Study Mania

There is nothing more painful than returning back from a relaxing five-day weekend to face the second midterm on Monday. And then there is reading about pain for tommorrow's lecture, which is only more painful.

I spent the short vacation (a much anticipated hiatus) with my family, enjoying the simple pleasures of life- food, family and sunshine. When I returned to San Francisco on Monday evening, I noticed right away that it's about time to start studying (what's new?). It's odd. I took my syllabus home and had every intent to open the blue binder and review the material at home, and yet I just could not get myself to open the syllabus. Now, it's out in the open, reminding me to get started.



I did get a chance to revisit our Kindergarten students during our third Med Teach Session. We are now on a first name basis; the students actually remembered our names. The topic digestion and nutrition, taking us back to the simpler days of the Metabolism and Nutrition Block.

Today's lesson was whirlwind tour of the digestive tract, beginning in the mouth, going down to the esophagus, stomach, small intestines and large intestines. We started with an activity that involved chewing a saltine cracker for 1-2 minutes without swallowing. Believe me, it is hard to chew without swallowing. But if you do so, you are rewarded with tasting something sweet due to the breakdown of starch into sugar.

Who knew that you could use nylons and tennis ball to mimic peristalsis? The students definitely were amazed to see how long the small intestines really are (when we stretched out the long small intesting rope). And there was my favorite demonstration- the large intestine and ejection of feces; the large intestine was a flexible tube and tennis balls traveled through the tube and popped out at the bottom (just like feces exit the other end). Very exciting and innovative demonstrations!



Our last activity gave students a chance to construct a healthy plate of food, by drawing different vegetables and fruits on a paper plate. The idea is simple-- create a colorful plate and include foods representing the different colors of the rainbow.



It is always great to spend time with our kindergartner students. There is something so refreshing about how children see the world; they have a simplistic view that is not colored by over thinking things and they always seem to be excited about everything.

Now, if only I could find that excitement in me to actually start studying the dense material of the mind for the second BMB midterm.

Let the Study Mania begin!