Showing posts with label Health and Life Sciences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health and Life Sciences. Show all posts

Thursday, 3 April 2014

Omg! Lab!

Is it weird to say that I kind of like the fact that the next block (1.4 - Infectious diseases, Immunology and Inflammation) takes me back to the labs?

Yes, I disliked spending more than 3 days at the lab, but I can't exactly say that I liked waiting around for my samples to be done. Nor did I really really like H&L Sciences.

But I'm kind of excited to be spending a couple of days at the lab again..
Only this time, it's for med school :D

Saturday, 14 September 2013

That moment..

When the professor covers a topic you already know because you had to study something else for a year.*


High Five, H&L Sciences students of VU University!

*I studied Health & Life Sciences for a year because I didn't land a spot in medical school last year. I had to study embryology, among things. Guess what? Embryology is back, so I can slack off for a bit.

Tuesday, 6 August 2013

I'm back!

As the title says.. I'm back (from my 4wk leave to Asia and such..)

And.. I'm officially a medical student at the University of Amsterdam as of July 26th!

Academic year starts September 2nd, I'm so excited! :D

(Geneeskunde = Medical school, Gezondheid en Leven = Health & Life Sciences. The course I previously took)

Thursday, 27 June 2013

AMC-UvA Selections Part 2C

So, several weeks ago, I worked my ass off to get into med school. I struggled through the interviews, read the chapters/articles twice or thrice, summarized the chapters/articles at least once, went through the lecture slides at least twice, and kicked butt at the multiple-choice exam.

My preparations weren't in vain: I passed.
My rank no. is within the highest quartile.
So all in all, I scored pretty well.
If all goes well, I'll be studying medicine next year :D
I've got several months to enjoy my life before drowning in lectures and course materials.


But it's going to be so worth it..

Thursday, 13 June 2013

Measles

Now there's an outbreak of measles in the Netherlands, I've got a reason to blog about.. Measles.
So far, 30 people have been lab-confirmed to have measles. Most, if not all, of these people live in the Dutch 'bible belt', a region in the Netherlands where many people do not have their children vaccinated for religious reasons.[1][2][3]

The last measles outbreak in the Netherlands was in 1999/2000, and yes, this was in the very same bible belt region.[1][2][3]
One way or another, this once again proves that vaccinations can be quite useful.

Measles is a highly contagious disease which generally affects children. One sick person may infect about 10 or more people.[1]
For those of you studying epidemics: its reproductive rate Ro is about 13, which is remarkably high. (The reproductive rate for smallpox is only 6 or so, go figure how contagious measles really is..)
Because of their weaker immune systems, malnourished children are at risk of dying, but even in the Netherlands, children have been known to die because of measles.


Bacterial/Viral/Fungal/Parasitic: Viral
Causative agent: Rubeola

Incubation time: about 2 days
Antibiotics of choice: - 
Antivirals of choice: -
Toxins / Factors: - 

Bioterrorism agent category: ? (I think it sucks..)
Vaccine available: Yes
[4]


Tuesday, 11 June 2013

AMC-UvA Selections Part 2B

Now that the selections week is over, it's time to get back to my regular activities. Sadly, this includes studying for Methodology I. I have so much work to do, yet I'm still blogging.. What's wrong with me?

For those of you wondering if I really, really can't spill any details: no. I really am not allowed to spill any details, partly because of patient confidentiality.

All in all, I truly loved last week. It was both challenging and exhausting, if not a bit stressing as well. Blame the interviews for being the major stressor.
But I'd gladly do this again if I could.
I still think this was much more fun than Health and Life Sciences, but hey, that might be me. I love studying diseases much more than studying healthcare management.
Now I just have to wait for the results - just little less than 3 weeks and I'll know if I'll become a doctor or not.


Let's hope I'll be among the 61% of those to get into med school.

Monday, 3 June 2013

AMC-UvA Selections Part 2A

Today I attended the first part of the final rounds for the entrance exams - a 2.5hr lecture.
It was so awesome..

I also got the materials I need for the Friday's test (the final rounds consist of a lecture about X topic, multiple mini interviews and an exam about the lecture and the studying materials handed to us).
It's about 16 pages long, and I have about 4 days left to study for the test.

