Only 1 week left which means it is crunch time...aka you fail these next two exams...you may or may not move on to 2nd year.
Don't be fooled by all the blank space this week. All this blank space was MUCH needed for studying since I had started the 3 major exams in 7 days kind of home stretch. I had the last EOB of the term on Thursday, then next week Monday is the written integrated comprehensive exam, then next Thursday is the practical. The EOB covered the last two modules; head, ears, eyes, nose, and throat; and hematology. Gotta say this was my least favorite and most favorite EOB because I loved hematology, since most of shadowing was done in an anticoagulation clinic, BUT I have to say that I am not a big fan of HEENT. I found that eye conditions were the hardest to learn since there are so so so many conditions and medications, over the counter and prescription. If I struggled to understand the products, I can only imagine how a patient struggling with an eye condition, such as dry eye or glaucoma, may feel when it comes to thier medications.
Back at my new favorite spot , the Nest, enjoying the sun while trying to have a positive outlook on studying for the last EOB...mainly studying for HEENT. One of my favorite ways to study is making my own treatment algorithms. If I make it myself, I find it is easier to understand the treatment approach, especially since I can make connections and see all the doses and regimens on the same page.
After EOB, I took the night off but the next day was written ICE prep which involved going through maybe over 100 lectures that comprised the 5 modules that we learned through the year. I was honestly shocked how much I had learned this term and how much I was able to retain. Many know that I like paper notes, easier for me to see and visualize. In the written exam you only have 2.5 hours to answer various questions pertaining to 3 cases. Now, 3 cases may seem easy BUT every case the patient may have co-morbid conditions thus requiring your approach to be different or you may be addressing more than one of the patient's needs when it comes to thier quality of life. Limited time and complex cases means you have to be fast. Most of my prep time then consisted of organizing my written treatment algorithms and transferring any important written notes to type notes so I can easily Ctrl F.
Now this is reality...after a 12 hour day of working through pages of practice patient cases and arguments/discussions surrounding how to treat a patients.
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