University of Oklahoma -- everyone welcome -- Part 4

[soonereng]

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My mod figured that you can get an 84 on every test and still achieve an A from all of the "Gimme" points.

I sat down and figured that out the first day! So I haven't been stressed about anatomy much since then.

Now the bigger question is why I am awake at 3 in the morning with no pressing exam to take?

 

[Jwax]

I sat down and figured that out the first day! So I haven't been stressed about anatomy much since then.

Now the bigger question is why I am awake at 3 in the morning with no pressing exam to take?

Wow! I went to bed at midnight and got ~7 hours of blissful sleep. Nice. Alright, bring on the intuition....

 

[shortitalian]

Alright, bring on the intuition....

Well said.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Yeah, I think the gimme points are part of OU sorta easing you into medical school. We also got a lot in biochem because 6% of our grade was based on stuff where we just had to show up and sign in.

I meant to wake up at 7 and start studying for IHI, but I woke up at 9:30, and it was great. Still don't want to study.

 

[soonereng]

Alright, bring on the intuition....

Well said.

All I have to say is thank god the PCM folks don't write the USMLE. What a terribly written subjective test!

 

[Doctor Bagel]

All I have to say is thank god the PCM folks don't write the USMLE. What a terribly written subjective test!

Wait 'til next year when the tests in PCM actually affect your grade, with the same type of questions. 🙄

 

[soonereng]

Wait 'til next year when the tests in PCM actually affect your grade, with the same type of questions. 🙄

They should seriously move to pass/fail for PCM I as there is just so much subjectivity involved with the evaluations. I'll let you know if I come to the same conclusion about PCM II when I get there.

 

[slackerqueen]

All I have to say is thank god the PCM folks don't write the USMLE. What a terribly written subjective test!

I really didn't think that it was as bad as the 2nd HB test. Why on earth would you not want to talk further to a patient if he comes in and announces that he has sexual dysfunction? I am still baffled by that question. 😕

 

[Jwax]

All I have to say is thank god the PCM folks don't write the USMLE. What a terribly written subjective test!

Thank God the USMLE folks don't do:
A
B
C
D = A and C
E = all of the above

😕 Too many of those! I am also not a fan of T & F, but that's just me. Ummm other than a lot of random questions like the above, I thought it was okay. I expect mid B to A, depending on intuitive guesses 😉.

Now we've just got to take the exam we already studied for once! I'm taking a break for awhile today and picking it up later this afternoon / evening.

 

[shortitalian]

Thank God the USMLE folks don't do:
A
B
C
D = A and C
E = all of the above

😕 Too many of those! I am also not a fan of T & F, but that's just me. Ummm other than a lot of random questions like the above, I thought it was okay. I expect mid B to A, depending on intuitive guesses 😉.

Now we've just got to take the exam we already studied for once! I'm taking a break for awhile today and picking it up later this afternoon / evening.

I'm not a big fan of the true/false either. It's too easy to throw one little word in there to make the statements be false.

Also, I have mixed feelings about the A/B/C/A&C/all questions because there are times where I'm not sure about choice A, but I know for sure that B and C are right, which must mean it's all of the above. Some of them are crappy, though. I should have spent all of yesterday studying biochem instead of this stupid crap.

 

[slackerqueen]

I'm feeling awnry today for some reason.

Did she make you spell anything?

Ornery...

Nope, there were no spelling questions. 😀

 

[shortitalian]

Ornery...

Nope, there were no spelling questions. 😀

Haha, beat me to it 🙂

 

[soonereng]

Blasphemy! Our students are driven by competition regardless of whether or not the questions are fair. I know this because a dean told me that's what students want. 🙂

Yeah, I had a dean tell me basically the same thing earlier this year during our lunch with the deans when I asked if they would be changing the grading system when they changed the curriculum.

I just woke up from a nap since I had been up since 3 this morning for no good reason. That was nice, but now I have to hit the books hard so no more posts from me for a while (well we'll see won't we).

