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I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, technically, i'm 0.09 points short of the 70 (i needed a 90 to get that 70...and i needed a miracle because each mistake is worth no less than 15 points)....but ever since seeing the young prof's friendster, i have become daringly brazen towards him knowing he could be me younger brother. He knows me be name and come over while i was looking over my work and asked if i had any questions. I told him i had just one questions, "are you going to fail me with a 69.91?" And i looked him straight in the face (or was i glaring?!!) and waited to see how evasive he was going to be with his answer. But to my surprise, he came right out and said "no"....none of the wishy washy "well, we'll have to wait and see" crap that i expected.

of course i didn't believe him so i asked him repeatedly, "are you sure? are you positive?" I was very close to asking him to write a written statement...but i checked myself and decided on just an "ok". tee hee.

So i am pretty sure i passed! WOOHOOOOOOOO....I can tell you one thing...it's totally like the Big Guy up there SAW all the EVIL EVIL professors and decided to squash them down. He is the BEST! AND since i'm doing well in the other 4 sections of the class, my final class grade will probably not reflect this stupid section. But NEVER in my life have i been so estatic to see such a LOW grade.

Other than that, aside from the unfortunate event, i had a nice weekend at home...as always. Got to see my church peeps (most of them) and i always feel like i never left....just sitting around...not even necessarily talking...but doing things like obsessivly working on sodoku and watching the babies....i LOVE the babies. Sigh....i almost cried when i stepped on the amtrak on the way back. But...i shall be back for the holidays! YAY! i can't wait!

AND....when i weighed myself today i discovered i had gained three pounds...i'm back in the triple digits!!! YAY!!!!!! (my shocking weight was taken as soon as i got back). FEED MEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

just in case people didn't get my email...my little party event on friday is now cancelled due to unfortunate situations.

on the other hand...Rent came out in theatres yesterday (at least up here)...and i don't know how many of you have seen the musical, but it is my FAVORITE musical.  I've seen it several times and i never get tired of it....and i know like all the songs by heart (almost).  But it's just soooo fresh and different from the traditional broadway show (like i think i'm the only person who hated phantom of the opera)...the music and everything is just so good. 

But the set is VERY basic...which is why when i saw the preview for the movie i was like WHAT?!!! Like the one guy is sitting on the subway.....and the loft is all pretty....and they're celebrating in times square.  It kind of takes the fun out of it...because at the show, you have to sort of imagine everything and the show becomes your own because you're part of it too in a sense, since you're conjuring up some of the images yourself. I don't know how to explain it.

So some of my friends up here rushed to go see Rent last night..and asked if i wanted to go...and i said no because i don't really want to see the movie version.  I know even with the cast, it won't be the same at all.  I think having such a nice set and background kind of cheeses up the play.

So if you want to see Rent, see the musical first!!!!  I saw chicago the movie and i've never seen the musical....i thought th movie was eh....but i'm sure the musical would have been superb.

*edit* clarification....by logo i meant like using the program name to create a look.  Am i making any sense...i don't know the artsy term for it.  Like branding? how company names have a specific look to it? So basically design how it would look on the banner/sticker/ads?

CALLING ALL DESIGNERS AND CREATIVE MINDS (especially those who are bored at work/school)!!!!!

Ok...i have a little favor to ask of you for one of my school projects.  For our stupid class, we have to come up with a business plan.  So, since massachusetts, specifically boston has a very high incidence of asthma (i think it's like #2 in the country), we wanted to develop an Asthma clinic geared towards the pediatric population.  Our theory is that if kids learn how to control their asthma, when they grow up, they will be adults with well controlled asthma. 

