So a few months ago my chairman said to me off-handedly, "Hey, you wanna teach some pathophys to a nursing refresher course this summer?" and I said, "Sure that sounds great!"
Several weeks later I got an email from the nursing program saying, "Hey, here's the schedule for the eight-week course" with a 2 hour block once a week with my name and the word "Science".
I asked my liaison in nursing what I should exactly teach in "Science" and she said "some pathophysiology" and I said "cool".
At the end of Spring semester there was a textbook in my mailbox with a note: "This is the book we use for the summer."
Okay, so two weeks ago I get a text from an old student that says, "Hey Dr. B, where should we meet you?"
And I text back, "Who is we and why?"
"You know, for the class?"
"What class?"
...and it turn out the 8-week summer class for the nurses starts 2 weeks before the normal 8-week summer session starts... ...and no one told me.
...also I'm not on the online course listing as an instructor and the students don't have the book...
So... it was exactly like that nightmare where you find out you have a final exam in a course you didn't know you were signed up for and you can't find parking and you're late because you don't know the room number and you're wearing only your underwear or a towel.
It turned out that the same guy in my department has been teaching that course for like twenty years and so nobody realized that I wouldn't know what was happening because our department is a different entity from nursing. So not really anyone's fault. But kind of a bad first impression? I am still shuddering with mortification when I think about it.
DERP. I think I'm caught up now and now the summer semester is really starting. I bemoan the fact I got no vacation between semesters a bit as I didn't get much done RE Spring cleaning but at least I didn't have a trip planned so I am here. Hopefully the students will learn something useful.
On a positive note, I haven't had that exam dream since this happened. If I can never have that exam dream again, it will have been totally worth it!
Here's a picture I drew for the first quiz for that class. I'm still a bit overwhelmed.
Three patients for some case studies: Question: Which one has the most pain?
Today's vocabulary word: Mortification: noun. To be in a state of extreme embarrassment and shame
Translation to Norwegian: mortifikasjon
Use this word in a haiku:
I knew the wrong date /
Mortification fills me /
I need some ice cream