A MEAN old guy called Aminoglycoside

Hey Fellow Med Schoolers.

Just to let you know, “The Plan” has been a big fat flop so far.  I have been mentally overwhelmed by the prospect of 5 enormous tests in two weeks, plus life in general, plus recovering from the giant storm last week.  I have been meeting various repair folk at my home to get estimates for the removal of 2 giant fallen trees from our back yard (which apparently warrants a crane to lift the root balls OVER my home since my back yard access space is essentially nil), the fence repair (from said trees), stone patio repair (tree root ball took some stone patio with it), as well as sewage line repair (tree root ball took the sewage line with it, as well).  Oh yeah, and we had a roof leak. 

So, we have a porta-potty in our front yard.  That is on account of the very small back yard access space, and the ruined sewage drainage line.  Imagine…it is raining and chilly, and nature calls late at night.  Yes, I have to get dressed, grab a roll of TP, get an umbrella and turn on my front porch light so that I can see my way to our Johnny on the Spot.  The front porch light also serves to make sure all of my nearby neighbors know that I need to use the restroom.  They can watch me make my approach, dressed in mismatched clothing and probably slippers, a TP roll shoved under my arm and juggling an enormous umbrella while trying to open the door to our new half-bath. 

It’s better than nothing.

I hope everyone else has had a better studying experience so far.

In honor of the upcoming MICRO/IMMUNO NBME, I thought I would share how I remember things about the AMINOGLYCOSIDES.  First, read the info on p187 of the 2011 First Aid.  Remember, “buy AT 30, CELLS at 50” to determine how various antibiotics target bacteria.  A = aminoglycosides, which target the 30S ribosome.

My name is Bacteroides fragilis, and I just wanted to tell you about my new friend, AMINOGLYCOSIDE.

At first, I thought he was A MEAN OLD GUY (aminoglycoside), but it turns out he is one of those new (neomycin), amicable (amikacin) type of gents (gentamicin).  He gave me a Toblerone (tobramycin) and when I was cold, he stripped (streptomycin) off his jacket and put it over my shoulders.

I told him I was surprised that he was so nice to me, and he said he has nothing against obligate anaerobes (ineffective against them—requires O2 for cellular admission) like myself, although he usually does kill any other gram-negative rod that he sees. 

He said, “I also hate babies (teratogenic).  They are loud.  And I hate kidneys (nephrotoxic).  I don’t know why people eat fried chicken kidneys.  That’s disgusting.  I hate ears (ototoxic), too.  They stick out and they look weird.  But you, Bacteroides, you are my buddy.”

The Plan

The last school-issuedl test is over!  I am now facing a 2 week block of 5 NMBEs.  Then?  The hard core Step 1 studying begins.  My test date is June 28^th, which is kind of late, but I feel like I need the extra time.  I feel like I have a lot of making-up to do because I have not really just hit the books hard since my son was born during winter break of my M1 year.  Also—who knows what could come up!  My son could get sick for a week—he could do that 2 separate times!  He was sick for 6 solid weeks at the beginning of the M2 year (first real time at day care!!).  Who knows!  So…I feel like I need a time-buffer for that.

I don’t have a set-in-stone specific study schedule as of yet, but my general weekday plan is:

5:00 AM:  get to work in the study at home.  I know—it’s early!! The sun isn’t even up yet!!!  But my brain is on this early.  It’s just a matter of prying my eyelids off of my eyeballs and getting out of bed. When my son wakes up, my husband has kindly volunteered to take over the get-child-fed-and-dressed routine.  At least until Step 1 is over.

7:30:  take my boy to day care and head to the library myself. 

9:00 AM: meet with my study group and trudge along until we hit our goals for the day.  I will study on my own after that.

2:30PM:  My big hope is to hit the gym and actually get a regular workout into my schedule for once.  I think I’ll listen to a Goljen lecture while I work out. 

3:30PM:  leave school and pick up my boy and spend some quality time with him!!  Nowadays, that means play outside…constantly. That is the ONLY place he wants to be!!

5:30PM:  dinner, followed by some family time.  Also: laundry, dishes, house cleaning.

7:30PM:  The kiddo goes to bed.  Make lunch for tomorrow, more housework.  Hang out with my hubby!  I will probably sweet talk him into quizzing me over something or doing some Q-bank questions with me for a little bit. 

10:00PM:  Step 1 Subjugater goes to bed.

I don’t know when I will implement this plan.  I should probably start Monday, actually.  My Pharmacology NBME is Tuesday!!  The study group stuff isn’t starting until after the NBMEs. 

Anyway, I plan to post some general STEP studying experiences here, as well as some mnemonics and charts that I make.  I hope it helps you!!