diagnosed with HIV..fun) said, "this was one of the most effective interviews I have experienced in this scenarios. He promised us Positive Professionalism Cards--at my school this is like a recommendation letter that is placed in your academic file. Yay!
• Most Mondays are exhausting:
• We either interview patients/perform examinations at local clinics in random villages (think, "3rd world clinic", nauseating bus rides, funny/interesting patients and cases you won't see in the U.S.)
• Alternatively: we practice specific, complex physical examinations (ex. measuring Jugular Venous Pressure to estimate Right Atrial Pressure...which funnily enough involves rulers; ex. taking the Femoral Artery pulse...always awkward)
• Also we still have a couple hours of class.
• Class:
• Minimum of 5 hours per day--maximum of 7 hours per day. Also exhausting..I think we have had over 100 hours of lecture since week one--> and we have a 174 question exam on Tuesday to prove it. (That is pretty much the length of our normal final exams)
• Life outside of class:
• Social Life! *crickets chirping*
• Other: Coordinator for Women's Health Advocacy Committee, part of Physicians for Human Rights (we are the only school chapter of this awesome international organization...check them/us out!
• http://physiciansforhumanrights.org/about/ 
• http://www.rossphr.org/
• I'm organizing a Women's Health Clinic with AMSA (other med org):
• recruited 2 doctors at Ross to perform breast exams, teach self-breast exam
• s and *domestic violence education* to local women
• may have to work with country's Ministry of Gender Affairs to get educational material for women about abuse, safe shelters, etc.
• I'm pretty sure I'm the first in this organization's history to address this issue (which is prevalent through out the Caribbean, oh yea, and the world)
• Also working other small events to raise funds for the Women's Club/Shelter in Portsmouth

Must get back to studying "Effective Communication Skills" as a break from "Intro. to Mycology (Fungal infections)".

More later; thanks for tuning in!