Just one of them days ……I had a nervous breakfast and took an auto to get to the exam hall.Just a few minutes out of CMC I realised that I had left my Hall Ticket in my room. I turned the auto around and after a dash up to my room was blazing down to bagayam. Just reached on time and was the last one to stroll inside. I sat in my usual place and was greeted by an empty table with no number. A quick search and I was directed to another row – the seating arrangements had changed.I pulled out the info sheet to fill in my data and realised I’d left my hall ticket in my bag….

After the usual nervousness in the morning and nearly forgetting to take my case with my pens and paraphernalia, I made it on time. The MCQs were average. The theory questions were however a breeze – mostly cases we manage regularly (Asthma, IEM, etc) and a few that werent very difficult. The question on Obesity had be stumbling a little, but it wasnt too big an issue (pun intended!)Felt quite relieved that the going was smooth.Dosed the afternoon and then got back to cramming some Social Pediatrics.

I was pretty tense when I woke up this morning. The preclinical subjects which would be covered in today’s exams were subjects taught about 10 years ago. I’d tried recramming a lot of those in the last few days.Took an autorickshaw to Bagayam where the exams were held and made a nervous entry into the exam hall.The first 40 minutes were multiple choice questions and they were a little tough. But I went through it peacefully.The next set of questions were then given to me and voila…. I couldnt help smiling. At least 2 questions I had hoped would come were staring me in the face. The rest of the questions were a mixture of stuff I’d read, I could…

The seconds tick past and every hour means less time to cram / daydream / vent / get psyched out by the exams. Time is zipping by at 3600 secs per hour while knowledge crawls at one page per hour. And in 34 hours more the cramming will turn to vigorous writing, scrawling, drawing and underlining as I try to prove my worthiness of an MD degree. Heck… why cant the hours and hours I spent in the wards with the babies simply be enough to convince these dudes about my ability! Guess not… so exams it will be…34 hours – 18 hours of sleep plus 3 hours of eating/coffee, 3 hours of daydreaming/empty thoughts, 4 hours of wwwebbing (uh!)….

I tried to read some Endocrinology today (that includes all stuff like your thyroid glands, adrenals, growth hormone, puberty etc etc) and it seemed quite volatile. I tried reading from 3 books and managed to cram in some knowledge. Will I remember it tomorrow? That’s the million-dollar question during this time of cramming and studying! I actually regret all the time I wasted before. I should advice my juniors to hit the books the day they join the course!! SMS of the day (courtesy Gladwin): Morning is God’s Way of saying: “One more time!” Live ur life… Make a difference…Touch 1 heart, encourage 1 mind.. & inspire 1 soul. Have a blessed morning..!Time Sent: 6-Sept-2006. 07:15:48Thanx for the great start…

Yup…. the title says it all….With just about 10 days left before my grand finale and exams I trudge on with a confused study schedule and trying to pick up every scrap of knowledge that I can get! Unfortunately sleep, the internet, daydreaming, music, laziness seem to think otherwise and the ultimate amount of time spent studying seems frightfully less. Today I got a call from Dr. Jana requesting me to help out with the afternoon OPD and I gladly agreed. It felt good to see babies again, examine them, flip them over, auscultate them, make faces at them and then speak to their moms about them. Unfortunately, rules state that to pass exams you need to writes long answer…

I’m not much of an astronomer. In fact I’m quite knowledgeless when it comes to anything beyond planet earth. Guess I’ve forgotten all the Physics I learnt in school. But recent debates about whether or not Pluto is a planet caught my attention. Ok, even now I can rattle off the nine planets in a row in one breath. And now I may have to remove that list etched in my permanent memory cells and relearn a different set it seems. It doesnt seem to be a new debate though. I picked up these links from 1999 about Pluto: 1. Is Pluto A Planet? Copyright 1998, John A. Stansberry 2. Ask an Astrophycisist (or however you spell that word!) I…