Computers

The computers in the BSLC will play an integral part in your first year experience, both academically and socially. Though there is a move towards decreasing the use of the internet as the primary tool in some classes, still many resources will remain online. The recently established Chalk system (chalk.uchicago.edu), accessible with user name and password, organizes many of the online webpages for each of your classes. Those classes not enlisted with chalk will be found on the OME web site at ome.bsd.uchicago.edu through the e-curriculum link.

The computer lab on the fourth floor situated between the histology labs and across from the anatomy lab is always open though not always running at 100%. You’ll see. On the lower level of the BSLC is an evolving computer lab. Another computer lab is the fresh USITE Computer Cluster in the basement of Crerar, complete with internet café. You’ll use this lab for most of your laser printing and scanning needs.

Besides the internet, which you can access all around campus, a variety of programs are installed exclusively on the BSLC computers. Though all fairly easy to use, their usefulness varies from person to person. They often serve to reinforce ideas presented in morphology, physiology, and neurobiology. Give them a try to find out whether or not computer learning is for you.

EMAIL and the INTERNET

The internet has an unlimited number of resources for the medical student. Surf away. Some are linked to course web pages; other can be found through search engines and are often linked to other universities. If you do find something good, don’t forget to share.

STUDY AIDS

The anatomy and histology class can put you in front of the computer for several hours before an exam. Supposedly there are laser discs which can be used in the laser disc player in the BSLC computer lab. The "Microscopic Anatomy" application should prepare you well for histology exams as a similar program is used. Other programs on laser disc may help in preparing you for anatomy practicals. A CD-rom accompanies the new Wheater’s histology book and provides similar, though overly detailed, slides. The primary source used by many students is the OME based human morphology web page via the lab link. This provides a selection of slides hitting the major points.

Other programs include:

• Clinical Anatomy - an Interactive Lesson - This program has a Textbook, Lesson and Atlas Mode, so it may have all you need wrapped up in one package!

• Anatomic Explorer - This program shows the horizontal cross sections of the human body. Cross sections are on the lab practicals, so don’t forget to look at them before the test. The "real" (non-labeled) sections can be found in the Anatomy suite, but this program is almost more helpful (at least until you get used to these sections). It is a good idea to follow one structure from slice to slice to help you put together some sort of 3-D body picture in your head! This program is found on the hard drive in the Embryology Apps folder within the Biology Applications folder. There is also a computerized tomography (CT) version in this same folder.

• Animated Embryo - This is in the same folder as the Anatomic Explorer. This program gives the stale chick embryo cross-sections some life! It allows you to click back and forth from cross-section to a 3-D type whole mount that will turn around in space for you This really helps put everything in perspective, and the computer screen is easier to look at than those damn microscopes!

• Brain Storm - This is a terrific tool for Neuroanatomy in the spring quarter. It is a very interactive and informative program that will really help put the brain in perspective. The program provides informational text, with key words linked to their respective cross-sections, whole-brain pictures, and drawn diagrams. Many students used this as a strong supplement to or instead of the real brains used in lab. This program is on CD, and there are many copies in the BSLC computer labs.

• Hyperbrain - This is supposed to be really good and may add to the Brain Storm program

• Symbiosis — this will be introduced to you as a lab in fall quarter physiology. It is useful in simulating the physiological processes of the body and has some easily understood explanations of systems with follow-up quizzes.

Extra Note: When you are reading/writing/ thinking in the computer lab and you come across more vocabulary that you don’t know, remember Stedman’s Medical Dictionary is on the computers and is really helpful as a reference. It is on the BSDAC hard drive in the Applications folder.

The computer resources are very valuable and can really help present the volumes of information you will be trying to learn in a concise and relevant manner. Surely, by the time you read this, the terrific faculty will have found more computer-assisted learning tools for you to try out.

Key Cards

During orientation, you will pay a $10 deposit for a key card that will grant you 24/7 access to the BSLC, the anatomy labs, and the MSI computer lab. The keys are programmed by your academic year such that the second years do not have the same access as first years. If you lose key card, you must pay a replacement fee at the OME. Many of the doors are supposedly alarmed so as to notify campus police if the doors are held open for greater than 20 seconds. Key cards can be forfeited for an infraction. Key cards can be read through wallets and even outer pockets of backpacks. If your card is in your back pocket, all you have to do to get into the building is wiggle your butt in front of the card reader.

University of Chicago Cards

All University of Chicago students are issued the University of Chicago Card. Watch for signs during Orientation Week and stop by the administrative building to get your picture taken. These cards are both bar and magnetically coded and allow you to store up to $50 on them. They can also be used to make copies and use in vending machines. They must also be scanned to gain access to Crerar, the Regenstein, and the athletic facilities. The must be presented upon entrance to the BSLC in the evening and on university buses.

Hospital ID Cards

Hospital ID cards should be worn at all times while in the hospital. They must also be presented to gain admittance to the hospital and Crerar (unless you have your U of C card). They must be swiped to gain entrance to the Student Lounge in the hospital and to use the elevators in the hospital between 8:30 p.m. and 7:00 a.m..

All University of Chicago Medical Center identification cards must be validated annually in late December for the following calendar year. For this, simply go to the Medical Center Security Office, Billings Hospital, Room M-041.

If you lose your ID card, it can be replaced at the Medical Center Security Office (M-041) between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. with a letter of authorization from the OME and a receipt of payment of the replacement fee at the Goldblatt Pavilion cashier’s office in the hospital.

The Medical Center

While most of your time during the first two years will be spent in class, you will need to be somewhat familiar with the hospital, especially when you go to interview patients for Introduction to Clinical Medicine. Maps are available at all entrances and signs can lead you to many locales.

