Post exam celebrations

Finally the End of Semester 3 exams are over!!

If you want to know how it went....

Multiple choice questions were ok....

Extended matching questions (EMQ)was ok....(except that I still didn't bother to study Anti-hypertensive drugs, ugh...

Modified essay questions (MEQ) was TERRIBLE for me. I could only answer the Haemato question with confidence. The other 3 questions were just a complete blank for me! I made a silly mistake for the osmotic laxatives question- when I mistook it for upper GI laxatives!!

OSPE was hard too, but not as bad as MEQ. Anti-asthmatic drugs...I studied thoroughly and thought that I know my stuff.....but when the question came out regarding anti-asthmatics in the form of a confusing diagram..... I totally blanked out.

As for OSCE (clinical exams) the first day I consider myself lucky, because my stream(stream D) had all the nice and lenient examiners. Dr. Sasikala, Dr. Sri Kumar and Dr. Rajesh's wife ( I forgot her name). Sasikala kept on telling me to skip steps to save me time and she tried to help me out in answering the shifting dullness question. Sri Kumar's station was palpation and auscultation of the precordium. And I can't believe that I actually missed out the most important thing of all in that station....locating ( or trying to) locate the apex beat!! Instead, I moved on straight to palpating for thrills in the four valve regions. Sri Kumar didn't say anything. And I only realised what I missed out when I finished the exams for the day. The patient for the second history taking station of the day was very helpful though. He actually told us students what exactly to ask him!! Respi station was fine.

Today- the tides were turned. When Neha and I were standing outside our first stations ( which were both PE stations), she suddenly pointed out the huge sign on the door she was standing in front of. It read 'Please do not knock the door'. We looked at each other, knowing that we were doomed. (Read : a lecturer named Htin Aung is inside the room if you see that sign outside the door).
And the very moment I flipped open the question for my first station- my jaws literally dropped open. For the very first time (in the history / recent history) of IMU- rectal examination actually came out as an exam question.
So far- nobody had ever predicted that it would come out in a real exam. Seniors have always told us that it was unlikely to come out, because they don't have enough models in the CSU. But my batch was 'lucky' enough to get the question today. Luckily though, I did practice on a rectal model a few times with a friend of mine last week, so I basically knew my stuff, although I got stuck when trying to figure out the word 'median sulcus'.
The peripheral arterial disease station was fine.
My very last station was the Htin Aung station. He scolded me for leaving the remaining of my sticker on the table. After I finished all my stuff ( palpating the cervical and axillary lymph nodes) Htin Aung just smiled and asked me to take a seat. He asked me casually whether this was my last station and how did I think I did? 'I don't know' I answered. 'How come you don't know? You did inspection and palpation....' he said. Then he went on to talk about Myanmar ( his home country) and having coffee after this with the patient.
It was only when I left the station I realized that I was palpating the axillary nodes on the wrong side of the patient!! I don't know why he didn't even bother to scold me about it....since he reprimanded other students for palpating using the wrong hand. My only conclusion was that he was just anxious to go get his cup of coffee?

Anyways.....yeah, the exams are over now!! And I can finally sit back and relax, go online, check Facebook, check message boards, watch downloaded 'Survivor' and 'Lost' episodes.......

But well....overall I hope I did ok for the exams.

We'll find out next week....