I have a dream.

Or rather, I had the first of what is likely to become many dreams.

There was no preemptive attack of stress, nor any particular moment that I could pinpoint as the reason that I woke up about a week ago from a terrible dream.

In my dream I had just finished my final case in the renal block of PBL. To anyone who doesn't attend my med school, this probably seems like no biggy, but what I should probably mention is that renal is the final block of cases prior to exams. So in my dream, I've finished renal and realised, "holy crap! I have a week until exams, and I'm sure I had only just started respiratory a couple of weeks ago and how exactly did I skip forward to this point in time."

I woke up the next morning feeling distinctly unsettled. As a result I am starting to feel the stress of exams which begin in six weeks.

One of my exams is called an 'OSCE'. Don't ask me what that stands for, because medicine is all about the acronyms and mnemonics. For example, a way to diagnose the psychological development of an adolescent is by using HEAADSSS (Home, Education, Activities, Affect, Drugs/Alcohol, Sexual history, Suicidality, Safety). Notice the multiple A's and multiple S's, this is a common thing in medicine and entirely destroys a doctor's future hope of winning a spelling bee.

But back to an OSCE, this basically examines a students ability to perform clinical skills. A first year's OSCE consists of history-taking and using our stethoscopes to listen to different sounds. A fourth year's OSCE consists of giving needles; I wish I was one...

My two housemates are both third year medical students at my university and one of them (HM1) offered to run me through a cardiovascular examination. It went a little like the following:
HM1: Where would you start?
Caitie: Well I guess I would start with a general inspection of the patient.
HM1: Which would consist of?
Caitie: Oh GOD, the pressure, is anyone else feeling hot in here?
Caitie: I would look at.... (and I listed several correct answers)
HM1: Then where would you move to?
Caitie: The hands, where I would look for janeway lesions and osler nodes
*Caitie beams proudly as she regurgitates terms she heard the other day in the hospital.*
HM1: Which are indicative of?
Caitie: Janeway lesions are because of... congestive heart failure?
HM1: Not likely.
Caitie: One of them's because of congestive heart failure. Osler nodes, for sure.
HM1: Nope. Can you think of what is?
Caitie: Splinter haemorrhages, they're definitely because of congestive heart failure.
*Looks hopeful*
HM1: Er...
Caitie: Then what do they all mean? These is like jeopardy but without the prizes!!
HM1: They are all because of infective endocarditis.
Caitie mutters: ... same thing.

The rest of the conversation went a little like that and so I rewarded myself by watching the new House episode. A prize I believe can only aid me in my future career choice.