A Modicum of Frustration

I have found over my four years here that there are always questions that arise when going through the grind that is undergrad. I have discovered a few that still irk me to this day, even as my studies here come to a close. It seems to be that they are all school related. Guess I should just start somewhere and these science classes have made me so fond of Excel form, thus a listing format.

1) Tier Requirements
Don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed mixing the hardcore science classes with some fluffy literature variety classes, but I feel that there should not be such specific tier requirements. I took a Jane Austin class that was a special series class from a professor. It was incredibly interesting and I did a great deal of work with the material. Smells like one Tier requirement fulfilled right? Wrong. Didn't have the happy label in the course book and despite working with the registrar: no dice. Come on. Hook a sister up AU!

2)Pre-PT program
It has been excellent having a strong Biology backround after my undergrad is all said and done, but I don't understand why that can't just tell you that as Pre-PT you will be rocking the sport science and biology classes. It would have been nice when I came here if someone said "here are the requirements for the next step: grad school" because they were not just from the bio-chem depts. I figured it out eventually as did my classmates, but it would have been nice to know off the bat.

Those seem like the main frustrations that come to mind. Overall my four years have been awesome and I have few complaints. The experience with the professors and fellow classmates have exceeded expectations. This has been an excellent life decision.

Dear Adorable Pancreas, My future rides on a grade in a class I hate...Sincerely Extremely FRUSTRATED!

So here's the deal folks, I want to be a physical therapist, have wanted to be one since I was 13 years old. And since the momentous time of choosing my profession at a young age I have dedicated myself to doing whatever I needed to do, take whatever classes, intern for no money in order to get into graduate school and earn my degree. I'm in my senior year of college, just barely 4 days until I graduate and am at this moment sweating over whether or not I'll actually be able to attend graduate school. To clear up any confusion I am going to school or rather I've been provisionally accepted to the Department of Physical Therapy at Ohio University. What might you say is making me employ sympathetic induced reactions?

Physics.

General Physics to be exact. Not that I think that physics should ever be called general for that is too broad a topic applied to this vast subject area. The amount of information that is contained in one word is phenomenal and well...scary. So because I have felt trapped by this subject that has invaded my dreams I decided to do a little research as to how much physics will I actually apply once I attain my degree. The only subjects that I could find that related to the profession were linear motion, forces, angular motion and torque, and heat and energy exchange. Basically three topics that virtually coexist and intertwine. My only complaint....why couldn't I have just learned these topics and then be done with it? Why prolong the torture and make me listen to lectures on electromagnetic conduction. It's more a test of endurance rather than an actual time of learning.

I'm all for the attainment of knowledge but at times when I'm taking a class that has nothing to do with my major but rather it is the requirement for graduate school and it is taught in a manner not conducive to learning...I get a little angry. What's more I asked a number of graduate students at each of my interview times how much they've used physics, and not a single one of them ever said "why yes I have used those theories you slaved over for hours on end". If I'm going to be forced to take a subject that is a requirement for my doctorate degree, then at least have it make sense in relation to my future profession as a whole, not in part.

CMT - whaaat?

CMT or Charcot Marie Tooth is one of the most common neuromuscualar diseases in the United States, my own grandmother and aunt have suffered from this disease for over 30 years. I did previous research on this topic for one of my Anatomy classes in school but I recently found extended research on possible supplemental therapy options. I will be presenting on this information and the background of CMT.

Aww Waterbears!

I have chosen to do my presentation on the phylum Tardigrada.  They have the amazing ability to survive in extreme temperatures.  I'll tell you all about them!

Milk or calcium does a body good!

From the below posts of my fellow bloggettes one could determine that we were put to the test (literally) on how much biology information we have gleaned over the years. The favorite stumbling block this year seems to be plants and while I will say that on some of the questions for photosynthesis, angiosperms, life cycles, and ATP production I did make a double take but the dumb mistake I made had to do with human physiology, specifically hormone secretion.

The question asked when serum calcium levels fall, an adequate level is restored in humans by secretion of either thyroxine, glucagon, growth hormone, parathyroid hormone, or calcitonin. Now before you jump the gun and pick calcitonin like someone I know lets do a little history. The way that I break it down on a multiple choice question is by looking at each word and separating the meaning from each word...that is what I normally do but in this case I just flippantly picked calcitonin because...calcium is the meaning of the first part. However I digress....so thyroxine.

