Results? What Results?

Lest anyone think I'm being coy...

The CPH exam... most of the time even despite the results not being in, I would give a feeling for how I *think* I did on an exam.

This one? No clue. Could have gotten an "A"; could have failed it. The questions were so, well, I'll fill in the details once we get the grades in, if we ever get the grades in. Why? Well, unlike EVERY other test I've ever taken, including my biochem makeup exam, we were not given a form so that we could fill in our answers and potentially check it against the web/other students with the same version.

Now, though I, like any other grade-grubbing lifeless freak, like results as soon as possible, even when we don't know if any questions are thrown out yet, this isn't really the point of being concerned by this.

For any other class, the lack of an answer sheet to take out of the exam would be an "aw shucks" but nothing more, because I have no general belief that any one of the professors in any other class, including a couple (not many) professors I haven't particularly liked, would take time out of his/her lives to personally discriminate against any student, adjust grades based on factors aside from direct score or any other of that "TEACHER HATES ME AND THAT'S WHY I FAILED!" crap many college students like to pull when they're one in a class of four hundred people. This class is the first time I've been worried about bias affecting grades, and no, I'm not referring to me personally... though if they read this blog, I may end up with an "F-" anyway... Everything was just so thrown together with still no word on what's happening with all the clinical skills stuff we did last term or if we get anything for it, with irregularities in this class from the syllabus on out, and with at least one professor, I don't know who's grading/recording the stuff (PLEASE be the department secretary), but I don't trust him/her as far as I can throw him, and I have weak arms.

Without being too detailed, let me give an idea of what the exam itself was like. In the exam, which was at the Trade Center after three morning classes for physio, neuro, and immuno, we had to sit for the whole time in assigned seating (which also has never happened; usually once the first student has left that simply means that anyone arriving late is SOL), and be dismissed by section lest we... well, I have no idea why sections would have to leave independently, but whatever. Fortunately, to about 1/3 to 1/2 the students, there was no trouble being bored while sitting waiting for the exam to end because everyone was far too busy writing challenges to the exam questions. How do I know this? Well, instead of attaching the challenge sheet to the exam, like all the other ones I've taken, we had to raise our hands if we wanted one, thus diverting a great deal of the proctors' attentions... GOODNESS, that was a lot of hands that went up! The proctors themselves were fine though, no real complaints there, and the guy that got handed this last minute assignment honestly seemed to try, so I can't fault him too much, but gods.

Part of the problem with CPH (and for other classes multiple professors haven't caused a problem since most to all of them tend to be pretty good in their own ways and frequently have a better knowledge of whatever section of the class we're studying) is that about half the profs *really* tried and weren't bad, and the other half... OMGWTF, to use AOLspeak.

On the plus side, now immunology has started and CPH has ended! Wahoo! And immunology is quite cool and seems to only have one professor! Who is also cool! And I feel like I'm understanding both physio and neuro. Buttercups and sunshine all around!

Oh, though pay attention first term and don't cram. That stuff comes back! In a sense, there's an "uh oh, I don't remember this topic all that well; what shall become of me?" feeling (though the classes do not just jump in like they're a continuation of the previous classes, so don't panic), but in a sense, it's nice to have the confirmation that a lot of this is going to be drummed in again and again and build on itself so that when USMLE time *does* roll around, it's not going to be biochem, anatomy, and histo starting from scratch. Plus, geek moment, it can be kind of cool. In a lot of places neuro is turning into applied clinical biochem/histo, thus adding relevance to stuff that seemed like detail for the sake of torturing us last term (G proteins, anyone?).