Archives for 2008

You are here: Home / Archives for 2008
post

Audience Interaction Requested

September 10, 2008 by 18 Comments

My response card

Our microbiology course director decided that he wants lectures to be more interactive. So each medical student has been given a personal response device (a picture of mine above). The little card is an RF device. During lectures the professor will occasionally have slides with multiple choice questions based on the information covered thus far. We then have a short period of time to enter in our answers. After polling closes, a graph is produced and it shows the breakdown of how many in the class chose which answer.

The thing I don’t like about the device is that it’s linked to a student. So it isn’t exactly anonymous. But so far its been fun to use and see the results. The novelty of it might be the cause of the “fun,” though.

I remember watching America’s Funniest Home Videos when I was a little kid (the one hosted by Bob Sagat). I thought it was so cool how the audience all had their little controllers with which to punch in their votes.

Going to microbiology lectures is like going to a game show now. Except there are no cash prizes. Oh, and nobody really wins. And its not really as fun (as a game show). But we do have audience participation…

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life Tagged With:
post

We’re Baaack!

September 3, 2008 by Leave a Comment

After a summer off, the class is back together. It’s a bit strange. I was actually pretty excited about school starting up again. Reminded me a little of the elementary school excitement.

Orientation was interesting. They went over policy again (briefly). I think a lot of the orientation part could have been skipped. One professor decided to use the orientation to talk to us about what we should do the succeed. Another professor gave us a “Survival Guide” for his class and his staff compiled advice from the class above us about how they prepared for the shelf exams and Step 1.

Well my excitement was pretty high on Monday night (the night before the first day). Now, it’s gone down. Anxiety has gone up. They say the year will go by fast and soon I’ll be taking the Step 1 exam. That’s a bit scary. Nine months isn’t that long. I mean, a baby can be formed in that time. And in 10 months, my 3rd year should be starting (God-willing).

Today I had my first Microbiology lab. It was pretty simple and consisted of things I had previously done in undergrad. We streaked (bacteria on agar), and then stained bacteria. Nothing terribly complex. It just took a while to do. They had a video showing the whole process before we were allowed to begin.

As I’ve written before (at least I think I have), the curriculum is designed to accommodate non-science majors. So even the so-called “simple” stuff gets explained in detail. It’s helpful for those of us who weren’t Biology majors.

*****
On another note, be sure to check out The Differential where I, along with other med students, also blog once a week. A posting of mine, summarizing the lessons of year one, is currently on the front page. If it’s not there anymore, here’s the permalink: Lessons of Year One.

It’s different from what I post here. They get exclusivity. It’s filled with great info from people farther along in training than I am.

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life Tagged With:
post

Kauai Pictures

August 31, 2008 by 14 Comments

This is not at all related to medical school. But my last post was written while still on vacation in Kauai. These are some of the pictures I took while over there.

(Click on the thumbnails for a larger view)

IMG_0005 IMG_0001 IMG_0173 IMG_0155 CRW_0147 IMG_0073 Fishing

Filed Under: My Life, Outside of Medicine
post

Classes are starting soon… no!

August 29, 2008 by Leave a Comment

I’m “back to school” next week after Labor Day. Right now I’m trying to enjoy my last few days of vacation and writing this entry while sitting poolside at a resort on the island of Kauai. Originally I was going to make this trip alone. I just wanted to relax before resuming lectures. But then my sister said she wanted to join me so for the last week its been the two of us.

Coincidentally, I’ve met two of my classmates here on the island. Although, one of them did ask me, “Where do I know you from?” Guess that’s a sign for me to start attending more class functions.

One day I was walking into the local FoodLand to get some bottled water. As I was walking towards the entrance I noticed a woman looking at me. I dismissed it, figuring she was looking at something behind me. She slowed down and as we met at the front door she pointed at my t-shirt and said she knew about Loma Linda (I was wearing my LLU School of Medicine t-shirt). We chatted briefly and she said she had relatives who had graduated from the medical school at Loma Linda.

Later on that day I was at the beach when a man asked me, “Can I ask you something?” Naturally, I said yes. He and his wife had noticed my shirt as well. They asked if I was a doctor. I said no. Apparently they only saw the front because the back of the shirt says “Class of 2011.”

It turns out that the gentleman has a PhD in psychology and he teaches “baby docs” (residents) about bedside manner (talking to patients and family, dealing with death, etc.). He and his wife asked me what I wanted to do and I replied that I was not sure yet.

His wife mentioned something about children. I wasn’t too sure. And I replied that I had enjoyed my two weeks on the pediatrics service and had really enjoyed my time with Child Psychiatry.

She told me that she saw me doing something with children. She said it might be in pediatrics, or maybe delivering babies, but she wasn’t sure. But definitely something with children.

I’m not quite sure what kind of look I had on my face. But she felt the need to qualify what she was telling me by saying that she is a Christian. I told her that I am too.

She continued by sayhing that I shouldn’t worry about money because the money would come. And to top it all of she said she saw me in some sort of medical mission work. Then, she prayed for me before we said our goodbyes.

So even when I’m on vacation, Loma Linda University still has away of doing things for me.

