A month already?

And it's been a busy month. It's odd to admit, but I'm studying now more than ever. The volume of material is simply incredible, once you wake up to the fact that what used to be anatomy lab, sometimes 3h of it in a day, is now 3 separate lectures. So lots of reviewing and re-reviewing has to go on.

So, we've sailed past the gastrointestinal module, which granted us such arcane knowledge as the secrets of two types of diarrheas you can get, the very specific difference between diarrhea and dysentery, and why you'd rather have IBS than IBD. The really pressing stuff like what does a colostomy bag feel like, and what is the composition of a standard flatus has been left for the eager beavers who will become GI docs. Due to time constraints (6-year residency) I will likely not be a part of the club, so I may never know the answers. Well, there is always Wikipedia.

So on to the renal module, hence the picture of the kidney outlines on the patient's back. Notice that the left kidney is higher than the right. This is due to the space taken up by the liver, along with the fact that the right lung is a bit longer than the left.

Like GI, the renal module offers a jolly mixture of how the stuff works and how it goes bad. It's all a bit like a movie that at first sucks you in and makes you feel good, but then your favorite character is killed off. And so far, all the characters in medical school have been quite likable. Hate to see what happens to the muscles in the upcoming musculoskeletal module.

The first renal exam is on Monday, just 3 days from now. Although it's Friday today, I'll be seeing the family tomorrow after lunch. We have an ultrasound clinic tomorrow morning, so I arranged to stay at the university, study in peace, and come back a bit later. It should work out well. And next week, thanks to the wonderful recorded lectures, I'll take off for home early.