April 2011
67 posts
Anonymous asked: I'm writing the MCAT in early August, which gives me threeish months to study. I don't really know where to start. I have a pile of MCAT books and all my class notes (which for the most part I don't really remember). Have any advice?
Anonymous asked: Is it common for med students to have periods of intense doubt as to whether they're even in the right course?
student4life asked: What is the curriculum like in Australia? Do you go in right after high school or after college (or university, don't know what Australians call it).
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thank you.
For everyone that left me a note regarding my clinical exam, thank you all so much. It meant the world to know that I had your support.
And for the record, it didn’t go too badly. I have work to do, but it wasn’t so bad that I made the clinical dean quit her job out of pure disappointment which, sadly enough, was my biggest fear on the day.
Answers to messages and general...
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only in med school.
Only in med school can having great veins be a compliment.
Example:
“Do you like Student Y?”
“He has amazing veins…”
anatomy is not a turn-on.
No matter how drunk you are, the words “Oh, my helix! My anti-helix! My tragus! My nuchal line!” will never be erotic.
Anonymous asked: Hi, this might be a bit sensitive but I get the sense that you want to specialize in Pysch because you suffered from some psych problems in past? I'm in recovery from eating disorders and depression and I want to get in med school and become a psychiatrist and help any other girls who are suffering. Do you think its a good idea? Thank you. And I love your blog )
cyanide-poisoning asked: I kinda agree with you saying that dermatology as the specialty the commands the least respect. But since I am coming from my dermatology rotation, I began to learn that it is just as hard as any other specialty. I never get the dermatology physical examination right. The histories I took during my derma rotation is full of erasures, corrections from my residents. I just couldn't get the...
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first clinical exam.
First clinical exam in thirteen hours. I may or may not be having a panic attack right now.
Oh med school, how you are turning me into a neurotic, perfectionistic slave to the books.
Types of Medical Student Bloggers
ziyadmd:
(via A Cartoon Guide to Becoming a Doctor)
Anonymous asked: What was your major as an undergraduate? I'm thinking of becoming a music major but still completing the pre-med requirements. What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages in doing that? Have you met any medical students who were music majors in your experience so far? Thank you for taking the time to read this.
ndis asked: oh were (are) you a med student in victoria?
melbourne or monash?!!
monash myself....just a lowly first year though!
this is cool I have so many questions!
melbourne or monash?!!
monash myself....just a lowly first year though!
this is cool I have so many questions!
Anonymous asked: Why are you starting to lean towards plastics? Or why are you not so sure you don't want to do psych anymore?
Anonymous asked: Do plastic surgery. It's the way forwards. ;D
littlebirdsinsideme asked: I'm really, really, really interested in cardio surgery. It's kind of my entire life. My question is even though you aren't quite there yet, how are you supposed to chose the hospital you want to spend your internship and residency with?
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questions.
So many questions as of late—it’s great to hear that so many people are there are considering medical school/different specialities/are curious to know more about medicine! (If you have any questions, definitely ask. I can’t promise to know the answer, but I can promise to tell you what I know.)
Just so you know, I’ve queued the next couple of responses so I don’t...
Anonymous asked: Um, I'm in high school, also in Victoria, and thinking of getting into medicine. Do you have any pointers for me? Thank you. :)
paulfrank987 asked: What area of psychiatry do you want to go into? like research, treatment of mental illnesses or general psychiatry?
Anonymous asked: Is no axial deviation equivalent to normal axial deviation?
Anonymous asked: I know psychiatry is probably the specialty with the least amount of respect (people may make fun of ortho, but everyone still wants a go with a hacksaw); but just wanted to gauge, how many people actually hold the view that it's not *real* medicine? Are they joking when they say it, or do they think it to be true?
Your posts are generally funny, interesting and relevant -...
Your posts are generally funny, interesting and relevant -...
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many faces of med students: the future...
“So, how does that make you feel?”
“I’m really worried about X, he seems stressed/angry/depressed/anxious/psychotic/adjective-of-your-choice here.”
“Have you noticed Y lately? She seems to be rather down and with the circumstances…”
If you’ve heard these statements floating around the common room, chances are that you’ve encountered...
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people you meet in hospitals: the over-caffeinated...
This registrar, with the aid of 4 cans of V and 8 cups of black coffee for breakfast, manages to cram forty-hours into a day. Gym workout, ward rounds, theatre, more theatre, teaching, even more theatre, publishing a few hundred research papers, and home in time to dote upon his family—his happy family. It’s probably not healthy. But it makes him crazily observant (such as realising...
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sage advice.
Do coke and smoke, that way both your ventricles will dilate, and you’ll have no axial deviation.
My cardiology lecturer while describing how to read ECGs.
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the people you meet in hospital: the patient who...
Patients are the best teachers in clinical rotations. They generally know more about thier condition than you do (and will tell you all about it), they highlight the importance of empathy, and they treat you as an equal rather than as just another annoying med student.
But once in a while, you’ll stumble across a patient you have far too much in common with. A similar history, a similar...
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taking chances.
In medicine, we’re trained to believe in a system based on patriachial views. Despite a consumer-based model of healthcare, the institutions themselves are rooted in authority. Don’t question your seniors. Don’t bother the surgeons as they operate. Keep quiet and out of everyone’s way. Don’t ask for help. Don’t call the consultant until the patient is almost...
the many faces of med students: the hypochondriac
Squamous cell carcinoma? Check.
Addison’s disease? Check.
Takotsubo cardiomyopathy? Check.
No matter how obscure or bizarre the disease is, if you’ve learnt about it in lectures or one the wards, the hypochondriac will have somehow developed it within twenty-four hours. And they will explain to you, in fine detail, how their constellation of vague and non-specific symptoms correlate...
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you can do it.
