Tuesday, August 26, 2008

What Med School is Like

It seems like whenever I get overwhelmed with what is happening at school, someone asks me how school is going. They mean well. I love that they care, I really do, but I have no way of explaining how I'm feeling without sounding like I'm whining.

The blogger "The Rumours were True" compared med school to eating 5 pancakes every day. He has something there, and it's definitely worth a read.

The idea was made into a short film.

Why do we put ourselves through it?

Dr. Unnecessarily Angry Surgeon comes to in to teach at least once a month

I've been able to get to know the entire class. Really. I know everyone's name and at least 2 bits of interesting information about them. Even the ones who never come to class.


OK, too many videos on one page, I'll start actually writing now.

I love school, it's a great experience. What gets to be stressful though is how absolutely impossible it is to do everything I want to. My undergrad style of note keeping went out the window within a few weeks of starting class - there just isn't time and it just keeps coming. There are "interest group" lectures about absolutely everything. It's a great way to learn what I want to do when I'm done school and I want to hit every one, again, can't.

There are a million committees and community interaction groups, councils and academic events that I want to take part in but again, just no time.

Not to mention the weekly (at least) party.

I'm constantly feeling guilty that I'm not getting to everything and doing as much as I possibly can. It's a bizarre thing. I'm getting used to the fact that I can't do everything but I don't like it. You know I'm pouting.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Maya Inspiration

It's so easy to be caught up in the every day, noting how difficult our lives are. Or maybe that's just me. I know that I need to give my head a shake and notice how much is going on for me when so many have such a difficult time. I was reminded this morning when I saw this clip. I haven't heard Maya Angelou read "I Rise" for quite a while and it was long over due.



In the same vein, the words to Phenomenal Woman also by Maya Angelou. It's who we are not what we look like.

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

This is how I procrastinate

A parody of the Dark Knight that's a little less intense than the original.


What can I say, I love pancakes.



Can't get enough of turtle boy.



I'm "working" on course development for the med school, but finding it difficult to stay focused. Currently I have a vibrating foot stool aka Fat Cat, a strong cup of coffee and it's wonderfully cool outside so I really have no excuse. Back to work I go.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Who am I kidding?

It wasn't just being older than my class mates that I was worried about, it was being so much fatter. It was justified. Anytime a slide was shown with an MRI, an X-ray or surgery that showed a fat person, there was a chorus of "ew! Gross!" from behind me. At one point, a google image photo was used to demonstrate a risk factor for gout, excess weight. That got a giggle from the class. I was roughly the same BMI as the woman in the picture. That was upsetting, but not as upsetting as when someone put the photo into her profile pic on Facebook because he "thought it would be funny".

I recognize the hypocrisy in a medical student who is obese learning about how to counsel her patients on losing weight, I'm fat not stupid, but I can also recognize the difficulty in losing weight while under the pressures of medical school.

I'm actively trying to lose weight, joined an online weight loss program, have been working out at the gym a lot. I've lost 10 lbs in 5 weeks, and 10 cm off my waist. I was hoping to have more off before heading back to school so that it will be obvious, but that doesn't look like it will happen.

end confession

An American Swimmer Inspires Me

Have you been paying attention to this woman? Holy Moley! Dara Torres is an American swimmer (why I hadn't noticed her before this morning). She's the oldest woman competing in the Olympics. What an inspiration, especially considering how young this field is.


There isn't an age limit on any of the changes we want to make in our lives. Don't say you would do something if you only x years younger. I call your B.S. and tell you to just do it!


I was actually in tears this morning while I was watching the news reports posted above. I was so scared when I first hit my med school class last year, afraid of what they would think of me as so much older than them. Listening to what Phelps said about Torres (mom) made me think that he was being a bit immature. It's so much easier to slough off comments made about Dara than they are about me. What a great lesson. Someone in the class called me Mom once this year b/c I was giving him a hard time when he came to my house (pardon me if I want my kitchen left in one piece). I snapped. I too would prefer to be thought of as an older sister - it makes sense to me since my little brothers are the same age as the class. Either way, I hope I can remember how proud I feel right now of going into med school at my age.

In an unrelated topic, profs/administration/tutors need to back off students. Either they're creeping our Facebook, or complaining that we don't get to class often enough, or bitching about our work ethic. It makes me absolutely crazy. I spent a significant amount of time and energy this week trying to calm down the teachers in the course I'm helping develop - it's ridiculous.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Brainstem!

I'm pretty excited that this year we'll be looking at Neuroanatomy. It was fun in undergrad, I'm hoping it will be fun in med school too. It's good to have high expectations, right?


Most of the blocks this year will be interesting to me: Endo/metabolism, Digestive system and nutrition, genitourinary system, reproductive system, neuroscience/eyes/ears, Psych and behavioural sciences, Emergency care. Yay!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

What I did on my summer vacation

I still owe you a list of the loveliness that I witnessed during my elective.

  • breast reduction surgery - this was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The tissue went from looking like a train wreck to a perfectly shaped breast. Wow.
  • removal of a congenital defect from someone's tendon, a huge connective tissue chunk. Again, wow. Plastic surgery is looking less like something ridiculous
  • colonoscopy - ew
  • emergency ectopic pregnancy surgery - so much blood
  • 2 deliveries, both were natural and no tearing on either
  • I presented 2 cases to the internal medicine preceptor
  • witnessed a respiratory code
  • saw a passionate doctor calm the coding patient down with only a few words
  • saw an amputated toe
  • listened to a billion hearts and lungs, give or take a million
  • surgically assisted on a vasectomy
  • saw toe nails removed **always cut your toe nails straight across**
  • heard a patient scream at an emergency physician because she wanted to be treated immediately. She went on to compare the US EDs to Canadian "over there you're served in 29 minutes or it's free, they're proud of it", "like a pizza?" " ya". Witnessed Doc storming from room. What drama.
  • was asked by a 4 year old if I would give his mom a foot massage too when I dropped off a warm blanket

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Forensic psychiatry

We were camping last week when the news broke about the decapitation in Manitoba so I was surprised when my physician friend mentioned it off hand. He is pushing me to consider specializing in forensic psychiatry since this guy clearly needs help and the courts will need a hand understanding why he lost it. I'm not sure I have the gumption to entire that field, but I couldn't agree more that one should come in to help out. This is a horrific event and I'm interested in seeing how it plays out.

PETA has compared this event to animal slaughter and I'm not sure how to take that. While I can see why they consider the murder analogous to the mass meat industry, it's way too soon. There's been a lot that PETA has done that I have found to be tacky, but this is the worst campaign yet.

When I brought this up with an extremely paranoid religious person I know, I was told that it was the result of satanism. It's not a psychiatric illness, the devil made him do it. I guess that saves me several months of studying next year, the right answer for the underlying biological causes of schizophrenia? Satanism. Depressed? You're not praying enough. Thank goodness no one we know has any sort of mental illness like depression or other psychosis (said dripping with sarcasm). It was a short conversation because no one deserves to be shot on their birthday.