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Woohoo, we just randomly got our Oregon 2006 tax refunds in the mail! They took so long to get it to us that I forget they owed us money. 😎

 

[Jwax]

Woohoo, we just randomly got our Oregon 2006 tax refunds in the mail! They took so long to get it to us that I forget they owed us money. 😎

Bonus.

So I just woke from a nice long nap, too. I feel all nice and rested. Unfortunately, I still don't feel particularly inclined to study biochem. 🙄 I think the nice thing about this randomly extended test block is that I have been soooo much less sleep deprived during this TB than any other b/c of the unexpected extra day to study. That has been really nice. Other than the lack of motivation to study, I'm feeling pretty well about this week. So far everything seems to be working out just as well as I had hoped. Now I just need to pass biochem tomorrow!

 

[Jwax]

.

 

[shortitalian]

I have spent ~95% of my time in the last week or two in my apartment. Specifically, sitting on the couch in the living room of my apartment staring at my lap top, desperatly trying to learn some useless factoid that will probably be on the exam because you can just tell sometimes what stupid detail a prof thinks it would be GRRRREAT for you to know....

I'm getting so sick of it. I don't want to be in my own house anymore. I'm actually tempted to go study at the mod just because I am so sick of being here!!!!

You can come study in my mod with me!

I hate biochem so much.

 

[Jwax]

You can come study in my mod with me!

I hate biochem so much.

Awwww thanks! How long are you going to be up there? Indefinitely?

I sent an email to my modmates to ask if anyone was up there. Not a single one responded back to even say "nope." 👎 Benoit - you don't count b/c you are already done and are unlikely to ever be found contemplating biochem again! 😛

 

[Jwax]

You can both come downstairs and kick it with the cool people. We may want to feel your hands or your neck though.

😕 I thought your PCM exam was earlier in the week? What does feeling our hands & neck have to do with IHI?

This is probably an incredibly ignorant question, and if it is just something that will make a lot of sense in a year, just tell me I'll find out soon enough.

 

[Jwax]

Okay I'm venturing out of the safety of my home.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

😕 I thought your PCM exam was earlier in the week? What does feeling our hands & neck have to do with IHI?

This is probably an incredibly ignorant question, and if it is just something that will make a lot of sense in a year, just tell me I'll find out soon enough.

To see if you have a goiter or joint inflammation. 🙂 We're doing endocrine and rheum this block. I've concluded I don't have a goiter, even though I have pretty much all the symptoms of hyperthyroidism aside from weight loss and well lid lag and other crazy stuff like that. 😱

I've really put off studying for this test too much, so I'm having to do more cramming that I like.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

While exhausting and fairly miserable, this has been a damn lucky week for me. I didn't lose my power, we got that MMI break, I got my tax refund and I won that Kaplan Qbank thing. So either the luck will hold and IHI will cover all the stuff I studied and none of the stuff I didn't, or I'm screwed.

 

[slackerqueen]

...and staying out of discussion board pettiness. 😀

Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

 

[SoonerGeek]

No website yet...

I get the distinct feeling that many of us hate each other based on random message board aggression. People apparently have a lot of issues that need to get aired.

 

[Jwax]

No website yet...

I get the distinct feeling that many of us hate each other based on random message board aggression. People apparently have a lot of issues that need to get aired.

Sometimes when I say something, I recognize that there a ways in which a person could take it wrong. In this case, I had no clue.

 

[soonereng]

I get the distinct feeling that many of us hate each other based on random message board aggression.

I love everybody...

to everyone today on the pernicious biochem and the insidious IHI.

 

[Jwax]

I love everybody...

to everyone today on the pernicious biochem and the insidious IHI.

And everyone loves you.

I think I could very well fail biochem today. 😱

 

[Doctor Bagel]

And everyone loves you.

I think I could very well fail biochem today. 😱

No you won't. 🙂 I could fail IHI, though. Or at least miss every single one of the image questions.

 

[soonereng]

No you won't. 🙂 I could fail IHI, though. Or at least miss every single one of the image questions.

I seriously doubt that...

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I seriously doubt that...

Me too. 🙂

 

[Jwax]

No you won't. 🙂 I could fail IHI, though. Or at least miss every single one of the image questions.

