I frequently find that time has a way of running off and leaving me sitting dazed in the dust wondering where it has run off to, only to be reminded that the only time we have is now, the point in eternity that we are currently touching. In any case, the days have a tendency to run into each other, and before I know it another week has passed by. In this case, I heard some f my classmates saying today that we only have 10 more lab meetings in Gross Anatomy. On one hand, that is nice to know; I will be glad to finish anatomy and it will be nice to move on to learning other things. Currently we are studying the head and neck in this class.

We are also studying a variety of things in the Molecular Basis of Disease class (MBOD); anything from bone growth regulation, blood coagulation, and shock absorption to the role of vitamin C in healthy cartilage formation and scurvy prevention. The professor that has been teaching this class the last few days has a lively sense of humor, and has been entertaining us by doing things like reading a “captains log” from the HMS MBOD (which we were informed set sail in 1649) in a British accent complete with a tail of the first mate trying to insult the sailors by insinuating that they had scurvy, the only problem is they really did have scurvy! Today he was talking about cancer cells and ended up on the tables in the room demonstrating how cancer cells metastasize and break through normally impermeable boundaries.

Physiology is a bit more tame, we have been investigating the cardiovascular system, blood pressure regulation, and cardiac function. It is interesting, and of course, quite important. After Thanksgiving we will be studying respiratory physiology.

As you may know I frequently spend my Saturday mornings in Memphis at a student run Hispanic Clinic called La Clinica Esperanza (The Clinic of Hope). This Saturday is to be the last day that we will be open until after the new year. I guess that is part of the consequence of having the clinic student run – when they have breaks etc. (first Thanksgiving break, then Christmas break several weeks later) there just is not enough staff available to keep the doors open. We plan to resume in January.

I think I am going to end this little note, and bid y’all a good day.