DAY 33

Oct 4

1) Today I woke up extra early, so I could have breakfast before going to class. As usual, lectures starting at 8 a.m. are annoying, but at least tomorrow it starts at 10 a.m. We have anatomy practical sessions every Tuesday and Friday, which is very frequent compared to other universities. In fact, some schools have decided to do away with cadavers and use plastinated models or slides to teach anatomy. I can't comment on that, but I personally think that the intrinsic skills that we acquire by using a real cadaver - who generously donated their bodies that we medical students may research upon, are more than enough reason to continue with this method.

2) Our surgeon prosector today was Paul J Farrell, BSc, MB, MCh (NUI), FRCS, FRCSI, FRACS. He was extremely kind and jovial in manner, and even related to us stories of his children who ended up smoking, despite him as a doctor trying his best to prevent them from doing so. Anyway, anatomy was on the thorax, with some revision involved, since my group's first card-signing is due next Friday. Time to get prepared then haha.

3) Lunch was at AK. Henry's as usual, before another two lectures to end the day at 4 p.m. By the end of the day, most of us were mentally drained, and some even dozed off during lectures! I did my best to keep awake, and luckily I had finished studying the modules the night before. Went back home after lessons, made a quick dinner, and signed up for the Run in the Dark, a 5km or 10km race for charity (research for a cure for spinal cord disease). I chose the 10km option. Hopefully I will be fully prepared for my first run in Ireland. That's all for tonight, and thanks very much for reading. Have a great night!

The sandwiches at AK. Henry's are really really good...

But they can't lay a finger on MY cooking haha

My registration for the Run in the Dark

Event starts 16th Nov 2016 (8.00 p.m.)

DAY 28

Sept 29

1) Today was an interesting day. Woke up early as usual and watched the two videos on clinical practice and history taking. These would make up our lectures today. Went to RCSI before 10 a.m. to grab a spot, before attending lectures till 12 p.m.

2) Had lunch at AK. Henry's. The sandwiches I had were very filling, and all at only €3.00! After filling up, I had a 3 hour gap before our small group tutorials. So me and my friends went to the Coffee Doc to do revision and to prepare for tomorrow's lectures. The place was quite noisy, but we still had to study anyway.

3) With tutorials done for the day, some of us stayed back to enter the Anatomy Room, to get our hands on examining the cadavers. We wanted to do revision for practicals, but unfortunately the room had to be locked soon, and we didn't get a chance to fully cover the videos we were provided with online. Undeterred, we went to the Physiotherapy Room, where there were some model skeletons lying about. Each of us proceeded to "teach" the others, simulating a demonstration and to promote better understanding. It was really fun and exciting to learn in this manner!

4) By now it was time for dinner. Went back, decided that soup was for dinner until I realised the frozen dinner I bought the other day was expiring today! Had no choice but to finish that as well. So now my stomach is doubly full, and I would probably skip breakfast tomorrow as a result haha. Anyway, that's all for today, but tomorrow and the day after is chalk full of activities which I can't wait to experience. Stay tuned, and goodnight!

Extremely filling, extremely satisfying, but most importantly

*extremely cheap*

Posing with Stefan the Skeleton ;D

The Physiotherapy Room

Chicken tikka masala with rice,

plus oxtail soup

DAY 19

Sept 20

1) Today was the toughest day yet, in terms of academics. This was partially due to our first Anatomy practical, but also because I didn't have the time to study the lecture notes beforehand. Reached RCSI for the first lecture, which was on the breast and pectoral muscles. Then we had an hour and a half break before our first anatomy practical. So we went downstairs to Coffee Doc, a usual hangout spot for students who want to study while sipping coffee or tea haha. Spent the next 90 minutes trying to make sense of everything that had been taught so far.

2) After that, it was finally time. We donned our white coats and nitrile gloves, before going into the anatomy room. I was in Group B8 for anatomy. Our surgeon prosector, Brian E. Lane FRCSI, FRCSEd, FRCSEng, FACS wasted no time in briefing us on the proper etiquette of handling cadavers, which he fondly called "our first patients". So began our first practical session, in which I even got the chance to use the scalpel and forceps! I know some medical schools have dealt away with cadavers, buy in my humble opinion, no amount of plastinated models or CGI anatomical slides can replace a cadaver, once a living person and someone's mom or dad, who generously donated their bodies for research. I would liked to have taken some photos, but respecting privacy is of utmost importance, and so photography is strictly prohibited. I definitely understand that though.

3) Had lunch at AK. Henry's, before attending the next two lectures for today. When it was finally over, headed down to Dunnes to get myself some frozen dinners to last the week. But my luck didn't hold; as I was carrying the four meals back, two of them slipped off and fell *SPLAT* on the ground! Luckily, the food remained intact, although the plastic wrap did come off a little. I had one of them for dinner, and tried to make it a more nutritious meal with complementing that with an orange.

4) To sum off, today has been a really long day and I am about to take a nap soon. After that, I plan to continue studying to cover today's lectures and, to some extent, tomorrow's as well. Just three weeks in and I can see why they say medical students don't really enjoy the luxury of sleep. Anyhow, I shall bear in mind the words said by a professor during our welcoming speech: "Bigger idiots have made it through this." I do hope he's right. Goodnight!

Vegetable korma, with wedges and carrots

€3.95

Salmon dinner

(one of the two meals which fell *splat*, still tasted great though)

Our anatomy practical course book