Liz Earle Gentle Face vs Body Shop Vitamin E Exfoliators

January 31st, 2012

So I have started using exfoliators and I feel like I have tried them all. Most recently I have tried 2 well recommended products and thought I’d compare them:

Liz Earle Gentle Face Exfoliator

This smells really great but is quite strong smelling. It says “Gentle” so I figured it was okay for my sensitive skin. It’s really great to use and a little went a long way. The beads are quite scratchy and it felt harsher than I had hoped, but left my skin feeling really smooth and soft.

After a little while my face got really hot and went quite red. This went down after half an hour and left my skin looking awesome.

Overall:

7/10

Good coverage. Quite abrasive but does what it should. Left quite red for short while but afterwards skin was clear and very soft.

Vitamin E Cream Exfoliator

This exfoliator by TBS smelled very nice and wasn’t strong. It’s described as “soft and gentle” so again I wasn’t worried about my sensitive skin. The beads were small and gentle and didn’t feel like it wasn’t doing much, however afterwards my skin was clear and soft but not as clear as other products had left it. It left redness and heat but not as much as other products and it went down after 10 – 15 minutes.

Overall

8/10

Good coverage and works without having to feel like you’re being sand blasted, however as it isn’t as harsh as others it is less effective. Hoping using it a lot will give better results.

Coming soon – Soap and Glory Breakfast Scrub and Body Shop Strawberry Shower Scrub

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BM6: Overview of content

January 23rd, 2012

This is available from the Faculty of Medicine but seems to be hard to find, so I thought I’d share it here. It gives a general overview of the content covered in the BM6 year at Southampton. It’s not detailed enough for you to get started (so don’t, you don’t need to, you’ll be fine :D ) but it’s nice to have a general idea of what lies ahead.



Human Structure & Function I
This will enable you to understand key physiological, anatomical & biochemical concepts and principles that you can apply in problem based scenarios.
This will prepare you to successfully undertake the early years of the BM programme. You will specifically study; the structure and function of biological macromolecules and the principles of metabolism; principles of homeostasis & homeostatic imbalance, particularly as applied to the cardiovascular system; the structure & function of cells & tissues; basic anatomy; nutrition & the digestive system; principles of enzymology and energetics; principles of medical microbiology and immunology.

Professional Practice I
This will enable you to understand and experience the practice of medicine through work placements and to help you evaluate & reflect on these experiences and to apply theory to practice.
The unit is designed around 3 projects; The roles of health care professionals; Communication in health care: The media and medicine. You will be introduced to aspects of health sociology and psychology as applied to medicine and also develop your skills in numeracy, statistics, IT and information retrieval.

Human Structure & Function II
This unit will enable you to build on your learning in HSFI as it is in a similar format with similar modes of assessment. Again you will be provided with an understanding of essential anatomical, physiological & biochemical concepts that you can apply to problem based scenarios.

The topics include the structure and function of the nervous system, muscle, the renal system & the endocrine system. Aspects of imbalance in these systems will also be considered. You will also explore the principles and applications to the human body of acid base balance, pH, dissociation constants, buffers and redox reactions. Also covered is cell division, the cell cycle, growth and the stages of human development. Finally you will explore the principles of genetics and some of its applications.

Professional Practice II
This unit will enable you to build on your learning in PPI as it is constructed in a similar format. As in PPI you will produce a portfolio of your placement experiences and project work.
In particular this unit will develop your understanding of the organization of health care ( primarily in the UK), the different factors that influence health and illness and ethical issues in medicine. You will further develop your understanding of IT, information retrieval and basic statistics and their application in health care.

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Medical School Interview: It’s like fight club….

January 22nd, 2012

First rule about a med-school interview… don’t talk about your interview. Second rule of a med-school intervew – don’t talk about your interview.

It’s a new rule that is being enforced by TSR but it should apply regardless. Once you’ve had your interview, don’ t share the details with other applicants. It’s nice to help and once you’re in, that’s all very nice. But putting other people at an advantage at this stage in  the game is not what you want to be doing. How much would it suck if they send out 45 offers and someone you helped was 45 thanks to you, but you were 46?

This is a post on how I prepared for my interview, and here is an overview of what happened in mine.

Anyway, good luck if you’ve got an interview, I hope it went well if you’ve had an interview and to those still waiting, I have my fingers crossed for you.

