So today was interesting. Pharmacology exam in the morning, which I thought went pretty well. I only spent forever studying for it! Seems like some of my classmates didn't feel as good about it as I did, though.
After the exam, we had some lecturing. As always, somewhat difficult to understand at times. I think my favorite professorism of the day... well, actually I have two. The first was about diuretics, the most common of course being "hydrochloro-cyanide" (supposed to be hydrochlorothiazide). That is one way, I suppose, to solve edema. Although, I am sure there are better options... The other was in speaking about the adverse effects of diuretics. One of these, apparently, makes you have goat (supposed to be gout). I feel bad, because as much as I'm trying to stay serious, it's really hard NOT to laugh sometimes.
Interestingly, one of our nursing professors sat in for the first hour of lecture, and then took off. We found out after lunch that she was getting first-hand experience, because there have been some concerns raised to her about the difficulty of understanding our professor in Pharmacology. Also, after lunch, this professor had the program coordinator come in to listen to some of the concerns we had.
It was very professional and nothing was said directly about any one person, just situational things. i'm not sure I ever said what happened with that girl calling me the other day. She and five others were failed on the IV check-off because they grabbed the wrong type of fluid. Now, she and I understand why she had to be failed--medication errors are very serious. However, I also understand where she's coming from--I was in the same group that was taught by a different lab instructor, and we never went over where the bags of fluid were OR that there were different types. Now, from my transcription experience, I did know about different fluids. But, unless you are taught, you probably don't know that 0.9% sodium chloride is Normal Saline.
The program coordinator insisted that if we had a concern, we present a solution. So, along with presenting this concern, my classmate suggested that there be a unified presentation given by the main lab instructor with all the other instructors there, so that everyone can be on the same page and everyone is getting the same instruction. I threw in that something else to consider is not assuming we know things; many of us come into the program without any medical experience, so assuming we know something and NOT teaching it to us can be detrimental.
Emotions were running high during this open forum. Several people were crying. I think the stress is catching up with everyone, and the difficulties of inconsistency in teaching and a professor who is hard to understand is no doubt complicating the issue.
After the program coordinator left, our professor took some time to talk to us more candidly and to kind of ease us back into lecture-mode. There were still a lot of emotion, and one girl took it upon herself to tell everyone to suck it up and quit complaining--we are the elite of the elite, since we are in the accelerated program, we were told this term was going to be tough, and we should all just deal with it. And, if we are so concerned about pharmacology, just do what she does--read all the chapters, do all the review questions, and pay attention in lecture--because she is doing "fine" in that class. Now, I get where she was coming from, but the way she would about saying it was all wrong. In fact, one classmate turned around to her and said, "You know, I am doing all those same things as you, and I am NOT doing fine. So what you just said is a personal attack to me". And he nearly started crying as he was saying it.
After this, nobody was able to focus and the professor only lectured for maybe an hour. I was glad of that, because the animosity in that room was making me feel sick and like I needed to cry. Which I did as I was driving home. I know that I am stressed, but I don't really feel stressed or act on it. I just buckle down and do what I need to do. The worst part for me is knowing and feeling the tension and bad feelings between my classmates. I feel like we are a family--some are the cousins we don't see or talk to all that often, and others are the brothers and sisters we hang out with all the time. But, no matter if we talk much or not, we are all family and when there is tension and hurt feelings, I feel that.
All things considered, I feel better knowing that we were listened to today by someone who can bring about change.
So, I am thankful for a professor who initiated the process, who has sympathetic ears, and is sensitive and understanding to the needs of her students.
No comments:
Post a Comment