Day 120 - Pathology - Kinda Like a Review

In last session's Anatomy class, we studied the Integument system (skin). In this session's Pathology class, we studied the Integument system - or more of what can possibly go wrong with the skin.
We learned about fungus on the skin, parasites on the skin, burns, frostbite, various STD's, and cancers that affect the skin. We got to pictures of examples of a good number of them. And I just gotta say - EWWWWWWW!!!!
All that to say that should I have you on my table and I say, "EWWWWWWW!" You might want to see your dermatologist.
Or if I just simply say, "I see this thing, and you may want to see your dermatologist." You might want to see your dermatologist.
Before these classes, I would not have called myself a germophobe. After all, I'm one of those people that pretty well thinks that we're too clean and too anti-bacterial. If you don't have some germs for your body's immune system to fight, it will just attack whatever foreign stuff it sees. Right?

Well, after serveral months of being classes, I started noticing that if I didn't wash my hands after a certain amount of time, or I was in a public place, touching railings or handles, I really had the desire to wash my hands. I especially noticed this feeling when I was in New York City a month ago.
Today, one of my co-workers at the J-O-B went home sick after making a technicolor offering to the toilet gods. After her departure, I got out the handy-dandy Clorox wipes, wiped down her desk, then sprayed everything around her desk that I could find with Clorox disinfectant spray. Then washed my hands twice, sprayed down everything in the restroom, washed my hands again, sprayed the door handles for good measure, and then washed my hands again.
When I arrived home after studying pathologies of the skin this evening, I washed my hands.
I think the classes are starting to affect me.

Day 113 - Getting Under My Skin

I guess taking anatomy, physiology, and pathology are necessary evils in massage school, but this is really getting to me right now. I don't know if I'm having a 'don't care' attitude about it or if I'm having a hard time soaking in the information due to the pace or simple annoyance in the class.
We had to finish up the lecture on the integument system (skin) and such since we have been behind in the lectures, and then take the quiz. We then learned about bone and what it is.
I want to really learn this stuff, but I think the pace is a little too quick to be really learning it, especially for folks who have - you know - real full-time jobs and have no time to do homework or study.
Also, I have a pet peeve with the "text book." I've mentioned before about how the book has some information in it, but the rest is completed during the lecture.
When I was in elementary school, high school, and college, back when textbooks were chiseled into stone, the information was complete. We took notes based on the lecture, not to complete the textbook.
I guess it's done a little differently.
On another note, at my J-O-B, there is not a lot of actual work to be done and that's making me a little antsy because they just sent one of my fellow data entry co-workers to the Gaithersburg office for a project there. I'm hoping to find enough work to keep me busy so they don't decide to send me to G'burg. I'd love to see my friends in that office, but with my school schedule, it would cause major stress and hardship.
Six more months.

Day 110 - The Little People

Warning: This post is mostly a rant due to frustration. I may cover some of what we learned in class, but probably not a lot, due to reasons I will address in my rant. There's also a DC Talk reference at the end. DC Talk makes me smile.
Why is it that corporation heads or adminstration thinks of really good ways to do things, but doesn't always realize the ramifications of their decisions?
We have been in this program for six months. Six. SIX! When we entered the program, we were given ALL the books we would need for the next year of the program. We were combined with another class that had already gone through a five week session of classes, and it was a little stressful, as we had some "catching up" to do, but not much. Throughout the program, we have had one or two people come into our class to make up time or finish out the program with what they needed and it wasn't too stressful.
When we started this new five week term, TPTB (The Powers That Be) had two brand-new students join our class. They were where we were SIX months ago. To say that they had some catching up to do with our class is an understatement. They got their books. Guess what? Their books are NEWER EDITIONS and aren't consistent with what's in our "old" books!
It may not sound too bad, but guess what? Our poor anatomy instructor has to take time to figure out what page contains what information and make sure that the information is consistent for both. As a result, we are about 3/4 of a class behind where we should be, according to the syllabus. How will we catch up? By rushing through the material and not understanding?
This evening, we finally finished the lecture from last night's class and took the quiz - shortly before 9:00 pm - nearly two hours after class started!
After we got the quiz behind us and took our mandatory break, we finally got to learn about the Integument System. That's the skin and epidermis* and that sort of stuff.

Now, let me take a moment to describe our "textbook" for Anatomy. The lecture is meant to complement the book, and therefore, is where we take notes for what we're supposed to know about the subject matter. So, in order to do any homework, we have to get through the lecture for the complete information. Since we didn't start until two and a half hours after we should have, we did not get through all the material and the material we DID get through is all confusing because we were trying to rush through it and write down what notes we need to have the information. And since we didn't finish the material, our homework won't be completed by the next session because we haven't gotten there yet. *Breathe*
This is one of those rare evenings where I am a bit frustrated. At least I had a 40 minute drive to think and calm down a little bit.
*I can't help but think of the DC Talk song "Colored People" whenever they mention "epidermis." Lyrics: "Pardon me, your epidermis is showing, mister/I couldn't help but note your shade of melanin." It's about God's colorful creation and how we're all just colored people and we see the beauty in the tones of our skin. Give it a listen if you feel so inclined.