We’ve all had moments where we’ve doubted ourselves. Thought about quitting. Wanted to quit. Fantasised about giving up and walking away from it all to pursue something else, anything else.
But you know what? We haven’t. Whether you’re just starting or almost ending, and no matter how many rough times you’ve encountered, you’ve stuck with it, and at the end of...
c-ain asked: Plastics sounds awesome, don't know if I'll have the manual dexterity for it though. I'm interested in anesthesiology but I have a few concerns which are discouraging me at the moment, such as the rise of anesthetist nurses as potential substitutes to anesthesiologists (my classmate told me this; don't know if it's true) and the relative need for a fraternity to succeed...
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things not to do in theatre.
Unsterilise yourself.
Somehow put your gloves on inside out—a feat which really impresses the theatre nurses.
Drop the forceps. Twice.
Tell anyone that you ever considered psych as a specialty.
Take too long to sterilise the incision site.
Unsterilise yourself again.
Not tie your mask on properly so that, when the registrar decides he wants to teach you something, it falls down and...
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important roles you can play in theatre.
Act as secretary and take messages for the registrars.
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things i wish i learnt in pre-clinical years.
How to scrub in properly.
How to suture.
Anatomy.
My systems reviews.
How to examine a patient.
How not to make a fool of myself in front of the consultants.
How to stay awake without the copious use of caffeine.
How to study properly.
How to file notes.
How to be a med student.
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the many faces of med students: the inevitable...
The inevitable surgeon is so stereotypical it hurts. He will almost always be found in scrubs, and he’ll pass of his feats as no big deal—that central line was nothing. Closed an abdomen? No big deal. He’ll still expect you to be in awe though. In his eyes, every rotation is boring compared to the adrenaline of acute care; in fact, he’ll skip his other rotations to spend...
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people you meet in hospital: the super intern.
The super intern has it all. The nurses love her, she’s totally kickass at scrubbing in and doing exactly what the surgeons tell her to, the patients think she’s absolutely lovely, she graduated top of her class, she still finds time to teach the annoying med students, and the scariest part? She actually maintains a committed, loving relationship on top of her twelve-hour work days and...
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people you meet in hospital: the showboating...
Go on ward rounds with him and you’ll only be acknowledged when he wants to show off his knowledge of (usually eponymously-named) rare signs and symptoms. “What’s Homan’s sign? Hugh-Fitz-Curtis syndrome? Courvoisier’s law?” he’ll ask, leaving you perplexed and flipping frantically through the pages of the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine to find some...
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people you meet in hospital.
An expansion of sorts of the many faces of med students because there’s more to med school than trying to cram innumerous small details into a brain rapidly decreasing in storage space.
I’ll still be continuing with many faces as well, never fear! (:
mrspediatrician asked: actually, I was curious...it seems by your posts that your interested in surgery? How'd you get into that? I always like hearing those kinds of stories. Also, what year are you in, and do you remember how you did on your MCAT?
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how not to impress plastic surgeons.
(While washing our hands for surgery)
Registrar: So, you're scrubbing up?
Me: Yeah, I think so.
(I stop and start drying my hands)
Registrar: You're not scrubbing up?
Me: I am, I just forgot to put my mask on.
Registrar: (laughs) I used to do that all the time.
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how to be an important member of the plastics...
Be the official “anatomical structures repaired” record keeper.
And if you really want to impress your consultant, witness him sign a document that will allow him to lease a car during surgery.
(Sadly enough, that really happened. But he is the single most AMAZING surgeon I’ve ever seen and I hope he’ll remember this and let me scrub in next week.)
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scrubbed in x3
The plastics registrar let me scrub in for three surgeries yesterday morning. I got to cut sutures and retract skin and dab blood and the best part?
I GOT TO WRITE MY NAME ON THE SURGICAL WHITEBOARD.
Oh yeah. I’m totally important.
bismarkymark asked: Hey there. I've been enjoying your posts. May I just ask, where are you studying medicine?
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the many faces of med students: the theatre...
Forget drugs, caffeine, and cigarettes—this student gets high on the thrill of sutures and scalpels. They’ll strut around in their scrubs all day, and no matter how many times they’re given the opportunity to leave theatre, they’ll stick it out, watching the surgeons weave their magic and hoping for the chance to scrub up and hold retractors—isn’t that what life...
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more life lessons from the plastics team.
Do not put your hand in a woodchipper.
Do not put your hand in a meat grinder.
Do not put your hand in a lawnmower.
Do not let your children play with your dog unless they desire an impromptu rhinoplasty.
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words of wisdom.
“Don’t cut yourself on a plastic cutter or you’ll need plastics.”
Plastic surgeons think that they’re hilarious.
But in all seriousness, this patient lost 25cm of his median nerve. It was a five hour surgery and it was incredible.
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for your safety.
How not to kill yourself with caffeine.
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the many faces of med students: the one who never...
Ask her how many hours she got last night. Or when she actually went to bed. Chances are, she probably didn’t get between the sheets before two, and somehow, she’s still on time for a seven-thirty ward round—in fact, she turns up half an hour early. And the really scary part? She stayed up late and was productive. None of this staying-up-late-because-she-was-watching-Friends or...
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that look.
That look of shock combined with fear and disappointment.
“You want to be a psychiatrist? Really? Why? Why?”
As my friend so kindly pointed out today, psychiatrists aren’t real doctors.
lesouljournsdesha asked: I like your blog! Helps with get through my day at med school realizing that all med students seem to have similar experiences :)
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the moment when you don't feel like a med student....
That moment when you leave the wards early, turn your back on playing doctor for the day, and go out for lunch and pretend to be the bohemian-artist-slash-hipster that you’re totally not.
…and it only reminds you that you want to be a doctor above all, and that despite all that you say, you love being a meddie.
