You may wonder why I am always half tempted to fall asleep in the shower every morning. One, it's because I have never ever ever been good with early mornings (and 7:40 is early to me) and two it's because being in the CLS program is seriously exhausting work!
I don't think I could ever exactly explain about the program so that someone not in it could totally get it, but I will sure try. Every morning at 9 am I have microbiology lecture, followed by microbiology lab at 10. It's actually supposed to be over by 11, but a lot of times I have so much work that I end up going until 11:30 or so. Basically in microbiology lecture we learn about several different organisms, and in lab we get an unknown with two or three of those (from either the new week and/or weeks past) and have to identify them through a series of tests. Tragically, a lot of these tests require incubation for 24 hours, so it definitely takes most of the week to figure out what you were given. It sounds simple enough in theory, but some of these organisms can be rather tricky. The worst part is having to grow them up from a liquid broth onto special plates so we can obtain enough bugs to do our tests--there are about seventy million ways that step could go wrong I've found. Oh, and every Tuesday morning at 8:30 we have a "quiz", which most people would equate to something between a quiz and a full on test (I always study a good 2-3 hours for it).
At 12 I have hematology lecture, where we learn all about the components of blood (red cells, white cells, platelets) and some disorders--which once again sounds simple, but really, have you ever stopped to realize how complex your cells are? Not to mention how many diseases there are in the world? And it's not just knowing these things at a surface level. For any given disease (as an example) we need to know about its genetic component, lab results we would expect to see/monitor each cell line to see how it is doing, and so on. Every Friday we have a test for this class that we have to take in a special computer lab, between the hours of 12-5 pm. Although I wouldn't exactly call it a test, because every exam to me feels somewhat like a midterm. I'd say I spend a good 10 hours studying for this test a week, and I know for a fact that I'm not the best studier in my major.
From 1-4 I have hematology lab. A lot of the concepts that we studied in lecture are put to the test, in hands on form. Plus we learn how to do other tests that we didn't even study in lecture, but are applicable to the week's topic of learning. For example, the week we first learned about white blood cells, we had to look at slides of white blood cells under our microscope and count 100 of them and record it. But there is a certain percentage of each type you are supposed to have out of 100, and we had to be within five cells of that percentage (and yes our lab teacher had a computer printout for each slide and double checked us). We didn't get it checked off unless we were within this accuracy, because you have to be accurate when dealing with real people and their blood. Times this whole procedure by FIVE and that was how many we were supposed to do in four days (it's slow going at first too). Every Friday we have a practical test for this class that we have to take between 7-10 am, and its usually identifying unknown diseases that we have studied just by looking at a slide under the microscope. Let me tell you, this can be seriously frustrating sometimes, because I swear half of these diseases look alike! Then, we have a written test in the computer lab that we have to take between 12-5 pm. I'd say I study for lab about 3 hours every week--the tests are super hard though, definitely closer to midterm status.
On top of all of this, every week we are required to draw at least one person's blood and fill up a tube of it. And no, prior to this semester, I did not have ANY phlebotomy (that means blood drawing) experience. It is ridiculously scary to poke someone with a needle the first time, after only having a ten minute explanation on blood draw, that wasn't even that helpful by the way. Not to mention that there are some people who have very shy veins that I swear don't want to be found. I have survived to this point by learning tricks from the oldies in the program (people who are in their second semester).
I know I probably sound like a total whiner at this point, and you are certainly wondering why I haven't just dropped out of my major if life is this miserable. The program may be really really intense, but it is INCREDIBLY gratifying! When I look back on these past 5 weeks and realize how much I've actually learned, my mind is totally blown. The feeling of identifying my unknowns right in microbiology (and knowing I can follow with a flow chart/successfully use the media I've been given) is seriously such a high. Acing a test diagnosis in hematology and seeing another mark go on the list of things you've completed is pretty nice too. But the best feeling in the world is when you stick someone and see the blood start flowing in the tube--and realize that they aren't dead or screaming in pain! My favorite draw was when I stuck Sam, because I actually got him and it meant something to me :]
On top of all this, I figure that having to be this disciplined is going to help me in the long run with life. I will definitely be prepared for my career (still leaning towards part-time blood banking) but also for whatever else gets thrown my way required focus and dedication. Oh, and it seems like nothing is ever predictable about our schedule in the program, so that is totally getting me used to my future of children who have no real timetable lol. In short, CLS can certainly frustrate me a lot, but I love what it is teaching me in the long run.
P.S. One week until our baby lets us know if it's a boy or girl (I hope anyway, as long as he/she isn't camera shy)!!! I seriously can't wait; I've been pouring over the baby names online in anticipation, and think I'm starting to settle in on what I want!
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