Testing: "I'll be back!"

"Examinations are as much for the staff as for the students - to get a better appreciation of their teaching techniques." (Steadism #154, p. 53)

 

 

Like a Terminator cruising away from the scene of carnage (the last block of exams), I heard it faintly..."I'll be back." Shonuff, "They're here!." Friday starts the next block of exams and, as before, I don't feel ready.

You try to keep up, read regularly, review the day's notes, pre-read the next day's content and review the stuff you need to remember...but somehow, somewhere it happens. You look down the road a piece and there they are...the next exams; And me with my scrubs down, not ready. So tenacity has begun to kick in and I'll do what I have to do...last night until, well, today (2AM). Anatomy is the kick for me...likely for most people. Like "drinking from a fire-hydrant with a Dixie cup", anatomy is a "gob" (is that a technical term?) of stuff in a very short period of time.

Too bad, since I love anatomy so much. But, I can't believe how much I've forgotten since PA school as I went thru a similar course of study 24 years ago. But I have to relearn it, in the way this professor deems necessary. By the way, teachers never align their "deem" with their students. In fact, it is contrary to the role. My professor is now locked into a battle with some of the better performers in the class to "trick" them on the nuances of the attachment of the various ligamentous retinaculum and septum of the ankle; Structures that are rarely part of any known medical or surgical condition. But it is entertaining to watch the interactions in lab.

However that bodes poorly for those of us who are struggling to know which is the thigh from the ankle, right before the exam. Let me repeat, I do not like anatomy lab exams, and after first assisting on about 5,000 cases, I struggle daily with the importance of this exercise beyond it's value for the teacher and the anal retentive performers in the group. We'll never have to do it this way again. Is it any wonder why many medical school have removed cadaver labs from their curriculum. Is it necessary? Dr. Stead said it was not. But then who am I to comment?