Aww shucks! Thanks! 😳 You're not correct though. And I second soonereng's opinion.

Everything will be all better in ~5 hours. 👍

 

[soonereng]

I had to post this for those Christmas music haters, the lurkers, and those that don't read the M1 chat board. Watch it all the way through. The ending is really great, and yes that is a Toto song they somehow managed to incorporate into the 12 Days of Christmas.

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Fe11OlMiz8[/YOUTUBE]

 

[slackerqueen]

Just finished reading the disc. board. Wow. Just wow. Someone takes themselves way too seriously.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Just finished reading the disc. board. Wow. Just wow. Someone takes themselves way too seriously.

I did get curious about why a thread title trytophan went on for so long. Seriously, yeah. As a person who has experience with major depression and takes "happy pills," I'm not offended. It would be cool if they really were "happy pills," though. 😎

Now what I am happy about is being done with exam block and having 3 weeks off. And I haven't graded my IHI test yet, but I've got to say it seemed nowhere near as hard as it could have been. Hopefully everyone felt the same about their tests!

 

[soonereng]

SDN is acting screwy, so maybe someone already posted this, but Leon stepped down as course director for biochem. That was why his kids were there the last time he lectured because it might be the last time that he lectures.

He nominated Dr. Bidichandani for the next course director, so things might actually progess with him.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

SDN is acting screwy, so maybe someone already posted this, but Leon stepped down as course director for biochem. That was why his kids were there the last time he lectured because it might be the last time that he lectures.

He nominated Dr. Bidichandani for the next course director, so things might actually progess with him.

Wow, that's surprising! Dr. Bidichandani seemed very organized and super nice, so I think he's a good choice.

Now Leon can move on to doing fun things like planning cruises and not worrying about annoying medical students and faculty who don't want to teach.

Adding that I hate hitting refresh every 2 minutes to see if the key has been posted.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Hey guys,

A am currently an OU post-bac (Dec '06) pre-medical student back home in the Dallas area hoping to apply to OUCOM for Fall09 matric. Quite frankly, I've pretty much done a lot of the "pre req requirements" (volunteer @ suicide hotline, hospital work experience, summer internship, decent undergrad score, research (unpublished though), and hoping to finish sci classes this Fall. I will take the MCAT in May. I just wanted to post this message to see if anybody had any ideas, whether it be OUCOM specific or not, to increase chances for OUCOM. And yes, I am out of state. Thanks guys

You know, OU is very straight forward for applicants, so I can't think of anything really specific to help you out. In general, oos applicants need to have higher numbers than instate applicants, but I don't think the difference is that huge. So keep your grades up and shoot for a 30+ on the MCAT.

 

[Jwax]

SDN is acting screwy, so maybe someone already posted this, but Leon stepped down as course director for biochem. That was why his kids were there the last time he lectured because it might be the last time that he lectures.

He nominated Dr. Bidichandani for the next course director, so things might actually progess with him.

Dr. Unger getting choked up got me a little choked up... 🙁 I like him; he's a good man and you can tell how absolutely devoted he is to his students. This will be Odon in 30 years 😛.

So! I think I got a mid-C, and since I technically only needed a mid-D, I think I can safely say I did not end up with a C in biochem! 😀 I think that all of my grades turned out this semester about as well as I would have hoped. Time to relax for a while, and then learn how to fix the mistakes of this semester so I don't repeat them in the next.

Umm and the whole happy pill thing... apparently it kept everyone else amused for the evening studying for biochem so 👍. I aim to please, folks.

 

[slackerqueen]

🙁 I did not see Leon's relinquishment of the course director post coming. He cares so much about us that it was sad to see him get choked up. Dr. B. will be great, I'm sure. In fact, it seems that most of our main profs (w/ the exceptions of the revolving door of HB lecturers and the vast majority of our biochem profs) really do care about our progress and how much we learn. For that, I'm really grateful.
Have a wonderful break, everyone.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I just woke up after a very long nap. Let's see, tomorrow at noon it will be five days without power. But, I've got my laptop hooked to a high-speed cell phone connection - don't even need OG&E these days. With laptop, cell, battery operated TV and radio, lotsa candles, and heat from the gas stove, it's really not that bad. My house in Tulsa has power, but I'm way too tired to drive for a while.

