Neuroscience, postponed publication dates and a birthday

"The most obvious feature of the brain is that it is not homogeneous, but composed of different regions. There are no intrinsic moving parts, no obvious way of knowing where to start to understand what is actually happening, or what functions are taking place."

---Susan Greenfield (from How Might the Brain Generate Consciousness, in From Brains to Consciousness? Essays on the New Sciences of the Mind, edited by S. Rose, Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1998).

This semester we are diving into Neuroscience and I think it will be fun, WHEN I learn the anatomy of the brain better. It is hard to jump into neuroscience, for example right now we are doing the the tracts of the spinal cord, when you don't know where all of the areas of the brain are located (over simplified, tracts are the bundles of nerves which send sensory information to the brain and the motor information to the muscles). We had a guest lecturer on Thursday and I felt bad for him. He was "auditioning" for a job and he was so nervous his hands were shaking for the hour and a half he lectured (he had two hours, but was so nervous he spoke like a sprinter running the 100 meters in the Olympics). The also gave him a conceptually difficult lecture, especially to teach to students who are new to neuroscience: spinal tracts. I think he could do a good job (you become MD, PhD by embodying academic excellence and a LOT of hard work), but he needs more practice lecturing. Also, English isn't his first language, which MUST make giving a lecture in front of over 300 people, while trying to get a job, more difficult.

Today we had another Neuroscience lecture by Dr. "really good neuroscience professor", who is amazing. She taught at Ross University School of Medicine right after completing her PhD in anatomy and neuroanatomy for a year or two. Then she left to go teach in the U.S., but as she told us Ross got her back. I suspect Ross offered her a deal she couldn't refuse, as they should, since she is SUCH a wonderful lecturer. Ross has offices in New Jersey and New York and she works there and comes down to Dominica for a few weeks a semester. I am so glad Ross got her back because after she lectured, I felt a million times better about neuroscience. I just wish we had her more often. Actually, the full time faculty for neuroscience at Ross is very good. Considering how difficult of a subject that neuroscience is, I'm extra impressed with the quality of teaching. It could be so much more difficult than it is because our professors are such great lectures. However, I don't want to give a full review of the professors yet because some professors don't test what they focus on and teach, which irrates me. I don't think these great lectures will do that, but I just don't know yet.

Oh, this is funny: I fell in love with a histology review book at the end of last semester (and my grades loved it too). I wanted to buy it rather than rent it from the library, but our bookstore doesn't carry it. I pre-ordered the NEW edition, which was suppose to be released on May 15, 2008 and I was suppose to get it 3-5 days after the release. On the 16th, I got an email saying that the release date was delayed and I needed to approve the late delivery or cancel the order. Well, the new release date is JANUARY 10, 2010! I will have taken the first boards and (obviously) have finished my Medical Histology course. I just can't get over the release date changing so much. Needless to say, I cancelled my order and proceeded to order the older edition.

This semester has been a million times more interesting than last semester, but it is more difficult and we are moving through things more quickly than last. However, unlike last semester, I have a lot more fun studying and don't really want to quit--I just get tired.

My birthday was on Saturday and it was a nice day. I had to study (and had no focus, which is in direct contradiction to my above statement). I went to yoga, Farley and I went swimming in the sea at sunset and then Farley took me to dinner with some friends. Here is a picture: