it's hard to summarize all that has happened in 5 years in a single post. hence, i won't even bother. this will be the first of a slew of posts inspired by sentimentality because apparently, i'm brimming with it.



first up, tara's upcm-pgh top ten - part 1




1. most memorable small-group discussion

as upcm students, we very quickly get sick of these.



the 7:00 am sgd on diabetes mellitus with... MALA. yikes. the lethal combination of lack of breakfast, the complicated subject matter, early time, the north pole-ish temperature of the room, and the consultant proved to be... well, lethal. we were all shaking in our seats as we attempted to answer each question the best we could. nothing we said was deemed... sufficient. we learned a lot that morning - from history-taking, to writing the primary impression. in a way, it was a good thing we had the MALA experience... but once is enough thankyouverymuch.



honorable mention: our sgd with dr. _____ wherein he lambasted our group for dividing the work. he spent more time scolding us than teaching us about history-taking. and as if that wasn't enough, he demanded that out group be re-assigned to him for the next sgd. back for seconds?




2. most difficult exam



written: first patho exam during LU 4. i passed it, but only after reading more than 10 chapters of robbins. yuck!



practical: LU 5 grand osce. tama bang aralin ang physical exam ng lahat ng rotations? then perform it in one afternoon?!




3. best lecture



way back in LU 5, after the module exam, dr. _____ gave a summary lecture about the topics covered. it was only then that all the previous lectures started to make sense. after he finished, my seatmate turned to me, asking, "why was this lecture given just now?" i probably would have done better in the exam if he did give it earlier, but it didn't matter at that point. that lecture inspired me to be two things: a cardiologist (which the lecturer was) and a teacher.



honorable mention: dr. _____'s lecture on anatomy, because he made it fun with jokes, stories, and... fine, maybe the firecrackers helped a bit too.




4. most humiliating moment



in LU 4, we had a practical exam on cardio physical examination. my case was a PDA (an adult). i should have heard a continuous murmur, but only heard a systolic murmur. in my defense, as a student who heard only a few murmurs in my life, i was expected to distinguish this so soon? well, my consultant was very unhappy with my answer, and yelled at me in disbelief because i did not hear a continuous murmur. with tears threatening to pour down my cheeks, i listened again. my ears were pounding with humiliation so i heard no continuous murmur, no murmur, and no heart sounds for that matter. trying desperately to sound confident, i informed him i heard it. then, i ran to the next station.




5. best phl



our very first phl in LU 3 was about family planning. being enthusiastic, clueless freshmen, we put on our grandest show complete with props, backdrops, a contest with prizes, and several song and dance numbers. years after, i still remember how the mothers of ward 15 stared at us as if we were all nuts.


part 2 (#s 6-10) to follow.