Last Pharmacology test

My last Pharmacology test went about as well as I could have hoped. I'm pretty sure I passed. Fortunately, the test had some really questions. Unfortunately, it also had some specific questions about cardiac drugs and anti infective drugs.

The semester is almost over. Now I just have two competencies and 7 Final exams to do. I think I'll start studying for the Pharmacology exam this weekend.

Some good news and some bad news

The bad news:
I probably won't be ready for my cumulative Pharmacology test this week. There's just too much for me to study. The test will cover everything for the course. It's essentially an abbreviated version of the final exam.

The good news:
The test is only worth 10%. I still have 2 more weeks before the final exam. Now I know how much I have to study for the final. Studying for the test will give me a good start on my preparations for the final.

Here I am again

Studying at the last minute because I spent too much time studying something else.

I have a cumulative Pharmacology quiz later this week. It's going to test the same breadth of material that will be on the final exam. I'm going to have to study for that until blood comes out of my ears.

I've got a Sim lab experience scheduled for today. Faculty's seems a bit vague about what's going to be happening in Sim today. I'm wondering if they're going to throw us into a high fidelity Sim too see how much we freak out.

Learning vs. getting good marks

I've come to the realization that getting good marks doesn't always mean that you're learning well. By learning well I mean that you're actually accumulating knowledge that you will retain, and can use, after you write an associated test and or exam.

I try to learn but I do some cramming because I am convinced that cramming before a test can improve my mark by about 5-10 percent.

I know someone who almost exclusively crams. She starts to study a few hours before a test and ends up getting really good marks. She doesn't seem to know anything, unless she's about to write a test. It's kind of odd and kind of annoying. What's even more annoying is the fact that she's aware of her problem and talks about it frequently.

4 weeks left

This is the busiest semester so far and, from what I've heard, the hardest semester in the program. Oddly enough, I don't find it that hard. I think I've just gotten used to the work load. I mostly just study and don't spend much time bitching about it.

I actually have to bite my tongue sometimes, so that I don't tell people how much I'm enjoying myself. That would just piss a bunch of people off. Most of my class seems to be doing fairly well with only a handful of people who are on the verge of failing. Guess which students do the most bitching and complaining.

Next week I will be writing 3 tests and doing a group presentation. After that I only have to worry about preparing for competencies and writing final exams. This semester will be all over on December 17th, when I write my last exam.

This semester has just flown by. Now there's only 4 weeks left.

Last midterm today

I write my last midterm exam today. It's on Ventilators.

I could have gotten an H1N1 vaccine yesterday, but didn't feel like waiting in line. There's still a shortage of vaccine here, so only "high risk groups" can get vaccinated now. As a Student RT, I'm considered to be in a high risk group. I'll get my shot on Friday morning, when the vaccine clinic, at school, opens again.

Maybe not

OK, maybe I won't be getting my H1N1 vaccine, at school, next week: http://health.lifestyle.yahoo.ca/channel_health_news_details.asp?news_id=19717&news_channel_id=2097&channel_id=2097&relation_id=70487 There's a shortage of vaccine in Canada.

Midterm exams

I'm almost finished writing my midterm exams for this semester. I still have a couple of midterms and a test to write next week. The workload for this semester is a bit heavier than last semester. I'm now able to keep on top of things because I figured out how to study effectively and efficiently last semester.

All of the courses I'm taking now, seem relevant and important.

Not drinking vast quantities of coffee has given me a lot more energy. I'm now just drinking tea and diet Pepsi. I sleep like a baby and can study for hours and hours. I've also noticed that I'm not nearly as stressed as I was when I was drinking lots of coffee.

I should be getting my H1N1 shot next week. There have been lots of sick people in school lately, including myself. I wonder how many of them were sick with H1N1. Lots of people in my class are talking about not getting the H1N1 vaccine, for one kooky reason or another. Anti science/medicine kooks are annoying.

September was hard

The work load this semester has been pretty brutal. I've pretty much given up having any delusions about doing anything, other than studying this semester. I don't even pretend anymore. What am I doing this weekend? Studying. If you have a problem with that, you can talk to me about it in January 2011.

My Cardiodiagnostics course has been pretty tough. We thought we had to learn Basic Arrhythmias (also known as lead II EKG interpretation) this semester. We were wrong. We had to learn Basic Arrhythmias in 3 weeks. I wrote my my first Cardiodiagnostics quiz this week and passed by 2%.

Someone in my class was talking about dropping out and joining the Army. I think he might have been serious.

I was in pretty rough shape last week, with a cold that was kicking my ass.

