Jimeny... this term is turning out to be a rough one. Finally have a moment to post.
Some how or other I managed to schedule myself for three presentations in a single week. Then the week before (last week) I got called in to work on Saturday b/c the person scheduled had an emergency, and I was already set to work Sunday, so my prep time for my projects went bye bye. I figured I'd see all the referrals on Saturday and do schoolwork Sunday, but instead there was one crisis after another and I got very little down time. Then I spent all day Monday and Tuesday testing three different people for neuropsych evals and a CWS case so ended up pulling one all nighter after another to get everything done. People seemed to follow the presentations and I got good feedback on all of them, so I guess they must have been semi-coherent, but damned if I know why. I can barely even remember doing them now it's over.
And our drama filled cohort has been getting more and more and MORE worked into a froth. I have been 'elected' by my peers and a couple of core faculty to try and make the identified patient understand how she is affecting the rest of us, since she can only seem to see how we affect her. I have personal issues with her that I need to address anyway, and it happens that my stuff is pretty reflective of everyone else's. Being a systems thinker I'm trying to figure out how we all perpetuate the problem and how we could change to get better results, but frankly, after two years of this shit I am losing patience and I just want her get over it or go away. Next term we are going to have a cross cohort class with 2nd and 3rd years together. That should effectively dilute our cohort problems and give us a chance to really get to know about the work our classmates are doing. It will be a dissertation class with us doing our research proposals and them analyzing their completed research. I'm excited to see how it goes!
On the kitty front things are getting rougher, which also played into the harsh couple of weeks. Entree had a really bad spell Sunday night and Monday morning. My supervisor wasn't very understanding when I told him I might have to leave abruptly to have my cat put down if my neighbor found him too badly off when she checked on him for me. KaCHUNK... he just dropped about 5 pegs in my estimation. Fortunately Entree did get better, but I think losing circulation repeatedly in his back legs has caused some tissue damage and his feet are sore even when he's ok. And today he came limping in with a bitten front foot. Like he needed one more thing on top of everything else! I suspect it was bad karma from sticking his paw down a gopher hole (one of his favorite pastimes). Just figures it also happened right after I got a notice saying he's due for his rabies shot. Sigh... I'll probably have to take him in tomorrow for antibiotics.
Um... there must be good things to say here; I hate that I'm so negative much of the time lately! Learning lots of interesting things. Oh yeah... we learned some of the NEPSY-II in group supervision last week and I am DYING to learn some more . It was just so damned much fun I want to buy my own kit ($800 I don't THINK so!) and play it like a parlor game. =p
We'll go over the DKEFS in class next week too, and the Rey Osterrieth Complex Figure test. Jeeoy!!! I absolutely adore neuropsych stuff; the tests are so fun! Now the Rorschach, though it generates fascinating information and it's fun to talk about, is a ROYAL pain in the ass. We've finished with scoring now and will have a midterm in class next week, but interpretation is yet to come. I'm not impressed with the fuzziness of the scoring; it just feels way too subjective for me. Not only that, I think it's a nightmare of cultural insensitivity! I'll delve into my forensic stuff about it this week though, and hopefully get an interview with my Masters prof who uses it in court and perhaps I'll get another angle.
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3 comments:
Woah - that's quite the schedule you've been maintaining. Kudos to you -- I think I would have dropped by this point.
I hope Entree stays stable. Keep us posted!
I'm also wishing the best for Entree.. and that was really insensitive of your supervisor. If my cat needed me, I would drop everything to take care of her, and if people don't like it then tough. Some people just don't understand what it's like to be attached to a pet.
I figured you'd been busy, but wow! Do you ever have time to sleep?
How comes there's always one in a cohort that needs to go away? I was lucky in my doctorate program...our cohort was good, but the one behind us made up for it. There were a few students who thought they were very special and needed to be the center of attention. It was pretty ridiculous to watch, especially when they got away with it. Sucking up to professors was pretty disgusting to see.
Poor Entree :( It's sad to hear that your kitty's not doing so well.
The list of tests you're finding out about is amazing. You're covering so much more than I ever did. It's interesting to hear your views on the Rorschach. I found it to be a fascinating test in general, but the subjectiveness of it was hard to deal with. I like things to be much more concrete, but you'll never see that with this test!
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