I'm not stupid

[lydy]

I'm not stupid. I'm a 4.0 student. But I totally whited out today in lab. We were introduced to the 10-20 system of marking where electrodes go on the head to do an EEG. This is a vital part of the whole polysomnography thing. It's like, 50% of the work. There are a number of points that you need to measure on the head. 10-20 stands for 10% - 20%. You measure from the bridge of the nose, for instance, to the inion, which is where the back of the head starts to bump out from the base of the skull. Very difficult to describe. Then you measure 10% and 20% from those landmarks. You also measure from the intrauricular (is that right?) which is the space between the tragus of the ear (the cartilege that sticks out) and the shell of the ear, to the intrauricular spot on the other side. And take 10% of that, and 20% from the center of the head, and oh why am I trying to describe this? I totally whited out and couldn't remember from where to where to measure. There's lots of 10 and 20% marks, plus some 50% and 25% marks. Hell, my arithmetic isn't up to this. Basic arithmetic has always been my downfall. And I can't remember what point to measure. There's the FPZ and the FP1 and the FP2 and I actually know where they are (although you have to measure 5% to get to the FP1 and the FP2), and then there's the T points, which numbers I don't remember, and the O1 and O2 points, which I do remember, and several C points, which I don't remember, and that might be all, but I totally don't know. Do I sound confused? I'm dreadfully, terribly confused. As far as I can tell, I'm the only one of my class to be this confused. My teacher wiped my fake "head" clean and we started over. All of this was made more difficult by the fact that the fake "heads" have the ears in the wrong place, so the measurements don't work out very well.

This is something I can study. This is something I must study. I cannot describe how stressed out I am about this. I can't even remember what points to measure for, much less how you measure them. Like I said, this is like 50% of the job. Getting the damn electrodes in place for the EEG. Encephelogram to you. And me. You're supposed to be able to do this while conversing pleasantly with the patient. And in a minimal time frame. I am so doomed. I begin to wonder if this is what I want to do. I'm that thrown by the whole thing. So, I must study this weekend. I'm not even sure how to start. With a list of the things that need to be measured, perhaps. I can't even keep track of this.

Upset. And slightly (now) drunk, since it seemed to help the situation.

I'm a 4.0 student. This should not be beyond me. But this is exactly the sort of thing I do badly at. And boy am I doing badly.

Comments

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

Nope, you're not stupid. Learning can be tough, but it's not impossible. I have no doubt that you'll pick it up.

For me, learning 3D stuff is harder when I have only 2D info sources. Don't know how your brain works, but might this be a good time to invest in one of those Barbie heads for doing hair & makeup? They tend to have more anatomic features than your styrofoam wig stands. Ideally you could find one at a thrift store and then mark it all the hell up with Sharpies.