I have 5 tests next week.

Despite the heavy workload, I'm enjoying school quite a bit. I must be a glutton for punishment.

I win!

I never did have a meeting with Campus Administration. Apparently the person I was talking with, who mentioned a meeting, meant that there was a possibility of having a meeting with some people to discuss the issue. There wasn't an actual meeting planned.

As things stand now: I have my locker back and am keeping it. The locker allocation system has been taken down for maintenance, so that they can fix it or replace it with something better.

I sent an email to the Chair of my Academic School and the Program Coordinator for my program, that details what has transpired so far. I don't trust Campus Administration and wanted to make sure that they didn't hassle me about any of this stuff.

I can't believe that something as simple as getting a locker could escalate into such a big deal. I just want to study Respiratory Therapy and not be hassled by anyone while I'm doing it.

Taking back a stolen locker

Someone stole my locker and I took it back!

On August 31st I went onto a locker selection website and selected a locker. A was sent a confirmation email confirming that the locker was successfully assigned to me. It's a nice locker because it's close to the Library.

On September 15th I found out that my locker was assigned to someone else. On August 16th I went to Campus Administration, to get the problem resolved. I was told they would investigate.

Today I went to Campus Administration and was told that the locker was now assigned to someone else and that nothing could be done. I was furious. I pretty much gave up and grudgingly decided to pick another locker. Lockers are in short supply, so the lockers still available are in horribly inconvenient locations. I went back into the locker selection website and selected a crappy locker. At that point I came up with a theory about how someone could use the locker selection website to steal someone else's locker. I tested that theory by taking my locker back!

I went back to Campus Administration and presented them with the email that confirmed that the locker was again successfully assigned to me. The woman I was talking with logged into the locker selection system and confirmed that the locker was indeed assigned to me now. She was pretty shocked by what I had been able to do. At that point I told her that it's my locker and I'm keeping it. She then asked me if I could attend a meeting tomorrow with herself, her boss and someone from the IT department. I'm going to the meeting. I think I want to bring an impartial third party with me, so that they feel a bit of pressure to address this issue with some common sense and fairness.

The locker selection web site has been unavailable since shortly after my last conversation with Campus Administration.

It has begin

I am once again surprised by how much studying I have to do. Glad to be done the first week of school.

No job for me

I was thinking that I might get a tutoring job. I'm not getting that job. I put off pursuing it for so long that all the positions have been filled. As far as I'm concerned, not having a job is a good thing.

I need a coffee

and a cigarette. I know that if I have both at the same time, I'll stop feeling like crap. But they're both not good for me, so I'll just feel like crap until I stop feeling like crap.

What are the benefits of not drinking coffee anymore? You can't get a decent night's sleep and everyone in the world tries to piss me off.

I'm just one week into the school year and I'm already swamped. I also miss coffee.

Second day of 3rd semester

I have a quiz today, in my first Ventilators class of the semester. Quiz questions will come from the final exam that we wrote in last semester's ventilator course. Fortunately, todays quiz doesn't count for real marks. I believe the purpose of the quiz is to show us how little we know, of what we have supposedly learned.

For the safety of others

I spent most of the morning being pissed off, sweaty and craving a coffee. I had to do a little bit of group work this morning and was getting pretty angry about something that should have just been a minor annoyance to me.

I finally broke down and took a 100mg caffeine pill, to ensure the safety of others. :-)

First day of school and I have a test tomorrow!

Caffeine withdrawal

Caffeine withdrawal sucks. I think I'm going to be stocking up on some Diet Pepsi soon. There should be enough caffeine in the Pepsi, to take some of the edge off of the withdrawal symptoms. I'll go without caffeine for a few more hours before I go get some Pepsi. Part of me wants this process to be unpleasant, so that I don't forget it.

So far so good

I'm on my third cup of decaf and plan on having a fourth in a few minutes. I'm pretty sure that decaf coffee has some caffeine in it, so I haven't actually quit the caffeine completely yet.

I haven't even had a caffeine withdrawal headache yet. I did spend half the day in bed sleeping though, which might have something to do with the drastic reduction in caffeine today. All things considered, my first day without real coffee is going surpisingly well.

H1N1 Rap by Dr. Clarke

1st day without real coffee

Last night I got fed up with how tired a was feeling and the amount of coffee I routinely drink. Coffee just doesn't seem to do much for me anymore. I've been drinking at least six cups a day.

I drank a couple cups of home brewed decaf this morning and am hoping for the best.

Why am I doing this a couple of days before school starts?