So the program will be sponsored and run by local pharmacies/pharmacists.  And we are going to hold the session at the local school (free venue!) that way it's easy for the kids/parents to attend because they all know where school is.  So the pharmacists will hold sessions and teach the kids how to use their inhalers and stuff properly...like teach them what to avoid...etc.  THe program itslef will be free of cost to the kids...HOWEVER, since the program will be done through a pharmacy, we hope that these kids/families will return to that pharmacy for refills and other prescriptions since they have built a relationship with the pharmacists there....hence $$$ for that pharmacy.  We're trying to get sponsorships from like pharm companies...but that's later on.

SOOOOOOO...what do i need from you guys? I'm in charge of advertising...and i was wondering if any of you could conjure up a nice little logo for my program.  We're going to call our program: Asthma Busters !!!!  I wanted to create a banner with the pharmacy name somewhere on it to hang at the events.  I was also thinking of making stickers for the kids that attend that say something like, "I am an Asthma Buster" cuz kids are suckers for little prizes like that (again with the pharmacy name somewhere on it).

So i was thinking something like superhero-ish....geared to attract kids.  Unfortunately, that is the extent of my creative abilities.

PLEASE HELP (you will get credited for your work.....on our theoretical business plan...if that matters to you)!!!!

Oh...and how much would this type of branding work cost in real life?

email me!!!!!! THANK YOU in advance!!!!

I GOT CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR'S OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't know how that happened...i'm the only veteran intern who got both holiday's off (the newbies got both off because they're not fully trained yet).  WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!!

We're doing carolling this year right?!

So, for that stupid class i keep complaining about, we have to do group evaluations.  And you know how normally, when you're told to do this, you grade each member of the group and you give positive and negative comments and that's it.  It's very constructive.  Well, in this brilliant class, this is what we have to do:

The evaluation is broken up into 3 sections: 1 for general group discussion and 2 for participation in the two group projects that we had to do.

So for each section, we get 100 points total, that WE have to DECIDE how to SPLIT UP amongst 7 of us.  That's right...we have to split up 100 points between all of us, and WE have to decide as a group who gets the most points and so forth.  And at first we were like, ok we'll split it evenly....BUT the work really wasn't split up equally.  LIke there were several members of our group who have NEVER spoken or contributed to discussions.  I think today was the first time they spoke (and it was because they felt like it was unfair for their discussion grade to be lower than everyone elses).  BUt...if we split up the 100 points equally, then everyone basically gets a mediocre/just passing grade...which is unfair to the few of us who basically carried the group the entire semester.

Yeah, so there was quite some warfare going on.  And the whole time, i'm thinking this is the MOST retarded group evaluation i've ever done...because somewhere, someone gets jipped...AND we have to fight over the points like a pack of wild animals.  It's sooo stupid...and we can't even give everyone good feedback because it would add up to more than the 100 points.  It's totally not constructive and it actually HARMS group dynamic (we have the same group for the entire year...including next semester). 

It totally doesn't make sense.  For all our other classes, we write a separate evaluation for each group member...that way, you can actually give everyone 10's if you feel that it's justified.  There's no bickering or anything. UGH.  Words can not express how much i hate that class.

And, i will find out after i return from my mini-break whether or not i pass the class.  Actually, they said they MAY post it this week, but office hours (the times when we're allowed to argue for our points back) aren't until next week, so there's no point in me finding out before my mini-break since there's nothing i can do about.  AAAAAAARGH.....i'm so nervous...i haven't really been able to focus on anything else because i've been so worried.

*edit*  i think i have lost a good amount of weight this semester...not on purpose...just because.  My parents are going to freak out....usually, they tell me i got soooo skinny, but i don't see it...but now, even I see it. eeeeek.  It's all those freakin school meetings...i'm in school like 10-12 hours with nothing to eat but like a yougurt in the morning because my school has these ridiculously HS-like rules about only eating ine the cafeteria (which is across the street).  And there is no way i have enough time to go to another building, eat, then come back.  And it's not just me...when i have these long days, so does everyone else.  It really sucks. 

