[1:38 a.m.] got coffee brewing. We have a pediatrics exam, a quiz that needs to be knocked out for pediatrics and a couple posters that need to be completed for Patient Communication.
[4:09 a.m.] posters are completed for Pt Comm and all relevant materials have been printed out for Pediatrics. I'm going to be taking a hit in Peds which pretty much sucks but, there's only so much a person can do with the time they are given. Fortunately, a fellow classmate posted a study guide. It's about 25 pages so I'll have time to look over it all but won't have a lot of time to get much committed to memory.
Today's picture is what I printed out and put on a poster for my Personal Goal. I found the diploma online then used MS Paint to add in my name and a date of April 21, 2012. :)
[6:35 a.m.] I've been at school for about 45 minutes, completed the pediatrics quiz due today and learned that the vision boards I wasted so much time on this morning may now be turned in next week since a good number of people simply haven't done them. What a crock of you know what! Still, I was just reading an excerpt from an article on PubMed about a 15 day old who had necrosis of an undescended testis so ...I suppose things could be worse ;)
I did find an interesting site covering information on surgical procedures for children at http://med.brown.edu/pedisurg/Hasbro/PatientInfo.htm
[5:33 p.m.] ...The Phys Dx Grade has been posted. I think I already guessed I would get a solid score in the 23 to 25 range and, as fate would have it, I scored a 24 out of 30 or an even 80%. I must admit, I was a bit disappointed in the grade even though it's what I thought I'd be getting. I was hoping to be surprised and maybe see a 27! :) I started serious studying for that exam 12 days out. I might have to talk with our teacher to get some advice on how to do better.
Emotions kind of run up and down throughout the course of a day but, as busy as we are there is little time left to dwell. I know now I could have done little to nothing regarding my vision board and devoted all my available time to studying for Pediatrics which, I would like to have done, especially since I had the potential for such a strong grade in that class (i.e., B+ or A).
[9:01 p.m.] OK, I was a bit dumbfounded after I saw my Phys Dx grade because I wasn't sure what else I could do to get a better grade. I did quite a bit for the grade I got. Having the Internet available was a huge help. In fact, for my first two exams, I took a total of 13 pages worth of notes, 5 pages for the first exam and 8 pages for the second exam. With the Internet at my disposal - by the time of our third exam, I'd accumulated 41 pages worth of notes! That's 28 pages for a single exam as well as a score that's a full grade and a half better than my previous two efforts.
Somehow ...I'd like to do better. I utilized FlashMyBrain.com and FlashcardExchange.com, regular paper flashcards, both loose and w/ ring binders, highlighted, marked up and read the book multiple times and, at the end, started looking at the Swartz Phys Dx book that was used in previous trimesters. Actually, with the internet access I was able to pull that Swartz book up online via studentconsult.com and incorporate many of the pictures from the book into my notes. Now, where could I have improved?
For this Phys Dx exam, I started studying 12 days out. What did I start? I started making flashcards and marking up the book, dissecting the various Chief Complaints and looking for pathgnomonic differences between the diseases & issues to help provide for a differential diagnosis (ddx). OK, I can start sooner. Including this week, I should have close to three weeks,... well, 12 days until the 5th of December and maybe an extra day or two before our fourth exam. So, start now is one thing.
I never really had a schedule or planned study times for Phys Dx. I'm not exactly sure how to schedule this (as simple as it may sound) but, that's probably something to look into. I know many teachers talk about devoting some time every day to studying but with 13 classes I'm not sure how realistic that is. If I were to consider 12 classes and say 10 minutes of reviewing information for each class then we're talking about two hours of time which can be a considerable amount of time and it's not just the two hours but also maintaining focus for the entire two hours. If I had a daily type focus on 9 classes then we're talking about 1.5 hours which is a little more manageable.
One thought that's crossing my mind is to incorporate this review time with exercise, in particular with cardio. During my ASP (Accelerated Science Program) days I did manage to hit the gym on a regular basis and press a single button on the treadmill to do a 5k. I think the school gym opens at 5:15 a.m. so, if I leave the house by 4:30 a.m. I can arrive at 5:15 and get that 5k in as well as review for at least 4 classes by 6 a.m. Another nice feature here is that I can still get to the cafeteria shortly after 6 a.m and have another hour until the first class. So ...if that treadmill time is used for review then maybe the other hour at hand could be used for newer material. to learn? notecards?
I need to keep this plan in mind. Did I mention I got up at 1:30 a.m. this morning? It's 9:30 now so, I can still get 7 hours sleep and get up at 4:30, maybe leave home by 5:30....
btw - if anyone out there reading this has any study ideas that has worked for them then please comment and share :)
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