Alright! The summer semester has finished!

And none too soon. My head was beginning to go bonkers from the non-stop studying.

But, it also feels strange to have stopped studying, if that can be believed. My schedule up until Friday at 10AM (the time of the final exam), had been filled solely with studying pathology. I always knew what I would be doing in the mornings, afternoons and evenings of everyday. My daily calendar was filled with studying and my life revolved around it.

Now, with the conclusion of the final exam, all of the sudden my daily schedule seems to be out of synch. Where once I never had to plan on what to do (as it was always just studying), now I am actively looking for ways to fill my time. The whole world seems to be open with possibilities for these next four weeks until the fall semester starts. I wonder if this is how people feel when they retire. It's almost as if something inside is missing. It must be that habits are hard to break and once a person who has been ingrained in a certain way of life is taken out of their familiar environment, they feel out of place and perhaps even empty. If I'm already rambling-on about this subject after only 7 weeks of intensive pathology studying, I wonder how it's going to be when I finally retire 30-40 years down the road. I'm done for. I can understand a little bit now why some people choose to never retire. I'll just have to wait and see if I'm one of those people.

But in the meantime, I as well as all of my classmates have plenty of things that we need to catch up on. I've decided that I won't be going back to California this vacation in an effort to save money. Although a big part of me would like to see Hanako and my family, my previous experiences living away from home have given me the fortitude to live independently. I'll be just fine here in Morgantown and I'll find plenty of things to do. Or, I might just start studying again in preparation for the fall. Oh, I wish that were a joke. I'll give myself two weeks.

One Last Dash

Only two more days to go until our final test! I'm giddy with excitement. Only a little bit more and we can kiss goodbye to days defined by "all day studying", for now.

I'll say, this has been the most challenging course so far in my entire educational experience. The sheer amount of material to know in such a small amount of time is mind-boggling. I earnestly salute the medical school students and residents who are able to do this for years on end. I would suffer from burnout long before the end of a single year, which is actually what I'd like to talk about after this final exam is done and over.

Thanks as always for your support!

Studying Pathology and Hypochondria

Now that the summer semester is nearly over, our progress through Robbins is rapidly coming to an end. Even though I'm certain that we've learned a lot, for some reason it feels like there is always more that we don't know than we know.

One of the things that I've come to enjoy about studying pathology is that the things that I learn here can also be applied to improve my own personal health. Just as a mechanic usually knows what's wrong with their car when it is having problems, a person studying medicine (especially pathology) usually knows how their body works and what to do to avoid, diagnose or treat disease. However, studying about cancers and  fatal diseases day in and day out can really begin to have an impact on how you view your body and how you take care of it.

For the layperson, taking care of your body consists of eating healthy and getting regular exercise. But, for medical professionals and students who know every single cancer, syndrome, disease and infection that can afflict the human body, just eating healthy and getting exercise isn't going to be enough to allay your troubled mind.

I've always been conscientious in taking care of my body. I don't smoke, I don't eat or drink in excess and I try to go for a jog as often as possible. But now, I've noticed that perhaps I am taking too many unneeded precautions while I go about my day.

1) Lately, whenever I've gone outside on a sunny day I always either wear a long-sleeved loose shirt or I apply sunscreen to my face, ears, neck and arms. Wouldn't want to get skin cancer.

 2) Whenever I walk by a person with a cigarette or a car that has a lot of bad exhaust I hold my breath. Wouldn't want to increase my risk for atherosclerosis, chronic bronchitis or emphysema let alone one of the countless lung cancers.

3) Whenever I buy groceries, if it's available, I choose a product that is sugar-free, non-fat or reduced calorie (sugar-free syrup or sugar-free jelly for example). Wouldn't want to develop Type II diabetes and all of the associated pathologies that go along with it.

4) Whenever I go into someone's basement or attic I always wonder if there's radon present. Wouldn't want to develop bronchogenic carcinoma.

The four types of bronchogenic carcinomas are squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, small cell carcinoma and large cell carcinoma.

5) When I'm studying in bed for long periods of time, I constantly move my legs around. Wouldn't want to develop a deep vein thrombosis.

The patient's right leg is edematous due to a clot in one of the deep leg veins.

6) Lately, I've taken up the habit of avoiding cheese and any milk that isn't non-fat milk. Don't want to increase my risk for prostate cancer with all the hormones that companies inject into chronically lactating cows nowadays.

The white spots you can see is the cancer, probably an adenocarcinoma.

7) I've also stopped eating butter and most greasy foods like fried chicken. I don't want my coronary arteries or aorta to get clogged up like this.

In this aorta, all of the yellow debris are plaques of cholesterol due to atherosclerosis.

So as you can see, with knowledge comes a bit of apprehension. There are many more bad things that I haven't shown because I don't want you to lose your lunch. You don't want to know half of the things we study when it comes to venereal diseases.

I realize that, to some people, I may be going a bit overboard in how I conduct my life now. It's somewhat similar to the person who watches crime and courtroom dramas on TV all the time and then they worry about their house being the next to be burglarized.

So how should one conduct their life when they know about all of these bad things that can happen to their body?