Thyroxine is a thyroid hormone secreted by the thyroid gland by way of follicular cells which facilitates the stimulation of metabolic processes and influencing physical development. No for calcium levels.

Glucagon - easy to dismiss because of its root word that being glucose. Glucagon is secreted by the pancreas in order to help with glucose levels in the body. When glucose levels are too low (hypoglycemia) the pancreas secretes glucagon into the system causing the liver to convert glycogen into glucose thereby restoring blood glucose levels in the body. Again no calcium.

Growth Hormone - really? no question here it is not for calcium

Parathyroid Hormone - or PTH is secreted by the parathyroid glands and the main function of PTH is regulating serum calcium levels. DING DING DING we have a WINNER!!!

Sorry premature excitement...anyways. PTH regulates calcium levels in three tissues: bone, kidney, and the intestine. When serum calcium levels in the body decrease, the levels are restored by the secretion of PTH. This hormone will either cause calcium levels to increase by increasing the level of bone resorption this is done by indirect stimulation of osteoclasts thereby breaking bone down in order to release calcium into the blood. Calcitonin is the opposite, it works to decrease calcium concentrations in the blood.

Moral of the story is break the word down and drink more milk!!!!!

Who Knew.... Angiosperms Are Flowering Plants!

Well before googling the term Angiosperm I had no idea they were actually flowing plants... then I vaguely began to form a dim memory of my BIO 202 class in which I might have actually heard this information.  Problem is, the memory is not complete.  I don't know much about any topic even remotely related to botany... and I don't pretend to.  But I decided to grin and bare it and perhaps even do a little research on the subject.  Maybe this information will benefit me later on down the road?

Here goes:

Flowers are what actually makes angiosperms different from other seed plants.  They serve as their reproductive structure and allow them to form a broad range of evolutionary relationships.  You know what else is cool?  Their stamens prevent them from performing self-fertilization which broadens the niches they effect.

The fact that angiosperms lay seeds sooner and faster than gymnosperms makes it hard for me to believe that these flowering plants aren't everywhere.  In a way, however, they kind of are everywhere: they dominate terrestrial ecosystems, they are the most diverse and numerous land plant, and they are the most commercially significant plant to humans.

So with that I leave you with one final thought:

Watch out gymnosperms... here come the angiosperms!

What's the point of these dumb plants??

The senior assessment test, which was essentially a mini-version of the Biology subject GRE exam, consisted of questions which had been drawn from all corners of this awesome, complicated and often very detailed subject. Some specific areas covered by the assessment test included human anatomy and physiology, mechanisms of evolution, viral replication, genetics, population dynamics and the functions of certain plant tissues.

When it came to the plant section of the exam, I would have been completely lost if I had never taken Dr. Brauner’s General Botany class. The great majority of organismal work and studies of the other biology classes I’ve taken has solely dealt with different members from the following Kingdoms: Animalia, Eubacteria, and Archaea.

Because I had taken this class about plants, I was able to recognize that all of the questions about plant classification and tissue function had been something we had gone over at least once throughout that semester. Now, whether I could remember enough to correctly choose the right answer from the list of choices was a different story…

I also felt the same sense of familiarity with the same lack of certainty about minute details with other questions as well, such as those dealing with the finer points of metabolism and human physiology. The sheer amount and range of content that is covered by the subject exam makes it inevitable that moments like this will occur, often more than once, during the exam. Thus, the objective of this testing process is not only to ascertain the amount of detailed biology facts that one has memorized over the years, but to test whether the student is able to narrow down the answer choices by eliminating those which are obviously absurd and by guessing wisely.

I do not believe I will actually ever have to define ‘spongy mesophyll’ or ‘palisade parenchyma’ to anyone once I graduate from Ashland University and later from the graduate veterinary program of a yet unspecified college.

However, learning the basics about this subject is a very good idea simply for the fact that you will become more familiar with some specialized terminology that may help you later on if your career in biology somehow leads you down the “plant path”, or you may learn something more general about your specific learning process or interests.

(And just a short note… ‘spongy mesophyll’ are loosely arranged cells in the leaf around which most gas exchange occurs and ‘palisade parenchyma’ are the cells which contain the highest number of chloroplasts and are responsible for the vast majority of photosynthesis. Both of these types of cells are found in the leaves of plants.)