Monday was our first block exam.  It turned out fairly well.  I only failed one class (To all of my future patients, I hope this doesn’t diminish the confidence you have in my abilities….).  I knew this would happen at some point…I guess it’s good to get it out of the way.  I can honestly say I had never failed a test before in my life.  Well, that is if you don’t count Cell Structure and Function, which I took my freshman year in undergrad.  (I took the class pass/fail, so although I did technically get a 50.4 on my final, I only needed a 50 to pass.  What can I say?  I like to cut things close…)  During orientation, all of the second years who had ever failed a test during med school raised their hands, and it was basically everyone.  That definitely made this easier to bear.  They also told us we needed to readjust our perspective on grades.  “Don’t think of it as a seventy…think of it as a SEVENTY!”  So, overall, I’m pretty pleased.  It’s nice to know that studying for 10+ hours everyday isn’t just a big waste of time.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but I am really loving med school.  This week we had a communication lab, where we had to take a history from another student in front of a group of our peers.  I was super nervous, but I think I did pretty well.  I managed to say my name correctly, but apparently I need to work on showing empathy.  It is pretty hard to show empathy toward a fellow first year who is faking headaches.  I did enjoy watching everybody else though.  I just kept thinking, “Someday these people are going to be really great doctors.”  It’s just fun to see people as they start out.  Luckily everyone was nice and helpful.

We’ve been continuing to work on our palpatory skills in OTM class.  It’s pretty frustrating to watch the professor identify bony landmarks in a few seconds and then turn around and not be able to find anything.  It’s like my hands just don’t work that way.  Someday they will be magic hands, but right now they are letting me down.

This weekend Nick and I are headed home to “the good life.”  I’m pretty stressed about how I’m going to fit the needed amount of study time in between the Husker game and my goddaughter’s baptism, but hopefully it will work out.  Speaking of studying, that’s probably what I should be doing right now.  Story of my life…..