The answer, for me, must lie somewhere in-between the extremes. I'm in no hurry to become the archetypal doctor who smokes, nor am I in any hurry to starve myself and start a diet of caloric restriction to live longer. I'll continue to mostly eat healthy and enjoy my occasional apple pie. (As a matter of fact, I'm eating just that right now as I type this. Now I need to run off the calories before my arteries start clogging. There goes my thinking again. See what happens when you study pathology?)

Busy As Usual

It has been a while since I've written about this summer course, and now that half of it is over, I have a fairly good grasp on how to pass. It consists of lots and lots of studying.

It's an online course, so there are no classes that you need to physically attend, but studying takes at least 8 hours a day starting Friday afternoon and ending Thursday night. My perseverance has allowed me to get grades in the high 'B's so far. I'm fairly certain that I'll be getting my first B in a class in a very very long time.

Studying straight through in one whole sitting is impossible. It's much easier to study in blocks of 2 hours or so. Despite all of the information we are jamming into our heads, for me, the worst part isn't the stress. It's the lack of getting outside for fresh air. I can feel my body wasting away as I spend most of my day in my pajamas laying on my bed writing notes, reading textbooks and watching video lectures. I'm still able to get out and do a quick 15 minute run, but my days of working out are long gone.

Yesterday was Independence Day and I was lucky to be invited by my roommate to spend the holiday with her family in nearby Cheat Lake. There was a huge barbecue and everyone, myself included, brought a mountain of food. The company was friendly and the fireworks were spectacular. Although nearly everyone was a stranger to me, I'm sure they'll all never forget me. I'll be remembered as the guy who watched fireworks while reading from a pathology textbook in his lap.

Happy belated 4th of July!

Off Topic - Aftermath Pictures of My Old Apartment

As many of you who have read this blog know, I spent three years teaching English in Japan. I taught in a small town called Shinchi in Fukushima Prefecture at Shoei Junior High School.

Shinchi is located on the coast and suffered terribly during the tsunami that struck on March 11th. My fiancee, Hanako, drove with her dad to Shinchi to visit the place where I used to live. She took some incredible photos that shows the damage that the tsunami did to my house. I was pleased to see that it was still standing, as I had thought that it had been completely swept away like so many other houses. Nonetheless, the damage was total and it's now uninhabitable.

My nameplate in front of my house. It says "Forrest Merrill" in katakana.

What a mess! You can see on the wall how high the water level got. I'd estimate a good 5 feet.

The kitchen, laundry room and shower.

The living room.

My old bedroom. Can't sleep here anymore.

View from outside my house.

My house and some of the neighboring houses.

The view down my street. Looks like they cleaned up the roads pretty well. There are some houses in the background that are missing.

Another view down my road.

It's very strange and surreal looking at these photos. These scenes are more suited for apocalyptic movies. I'm sure the people of Shinchi are still pulling things back together. As soon as I get the chance, I'm flying over to pay my respects.

The Interview Process for WVU's PA Program

One of my commenters, PA Supertammy, has requested that I do a guest post for her blog "That Girl With The Scalpel" but the topic that I'd like to discuss today was too good to pass up posting on my own blog as well.

The other day, I had the pleasure of participating in an interview, so the process is very fresh in my memory. You may be one of the many who will be applying to West Virginia University's PA Program this year or even next year so I'll do my best to outline how it works.

Once you have been accepted for an interview, you'll need to fly or drive to Morgantown. If you come by plane, you'll be coming in from Washington Dulles International Airport. I believe that the Morgantown airport only offers service to Washington Dulles, but there is a Grey Line bus running between Morgantown and Pittsburgh. If you come in by plane, you can call a taxi at the airport. The only regional taxi service is called "Yellow Cab". If you are driving, be warned that the roads can be confusing for first time visitors. Morgantown's roads are not set-up in a square grid pattern and the beautiful rolling hills can block your view of where you are really going. A good map or navigational system will help you.

With a campus as big and diverse as WVU it's expected that finding one's destination can be intimidating. As of right now, the interviews are held at the Health Science Center which is located on the Health Sciences Campus (east of the Evansdale campus and north of the downtown campus). If you can see a huge brick-red hospital (Ruby Hospital), then you are very close. Just north of Ruby Hospital on a large hill is the Health Science Center. This is where the schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy are located.

When coming by car, the easiest way to get to the health science center is to turn off from Van Voorhis onto Elmer Prince Drive. There is a parking garage and it does require a fee to park there, but if you're willing to walk a little farther you should be able to find Ruby Hospital Parking at the bottom of the hill. You'll want to come in from the front entrance, which I've marked with a red circle above the parking garage on the map.

Now the Health Sciences Campus looks small on a map but when you get there in person it can be a labyrinth. Interviews are typically held in room 2149 and it can be a bit of a mouse maze to get there, so I've provided you with some directions to help you all out. Of course, once you've been here for a while most places here are easy to find.

Here is the entrance to the Health Science Center. It's really a beautiful campus. Soon after entering you will see the four huge pylons as shown in the next picture.