OH....and i found out that the prof that's in charge of the class i hate has come close to being fired almost every year because so many students complain.  BUT...he's like buddies with the dean....and his pharmacy gives my school a lot of money...therefore, he is still here...ruining people's lives.  It kind of says a lot when you've been the head of a class for 3 years and you're almost fired every one of those three years because the students hate you so much. 

i baked some cupcakes this morning....and made my own icing from scratch.  i LOVE cooking.  If i had enough guts (refering to facing parental wratch), i would have gone into the culinary business instead.  Maybe after i do pharmacy for  a good number of years...and all my kids have grown up....i can do what i really want....sigh....DREAMS!!!

I like the purple ones on the right....it was supposed to be "rasberry" colored...oh well...i call them  my Barney cupcakes!

It will hit 23 degrees on saturday!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

has anyone been to the sapphire lounge? how is that?!

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So, the pharmacists in MA have been pushing for Collaborative Drug Therapy..which is where the pharmacists and the MD's work as a team to treat patients.  SO basically, the pharmacists will play a bigger role in the treatment portion of a patient's regimen.  The pharmacist and the MD's sign a contract that gives the pharmacist the right to certain things like the pharmacist can adjust the dose without MD approval or the pharmacist can order labs if they think it's necessary.  The way it works now (at least up here) is the pharmacist rounds and notices that a patient's dose needs to be adjusted...they have to then tell the MD...then the MD has to write the order to change the dose....then the pharmacy has to verify it (even though they were the ones that recommended it in the first place) before the patient gets the correct dose.  So it's a very round about method and it takes a lot of time.  I must emphasize that the pharmacist is in NO WAY diagnosing the patient...we are just recommending dosing and labs and stuff like that (we use the labs to determine whether or not the dose should be changed).

It's been approved everywhere else in the country except for the Northeast and i think NY because there are a lot of old, conservative institutions around.  So it's been passed in one house of the MA congress or whatever you call the governmental thingie up here.  ANd of course the MD's go CRAZY...they looked up stuff from my school website where it says you need a C to pass...and they brought that up and wrote this petition about how pharmacy students just need a C to pass and how can we let these pharmacists help treat the patients blah blah.  I'm like EXCUSE ME, but since when did only med students with A's graduate med school?  Why is there the whole C = MD saying then?!  Our  grading system is the same as the med school's!!! 

AND most med school don't get more than a few months of pharmacology, if even that.  WE get THREE years of it....and we can recommend dosing changes because we had to sit through a whole year of learning the physics behind how a med is distributed and eliminated from the body.  There are things that even as students we think are basic things that MD's still don't know.  LIke, I had an anesthesiologist come up to the OR to ask whether or not he can give gentamicin with ampicillin in the same line (a BIG NO....we learn that our first year of pharm school)......or another one came up this past week and told me his patient was allergic to augmentin (basically, amoxicillin)...and asks if he can give her cefazolin...ANOTHER BIG NO because there's a good chance of cross reactivitiy that you won't want to risk.  I'm not saying that pharmacists know EVERYTHING about drugs and we're better than the MD's...but some of the MD's are so obnoxious and think everyone else are idiots....they don't even want to TRY the collaborative drug therapy even though in all the other states that initiated it, they noticed a 50% decrease in drug related mishaps.

So on the radio, i heard this advertisement talking about how pharmacists are going to take over the MD's job...and like "how would you feel if your pharmacist became your doctor" and all of that..and i'm just like OMG...it's totally not even like that........

So...that's the low down on the throw down that's going on in the health care field up in the northeast!!!

I got my care package!!!!!!!! thanks everyone! it's AWESOME...and weighs like 20 pounds! i love the letters...that's always my favorite part.

Who wrote "go red sox" and forced alice's signature underneath because i KNOW she did NOT write that!!!!

And that newsletter is more like a newspaper!!! good job christine T!!!!

On a brighter note, i'm getting better!!!!!! i finally slept through last night without waking up
!!!!! I'm still secreting disgusting snot, but other than that i feel much better...the fever's gone and the cough is less there. YAY!!! it may take a little longer to get better, but i refuse to take antibiotics unless i REALLY need them.

