SLACKER!

Don't let the title of this post make you think I haven't been studying, I have. But I haven't updated my blog in a while. Here's what stage I'm at now:

Last Tuesday I had my drug administration exam. I got NEBULISER! The only one I haven't actually done before. Thank God I studied it and watched the youtube video on the morning of the exam. I didn't feel too confident going in and got a bit flustered during it because I got put off when the examiner asked me questions like "why are you doing that?". I couldn't tell by her tone if she was hinting that I was doing something wrong or if it was part of the exam and she just wanted me to explain the rationale of what I was doing. In hindsight, I think it was the latter. She said she could see that I was a bit panicky and I told her it was because I hadn't done nebuliser before. She said everyone who got nebuliser said the same thing and that some students didn't even know what it was or have any idea how to do it. She assured me that I did ok. I think that experience motivated me to study harder for my next exam (Clinical Assessment) which is tomorrow.

I went in on Friday and acted as the patient for my classmate's exam so I got a sneak peek of how the exam is and what questions they ask. Since then I've been reading and preparing all my cue cards for that exam. There are so many - these are the topics I could have to demonstrate:
• Cardiovascular assessment
• Abdominal assessment
• Musculoskeletal assessment
• Integumentary system assessment (hair, skin and nails)
• Mental status assessment
• Neurological assessment
• Perform an Electrocardiogram and explain its purpose
• Explain anatomy of the ear and do an ear examination using an otoscope
• Explain anatomy of the eye and do an eye examination using an opthalmascope
• Perform a blood sugar test and explain its purpose

I'll have to do two of these on the day but I won't know which until I get there, so I have to be prepared for anything, as I learned in my last exam.

Neck update: My osteopath appointment helped my neck a lot. I got an adjustment of both my neck and spine. I have a follow up appointment today.