Beth

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BM5: Anatomy

January 21st, 2012

Just so you lovely applicants are aware, in BM5, semester 1 you learn all bones and muscles (except face). Where they start, and end, where they attach, the groups they make the movement they produce and every bump and notch on all the bones. Be prepared for this, maybe even start learning a little before hand. It’s a little bit of a killer!!

The sessions have been improved recently and you get a good book to learn from but a reliable book is always helpful and maybe some flash cards.

Don’t let it frighten you though. Everyone else does it, so can you!

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Things I didn’t know were wrong until TV told me…

January 17th, 2012

I saw an advert the other day for a ladies shaving implement. It was being demonstrated by your average all-american girl while a knowledgeable sounding woman spoke over the top. She raved about how it removed hair from the upper lip, bikini line, arms and around the ears. Yup, it removes near-ear-hair. It had never occurred to me that having hair by my ears was wrong. I mean, I am always trying to tuck a rouge piece of hair behind my ear for one reason or another, usually to avoid cadaver juice in the labs, but I never realised that I was wrong to have hair to tuck in the first place. I’m not talking about huge clumps of weird hair, I’m talking about the fine hair that is part of my normal hair that happens to live just in front of my ear.

This got me thinking and I recalled a shampoo (or something) advert from times gone by. The advert went on to say that this lady was unlucky to have greasy hair, but she was lucky as she had dark eyes. As a youngster I remember thinking that I must therefore be unlucky as my eyes are fairly light. This plagued me for some time as until the advert, I had never realised there was something wrong with having paler eyes but apparently there was.

I am not an advocate of unnecessary sensor-ship and I don’t think that there was anything wrong with the adverts as such, but the idea that TV can have such an impact is strange to me.

Anyway, I’m off to go and try out my new dark brown contact lenses and hair trimmer….

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Blood Donations

January 17th, 2012

I have donated blood around 14 times. I started when I was 17 and I try to go as often as I can. I am a very strong believer that everyone who can, should donate. When I ask people why they don’t, fear of needles tends to come up a lot. This shouldn’t deter anyone and is not a deal breaker. I was terrified at first and cried a lot, but the staff are all amazing and so supportive. Now, I still don’t like it, but I am getting better!

I’m usually in the donor centre for an hour all in all, and the actual donation is 5 – 10 minutes. I think around 3 or 4 minutes is my personal best though. You drink a load of water before you donate now and that stops you feeling sick afterwards. You get a sticker (oh yes) saying “Be nice to me, I gave blood today” which can be used to guilt people into giving you lifts or buying you a pint or two. There is also the lovely big plaster on the inside of your arm that can be either hidden easily or flaunted as a badge of honour.

After donating and laying on the bed for a bit, you then get a selection of refreshments, free of course. Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, squash, water, crisps, biscuits, chocolate… it’s all there. You can sit at the table and look smugly at one another while you all enjoy your tea and custard creams.

If you or someone you loved needed blood, chances are you’d take it. Why not give some first?

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A Clean Housetrain…

January 16th, 2012

Saw a strange ad on GumTree…

Housetrain.

Housetrain.

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BM6: Reading list

December 26th, 2011

So I noticed I was having a few hits from people looking for the BM6 reading list! The uni gives you a list of book that are helpful, but by far the best book for BM6 is by Elaine Marieb. Otherwise the others are just an expense. Try books before you buy them, read them and see if you like it. Remember they’re all available in the huge library so it’s not like you’re going to be missing out!

The recommended ones are the ones that the course uses most, but seriously, Marieb will be your bible for the biology part. Beth Alder (the book has a pregnant lady on the front smoking) is also great for the sociology and psychology side of things.  Other than that I didn’t find the others particularly useful personally!

Dictionaries are useful, but with the internet… a bit pointless. The rest of the list are books you’ll want to read for one topic or part of an essay. Nothing hardcore or serious.