I wish I had been there for Leon's last. He really does care about his students a great deal. It's the end of an era. Bidi is such a good choice, though. He's scary-smart, a great lecturer, and his exam questions are reasonable.

Gotta preserve battery power - hope you guys have a great block-end weekend!!

 

[RachelD]

I just woke up after a very long nap. Let's see, tomorrow at noon it will be five days without power. But, I've got my laptop hooked to a high-speed cell phone connection - don't even need OG&E these days. With laptop, cell, battery operated TV and radio, lotsa candles, and heat from the gas stove, it's really not that bad. My house in Tulsa has power, but I'm way too tired to drive for a while.

I wish I had been there for Leon's last. He really does care about his students a great deal. It's the end of an era. Bidi is such a good choice, though. He's scary-smart, a great lecturer, and his exam questions are reasonable.

Gotta preserve battery power - hope you guys have a great block-end weekend!!

Sorry you are still without power!! We lost ours Mon-Tues. It came back on Tues afternoon then back out on Wed afternoon and back on Thursday morning. This week has been difficult to say the least.
I think there are at least 30-40 of us that were without power during the block. I really wish that someone from administration would at least acknowledge the situation instead of ignoring it. Most of us feel like our test performance was seriously impacted.
My pcm grade dropped. I just don't understand how they expect us to take an exam when we have no heat, no internet, no lights and kids with out school/daycare. (at least my husband kept mine, I saw one of our classmates with his son in his mod).
Anyway, I've vented now. Yes, I'm whining. I'll stop now.
Only 10 days till Christmas!!!!

 

[Benoit]

Hooray for the break!

..And now I feel like crap. Last night was fun, but I forgot things come with a price in the morning. That includes my butt slamming into the end angle of the snowtube slide last night. Enjoy the break everyone..

Yea, I wasn't there to see Leon "step down," so to speak but I think Dr. B. will make a great course director. Both of them are extremely genuine people.

 

[JohnnyOU]

Dr. Unger getting choked up got me a little choked up... 🙁 I like him; he's a good man and you can tell how absolutely devoted he is to his students. This will be Odon in 30 years 😛.

So! I think I got a mid-C, and since I technically only needed a mid-D, I think I can safely say I did not end up with a C in biochem! 😀 I think that all of my grades turned out this semester about as well as I would have hoped. Time to relax for a while, and then learn how to fix the mistakes of this semester so I don't repeat them in the next.

Umm and the whole happy pill thing... apparently it kept everyone else amused for the evening studying for biochem so 👍. I aim to please, folks.

I had a front row seat for Leon's announcement...I felt kinda bad because at first I was like "ahhh crap...he's gonna babble for 15 minutes again while info is oozing outta my ear." I was a few feet from him so I'm glad I didn't do that big "Sighhhhhh" I wanted to do before I knew he was quitting.

I think Jwax was the main reason he quit. He told me she's always pestering him. 😀

 

[JohnnyOU]

I did get curious about why a thread title trytophan went on for so long. Seriously, yeah. As a person who has experience with major depression and takes "happy pills," I'm not offended. It would be cool if they really were "happy pills," though. 😎

Now what I am happy about is being done with exam block and having 3 weeks off. And I haven't graded my IHI test yet, but I've got to say it seemed nowhere near as hard as it could have been. Hopefully everyone felt the same about their tests!

My sisters had a feud that lasted about 2 yrs up until last thanksgiving where they buried the hatchet, hugged, cried, blah blah blah. It was the first time they'd talked in 2 years. Anyway, my niece was expecting it to blow up into a big fight or something, so she had taken a xanax before they came over and was sittin on the couch telling me how trashed she was from the xanax.