I'm not allowed to disclose the contents of the lecture, the study materials, the interviews or the test, so the coming posts about the final rounds will be ridiculously short. You better try elsewhere :)


16 pages, 4 days. Challenge accepted.


Wednesday, 29 May 2013

TGF-beta and Rb pathways

Yes, I have a tendency to use blogspot as an online private library.
Created using Cmaps Tools.

Thursday, 25 April 2013

AMC-UvA Selections Part 1B

 Somewhere back in March (March 16th, if you want to know..), I attended the first med school entry test for the AMC-University of Amsterdam. A total of 1450+ people signed up for the tests, 1273 of which attended the first round, 428 of which will be selected to move on to the next series of tests (Chances of being passing the first round: approximately 34%).
Of those people, only 263 will ultimately get into med school at AMC-UvA. Chances of getting into med school: approximately 21%.

It's been about 1,5months since I took the first test, and yesterday, I found out I passed it. :)
The dreaded, but much-welcomed letter of judgement

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

Air Polution & Public Health


Nowadays, almost everyone drives a car to arrive at work. We also use electricity to power almost everything in our lives: fridges, computers, cell phones, and a whole lot more.
“But this electricity has to come from some place,” you may think, and indeed, the electricity you consume is most often generated through the stoking of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coals. We also burn fossil fuels in factories to create other products. But oil, gas and coals aren’t the only source of energy we’ve got: nuclear power plants generate electricity through allowing radioactive materials to react with each other under tightly regulated conditions. Aside from these sources of energy, there are also several sources of energy which generate power which is considered ‘green’ and ‘clean’ – wind, solar and bio-fuel are amongst them.

But even though more ‘green’ sources of energy are becoming available, most of our electricity is still being generated by fossil fuel plants and nuclear reactors. Even then, air pollution is not solely caused by the burning of fuel. And while we know there are certain health risks involved, we often choose to turn a blind eye to them…

Saturday, 16 March 2013

AMC-UvA Selections Part 1A

Hello y'all!

Today, I participated in the first rounds of the med school entrance exams of the University of Amsterdam.
The test was designed in a way that no one could have prepared him/herself for it, although this is not completely true..

The entrance exam consisted of 40 questions and a curriculum vitae to be filled in in about 2,5hrs.
I'm not sure if I did well or not, but I later found out that I'd correctly answered some of the questions.
I especially seemed to do well on the radiology/diagnosis questions, in which they presented me with an X-ray or CT scan of a patient, along with a question regarding the image.
I've had no training or whatsoever, but it seems like reading scans and x-rays seems to come to me naturally.

(Not to mention I spend some part of my spare time staring at cases and diagnoses for fun. In a way, I have had some training..)

Now, this doesn't mean that you'll have to focus on radiology if you're trying to enter med school. The questions will be different, every single time.
I merely found that my earlier exposure to radiology & diagnosis really helped me through some of the questions.
Having dealt with Threat & Protection I, in which we dealt with pathogens and immune responses, also immensely helped me through several questions.

If I happen to post a question of the entrance exam online, I'll probably get my ass sued, so I'm not going to post any questions, although I might cover some topics..

Wish me luck, as I'll hear of the results in a couple of weeks.
My chances of passing this test may be as low as 28%, as about 1450 people signed up, and only 420 or so will advance to the next tests.

If I did pass this round, I'll be subjected to a final series of tests in June.
.

Saturday, 2 March 2013

AMC-UvA Selections Part 0

Amsterdam's teaching hospital (AMC) invited me to the first rounds of their Med School Entrance Exams :)
AMC-UvA Med School Entrance Exam Invitation!
Good news: I can't get lost, as part of the participants, including me, gets to write their exams at my current (at the time me writing this) university.
Bad news: Approximately 1300 people are participating. Only 260 or so students can be selected through this exam.
 

But there's no turning back now! I can only hope for the best. Wish me luck! <3

Friday, 25 January 2013

More lab!

Blegh. As much as I like prodding and coloring bacteria on microscope slides, I can't say lab is very enjoyable when you have to get through the snow to get to college.
It's -6 degrees Celsius here in the Netherlands, and anyone living far up north or land-inwards is going to laugh at me for being a wuss. But I'm Asian. I dislike extreme colds.
I dislike having the cold as well, as do I dislike having a pesky ache and elevated heart rate of unknown origins.

Lab trinkets!

