Easter is coming soon and we have a break from school between 13th-19th of April.
I’m not the kind of person who gets homesick easily but this time I must admit that I really want to be in Oslo.
The last 3 weeks were not crazy busy but I feel so drained… The need for a break has never been so real. Three more days and I will be flying home. Almost there.
The good news is that embryology is done! It feels really good to know that I don’t need to worry about it any longer.
Embryology has been the biggest pain in my butt since I started studying here.
We have seminars every 2 weeks between October and March. At the beginning of every seminar, we are given a small test (usually 5 questions) and passing it gives us extra points for the final exam. Whoever gets to the end of the course (in middle March) with an average of 4.5 (here the scale goes from 2 to 5 where the passing grade is 3) and has never failed one test gets exemption from the final exam.
Despite trying I have never managed to prepare properly for these small tests except for the first. I was really ready to rock that test but I messed up big time. I got kinda nervous when I had the questions in front of me and mixed everything I knew about meiosis… Failed.
Exemption was out of reach and I decided to put all my efforts into anatomy and histology instead. Honestly, I do not regret it for a second. I did what I needed to do in order to keep my head above water. It was definitely a tough choice but I can’t focus on everything simultaneously.
By the beginning of March, I started getting a little nervous. It was time to start cramming for the final. Not a good feeling. Believe me.
I started hitting the books hard a couple of days after the histology colloquium. The earlier you start the better. It is not a difficult subject overall but you need time to learn all the different structures, their functions, when they appear and disappear, what they become, etc.
Dr Najeeb’s videos are worth more than gold for this subject. An excellent complement. He explains the difficult topics so well. Slowly it all starts making a lot more sense.
A couple of days before the exam the despair kicked in because I started to get confused about the embryonic layers, their parts, and derivatives. But I managed to calm myself down and dug deep into the root of the problem. Eventually, it became crystal clear to me.
The exam has a duration of 2 hours. 60 multiple choice questions. So 2 minutes per question – the most generous subject thus far. Having good time really helps to lower the stress level. Extra consideration points for the embryology team!
The last thing I want to mention regarding embryology is that it really helps to truly understand some of the topics studied in anatomy. Once you understand how things were in the very beginning you will be able to zoom out and see a more clear bigger picture of the human body.
On Friday I had my last Latin class. I am officially done with my elective courses.
The only courses left are:
- Anatomy;
- Histology;
- Medical Biology;
- History of Medicine;
- Polish;
- IT & Statistics.
The final exams (anatomy and histology) are scheduled to middle and end of June. I cannot believe we are only 2 months away from the exam period.
I better come up with a plan to review the all the material we have gone through since October. Not looking forward to it.
The past week we had an introduction to neuroscience. On Wednesday it will be our last anatomy lab on the neck (pharynx and larynx) and from that point on we will start studying the brain. Complex, cool and fascinating.
Time to go now.
I will be posting soon again.
