Long, Short..what's the diff?

Dear Blog,

Just came back from Prof. Shahrir's class, regarding our short case exam next week.

I hope ya'll don't mind, but I feel like expressing myself here for awhile.

My thoughts were clear before entering DK1. Not a lot of worries going through my empty brain. But, as Prof's slideshows kept changing and changing to explain a bit about each of the systems that are to be assessed next week..worry was all I could think of.

Why is it, that I've gone through these illnesses and diseases over and over again but to have it not stick inside my brain? Why is it so hard to stay calm and just tawakal with what's to come but to prepare myself completely first.

Clinical years is definitely interesting, for all the knowledge I've learned over the past few years are put to test. The prob right there is : Do I still have that knowledge?

And why is it so hard to concentrate right now? How come going back home is a must at the end of every week? Can't I just stay here and study with my friends?

No. I miss my family too much.

But, that's another prob too. I can always visit them after my exams are finished, right? Why the heck am I so eager to go back home? Other than spending time with the fam, I always spend over-budget and waste my time not studying when STUDYING is what I should be doing.

Shit. Should I just tell Leanna to not pick me up this week? Should I just stay here and focus? Duh~ It is THAT obvious. But, to be in my place and knowing the situation I am in with the fam, you would know how difficult it is to choose between them and education.

After class, my mood went from one to none. So, here I am blogging about it. I have an observed Long Case tomorrow with Dr. Nurazira (don't the exact spelling). She's a Dermatologist and I heard from her students that she's really nice. Right. We'll just have to see about that. I've made up my mind, I wanna volunteer as the first student to be assessed. That way, everything will be over and done with quickly. I can concentrate on my Short Case exam nest week.

Long Case: Clerk a random patient in the ward, but the examiner will observe us at that moment as well as the other 4 members in your group. After taking history, you are required to do a Physical Exam (PE) relevant to the history taken. This usually takes up to 30-45mins, depending on your examiner. It can be about anything! That's the hard friggin' part =(

Short Case: Do PE only at patients reserved at every station in the clinical practice ward. The patients are pre-picked weeks before the exam and is to be examined for a whole 10mins max. This is even worse, for if you fail this, you will fail your WHOLE POSTING! Each student is required to do 2 short cases on the exam day, in front of Supervisors, Consultants and/or Specialists. Very nerve-wrecking! =((

.focus.gone, l e n a.