HSF Highlights

The Top Ten Moments of HSF[i]

1. Dr. Dirksen’s WWF Dance[ii]

2. TA Debbie Dao hemostating Dr. O on the last day of anatomy[iii]

3. Hemostating[iv]

4. Belinda Carlisle[v]

5. Dr. Pickett, “So much for…”[vi]

6. Impromptu yoga session in anatomy lab[vii]

7. “That’s what she said”[viii]

8. Dr. Davis’s Histo review[ix]

9. The arrhythmia video[x]

10. Cher[xi]

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[i] Our school curriculum 'subjects' us to one course at a time. Human Structure and Function is the four month course we completed on the 19^th of December, 2008. The following was taken from the course intro: The HSF course encompasses the subject matter traditionally taught in separate courses in

physiology, anatomy, histology and embryology. However, the course extends beyond these

traditional boundaries by providing the opportunity to integrate the facts and concepts across

disciplines, and to apply this knowledge to clinical problem-solving in your PBL cases. Finally,

the HSF course is integrated with the Introduction to Clinical Medicine (ICM) course.

The subject matter taught in the HSF course is coordinated with and complements your

introduction to the basic skills required to perform a physical examination on a patient, and your

HSF/ICM Integration Conferences are designed to emphasize the clinical application of the basic

science concepts taught in HSF.

[ii] This gets the number one spot because Dr. Dirksen blew us all away when the music came on in the middle of his lecture and he did a very convincing Wrestlemania victory dance for a solid minute. This teaching moment taught us that 1) our professors could be crazy and funny, and 2) that med school was going to be more fun than we had anticipated.

[iii] See below for “hemostating.” On our very last day of anatomy lab, Debbie Dao did the unthinkable. With all of the room sneaking a peak from their own dissection table, she clipped a hemostat right onto Dr. O’s scrubs as he taught table #24 about lower limb joints . The hemostat clanked twice against the dissection table and then no one could hold it back. The room erupted with laughter. Thanks to Debbie for sacrificing a letter of reccomendation for that moment.

[iv] This is a game we started to play to keep the mood light in the anatomy lab—as if our room needed anything more. We already had windows spanning one side of our newly refurbished 5^th floor anatomy loft. The sun was shining (or the snow was falling) and we were never short on laughter. So the purpose of hemostating is to clip a hemostat onto the clothing of a neighboring student without them noticing. I believe Drew won the medal of honor for getting five hemostats clipped to his back before he realized what was going on. I also should get an award for almost reaching the elevators before Zach let me know about the hemostat on my pants pocket.

[v]Our anatomy table broke out in Belinda Carlisle’s, “Heaven on Earth” one day. What can you do when something like that happens beside dance like you’re in the music video? Never mind that table 22 was the only all-male table.

[vi]One of the HSF all-stars, Dr. Pickett subconsciously (we believe) closed out each portion of the lecture with her signature line, “so much for, insert the organ or tissue of focus e.g. brain, heart. It never failed to get a shout out in intra-class conversation later that day.

[vii] We just started doing yoga one afternoon in anatomy lab. What more can I say. It was awesome, and yes, I may have had something to do with initiating/leading the session.

[viii]This never grew old for Bryan, and hence, only occasionally grew old for anatomy table #22—we’re a team no matter what.

[ix] Not only did these reviews help 90% of the class to pass the histology, this also made the list because of moments like Judge Jerry, the Dr. P impersonation, and every other attention grabber attributed to the HSF all-star, Dr. Davis.

[x] There is really no way to describe this. You’ve just gotta watch it!

[xi] No one can explain how, perhaps there was a subliminal link between a Dr. Davis lecture, but one day table #22 (mostly myself) spontaneously started singing Cher, “If I Could Turn Back Time.” Maybe we were just lucky that day!