Anyway, this is the (huge and scary) list:

Recommended Reading

The Highly Recommended Key texts are :

Marieb EN,Hoehn K Human Anatomy & Physiology. Pearson International Edition San Francisco : Pearson Benjamin Cummings; 8th ed.2009

Baynes J,Dominiczak MH Medical Biochemistry. Mosby;3rd ed.2009

Gatford JD,Philips N.Nursing Calculations. Churchill Livingstone;7th ed.2006

Alder B,PorterM,Abraham C,van Teijlingen E.Psychology & Sociology Applied to Medicine.Edinburgh:Churchill Livingstone;3rd ed 2009

AMedical Dictionary is also highly recommended, ONE from :

Black’s Medical Dictionary.Editor.Marcovitch H.A&C Black Ltd; 42nd ed.2009

Mosby’s Medical Dictionary.Mosby Publishing;8th ed.2009

The BMA-Illustrated Medical Dictionary. Dorling Kindersley;2nd ed.2007

Recommended/Useful texts

Bateman A,Carr N.The Flesh & Bones of Pathology.Mosby Elsevier;2009

Chandar N,Viselli S.Cell and Molecular Biology (Lippincotts-Review Series)International ed Lippincott Williams & Wilkins:2010

Dominiczak M.The Flesh & Bones of Metabolism.Mosby Elsevier ; 2007

Coggon D.Statistics in Clinical Practice.BMJ Books;2003

Ewles L,Simnett I.Promoting Health : A Practical Guide to Health Promotion.Bailliere Tindall ;6th ed.2010

Forshaw M.Essential Health Psychology.Arnold Publishers;2002

Goering R,Dockrell H,Roitt I,Zuckerman M,Wakelin D.Mims’ Medical Microbiology.Elsevier;4th ed.2008

Greenhalgh T.How to read a paper:the basis of evidence based medicine.BMJ Books; 4th ed.2010

Guyot A,Schelenz S,Myint SH. The Flesh & Bones of Medical Microbiology.Mosby Elsevier 2011

Helbert M.The Flesh & Bones of Immunology. Mosby Elsevier 2006

Hope T,Savulescu J,Hendrick J. Medical Ethics & Law.The Core Curriculum.Churchill Livingstone; 2nd ed 2008

McGeown JG, Master Medicine : Physiology.Churchill Livingstone;3rf ed.2007

Naish J,Medical Sciences . London: Churchill Livingstone; 2009

Nettleton S.The Sociology of Health & Illness. Polity Press; 2nd ed 2006

Noble A,Johnson R,Thomas A,Bass P, The Cardiovascular System; Elsevier Churchill Livingstone ; 2nd ed 2010

Norman RI,Lodwick D.The Flesh & Bones of Medical Cell Biology;Mosby Elsevier:2007

Petrie A,Sabin C.Medical Statistics at a glance.Blackwell Scientific ; 3rd ed.2009

Pommerville JC, Alcamo’s Fundamentals of Microbiology. Jones & Bartlett;9th ed 2011

Sarafino EP, Health Psychology:Biopsychosocial interactions.Wiley & Sons; 7th ed 2010

Schwartz L, Preece PE,Hendry RA.Medical Ethics. A case-based approach.Edinburgh: Saunders; 2002

Silverman J,Kurtz S,Draper J.Skills for communicating with patients.Radcliffe Medical Press ; 2nd ed. 2004

Sompayrac LM.How the Immune System Works. Blackwell Publishing ;3rd ed,2008

Spina D.The Flesh & Bones of Medical Pharmacology. Mosby Elsevier :2008

Tate P, The Doctor’s Communication Handbook.Radcliffe Medical Press ; 6th ed 2010

Taylor RJ, Smith BH,van Teijlingen ER,Health and Illness in the Community .Oxford Core Text; 2003

Timberlake KC,Chemistry : An introduction to general,organic and biological chemistry.Benjamin Cummings ; 10th ed 2008

Tortora GT,Derrickson B,Principles of Anatomy & Physiology.John Wiley & Sons; 13th ed.2011

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BM5: SSU

December 15th, 2011

So I’ve finally pretty much figured out what SSU is about!! It’s a “Student Selected Unit” where you get a (sort of) choice on a topic and for SSU 1 you need to make an academic poster on it. We’re doing teenage pregnancy. There is a group of 10 of us and initially none of us really had any idea what we were supposed to be doing! Academic posters are not something we’d come across before and the lecture on it just skimmed over all of SSU.

Recommendation: As tempting as it is to do 20 minute meetings and go home, it means that you’ll end up doing hours at the end. Do it as you go!

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BM5: IPL Week

November 20th, 2011

So IPL week is really odd. It’s interprofessional learning, so you get together with other healthcare professionals and make a game. We were only needed to be in uni 2 days in the week but available via the net for two others in order to do group work on our game.

It was really great to meet people from other professions and uni’s and our group were (obviously) pretty awesome. It was a bit drawn out and excessive and the first presentation is depressing but it’s interesting. Good time to get the first essay out of the way anyhow!

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