The Cummings-Crerar Tunnel

This tunnel provides a route for travel between the hospital and Crerar library (with Cummings Life Sciences Building in between) without going outside in inclement weather or in the wee hours of the night. From the student lounge continue straight down the S corridor and when you reach the first intersection (not counting the cafeteria entrance) turn left and go down the P corridor. When you come to a corridor on your right with a clock and punch cards on it, take it. You will be passing through open fire doors into a corridor that goes left, turns right, goes straight and finally turns right again. Go downa ramp. Take the door on the left. Walk through the tunnel and the door at the end.

If you want to go to Cummings, take the branch that goes left, and go up the stairs that will put you on the first floor. If you want to go to Crerar Library, continue straight along the corridor and through the door at the end. This puts you in the basement of Crerar, where the internet café is. Go up the stairs to get to the library. To take the tunnel in the opposite direction, your hospital or university ID will be required.

Scrub Machine

The location of the scrub machine changed several times this past year. It’s last known location was in the subbasement of the hospital. Take the F elevator to the subbasement, turn right and then left. The door will be in your right. The scrub exchange process consists of two machines. One of which is a depository. Scan your cards, put your scrubs in. Go to the other machine, scan you card, pick your size, retrieve your new clean scrubs.

Student Lounge

The Student Lounge is a cool place. Here is the place in the hospital for you (simply because you are a student in the med school/BSD) to play pool, foosball, and sleep (all for free!). Upperclasspersons who no longer have classes in the BSLC receive mail here, and flyers and scrubs run aplenty. You will need your hospital I.D. to obtain access. Try your I.D. after you receive it. Many of us have found that we were unable to access the lounge with our I.D.’s. If you cannot get into the lounge, go back to the security office and they will remedy the problem.

If you understand the corridor labeling system in the hospital remember that the lounge is room S-010 (in the basement near the cafeteria). Invited guests are welcome, and tours often bring down prospective students to show them a cross-section of the medical student population.

Activities

Depending on the ambition of the senior class, Student Faculty Social Rounds-more commonly known as Liver Rounds-are held in the Student Lounge every Friday from 5-7 p.m. The beer is cheap and selection is plentiful. This is a great time to talk to students, staff and faculty outside of classes. It’s also a good time to have a beer, play a game of pool or foosball, and plan your Friday night. This is the only regularly scheduled activity in the lounge, but during the day you can almost always find people to get together for a game of pool or a conversation. The Student Lounge also has a stereo, television, treadmill, and several computers that can be used for games or e-mail.

Mailboxes

The mailboxes in the lounge belong to the third- and fourth-year students. First- and second-year students receive their mail in the BSLC mailroom. Regardless of the location of their mailboxes, everyone gets all sorts of important announcements, returned tests, and sufficient junk mail. If you receive mail care of the OME, it will be delivered here. Look around, paper recycling bins are never far away.

Bulletin Boards

There are bulletin boards in the lounge, in the BSLC mailroom, and near all your major classrooms. Sometimes they get pretty covered, so you may have to wade through the minutia if you make the effort.

On-Call Beds

The OME has kindly and mercifully installed an on-call room for those third- and fourth-year students who have to stay overnight. This room lies just off the student lounge, so keep the noise level low during late-night socializing in the lounge so that they can sleep.

Student Physician Conduct and Dress Code

Medical students are expected to conduct themselves professionally at all times while involved in patient care duties. This includes a dress code, which not only confers respect for the profession and the patients, but also will help you to look like you belong in the hospital (although you may not necessarily feel as such). The dress code for physicians in the University of Chicago Medical Center applies equally to medical students in the third and fourth years and to any student involved in patient contact and activities in patient care areas. The code also applies in clinical classes when patients are present or when interviewing in the hospital. Professional dress should be worn whenever on duty in the Medical Center and validated hospital identification badges should be visible at all times.

Here are the guidelines of the dress code:

Women: dress slacks or skirts & blouses, business dresses, suits, and white coats

Men: dress shirts & slacks, ties, suits, and white coats

Scrubs cannot be worn outside designated areas or without a white coat over them. Operating room masks, hats, or shoe covers cannot be worn outside the OR area. T-shirts, sneakers, shorts, and jeans are unacceptable in the dress code.

Medical Instruments

Sophomore students will need instruments for the Physical Diagnosis course in the winter quarter. These should be purchased during the fall quarter. Basic instruments include: stethoscope, otoscope, and ophthalmoscope set, reflex hammer and tuning fork. Optional items that you may want to consider include a physician’s bag that you probably won’t use, a helpful ECG caliper, a penlight, and a pocket eyechart.

The AMSA Medical Instrument Co-op will hold a general meeting early in fall quarter, during which attending physicians and upperclassmen describe what instruments are needed on the wards. Instrument company representatives present their instruments, and afterwards, students can examine the goods first-hand and discuss features and warranties with the salespeople. Orders are placed a week later. After a few weeks, the instruments will arrive and will be distributed to those who remember to keep their receipt.

Medical bookstores also carry medical instruments, but they cost more and are not as convenient as the AMSA sale. Upperclassmen and house staff may also sell pre-owned instruments at a low price, but their warranties may have expired or be nontransferrable.

Repair

Manufacturers warranties usually last until graduation. All instruments sold in the AMSA Instrument Co-op sale are covered by AMSA’s distributor. For repair, take the instrument back where you bought it or to the AMSA distributor.

Engraving

Engraving these expensive items adds that personal touch and also increases your chances of recovering lost items. The security office (room M-041) has an engraver for your use, free of charge.