Saturday, 22 December 2012

BMI? Oh please..

Some of you might know that I am a practitioner of a certain self defense system. I train twice a week. (approximately 4 hours/week)
Today, I heard some kid blabbering about BMI, gushing about how healthy her BMI (Body Mass Index) was.
She had a BMI of 19, and had a skinny build. For some reason, some people find it necessary to compare BMIs, so this person (she might be developing an eating disorder for all I know) asked me about my own BMI.

About my build:
Length: 153cm / 5ft
Weight: +- 53kg / 117lbs (changes throughout my cycle)
Body type: Mesomorphic/Endomorphic
BMI: Height (cm) / (Weight (kg))^2

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

The Immune System (Book)

The Immune System
For those of you who don't know yet, I'm a sucker for immunology and infectious diseases. Several weeks ago, the Dutch Railways (also called NS) gave me a fake heart attack, but I did manage to pass my Immunology test with 8.7 out of 10 pts.
Thanks to this book. So yeah, it's a great book.

Tuesday, 27 November 2012

Puberty and #YOLO!

Pu·ber·ty  (pybr-t)
Noun
The stage of adolescence in which an individual becomes physiologically capable of sexual reproduction.

Alright, everyone's going to have to deal with this one, sometime in their lives.
My fellow lady folks start growing boobs, our hips start widening, and we'll also get to deal with our monthly visitor.. Egh.
My counterpart however, gets to deal with facial hair growth, among others. You men are so lucky you don't get to deal with monthly visitors, grrr..

Aside from changes in our bodies, our behavior changes as well. Some of us go asshat wild - 'Yay for one-night stands, binge drinking and stuffing our noses with drugs!'

Scenario: Aside from studying Health & Life Sciences, I also work at a consulting bureau. An agent of the RIVM decides to offer me a place to complete my interns if I manage to find a solution to one of the problems he's been wrestling with: How do you get youngsters to take their frail bodies into account (in other words: How do you get them to stop YOLO'ing?)


Sunday, 25 November 2012

Dutch Vaccination Programme & HPV

Hey folks,
It's been a while.
Been studying anatomy and physiology for a while now. College really takes away all your time..
Either way, I'm working on a PBL assignment at the moment, and I figured I might as well put it online.

Although it only deals with the Human Papillomavirus(HPV) and the Dutch's way of dealing with immunization, it might just cover some information you might need for whatever assignment.

Roleplay situation: Aside from studying Health & Life Sciences, I also happen to work at a consulting bureau. I'm visiting some kid named Bram, whose parents don't have their children vaccinated for religious reasons. Their kid has a nasty cough, which sounds achingly similar to a dog's barking.
After I'm done visiting the family, I wonder whether my little sister should get a HPV shot or not..

Proof of vaccination
Last update: November 26th, 2012

Saturday, 17 November 2012

Plague

Blackened skin. Swollen lymph nodes. Rats and other pests. Fleas. Ew.
You know what I'm talking about. The Plague.
It's caused more human deaths than any other infectious disease, save for malaria and tuberculosis.[1]

It's caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium.
It's primary host is the rat, and the intermediate hosts between rats and humans are fleas. (Guess that gives me another reason to lay down rat/mouse traps.)
Since it primarily infects rats, but sometimes infects humans as well, it is a zoonotic disease. (disease which primarily infects animals, although it can also cause disease in humans)
Infected rats generally die soon after infection, but the survivors develop a chronic condition in which the animal can keep transferring the disease to other organisms.[1]
Alright, my little pet hamster doesn't carry fleas,
but that isn't the case for every pet rodent..
Yersinia pestis can cause multiple forms of plague:
- Sylvatic plague
- Bubonic plague
- Septicemic plague
- Pneumonic plague



Tuesday, 13 November 2012

Broken Heart Syndrome

"Due to problems on the tracks, the train leaving at 8.43 AM to Amsterdam Schiphol will not depart."
Wait, what? ..But I have an exam on Immunology in an hour!

My heart skipped a beat in surprise, and after this, my BPM skyrocketed in response to the stress hormones released by my kidneys. For one moment, I thought the NS (Nederlandse Spoorwegen / Dutch Railways) would choke the life out of my poor beating heart.

Heart Attack Level: NS.
One day, the NS will choke the life out of someone's heart.