Ahhhhh holidays with the family. 🙂

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Sorry you are still without power!! We lost ours Mon-Tues. It came back on Tues afternoon then back out on Wed afternoon and back on Thursday morning. This week has been difficult to say the least.
I think there are at least 30-40 of us that were without power during the block. I really wish that someone from administration would at least acknowledge the situation instead of ignoring it. Most of us feel like our test performance was seriously impacted.
My pcm grade dropped. I just don't understand how they expect us to take an exam when we have no heat, no internet, no lights and kids with out school/daycare. (at least my husband kept mine, I saw one of our classmates with his son in his mod).
Anyway, I've vented now. Yes, I'm whining. I'll stop now.
Only 10 days till Christmas!!!!

You're right. I really don't know how you guys pulled it together at all without power. Even if you had a place to go, that's still got to throw your concentration off -- my focus was off by just worrying about losing power. It would be nice if they could do something like drop a test grade if your grade on this block was notably lower than your other exam grades.

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Sorry you are still without power!! We lost ours Mon-Tues. It came back on Tues afternoon then back out on Wed afternoon and back on Thursday morning. This week has been difficult to say the least.
I think there are at least 30-40 of us that were without power during the block. I really wish that someone from administration would at least acknowledge the situation instead of ignoring it. Most of us feel like our test performance was seriously impacted.
My pcm grade dropped. I just don't understand how they expect us to take an exam when we have no heat, no internet, no lights and kids with out school/daycare. (at least my husband kept mine, I saw one of our classmates with his son in his mod).
Anyway, I've vented now. Yes, I'm whining. I'll stop now.
Only 10 days till Christmas!!!!

THANK YOU for saying that. People invited me over to stay and things like that - but I have a 75-pound German Shepherd who was rescued from abuse as a puppy - she doesn't like strangers and would be unmanageable if I tried to take her to someone else's house. What was I supposed to do, let her freeze to death?

It's not like they could just put off finals for a week or two, but some acknowledgement would have been really nice. For four days, I've been living with candles and batteries and a hole in my roof from the thousand pound section of oak tree trunk that punched a hole in my roof (the leak is in my study so the desk, computer, printers and all that are covered with plastic - which doesn't matter since there's no power).

I did OK this block but I can promise you that the circumstances cost me a grade in IHI and probably several points on pharm and PCM. Until I signed-up for AT&T cellular internet service and figured-out how to use it, I didn't even have internet service. On Sunday night, I was frantically downloading anything I might have missed (like a responsible medical student) because I was afraid I'd lose power. But I downloaded MMI and PCM - not having power or internet by Thursday never crossed my mind.

At least Holliman acknowledged that this week has been a challenge. After his exams, I'd like to push his wheelchair down a hill but Oklahoma City doesn't have any hills large enough to make that fun. Other than exams, though, he's a very decent man. Unlike a few we all know.

 

[want2beadoc]

I received this letter from Rep. Tom Cole in response to the 20/220 Rule.

....
Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns over the rules governing repayment of student loans for doctors while in their residency. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

On September 7, 2007 the House of Representatives passed H.R. 2669, the College Cost Reduction and Access Act, and it was signed into law by the President on September 27, 2007. In an effort to pay for this bill, the Conference Committee who met on this bill eliminated the 20/220 Rule allowing resident physicians to defer payment of student loans for up to three years while completing residency training. There were no members of the minority part represented on the Conference Committee.

In its place the majority party created an income-based repayment program that would save the government money and shift some of the cost of [sic] medical residents. Unfortunately, this new program does not begin until July 2009, but the 20/220 was eliminated immediately leaving many new doctors caught in the middle.

Fortunately, the Depeartment of Education is aware of this problem and has published new regulations to help lessen the strain that this bill has created on the medical community. I encourage those caught by these rule changes to speak with their loan provider in the best way to structure their repayment of student loans.

....

Merry Christmas, guys!

 

[Jwax]

I think there are at least 30-40 of us that were without power during the block. I really wish that someone from administration would at least acknowledge the situation instead of ignoring it. Most of us feel like our test performance was seriously impacted.

Agreed. While I was not without power and so I didn't suffer personally, I wouldn't find it unfair for some people to maybe get bonused for losing power? I don't exactly know how that would work out, but man... there is no way I could have done this last week without power. I would have ended up with lower final grades for pretty much all of our classes if I had lost power.

