Holy ECFMG, Batman!

Holy crap.  Applied for my Step 1 just now.  It was so scary I thought I might puke.

Eight hundred and eighty dollars!!!!  WTF.

 Also, the ECFMG website was clearly written by cyber monkeys and not by actual English-speaking human beings.  Exhibit A:  "...Although you can select an eligibility period as late as the 24th day of that eligibility period, there is no guarantee that you will be assigned that eligibility period, since the processing of your application may not be completed by the 25th day of the eligibility period."

...

Fml.

In happier news - I am starting to have breakthroughs in neuroanatomy :)  I finally figured out what the trigeminal nerve does and where it is! :) --KM <3

It's neuro time!

Got a major dose of reality this morning.  Our pathology lecturer informed us today that "Neurology, more so than perhaps any other area of medicine, revolves around the anatomy of the system for classification of clinical syndromes." Or something earth-shattering like that.  It's time for me to study Neuro anyway, so I thought, "What the hell? - I'll start with neuroanatomy."

Neuroanatomy on a Monday morning is rather like a shot of tequila on an empty stomach.  It seems like a good idea at the time.  "What's one shot of tequila?"/"What's a little neuroanatomy?"  Lol.

Fortunately, tequila goes quite well with salty & greasy food - and SO DOES NEUROANATOMY.  It is amazing how much better something gets when combined with chips and aioli!

Anyway I got through the spinal cord today.  The embryology is quite easy.  Step 1: a patch of ectoderm forms the neural groove.  Step 2: A group of cells migrates to form the neural crest cells.  Step 3: The neural groove is "zippered" up to form the neural tube, starting in the middle and moving rostrally and caudally.  Step 4: The neural tube cells form the alar plate (sensory neurons ... i.e. the dorsal columns & dorsal horns) and the basal plate (motor neurons ... i.e the ventral horns and the corticospinal tracts).

My mnemonic for layers a needle would pass through during an LP is SLEDS Along Snow:
S - skin & superficial fascia
L - ligaments
E - epidural space
D - dura
S - subdural space
Along - arachnoid
Snow - subarachnoid space (from which the CSF is extracted)

--KM <3

Help!! Overwhelmed :(

This is how I'm feeling today :(   HELP!!

For everything I tick off, a thousand other things pop up that I forgot to put on my list.

Augh / *le sigh*

--KM <3

SSRI / SNRI mnemonics

SSRI's:

Drugs:

Effective - Escitalopram
For - Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine
Sadness, - Sertroline
Panic, - Paroxetine
& Compulsions - Citalopram

- the mnemonic includes the main indications: Depression (Sadness), Anxiety disorders & PTSD (Panic), and OCD (Compulsions).

Adverse effects:

3 S's:

Stomach upset - GIT symptoms

Sexual dysfunction

Serotonin syndrome - with other serotonergic agents (i.e. MAOs) - hyperthermia, muscle rigidity, flushing, diarrhoea

SNRI's:

Drugs:

Vexed & Depressed - Venlafaxine, Desvenlafaxine (active metabolite of venlafaxine) & Duloxetine
  - the mnemonic includes the main indications: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (Vexed) and Major Depressive Disorder (Depressed)

Adverse effects:

SHAT:

Same adverse effects as SSRI's, plus

Hypertension

Adrenergic effects (awake [insomnia], anxious, agitated)

Tachycardia

Gram +ve bacteria

Diagram of Gram +ve bacteria :)

Productive procrastination

Photographic evidence of my flash card organization! :)

Micro :)

Found a GREAT Micro text! Lange Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology is the shiznit. I wish I had discovered it 18 months ago when I was struggling through Immmuno in first year!

Anyway, I have been a busy bee. I have started the process of registering for the step 1, and I have a realistic and organized (for me) schedule written up. I'm sure if anyone else looked at it, they would think it is the ravings of a lunatic. But it is tailored to what I anticipate my life for the next few months will look like. Also, I organized all of my flash cards by system, so I can just stick a pack in my purse for the week I am working on that system, and take them out whenever I am on the bus or have a few moments to flip through them.

As far as studying goes, I have gotten through all of the Bacteria, so now I am on to Viruses, Fungi, and other tiny creatures. I am working on mind maps of the Gram -ve's, Gram +ve's, and the random others. I will post them soon.

In other news, I noticed that in the Psych section, First Aid does not have the SADAFACES mnemonic for depression! What is this "SIGECAPS" nonsense?!? The best part about SADAFACES is that there are nine criteria which correspond (although the wording is different) to the DSM criteria for a major depressive episode. According to the DSM, the patient should have 5 / 9 for >2 weeks, and these must include dysthymia and/or anhedonia. I know this is quite clinical and perhaps more Step 2-ish, but really!

S - sleep disturbance
A - anhedonia
D - dysthymia
A - appetite / weight changes
F - fatigue
A - agitation & psychomotor changes
C - concentration & cognition changes
E - esteem problems
S - suicidal thoughts.

XO --KM <3