Emily Brewster is amazing

If I could actually focus on what she's saying, instead of noticing how attractive she is, I might actually be able to figure out the difference between the words 'affect' and 'effect'.

This is her explaining the difference between affect and effect: http://video.merriam-webster.com/AvsE4.mov?ec_rate=36

Second sim mark

I just got my second simulation mark.  My partner and I almost passed.  I'm actually quite pleased.  The mistakes I made, in the last sim, probably won't be repeated.  The more I look back on Monday's simulation, the more I think of simulation as being really cool and worthwhile.

I have my first test, of the semester, in about 2.5 hrs.  It's for my Pulmonary Function Testing course and the study material is pretty uninteresting.

Crazy Sim Lab today

My High Fidelity Simulation experience today, was crazy.  Lots of stuff going on and a Physician, not very patiently, telling me and my fellow SRT to hurry up. 

Unfortunately, I can't really write about what goes on in Sim.  "What happens in Sim, stays in Sim".

The semester so far

On Monday it will be the third week of fourth semester.  My course load seems pretty light, when compared to last semester.  I'm hoping that I will have some extra time to study things, from previous semesters, that are fading from memory.

I did my first high fidelity simulation last week and was surprised by how real it felt.  I only had to pretend a little bit, during the simulation, because the simulation environment and scenario was pretty realistic to start with.  We were warned that our first simulation marks would almost certainly be failures because the standard for assessment at the beginning of the semester is the same as at the end.  We're being evaluated, from the start, as though we were actual RTs.  The first 7 simulations don't count towards our actual marks.  The usual people, have already started complaining about their simulation marks, even though they don't count.  I failed my first simulation, as predicted, and don't understand why some people are upset about their marks. 

We're being trained to a high standard and we now know where we are in relation to that standard.  We have been measured and have been found lacking and that's a good thing because we can focus on what needs to be improved. 

I really need to stop dropping things on the floor.  Using PPE might also be a good idea...

Clinical site

I'll be going to the Clinical site that I most wanted too go to. We had to submit our preferences for a base clinical site, ranked from 1 to 9, this morning. This afternoon, we were told where we would be going.

I'll start my clinical rotation in May.

Sim lab orientation

Today was my first day of school for the semester. All I had today was a SIM lab orientation. Not only do I need to know how to use equipment, I need to know where to find it. I spent about 5 minutes trying to figure out where the face masks were located. I couldn't find them! I had to ask the guy running the SIM lab, where they were.

What it's like to be a patient

Stephen Gaudet over at breathinstephen.com is a retired Respiratory Therapist, who's been living with severe refractory Asthma since birth.   He has once again provided me with a valuable insight into what it's like to be a patient.    Unfortunately, that insight comes from his most recent hospital stay, which he blogs about here:

http://breathinstephen.com/97-misinformation-and-a-virus-from-hell/

Rock on dude

Funniest thing I've seen all year.

The right book can make a difference

Rau's Respiratory Care Pharmacology is the book that I was supposed to, and did, buy for last semester's Pharmacology course.













Integrated Cardiopulmonary Pharmacology is the book that I wish I would have bought for last semester's Pharmacology course. I just received a copy of this book today and noticed something pretty obvious. The most difficult modules for the Pharmacology course were based on material from this book. I've started to read the relevant parts of the book and a lot of the disconnected facts, from the course, are now starting to come together and make sense.


I personally prefer Integrated Cardiopulmonary Pharmacology.  It's a lot more clear and concise and also constantly points out the clinical significance and relevance of concepts.

Rau's Respiratory Care Pharmacology is a good book.  Unfortunately, it quite often goes into too much detail and the fundamental concepts get lost in the minutiae.  I will turn to this book, when I find that the other book doesn't go into as much detail as I need.

Oprah Winfrey pisses me off

I've always found Oprah Winfrey really annoying and this Newsweek article, written by Weston Kosova and Pat Wingert, explains why. I've always wanted to go on a rant about Oprah but never really had they energy to do a good job.

Now I just have to find good articles about Dr. Phil, Dr. Weil ,Deepak Chopra, Anthony Robbins and Kevin Trudeau.

Is this more funny if you're over 30?

New use for a clip board

When I'm on a small plane I don't like sitting beside really obese people. Their lower bodies have a tendency to ooze under the arm rest and onto my seat! To avoid being touched by the body part(s) that ooze onto my seat, I have a tendency to move away from the ooze. Unfortunately, the oozing continues and I find an ever decreasing amount of seat room for myself. I'm a pretty big guy myself and I get pretty pissed off by other people’s fatness intruding into my personal space and onto my seat.

This situation happened to me again, when I was flying back home from visiting family in the US, during the holidays. I discovered that if I put a clip board between myself and the arm rest, that fatness doesn't make it over to my seat and I don't have to deal with the creepy sensation of someone’s fat ass touching my thigh.

Not getting ripped off

Now that the Canadian dollar is almost at par with the US dollar, Canadians are being gouged buy Canadian retailers again. A lot of the retailers are claiming that it's not their fault.  They're saying that it's their distributors and suppliers who are at fault.  I don't really care who's responsible for trying to rip me off.  I'm not having any part of it.  I have a credit card, know how to buy things online and will give my business to a US retailer who doesn't rip me off.  I had to buy textbooks recently, which illustrates the state of things.  Unless otherwise noted, all of the following prices are in Canadian dollars:


The College Bookstore was selling the Essentials of Respiratory Care for $103.95.

Amazon.ca (that's the Canadian Amazon) was selling the same book for $94.95.

Amazon.com (the American Amazon) was selling the book for $70.77 (US$65.63).




WTF? $103.95, $94.95 or $70.77!? I ordered the Essentials of Respiratory Care along with the Manual of Pulmonary Function Testing from amazon.com and only had to pay an additional "import fee" of $5.91 (US$5.47).

Back to school on Monday

I'm back to school on Monday and looking forward to it.  Monday is the first day of fourth semester.  I have 4 courses and clinical simulation.  Last semester was supposed to be the hardest semester and I won't argue that fact. 

I only had to buy a couple more textbooks for next semester 4th semester.  Most of the courses had "Retained from previous semester" listed as the required texts.

If you're looking for RT blogs / websites to read

If you're looking for RT blogs / websites to read, look here:  The best Respiratory Therapy Blogs for 2010