..And now I feel like crap. Last night was fun, but I forgot things come with a price in the morning. That includes my butt slamming into the end angle of the snowtube slide last night. Enjoy the break everyone...

Not sure what I did last night to cause it, but I managed to hurt my knee last night. It was really sore most of the morning, but I feel fine now. Not sure if that was just caused by the clumsyness that normally follows too much alcohol, or if I hit something snow tubing. If you guys didn't go - you should shell out the cash and do it!!! It was AWESOME. I had soooo much fun. By far the best post-test block celebration ever. It isn't too cold as long as you numb yourself with booze before hand....

I had a front row seat for Leon's announcement...I felt kinda bad because at first I was like "ahhh crap...he's gonna babble for 15 minutes again while info is oozing outta my ear." I was a few feet from him so I'm glad I didn't do that big "Sighhhhhh" I wanted to do before I knew he was quitting.

I think Jwax was the main reason he quit. He told me she's always pestering him. 😀

Yeah.... that's me. Pesterer and discussion board trouble maker.

I heard from someone else that the person sitting next to them during the biochem final started cussing about Leon taking up so much time. I guess they felt that they were forgetting everything as he spoke, and they went ahead and started the exam before Leon finished. I think there was also a "I don't give a s*** about it, shut up old man" kinda thought behind it. I can understand the fear of forgotten information, but still... the man's a legend and has been doing this his whole life. I think a small amount of respect is deserved. I think this person was far enough in the back that Leon probably didn't notice, and most people I've spoken to were pretty touched by how broken up he was about it.

Happy Holidays, everyone and take it easy!

 

[Mr. Freeze]

Well, it appears that the flow of electrons has been restored to my humble abode at a timely point in the thread. I too have some pretty strong opinions on how the last week was handled. My power went out last Sat, when the thunderstorm came through. Then it came back on for a bit during the wee hours. Out again later apparently, because clocks I reset were blinking again. Then it was on until about 1730-1800 Sunday.

Everyone has their own stories I guess, and reasons why their week was particularly difficult. Rather than tie up bandwidth with mine, I'll just say a couple of pointless exams will get pushed to the backburner every time when keeping your family safe/warm/healthy is concerned. I could have taken all of these exams on Friday after the TBSA and been just as prepared.

I could rant on this for some time, but I think I'll wait to see what the averages were. I personally think they can't help but be affected, but I don't know. There seemed to be A LOT of folks without power, and therefore no shortage of the useless "Go study somewhere else." advice, which to me becomes borderline ****ing ******ed if you aren't a single student.

And Rachel, you should ask the class prez how the pending weather was acknowledged by the administration, if he isn't too traumatized to talk about it...👎

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

Everyone has their own stories I guess, and reasons why their week was particularly difficult. Rather than tie up bandwidth with mine, I'll just say a couple of pointless exams will get pushed to the backburner every time when keeping your family safe/warm/healthy is concerned. I could have taken all of these exams on Friday after the TBSA and been just as prepared.

Hear, hear.

Jeez, I still don't have power. But I did buy an inverter so that I can start the car up and charge my laptop. My mother says I'm a tinkerer and refuse to admit defeat. She's right.

I just wish our administration knew what "inconvenience" meant to some of us. When I was supposed to be studying, I was out in a driving rain with trees falling around me trying to chop some branches off my power line - just before the backyard neighbor's tree came crashing down and ripped his power drop, blowing the transformer on Monday. "Inconvenience" meant trying to chop walnut tree branches out of my driveway so that I could drive to school - when I was supposed to be studying. "Inconvenience" meant trying to find my plastic tarps and covering everything in my study because a thousand pound trunk punched a hole in my roof, which was leaking directly over my desk - when I was supposed to be studying. And, I will admit to you friends here - at one point, inconvenience meant studying through tears in the middle of the night with a LED-flashlight strapped to my head - because I just couldn't take it anymore. And I wasn't responsible for wife/child.

Phew. All better now.