Resurrection

Okay, so maybe I'm not dead. The reason why this post is entitled as such is because I've left my blog to collect dust.. for way too long. And right now, I'm going to bring it back to live. Before that, let me apologise to my readers (if there are any still out there.. :P) for my many months of absence. Being a third year Biomedical student does come with a heavy price- 12 weeks (one sem) or more of intense studying, assignments due left, right, front and centre and exam preparations with ABSOLUTELY no time left for anything else.

Well okay then, you say I exaggerate. But seriously, I would exchange and swap places with you if you wanted to fill my shoes.. in a flash. That having being said, being the workhorses that we've been trained to be in the last 3 years of varsity, things, although at times seemed out of hand, have been probably well tolerated (not without struggles and questioning of our mental well- being) by the Biomeders. My last post touched on how this was the final chapter of our long road, final chapter it was but it was also the beginning of an entirely new uni experience.

Never in my uni life have I stayed up till 3am writing an 18 page lab report worth a mere 10%. Yet I managed to break that record 3 weeks back. Never in my uni life have I had one 10% Review article, one 10% lab report, one 15% test and one 2.5% essay due all on the same day with only a mere one week break to complete it. Yet through moans and groans and day-long-computer-staring, many of us met the deadline. Never in my uni life have I left entire sections of lecture material untouched until the latest minute possible. Yet I did just the thing for Ian LeGrice's cardio material. These aren't exactly feats I'm proud of but I was just driving home the point of how busy we've all been since coming to Stage 3. And for those who are worried.. Don't worry, everything has been sorted. Thankfully.

So with 2 exams down and 1 to go, things this year haven't been all tears and pain. The thing that struck me when I first stepped into our first neuropharmacology lab in the beginning of the semester was that what a small group we've become. We went from a class of, I think a good 1000 students in Stage 1 to about less than 100 in Stage 3. The numbers aren't exact and are numbers in maybe only one specialisation. But the thing is, everyone was a familiar face. It was a nice fuzzy feeling. So the good thing was, people whom you've only probably sighted in Stage 1 quickly became your friend in classes and we really got to expand our social cycle.

The cardiovascular biology paper was probably the highlight of the semester. After completing year 2, I was definitely sure that it was a paper I wanted to take and it indeed met my expectations. Like any other paper, you hear rumours and stories surrounding the paper and it was the same for Medsci311. Lots said it was a tough paper and also that it was probably the coolest and funnest paper they took in Uni. And dead right they were. Like what I've said earlier, I've been behind on the lecture material all semester long... not because I was lazy ( well okay, I was partially un-motivated) but because the lab component (worth 30% in total) took up most of my time. Unlike regular physiol labs, the cardio labs were divided into 2 labs, or two topics: Cardiovascular Control and Cardiovascular Function.

For the Cardio Control lab, we had to basically form a hypothesis, design an experiment, run it, present our results orally and with a poster. Our lab class was given the choice to choose between three equipments: an exercise bike, a lower body negative pressure chamber and a series of autonomic function test equipments. Each equipment was associated with testing a different cardiovascular aspect. Our group went for the LBNP chamber and studied the control of blood pressure. The entire lab, which was 4 weeks long, was time consuming but it also exposed us to all the ups-and-downs of being a scientist. We no doubt ran into heaps of problems all throughout, we had problems running the chamber properly and recording good data, our results were incomprehensible, it took us a lot of brainstorming to put everything together for the oral presentation. We were even still debating about the results and discussion up till the poster stage. During the Poster session, I think everyone was finally relieved that the lab was over. Everyone was proud of their final masterpieces and of their achievements in the lab. It was indeed our one taste of being scientists and the poster session/mini conference was indeed an eye- opener.

The Cardio Function lab involved us using an animal model to explain the changes in cardiac function when you change blood volume or when you deplete it (like in a haemorrhage). Now before you think about computer simulations, this lab involved an actual live sheep, which was anaesthetised and handled as humanly as possible. So fear not, the sheep was not in pain. The lab was great fun and eventhough the lab report was the 18 page one I talked about earlier, it was all worth it. Something I must note here that got me laughing today. One of my group mates was telling me what our lecturer, Dr. Ian LeGrice, commented on her report. She wrote at one point, 'Formal surgery was performed on the sheep'.. he replied, 'Can you tell me what informal surgery is? :)'.. yes complete with the smiley face! Bless Ian LeGrice. You know, I really believe the longer you get to know someone, the more you love them. That is exactly the case with Ian LeGrice. Last year when he took us for Medsci205, lots were intimidated by him and he was probably not one of the favourites. After having him again this year for lectures and getting to interact with him personally in the lab, I've developed a whole new perspective. He's always been respectable, no doubt, but this year it's like he's more approachable and a total gem. His vast knowledge about the heart makes you wanna pick his brain every single second. And because he's ever so willing to explain, it makes you wanna sit down and have tea with him. :)

So there. A good long read. I'll leave it here with a couple of pictures I took during the course of our Cardiac Control lab along with some pictures from the Poster session. Enjoy!! :P

p/s: And to my dad and Yosi who asked me the question in Stage 1:

Do you need to cut open the chest, break the ribs to get to the heart for surgery?

Simple answer is yes. You do need to tear the ribcage apart to mend a broken heart.

Let the pictures begin....

Pasan, into the chamber and getting ready to be strapped in for 3 hours


Making sure all is well



The other group that used the other LBNP chamber to carry out their experiment




Pasan being 'interrogated' by Dr. Carolyn Barrett


Andrea and I in front of our masterpiece. Not entirely ours. Haleema and Pasan are the two other members missing from the pic.:P


I absolutely loved this group's poster. GO GLORIA!!!