Ahh my old friend STRESS

So, I registered for the MCAT today, anddif am now $200 poorer. This exam stresses teh crap out of me at the moment. I took a practice Bio section last week and did ok, I got a 9. For a first attemtp, it was not too bad. Fortunatly the biological stuff is the most recent and easiest to recall. I am currently working on a physical sciences portion and it is kickin my trash. I really have to go back a ways to remember my gen chem and physics, despite the fact that i have taken them within the last year. There are so many different formulae to remember. Right now it seems that the only things I can remember are how to convert grams to moles and some bare bones of kinematics. I think i'll have to get out some flashcards to remember some of this crap. So my question, along with many other premeds prepping for this monster, is this: When I'm confronted with a patient who's ill and needs an accurate quick diagnosis, are they going to want to know if I can figure out how fast a block of ice slides down an incline? NO. Ok, in fairness, the MCAT tests problems solving and reasoning within a scientific context, so testing if I know how to figure out this problem is valid. I don't think, however, that this particular scenario which is based in its ideal Newtonian universe would ever present itself as a life and death situation. The bottom line here is that this exam is in less than two months and I don't feel prepared. Fortunatly however, instead of being able to concentrate on this exam like I should, I have other classes clamoring for my attention.
Dear Universe: Thank you internet for gobbling up the abstract which I sent my Bio professor two weeks ago. It's due today after I make the corrections he was supposed to email me. Did he? no. Was I able to make the corrections in time? no. Did I email him several days ago about this? yes. Did he get back before the due time? no. Does this totallly suck? yes. Did he give the class an extension 'til tomorrow? yes. Is this a blessing most fortunate? yes.
More yes/no's:
Have I been plagued with a headache for the last 3 days ? yes
Do I doubt my ability to get into medical school sometimes? yes.
Is it high time I quit my bellyaching and get back to work so that when crunch time hits I can panic, but panic prepared? yes.
Is the lovely gentleman 20 feet away listening to his iPod so loud that the rest of us can enjoy it too? yes.
Will I have this problem in twenty years? no.
why?
he will be deaf.
In the meantime however, I predict his iPod will get progressively louder as his eardrums get progressively more calcified. There will be a critical volume where his entire head is vibrating in resonance with his iPod, and then, with a massive convulsion, his ears will bleed and he will wonder why he listened to rockabilly loud enough to drown out a passing 747.

Shooting the curl

Well it seems my post exam glee was justified and I did quite well on the ol' examin. Now I'm engrossed in my long postponed studying for the MCAT. It's really hard to find time to study for this thing because my other school work always seems to get in the way. Friday however, I finally buckled down to hit the ol' Kaplan MCAT tome. My gen chem and physics it seems are rather fuzzy and I made a lot of mistakes. That's where the two months of cramming come in. Make the mistakes now, learn from them, and keep going. So readers, if you are there, please don't hesitate to post some feedback. I feel a little like the voice in the wilderness shouting to an unknown audience.

Booyah!

So, my faithful readers , if you exist, have no doubt been concerned at the apparent lack of activity on this blog. Do not fear, this does not presage a return to the megalomaniacal rantings of Dr. Longfinger,MD. I have, rather, been otherwise engaged in studying for my 2nd Ochem midterm. Since saturday evening I have put in a total of 35 hours over 5 days for this exam. But today it seems that my hard work paid off and that i did well. During our post exam debriefing, Sean, Brad, Kyle, Tony and I swapped answers and it seems that things turned out well for the gilkster. IT remains to be seen, however, how i did officially on the school website.......

Why He is Wrong!

In response to “Attention nonsmokers: Butt out of our choices” Jan 31 editorial: Bradley frame smoking as an infringement up on the rights of small business owners, rather than as a public health concern. A more accurate assessment would also include the high insurance premiums these small businesses pay because millions of smokers tax the health care system with preventable illnesses. Which is the greater burden, the loss of a few dozen customers or the irretrievable health damage which must be paid for by healthy, nonsmokers? In your article, he claims that the intervention on the part of the government is unreasonable, yet there is no justification. How is it impinging the rights of business owners? Is it reducing the quantity of patrons to their restaurant or bar? Do you have any data to support your assertion that a smoking ban has somehow hurt businesses? Or is it that since he is inconvenienced, the world must also be inconvenienced and put out too? I know of no legally binding document that lists smoking as an inalienable right.
Bradley’s piece actually touches on a broader question, should the desires of a few people be permitted when they are detrimental to the health and safety of the majority? When the choices of one group impinge upon those of another, it is the province of government, be it city, state, or federal to intervene. In this case then, the city government is not “unreasonable restricting the choices of business owners” , it is rather, restricting the rights of smokers to benefit the greater population. One of the tasks of government, as outlined in the US Constitution, is to “promote the general welfare”. A smoking ban, then, is perfectly acceptable since it promotes the general welfare. Smokers, as you point out, are allowed to choose to smoke. The remainder of the population, however, should not, be involuntarily subject to second hand smoke because a smoker exercises his “right” to smoke. In short, the smoker has the dubious right to endanger his own health, but the government has the duty to safeguard the health of others. As a consequence, the smoker is ostracized.

-George

Link to OP-Ed piece

Since I don't want to violate some copyright law, I'll simply post the link the online text of this crappy article for your convenience.

http://www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2006/01/31/43df3be985270#feedback