Monday, April 13, 2009

I'm up to my neck with things to study....

I am in the midst of three major exams in forty-eight hours: Microbiology/Immunology shelf, Pathology Laboratory final and Pathology shelf! After that we get to take a shelf in Pharmacology on Friday, another shelf in clinical medicine on Monday and finally we get to take the third local exam on the 23rd (covering the last 1/3 of the semester in all classes).

We just completed the Immunology and Microbiology this morning. It was a doozie! Shelves are administered by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), which is the organization also responsible for the medical boards for licensing. The shelves are a review of everything in a specific subject. This means that the shelves always cover at least two semesters---there was genetic information on the exam that I haven't look at since my first semester in medical school! I hear (but I don't know) that most U.S. medical schools do not make their students take shelves in ever subject at the end of the school year like we do (in less than a week, no less). On top of all of that, we also have to prepare for the pathology lab final and the exam covering the last 1/3 of the semester! No one said medical school would be easy, and I think it is only going to get more challenging once I'm doing clinical medicine full time.

We have less than two weeks on the island left and I'm sure I'll miss it, but right now I'm ready to get home. There is a large Catholic population on the island and boy have they had a party for Easter! I don't remember ever having as much fun on Easter as they do. The music was thumping all day yesterday and since today, Easter Monday, is a national holiday they are partying today too. It always amazes me how loud one little island can be!

As the sun is setting on my time in Dominica, I know for sure one thing I'll miss: The most beautiful sunsets in the world.


1 comment:

  1. Hang in there Nicole you are almost done! Beautiful picture. I would miss those sunsets too!

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