Practicals and protestors
This morning we had a bacteriology lecture with lots of animations of bacteria invading cells,followed by a pharmacology practical. The practical was all about anaphylaxis and it involved injecting various concentrations of histamine and other drugs onto guinea pig ileum connected to computers to measure force of contraction. This sort of thing is typical of pharmacology practicals and since they are on Thursdays this term they coincide with the day that the animal rights protestors have chosen to protest outside the new animal labs. So if you're really brave you can tell them about what you've just been doing in pharmacology!
In the afternoon we had a pathology practical and discovered meningitis bacteria on our tonsils (that is normal apparently!) and looked at some pretty yellow staphylococcus aureus from our skin. Pathology practicals tend to include a variety of techniques to study and classify bacteria, and they are relatively easy to follow and interesting to do. After the afternoon practical I wrote up this morning's practical. Practicals have to be written up (although some - like path - can be done in the practical itself). I write up all my lecture notes too because I find them easier to learn that way. This has been more difficult this year because the busier timetable means more to write up and less time to do it in, so a lot has to be left to the weekend. Today it was made even more difficult by hunting protestors, policemen, and 5 TV lorries with crews outside my window because Question Time is being filmed at the Union next door this evening.
Earlier in the week I had gross anatomy (prosection) of the brain. There were 3 heads for us to look at in a group of 8, each with slightly different bits cut out. Prosected body parts don't usually look very real so most people have no problem touching them, although a few people are more squemish with heads. I've also had another path practical earlier this week, a tutorial and plenty of lectures. On Monday we had our first clinical lecture at the hospital. It was really good to be able to apply some of what we've learnt to a patient, and his young children provided some humour during the lecture.
In the afternoon we had a pathology practical and discovered meningitis bacteria on our tonsils (that is normal apparently!) and looked at some pretty yellow staphylococcus aureus from our skin. Pathology practicals tend to include a variety of techniques to study and classify bacteria, and they are relatively easy to follow and interesting to do. After the afternoon practical I wrote up this morning's practical. Practicals have to be written up (although some - like path - can be done in the practical itself). I write up all my lecture notes too because I find them easier to learn that way. This has been more difficult this year because the busier timetable means more to write up and less time to do it in, so a lot has to be left to the weekend. Today it was made even more difficult by hunting protestors, policemen, and 5 TV lorries with crews outside my window because Question Time is being filmed at the Union next door this evening.
Earlier in the week I had gross anatomy (prosection) of the brain. There were 3 heads for us to look at in a group of 8, each with slightly different bits cut out. Prosected body parts don't usually look very real so most people have no problem touching them, although a few people are more squemish with heads. I've also had another path practical earlier this week, a tutorial and plenty of lectures. On Monday we had our first clinical lecture at the hospital. It was really good to be able to apply some of what we've learnt to a patient, and his young children provided some humour during the lecture.
posted by Jane Davis @ 2:12 PM
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