Feeliin' cocky

In which the allegedly adult learner channels her inner 20-something...

So.

Friday, I took this scary Practical exam in my Physiology/Anatomy class.  Armed with a clipboard, and a test sheet, we went into a room lined with gurneys. On each gurney was a cadaver.  Not neatly tucked into thier body bags -- oh no.  Sitting there, open.

Worse yet, each cadaver had at least one (some had two) numbered tags pinned to a blood vessel.  There were about ten cadavers -- eleven tags.

Those of you who didn't say "ewwwwww" and close thier browser tab can guess what came next.

We each stood by a gurney, and examined the cadaver resting thereon.  Having found the tag (or tags), we had to write down the name of the blood vessel on the line on our test sheet that corresponded to the number on the tag.

So.

Standing next to a cadaver that had this tagged....

no, wait.  I tried to find pictures that would give you a real idea of what it looks like without being either too ... well... gruesome, or too vague... 

This doesn't give you a real idea, since it's a pic from Limbs & Things (a place that sells models phlebotomists use to learn how to draw blood), and not a picture of an actual dissected arm... But still, imagine that this is a real arm, and that what you're seeing are real blood vessels, not, you know, fakes.  Then imagine that there was a tag on the part that looks like the crossbar of the H.

I had to write:  median cubital vein.

Even for things like the aortic arch (which anyone who knows anything about the circulatory system knows is an artery), I had to write aortic arch artery.... so they'd know I knew it was an artery and not a vein.

Yeah.  15 blood vessels later, I walked away hopeful.

And this morning I got my test back.

100%

No, I'm not proud ... not in the slightest. (liar, it's the first practical I've not done something stupid on).

And then..

today...

I took the quiz on the circulatory system.  All nervous about lymph and B-Cells and T-cells and stuff.

And...

100%

Fist pump... Oh yeah...

So, yeah, I'm feelin' a  little cocky today.

Here's hoping that doesn't ruin my focus for the six muscle quiz on Wednesday. Did you know that the pectoralis major (that muscle we all just call "pecs") had two heads?  Me neither.  And what is it with our MusculoSkeletal Anatomy teacher these days?  All the muscles have multiple heads -- and thus multiple origins (or insertion points) and tons of actions to memorize.  My brain is turning to mush.

But...

did I mention...

100%?

Comments

[The Divine (though blogless) Elizabeth]

Whahooooooooooo!

[Janine]

Congratulations, I am very impressed. Janine

[janna]

Congrats! But there's no link to anything at Limbs & Things. And, btw, I am familiar with L&T because we've bough some simulators from them (we have a simulation center in my library).

[freelance writing]

But still, imagine that this is a real arm, and that what you're seeing are real blood vessels, not, you know, fakes.

[kmkat]

Well done, you!

[R]

Does this mean you are a "know it all?" Naaaaaaw... didn't think so. (Congrats!)

[essay]

It does however require considerable ability to handle pain, because you wind up stretching all those tendons and muscles that you had forgotten about in the relentless pursuit of the next financial target or technical release. It is no surprise that it is very popular with entrepreneurs on the West Coast of the United States, a group of individuals blessed with busy work and social lives, relentless desire for self-improvement, and unbelievably high pain thresholds.