Half-Way Dinner and Mini-Holiday

Two weekends was Half-Way Dinner.  This means that Barb is, you guessed it, half way done here med degree.  Because her fellow students will be spread out all over Queensland for the next two years, this is the last chance for the whole class to get together until grad.  It was a very fun night. Since both Barb & I had the time off, we decided to take a little getaway to Tin Can Bay.  It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive north.  It is famous for the dolphins that show up almost every morning at the marina.

Pirates and Ninjas Agree... Cowboys Suck.

YAY, We are now on the other side of those monstrous exams!
MSAT went OK, but not great
First day writing was terrible (Anatomy section: Name all the ligaments in your ankle, and how they attach to everything. Don't worry, we will entirely ignore your knowledge of muscle origins, insertions, blood supplies and innervation. We never hinted once to focus your study on ligaments. Sucker.)
Second day of writing was good, and third day was also good. So hopefully it will come out in the wash. Which would make me a third year med student. YAY! only 749 days to graduation!

Just to mess with people, the whole class (via FB) decided to write our very last exam dressed as either pirates or ninjas. It was very fun, and the confused looks on the invigilators' faces made it so sweet. I think the pirates outnumbered the ninjas (the ones you could see, anyways). After the exam, we all met at the Regatta (the meddie's favourite pub) for some celebration. It was such a relief to not think about the JONES criteria for Rheumatic heat disease or the pathophysiology of Parkinson's.
That night, Rob and helped process boxes for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. There were at least a gazillion, but it was good to go and help out.
The next day, I filled out the paperwork to officially become a Christmas elf for Australia Post. I will be working in one of the mail processing centres to sort the extra mail that comes through during the holidays.
So that's the scoop so far this week.

Tomorrow, when the Exams Began....

Tomorrow is the first of 4 days of exams for me. Day one is the MSAT, or multiple station assessment test, is five stations involving showing off our "Mad Skillz" at clinical diagnosis, history taking, physical exam, ethics reasoning and advanced life support. Mine is at 8 am. So much coffee will be consumed before 6:30 am to get me hopped up enough to be awake and coherent. Good thing I'm not addicted, AT ALL. The next 3 days after that are 3hrs each of written exams, covering the last two years. Again, early consumption of caffeine will take place. Thursday morning, I will begin coffee detox, and expect to have a monster headache, be moderately constipated, and sleep until Saturday. So looking forward to it. For some reason, finals always make me remember and repeatedly recite the poetry of Alfred Tennyson to myself. Specifically "the Charge of the Light Brigade":

Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!" he said.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do and die.
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of hell
Rode the six hundred.

Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd.
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre-stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not,
Not the six hundred.

Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.

When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wonder'd.
Honor the charge they made!
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred!

Time to continue to make ready for the charge. 400 of us will be facing the cannons tomorrow.

For all you Canadians heading for winter

Available on T-shirts and hoodies