bluhhhh
Ugh. This week has been utterly exhausting. And I still have a shitload of reading to do for tomorrow (along with a quiz that's due before 1:00, and if I don't want to be completely overwhelmed tomorrow night I should probably start on my pharm reading and my clinical judgment worksheet for Tuesday's clinical session), but I'm tiiiiiiiiired and keep poking through my email drafts instead, where I apparently emailed a million story ideas and notes to myself back before I left my job. Some of them are pretty rad! I also have NO TIME AT ALL in which to pursue them!
Seriously, all of last year's grads who said the first quarter was the hardest? THEY WERE LYING LIARS WHO LIED. This quarter is way more difficult! It's more about time management than subject matter, but the time management thing is plenty rough. I mean. On Sunday, I need to get my reading and any remaining assignments done for Monday. On Monday, I have five solid hours of chronic illness theory, and after class I have to get my patient assignment for the next day so I can do patient prep. Patient prep involves several hours of chart review (on school computers, because of HIPAA), and then I have to go home and spend another few hours researching my patient's medications so that I know what they do, why the patient is taking them, and what side effects or drug interactions I should expect to see.
Tuesday is my clinical day on a patient floor. It starts at 6:45 AM and last for eight hours, I'm on my feet pretty much the whole time and keep forgetting to take breaks, and it's fucking AWESOME and I love it but oh my god I am WIPED by the time we're done. Tuesday nights, I do my reading for Wednesday.
Wednesday is technically supposed to be our "light" day, since all that's on the docket is a two-hour post-clinical conference session, but we still have to get trained in a bunch of stuff and so they front-loaded the quarter with skills labs and sim sessions in addition to our post-conferences. Those last for four hours, and then on Wednesday night I can finally do my pathophysiology reading and online quiz.
Patho is four hours on Thursdays. Thursdays I do my reading and online quiz for pharmacology, along with my clinical write-up and reflection for the week. Friday is pharmacology, which is also four hours long, and then I finally get to come home and spend time with Nate, who's off on Thursdays and Fridays. I...don't get to spend much time with him this quarter. :( I've been using Saturdays mostly for catching up on errands and making flashcards and/or food, and then on Sunday the whole thing starts over again.
Then you add transit time (2-3 hours total each day), puppy time (30 minutes each day), and exercise time (30 minutes to an hour every other day or so), and this is pretty much why I want to just collapse face-down in bed and never ever leave.
This is week three. Of an eleven week quarter. Nggggggggh.
On the plus side, I'm learning a LOT and I'm feeling pretty good about my clinical time so far. I just wish I had time for some non-school things, like...reading. Or writing. I'm doing okay on my movie/tv consumption, but that's only because I make flashcards while I watch (go go gadget multitasking!) and don't pay all that much attention to the screen itself.
Is it weird that I'm sort of looking forward to having a job again? Because I'm sort of looking forward to having a job again. I'll have money AND time again! Yay!
Seriously, all of last year's grads who said the first quarter was the hardest? THEY WERE LYING LIARS WHO LIED. This quarter is way more difficult! It's more about time management than subject matter, but the time management thing is plenty rough. I mean. On Sunday, I need to get my reading and any remaining assignments done for Monday. On Monday, I have five solid hours of chronic illness theory, and after class I have to get my patient assignment for the next day so I can do patient prep. Patient prep involves several hours of chart review (on school computers, because of HIPAA), and then I have to go home and spend another few hours researching my patient's medications so that I know what they do, why the patient is taking them, and what side effects or drug interactions I should expect to see.
Tuesday is my clinical day on a patient floor. It starts at 6:45 AM and last for eight hours, I'm on my feet pretty much the whole time and keep forgetting to take breaks, and it's fucking AWESOME and I love it but oh my god I am WIPED by the time we're done. Tuesday nights, I do my reading for Wednesday.
Wednesday is technically supposed to be our "light" day, since all that's on the docket is a two-hour post-clinical conference session, but we still have to get trained in a bunch of stuff and so they front-loaded the quarter with skills labs and sim sessions in addition to our post-conferences. Those last for four hours, and then on Wednesday night I can finally do my pathophysiology reading and online quiz.
Patho is four hours on Thursdays. Thursdays I do my reading and online quiz for pharmacology, along with my clinical write-up and reflection for the week. Friday is pharmacology, which is also four hours long, and then I finally get to come home and spend time with Nate, who's off on Thursdays and Fridays. I...don't get to spend much time with him this quarter. :( I've been using Saturdays mostly for catching up on errands and making flashcards and/or food, and then on Sunday the whole thing starts over again.
Then you add transit time (2-3 hours total each day), puppy time (30 minutes each day), and exercise time (30 minutes to an hour every other day or so), and this is pretty much why I want to just collapse face-down in bed and never ever leave.
This is week three. Of an eleven week quarter. Nggggggggh.
On the plus side, I'm learning a LOT and I'm feeling pretty good about my clinical time so far. I just wish I had time for some non-school things, like...reading. Or writing. I'm doing okay on my movie/tv consumption, but that's only because I make flashcards while I watch (go go gadget multitasking!) and don't pay all that much attention to the screen itself.
Is it weird that I'm sort of looking forward to having a job again? Because I'm sort of looking forward to having a job again. I'll have money AND time again! Yay!