I got to touch a lung today

By request, I have returned to tell you all of the wondrous world of medical school. After a summer of teaching and ant research, I am now holed up at this learned center of medicine. Let me just say that it has been awesome from the start. Orientation was last week, so I have just about completed my first real week of medical school. So far, my biochemistry degree has allowed me to float through the courses, but (amazingly) we are already reaching the boundaries of my knowledge. That's right, in 12 hours of lecture I am well on my way to being in the same boat as everyone else. I will say this though; there is a lot of material, but it is relatively basic. So while it may true that we have covered a half of a semester's worth of nutritional biochemistry in a week, it was a very cursory look. No mechanism drawing, no math, and minimal emphasis on being able to do theoretical biosythesis. We are skimming at the speed of light essentially, which is not easy regardless of the depth. I will also say that the speed isn't quite what some people make it out to be. We are moving fast, but 12 hours of lecture is a month of class time in undergrad. So we are maybe moving twice as fast as undergrad in terms of content overview. At my school, we only have three classes. One is essentially a time commitment with little in terms of memorization or examination that is mostly concerned with basic clinical skills and humanistic discussions. The other is the one that I have been mentioning. And finally, we have anatomy.

Ah, anatomy. As my title indicates, I got to touch a lung today. Stuck my finger right through the rib cage and gave it a rub. Pretty trippy. I really have to say though, this person that donated his body for my education is probably the best friend that I will ever have. No, I'm not talking to the cadaver, but I am serious. How many of your friends would be willing to donate their body for you to mangle in the name of education? It is a truly amazing gift that this person has given me, and he will cotninue to live in all of my group for our entire careers as physicians. He is the our first patient, in a way.

As far as anatomy goes, it is a blast to dissect. Our fellow is a bit on the portly side, but the benefit of that is that its a lot harder to accidently cut through something important when its an inch deep in fat. The unbelievable details of the human body are daunting. Thousands of bones, muscles, nerves, organs, and blood vessels. And then, pieces upon pieces within all of those categories. They aren't kidding when they say that medical school is a white rapids river of knowledge. I'm still on the lazy river at the moment, but I hear the rumbling in the distance.

Thanks to all that have and continue to read my blog. If anyone has any specific questions or comments, that might spur me to post more often in the future. Don't be shy, I always respond in one way or another!