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Is there anything going on thanksgiving weekend?! After april's comment, i want to check out Snafu!!! i need a new favorite hang out!

I had a REALLY scary morning....and it's situations like these that totally reveal who a person really is.

SO this morning, i had the hospital lab portion of that class that i hate.  but the hospital portion is totally okay because it's taught by a really cool professor and the whole system is based off of children's hospital...so i'm pretty relaxed in there.  But anyway, remember how i said the community section failed this one girl over counseling..she's actually been having a lot of really said family issues that i don't want to say online.  But if i were her, this class...and school in general would be the last thing on my mind.  ANyhow, she's been really stressed out because she wants to do really well because basically she needs to. So this morning before lab, she took a certain medication that she normally doesn't take to help with her anxiety.  She took a beta-blocker...(usually used to treat hypertension....so it lowers heart rate so you don't get that rapid, pounding heart beat that's associated with anxiety attacks). 

ANyhow, just as we were about to start class, she collapsed...and basically bottomed out...her pulse was really faint and slow and her respiratory rate was almost non existent.  The nice prof. helped her down so she didn't hit her head...and me and him sort of tried taking care of her. 

In the meantime, the nice prof was sending the other kids out to call 911/contact security etc.  And one of the kids were asked to get some help from the mean prof's in the community lab.  So some of them came out....offered some help...saw there was nothing they could do and went back in.  these are trained health care professionals

Meanwhile, the girl was barely breathing...and the ambulance ended up taking 25 minutes to get there...and we have FOUR hospitals one block away....INEXCUSABLE.  i really thought she was going to die...because she would gasp for air every like 5 minutes...but other than that she was totally limp and barely breathing. 

SO then nice prof. asks on student to ask the young mean prof (that i blogged about earlier) for a cold compress.  So the young mean prof comes out with one of those plastic things that you have to crack in order for it to get cold.  So this dude is like banging the bag on the table....and like doing i don't know what...and he's like reading the directions on the box like 50 times...and he's like, "i can't get it to become cold."  I was like UGH...and i yelled at him, "GIVE IT TO ME!"

So then he gives it to me and i crack the bubble thing on the inside and the ice pack gets cold and he's all like, "oh, well i couldn't find the bubble".  The bubble took up like 1/3 of the compress.  And i know you're not supposed to put compresses directly on skin, so i started to wrap it in my white lab coat...and the young mean prof has the nerve to come over and hand me this plastic sleeve that comes in the box and go, "you're supposed to wrap it in this".

so the ambulance finally arrives and they give her O2 and she starts to revive a little and we're all really relieved...and they take her off.  then the young mean prof asks us what happened ... and we told him that she took a low dose of propranolol for her anxiety over the class.  And the dude says this, "i bet you half your class is on propranolol aren't they?" and we're like what? and he continues, "yeah, i'm sure they're taking that on top of aderall (basically an amphetamine) too" and "i know school is stressful, but there are better ways to deal with it"

When he said it, it idnd't really sink in because i think i was still in shock over what happened with the girl...but after i calmed down a little, i got SOOOOOOOO pissed.  The freakin dude was  basically accusing the class of abusing drugs!!!!  what NERVE.  if he has his judgements, he can keep them to himself.  That is NOT something to say after an incident like that...it was TOTALLY inappropriate and unprofessional.  I should've said something, but i was still thinking about the girl and it didn't hit me until later.  Like this girl collapses and this is all he thinks?!!!  this is what's on his mind?!  i mean, really?!  she's taking the stuff because of all the stress YOU pushed on her...because YOU make the class impossible.  Maybe half the class IS on propranolol because well...half the class is failing YOUR section of the class because YOU are an ass.

I feel like saying something to him about it the next time i see him.  should I? or would that be stupid?  I think maybe i will at least say something to the nice prof about his comment...then he can pass it along maybe.