Here's what you'll see soon after entering. You'll need to go to the second floor by going up these stairs.

At the top of the stairs, you'll see this. Make a right.

This is a long hall. As you are walking, keep your eyes on the left side. You will turn left at the next passageway.

Now we're getting closer. Turn left after entering the passage way. From here on, the hall twists and turns like a snake, but if you keep going you can't get lost.

After passing the class pictures of the PA students and MT students you'll come across a 4-way intersection. Turn right here.

And you've made it! Just in time for your interview in room 2149.

The interview itself takes about 35-40 minutes and consists of 3-4 interviewers. The interviewers are usually PAs who are working at Ruby Hospital, some pathology professors, some PA students and most often the director herself, Cheryl.

Now, I know exactly what you're all wondering. "What questions do they ask at the interview?"...

I'm not saying.

But, I will tell you that it is a standard interview and you can expect the usual questions that are asked at interviews to be asked. My advice is, if you haven't already, to purchase a book regarding common questions asked at interviews and come prepared with your responses in your head. There are plenty of books available on amazon.com. As goes with Murphey's Law, you can't prepare for everything so despite your practice you may be asked a question that you hadn't expected.

This is graduate school, so you should dress professionally and be punctual in arriving. After the interviewers have asked their questions the interviewee will get a chance to ask their own questions about the school and the program.

You will be happy to know that there is no essay question to be completed after the interview. There was an essay portion of the interview in years past, but it is no more. The professors thought that the essay responses just did not add much weight to the applicants overall score, so it was eliminated.

After the interview, you will be given a brief tour of the health science center campus and all of the places relevant to PA students. You won't be graded once the interview is over, so you can feel free to relax. One of the students in my class will escort you to the health science center library, the morgue, the gross room and so forth. You should use this opportunity to ask some more questions about classes, studying, etc... After this, you may return home! I'd recommend that once you get home you write a thank you letter to the program director, Cheryl.

The competition to get in is high, just like anywhere else. I don't have any figures on how many applicants there are every year, but your acceptance depends on many factors. The interviewers really do look at the whole picture and spend hours and hours selecting which applicants can matriculate. It's really a tough process because there are so many qualified applicants but so few spaces. Things that they look at include, but are not limited to, your gpa, the classes you took in college, your work experience, your volunteer experience, your personal growth, your letters of recommendation and your interview score.

Because the competition is so high, you may be turned away even though you would have become a perfectly fine student. The PA Program at WVU is still expanding and more spaces are opening up, but at the same time, the number of applicants has also risen. There is no waiting list at WVU that I'm aware of, so if at first you don't get in, you should apply to as many other PA schools as possible and don't give up on your love for pathology.

For those of you who do get in, welcome to graduate school! You'll find yourself quite busy once classes start, so enjoy your remaining time at home and get a head start on studying anatomy. You can thank me later.

----------------------------------------------------
Update 6/23/2011

There actually is a wait list. Please see Cheryl's comment for when you can expect to be notified of the results of your interview.

Initial Thoughts on the Pathology Summer Course

The Good:
-Since it's an online course, we can study at our leisure according to our own schedules.
-There are multiple choice quizzes for each chapter provided online to give us an idea of the kinds of questions and the level of difficulty to expect on the exams.
-The powerpoint lectures are generally thorough and cover most of the material found in the textbooks.
-An objectives guide plus a list of important vocabulary is provided in a word document for each chapter.
-There is a pre-test and post-test discussion for any questions we may have.
-The tests are multiple choice. (Could be bad if the choices are A through K or the infamous
a. A
b. B
c. C
d. A and B
e. A and C
f. B and C
g. all of the above
h. none of the above
)
-Since the tests are multiple choice, I expect that our grades after each test will be known within the same day.
-We've already studied this textbook during our spring semester, so the material should stick better the second time around.
-There is no cumulative final test that I'm aware of.
-The tuition for the summer course isn't as expensive as the tuition for a normal semester.


The Bad:
-The powerpoint lectures are always over 100 slides.
-Some of the speaker's voices in the audio for some parts of the lecture videos fade in and out.
-Some of the questions in the quizzes contain simple mistakes or ask material that is not discussed in the chapter at hand.
-According to the syllabus, a final grade less than a 75% gets you kicked out faster than a convict in a California prison. (I hear they're releasing 30,000 more over the next couple of years due to budget cuts.)
-Watching the video lectures takes up too much time. Time is better optimized by just glancing over the powerpoint material, reading the textbook and answering quiz questions found online and in other texts.
-Tuition is still expensive for us out-of-state and young (relatively) students.
-Studying takes up nearly the whole day (at least for me). Few people want to be stuck studying indoors when the weather keeps saying "It's time to swim!".

The Ugly:
-We go through the text at the blindingly fast speed of nearly 1 chapter every day.
-When the lectures are combined some powerpoints are over 350 (!!!) slides for a single chapter.
-Material covered in the powerpoint lectures and online videos go into more depth than the online quizzes are concerned. (Which begs the question, "What's really going to be on the tests?" and "Am I squandering what precious little time I have by memorizing this table/chart/list/material when it won't be asked on the test?")