One week to the test...

It's amazing to think about, but my test is next Monday, and then I have the final the week after that. Looking at my current material and comparing it to previous tests, I can see that the previous tests had a bunch of material on the citric acid cycle, none of wihch has been covered in lecture so far, or any time in the rest of the class. I'm not sure what to think of that...

Anyways, tomorrow looks to be a long day: Lecture from 9-11, then a 2 hour break, then lecture from 1-3, and problem solving workshop from 3-5.

Basically, the problem workshops are set up for various conceptual problems the lecturers assign to us. Most of them are a page to two pages of questions, focusing on mathematical calculations that normally require a calculator to do. Calculators aren't allowed on the exam, but the exam normally offers whole number answers easy operations like log(1/100) or simple numbers like 100mmols of 0.20M sodium hydroxide.

Each problem set covers a single set of topics, normally linking to medically and biologically related topics to establish a foundation. One such previous question which was of great consternation to many people was determining why the bicarbonate buffer system is so effective at maintaining a normal pH of 7.4 when none of the given pKas come anywhere close to that value. These problem sets make you think and understand the concepts. It is recommended (read: required) that you do the problem sets before the workshop. In most cases, the problems won't take more than an hour to complete, and if you're stuck, you can always phone a friend or check previous years' MNTS to see if the problems have been done before. In most cases, the workshop should only take about an hour, but the extra hour is provided just in case you need it. I wouldn't say you'd need to go to a workshop if you already know how to do the questions and master them, but if you're a bit wonky, it never hurts to get refreshed.

Well, today was another study day, as usual. I know people will be fishing around my blog, so if you need to contact me to ask me questions about the SMP, I'd be happy to answer at compass@studentdoctor.net

See you tomorrow!