Filed Under: My Life Tagged With: ,
post

For Now, No Autopsy

August 20, 2008 by 12 Comments

I was supposed to go in for an autopsy yesterday. As I was instructed, I phoned the Pathology Office between 8:15 and 8:30 AM.

That’s when I got the bad news. There wasn’t going to be any autopsy at the location I had requested. Unfortunately for me, there wouldn’t be any until Thursday at the earliest. But I can’t go because I’ll be headed out of town during the last week of Summer Break.

So instead I drove back home and have been filling my time with the Olympics and cleaning out/packing up my room.

My room (at my parent’s house) has looked horribly messy. I’m sure it’s getting on my mom’s nerves. But its messy because I’m packing things in boxes and throwing out trash. So in the end, it’ll all be worth while.

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life Tagged With: ,
post

SurgeXperiences 204

August 17, 2008 by 17 Comments


Welcome to another edition of surgeXperiences!

SurgeXperiences is a bimonthly blog carnival bringing you stories from the front lines of the operating room. For more information, click here.

This week’s (loose) theme was “My First Time.” So, in order of submission (for the most part), with those closest to the theme first, here are the posts!

Firsts
rlbates, a plastic surgeon from Little Rock, AR, recalls her first surgery rotation during her Junior year that happened to coincide with a record-breaking heatwave in July of 1980.

Captain Atopic writes about his first time being awake in the OR and his first time in a non-English speaking country in a appropriately titled post: My First Surgery.

Jeffrey Leow from Monash Medical Student shares his reactions to the many firsts in surgery in a post with visual aids aplenty and a nifty soundtrack too.

David Gorski over at Science Based Medicine writes about his first encounter with The Orange Man and the lesson that meeting taught him about alternative medicine.

Bongi, over at Other Things Amanzi, writes about his first time performing a splenectomy which, incidentally, was also his first time seeing one: see one, do one, teach one. Bongi also shares a humorous story about teaching a medical student how to do a lymph node biopsy and sending the student in(to) the deep end.

The Scalpel’s Edge features a post about the first time DrCris begins to seriously consider a career as a surgeon.

T vents a bit about the specialty of Anesthesiology after a patient announces to her that she is in a ROAD specialty and that her job is “easy”… which leads her to, in the end, remember the reason she decided on her specialty. The post is titled: Hit the Road, Jack, and Dontcha Come Back No More, No More, No More, No More…” (just kidding, of course).

Over at Nursepractitionerblog’s Weblog is a post titled My most interesting patient that discusses some memorable firsts like changing a bedpan for the first time and the first time giving an IV to a gentleman scheduled to have both legs amputated.

Opinion
Lucia Li, in her first post on The Differential, shares her views on Women in Surgery.

In a post titled Disaster Waiting to Happen, a new blogger from New Delhi writes a short paragraph about his thoughts after surgery at SurgeryLounge. Let’s welcome him to the blogosphere.

Maggie Mahar at HealthBeatBlog.org writes about the Cultural Divide between Surgeons and Physicians.

And related to the last post, rlbates offers her comments on a recent article (A Surgeon’s Outburst) printed in the Boston Globe and the article by Maggie Mahar mentioned above.

DrCris also writes about TURFing and asks, Can’t Surgeons and Physicians Work Together?

Jeffrey Parks offers his take on Diane Suchetka’s Continuing Anti-Doctor Crusade in a post discussing the newly released list of “never events.” MSNBC.com reported on this list last week. Another article at MSNBC.com reported that surgical errors cost $1.5 billion a year.

News
In To Heal the Wounded, Donald McNeil writes about a new textbook for surgeons on the battlefield. An interesting read for those interested in military medicine. The story is found at NYTimes.com.

bookofjoe compares an article from the Scientific American and a study that appeared in the British Medical Joural about what happens when a surgeon sneezes.

Reuters.com carries a story discussing the ethics relating to waiting for death and the quick-harvesting of hearts.

Thanks to everyone who submitted. Thanks for allowing me to host this edition of SurgeXperiences. The next edition of SurgeXperiences will be hosted by DrCris a Scalpel’s Edge.

Filed Under: Other Tagged With: , ,
post

Autopsy

August 7, 2008 by 1 Comment

By now my summer is almost over. I begin my second year in September, right after Labor Day. It’s gone rather quickly. I know I’m going to miss it.

Part of me is worried that the summer vacation is going to make me rusty as far as studying goes. But I’ve been reviewing Biochemistry. So hopefully sliding into things in a couple weeks won’t be too terrible.

The other day I was driving home from Target with my mom. I mentioned something about having to go back to Loma Linda for an autopsy. I’m not sure how it came out. But she sounded pretty confused as she said, “What?!?”

I think it sounded like I was going in for my own autopsy — like it was one of those before-the-school-year-begins kind of things. Like a physical. So I think I caused my mom to doubt whether she knew what an autopsy was.

But I assured her she knew what an autopsy was and that I was going to view an autopsy — not have one done on me.

I’ll write about it once I’ve viewed it.. But it’ll probably go up at The Differential. So I’ll put up a link then.

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life Tagged With: ,