Overwhelmed

There have been times this semester that I have felt rather overwhelmed. Sometimes I feel behind. Other times the weight of everything that needs to be done by the end of the week feels too heavy to carry and I wonder how long I can keep going. This semester has a rhythm of working on our own for one week followed by a week of being in class Monday afternoon, all day Tuesday, Wednesday morning and all day Thursday. That means two weeks worth of work needs to be done during our off week since there is little time to do much besides go to class during the second week. This past Monday when we gathered for cadaver lab, I was actually encouraged to know that everyone else is feeling overwhelmed as well. One gal said she sat at her desk and cried that morning because she didn't even know where to start. I can identify. Another classmate reminded us that it all would be done by the end of the week. I thought back to my days at Moody when one of my friends would remind us during syllabus shock week that all those assignments would be done by the end of the semester. I smile at that now because in this program we don't have the emotional energy to think beyond the next two week cycle much less to the end of the semester. Saturday afternoon I looked ahead at what is in store for the next couple of weeks and it includes a mid-term in one class and another anatomy test on the forearm and hand (among other things). If I can learn everything on a 3/4 inch stack of flash cards I will do just fine. Come the evening of Feb 21st, it will all be done but at the moment it seems like a rather tall mountain to climb.   

This past week we spent a morning going through a simulation of what it is like to work in an acute care setting. Other than the rooms being at least twice the size of a normal hospital room, it was a realistic situation and gave us at least some exposure to working with patients who are connected to tubes and monitors. Two occupational therapists who work in a hospital shared some of their expertise with us and then evaluated us as we took turns having a 10 minute interaction with a standardized patient (i.e. an actor taking that role). They were impressed with our overall interaction skills. Some other tidbits from last week:

• 20 to 25% of people don't have the palmaris longus muscle in one or both of their forearms. 
• We practiced teaching one-handed dressing techniques to each other as well as how to put on pants, socks and shoes while not bending past 90 degrees at the waist following a hip replacement. We will be tested on this by having to correctly teach one of our professors taking the role of a stroke patient or someone who has had a hip replacement.