It has been a rough start to the second quarter, and it is only day 3.  I knew it would be a little hard to transition back after Thanksgiving, but I am really struggling.  It doesn’t help that I’ve had the flu since Sunday…still wondering what that flu shot was for…  And it seems like they are purposefully trying to make things difficult.

Our first block this quarter covers the pelvis.  We all knew this day would come, but did our first lecture back have to be the male reproductive system?  One day you’re at home eating turkey and playing card games with the family, and the next day you’re sitting in class looking at penises.  I mean…at least ease us into it.

Then 8 am Tuesday morning I have OTM…over the pelvis.  Hello new lab partner….let me feel around for your pelvic landmarks!  This is one unit where I really wish my partner was a girl.  If I make it through without touching anything inappropriate, it will be a miracle.

And today was anatomy lab….over the perineum.  How my lab group got stuck with the poop-scooping lab and the anus lab I’ll never know.  And it didn’t help that as soon as we got into lab, we were informed that the first order of business was to saw our cadaver in half.  In half.  I don’t know why this was so hard to accept; I knew we would have to do this.  But somehow I thought we had more time…I thought we’d be given more notice.  I suppose it was for the best…we grabbed the saws and had our cadaver chopped into pieces in a manner of minutes.  I took one arm, and my lab partners did the rest.  It was kind of strange to be sawing through bones while listening to Christmas music, but such is the life of a med student.

I’m glad for Thanksgiving break, but I almost wish there were no breaks in med school.  I had kind of gotten into a groove of studying fifteen hours a day, and I had forgotten that I ever had a life outside of med school.  Thanksgiving break was a taste of the outside world, and now it’s hard to forget.  I think everyone is really struggling to get back into the swing of things.  I can’t imagine how hard it will be after Christmas break!