Second Term

Ah, second term.  The time-consuming Anatomy and Histo labs are over leaving you with Neuro groups and much more free time.  You are finally learning about how the body works.  In Neuroscience and Physiology, the discussion boards on Angel are lively with the professors answering questions on a daily basis.  You will understand why amputees feel “Phantom limb” pain, why poison ivy causes a rash days later (instead of right away), and you will touch on the mysteries of the EKG.  These are heady, heady times.

PHYSIOLOGY (5cr)

Physio is a very well run course with exciting teachers.  The handouts for each series of lectures are incredibly well written and could be bound together to form a great textbook.  If you spend your time with them and go over their objectives, your time will be well spent.  Physio hinges on perspective and analogy for much of your understanding and it sometimes helps to have a different take on the material.  The Physio BRS book falls short for some while Costanzo’s Physio Book is more complete (and serves as the Physio text at several medical schools).  The course text, Borne and Boulpaep is a tome and far beyond your needs.  Finally, the Physiology Pre-Test book is great for difficult questions with thorough explanations.

NEUROSCIENCE (5cr)

            Imagine learning gross anatomy from MRI slices and not being able to put your hands around the liver or heart and you will begin to understand what learning Neuroanatomy is like.  This is 3-D thinking with 2-D images of structures you have never seen and the learning curve is steep in the beginning.  The library has plastic models of the human brain for you to play with and your Neuro groups will help a little.  You can also find pictures of the fornix and thalami in the opening plates of your Netter Atlas.  Other than this, your Neuro Atlas has bread-loaf sections through every structure in the brain and can be an enormous help if you spend enough time with it.  The recommended textbook is not worth buying.

            Once you are comfortable with the anatomy, the fun things begin.  You will learn why a stroke in the left brain produces symptoms on the right, why your hand pulls away from a burning stove before you actually “feel” the pain, and why the room still spins after you have stood up from a spinning chair.  You will learn about addiction and sleep cycles and lazy eyes.  Neuro clinical cases are taught before each exam by visiting neurologists and the science starts to feel like medicine as you begin to diagnose things correctly.

IMMUNOLOGY (2cr)

Building an understanding of Immuno is like building an arch: none of it makes sense until it all makes sense.  Prepare to be frustrated as you memorize facts without understanding how everything fits together.  Your professor (Dr. Stanley) will tell you that the first test is strictly one of memorization and she is not lying.  No thinking is required, just memorization.  From this point on, things will begin to assemble and you will be rewarded with your arch. 

The required textbook follows the course and is written by Dr. Stanley.  Students are divided over its usefulness and expense.  It might be worth your time to read some of the reviews of this book at Amazon.com.  Regardless if you decide to buy this textbook, you should buy an Immuno text to supplement the notes.  My personal favorite is Cellular and Molecular Immunology by Abbas and everyone agrees that the Micro/Immuno BRS is a staple on any bookshelf.

If you leave the course still uncomfortable with material, you should not worry.  Like all things in medical school, you will be exposed to this material again in Micro and in Pathology and these are the classes where many of the concepts start to cement. 

PARASITOLOGY (1cr)

This is a great class.  It is three weeks long, worth one credit, but a lot of fun.  You should go to class not only because it will help you learn the material and do well on the exam, but also because you will see slides of some pretty interesting creatures that you would never see otherwise.  Some will intrigue you, some will make you cringe, and some will be the topic of conversation for days.  This Parasitology course is one of the advantages of going to an International medical school.  We get to be taught a course that many US med schools do not even teach and we get to learn from one of the leading authorities in the World.  If you are at all interested in international health, tap into this resource. 

You do not need the book.  All you need are the handouts that are given in class.  They are well organized with sections divided by headings such as “This Wormy World.”  The MacDaddy contains summary slides on every disease you will learn in the course and the creatures that cause them.  And please, after all is said and done, do not call it “elephanTITIS.”  Your elephant is not inflamed.  It is “elephanTIASIS.”  Thank you.

GENETICS (1cr)

            I wish we could offer something useful, but this course has changed every term.  Think of it as a one credit adventure.  No book is necessary.  Maybe.