90 Seconds

90 seconds. That's how long we get to answer each question during a Gross Anatomy Lab Practical. At 90 second intervals, a buzzer sounds to signal you to move to the next station and the next question. You may not return to any questions after you have passed them, and you may not move to the next question until the buzzer sounds. If you feel the questions or tagged structures are unclear, the professors will be happy to NOT explain them to you, because there is no time.

Here's the rub: 90 seconds feels like an eternity when you know the structure immediately. You walk up to #7, look at the tagged specimen, write down "communicating rami," double-check it...and then what do you do with the other 82 seconds? You think about how gross it smells down there, you wonder about how this particular cadaver died, you ponder whether or not you will donate your body to science, you sing your favorite song in your head, you pick out some of the wax that is in your hair from this morning's dental anatomy project (glamorous, I know), and then you check the clock: 70 more seconds! When all else failed, I sang the anatomy song in my head--the hip bone's connected to the (clap) leg bone...--the song is so appropriate!

The other problem with this style of test? 90 seconds is so incredibly short if you are unsure of your answer. You walk up to #8 (a little cocky because #7 was easy for you, and still humming the anatomy song) and look at the pinned structure. It looks like a vein, but it's stemming from a nerve. Ok, think Lauren, what could it be? One of the pectoral nerves? Lateral or medial? It just doesn't look like a nerve. Maybe it's an artery...but it's collapsed like a vein--BUZZER! Dang...I'll just guess pectoral vein (correct, I found out later) Why was that 90 seconds only 12 seconds long?!

Seriously, the practical wasn't all that bad, but it's just another example of how most things in life are all about perspective...and good guesses.