I have returned!

Okay, so I wasn't away for that long, but it felt like millennia. I haven't really been anywhere, it's just that I realized that I had about two weeks of physics and chemistry work that I haven't even started, so I got to it over the last few days. It wasn't really complicated stuff, as it was just an introduction to both the subjects which mainly meant mathematics, atomic theory and scientific method and measurements revision; easy stuff. On the subject of beginner physics, I bring you my newest comic.

Probability of someone making a portal-related cake joke; 95%.

For those of you who don't know the Σ symbol means sum of and the F means forces. When something is not moving, the sum of all forces acting upon it are not netting any movement in any direction, so ΣF=0. So the comic is saying that the sum of forces (choosing between the cake and the ice cream) acting of the little fatty is equaling zero. Funny, right?

That's enough of that, I now come to last posts' winner; Burger! Burger correctly stated the venturi effect in regards to my drawing in my last post. A quick explanation about the effect is this; when a substance is traveling at a faster speed, it is at a lower pressure and the venturi tube (as illustrated) demonstrates this. When a non-compressible fluid is traveling through a pipe of a particular size at a particular rate and then subjected to a narrowing of the pipe, the velocity of the liquid must increase to maintain the same rate of flow. As a result of this increase in speed, there is a notable decrease in pressure of the fluid, as is evident in the difference in levels of the fluid on the vertical pipes.

As promised, I drew a picture just for Burger. I apologize for not doing anything more intricate, I really could not think of what to do. Anyway, I hope you like it!

Never thought of practicing calligraphy on the computer. Oh wait, I was suppose to type something witty here... Mission accomplished.

I think it's time to get back into physics for a little while before I get some sleep. Thanks again for reading!

Tomorrow!

So tomorrow's that day! Finally starting uni again.

I'd also like to apologize for not updating for the last few days, I've just been busy with work and getting ready for school and other things. I do want to try and update each day, so I'll make an effort to be more prompt with that.

Today was mostly spent printing out an abundance of things that we're going to need for uni; subject guides, assignments guides, lecture notes, additional information, et cetera. Unfortunately, after printing about 200 pages, the toner in my laser printer ran out and I can't print anything more. I called officeworks to see how much a new toner cartridge costs, and it's about $80 (as much as the printer in the first place). I suppose it's my own fault for not checking that when I bought the thing, but I still think it's stupid that they charge so much for toner. Anyway, I'm not going to be able to afford that for another couple weeks or so, as a bunch of bills came in in the last couple of weeks, so I'll just have to head over to my parents' place to do printing.

Another money killer is the textbooks. I'm looking at about $800 all up for just the ones that I need (far less than all of the recommended books). So they're going to have to wait as well. I'm not too concerned about the nursing ones, as last year I was able to get by alright just sharing books with other people and using library copies for a while. However, this year I have the two subjects that I'm doing through OUA (physics and chemistry) that I really need the textbooks for, as I'm doing them over the internet. I'm thinking that if I budget correctly, I should be able to afford them in the next couple of weeks. I can't wait any later than that though, because stuff is due in week two for both subjects..

Also, looking at the physics stuff today looked a bit daunting. If anyone that follows has had something to do with physics, I would love to have someone that I could ask questions.

Again, thanks for the follows and whatnot, I'm going to make some dinner now. Be sure to check back tomorrow, I'll be letting everyone know how the first day went.

Welcome

Well I suppose the title and description of the blog say it all. I'm currently about to start the second year of a three year nursing degree , while trying to keep my grades as high as possible to help my chances of getting into med school. As a break down, I'll go through what needs to be done in Australia to get into med school.

First of all is your undergraduate degree. It doesn't matter what it is as long as you keep your grades up. GPA's in many of Australia's universities are out of 7 (7 for an A, 6 for a B, et cetera). In general, you won't be considered for medicine with a GPA below 5.5 (around 65% average). For me, in my degree, I seem to have this covered fairly well already as my GPA after my first year is 6.875 (I believe this only accounts for something like 15% of my final GPA, as each year is progressively weighted higher towards the end of the degree).

Second is the Graduate Australian Medical School Admissions Test (GAMSAT). This is a five hour exam that every post-graduate entrant into medical school must sit. It's composed of three parts; a reasoning in humanities section, a written communication section and a reasoning in science section. This first section seems pretty straight forward as long as you can read a passage of writing and accurately intemperate what the writer was trying to convey. The second section is slightly more difficult, it basically consists of writing two essays in an hour. I don't really have a problem with writing essays, but I'm definitely going to have to practice writing about random subjects in short amounts of time. 

The third section seems tricky as well; 40% chemistry, 40% biology and 20% physics. Chemistry I'm pretty mediocre with, I only know as much as I needed to get through my first year of anatomy and physiology, so I'll have to brush up on that. I'm a bit better with biology, as it played a pretty big role in my first year of nursing. However, as far as physics go, I don't have anything more than a general knowledge of household principles. For those reasons, I've taken it upon myself to prepare early for this exam that holds such an important place in my future.

Just last week I enrolled in some extra subjects at a different university to help my with my weak points. Open Universities Australia is a great organisation that lets you study individual subjects or even entire degrees from the convenience of your own home. I enrolled in " Introduction to Chemistry " and " Introduction to Physics " which both go over a single semester. I only wanted to enroll in very basic subjects, and just start out with two, because I'm not sure how I'll handle them as well as doing my normal university work, working and spending time with the fiance. I do have plans however to do more advanced subjects this year and next in preparation for med school.

And finally, the last hurdle I need to overcome to allow me in is the dreaded interview. Almost all medical schools have it and it is generally weighted pretty highly. I haven't looked into it too much, but my understanding is that it basically consists of you sitting and talking to three people for about 30 minutes while they try and interpret your abilities to be a team leader, to make decisions and to stick to your principles and also to make sure you're not just in it for the money.

Well that's enough for now. I congratulate anybody that actually read this entire post. I don't really mind if no one reads it I suppose, I'm actually pretty happy just to have this blog here as a record of my thoughts that I can look back on. My intentions are to update on my progress as far as getting into med school, as well as general everyday things that I may think that my readers (or my future self) may find interesting.