This is why you had to sit in the hall in Elementary school

First of all, this past weekend I survived the tornadoes of Eastern NC but it was far scarier than all the tornado drills of elementary school made it out to be. I mean it was the mountains, I didn't realize it was a real risk.
So, I went to the Roller Derby in Raleigh at Dorton Arena. Which is awesome in the first place. But then! They came over the PA and said "Usually we start the derby with this air raid sound but we aren't going to use it this time. If you hear it please exit and go underneath the stadium" I thought there was no way this would happen. But 4 jams into the derby the air raid horn goes off and everyone kind of scrambles down into the tunnels below Dorton Arena. We are just hanging out. I am excited because the Rollergirls are rolling around like "among the people" which I think is awesome. But then they come through and say "When we say GET DOWN, face the wall and cover your head with your hands." Again I didn't think it would actually happen but then we heard it echo down the tunnel to "Get Down!" Babies start crying, someone seems like they might have a panic attack. And then this gush of water comes through the ceiling like feet from us. We scramble up the slope of the tunnels. Eventually everyone starts to relax because you can only sit in such an uncomfortable position and be in fear for your life for so long...maybe 5 minutes tops.
Eventually we get to go back up and watch the best roller derby I have ever seen! Carolina Rollergirls win!


Studying over Easter break..mostly looking at weird skin pictures because I have dermatology right now. Wish me luck!

A peek into next year

So, yesterday some of the third year medical students came to tell us how things are next year. Provided we pass our giant Step 1 exam and generally keep our sanity through the end of the year. We have 6 rotations each lasting 2 months and here is a summary of what was said:

If you like standing up all day and talking in front of patients and people who know way more than you then Internal Medicine is the specialty for you. Show up every single day. Yes that means weekends rounding at 8:30. (Well since we aren't really that useful we do get 5 days off...)= Please no weddings March and April next year.

If you like getting outside your comfort zone and trying procedures on patients because you are the only hospital for 100 miles then Family Medicine is for you! Away rotations and a lot of worksheets make this one fun for everyone who likes not sleeping in their own bed.

If you like asking women if they mind you messing around in places that most strangers DO NOT get to mess around in Obstetrics and Gynecology is for you! 7 days of "night float" is good for the night owls, 12 hour days for anyone who likes coaching women through pain.

If you like having the strangest stories at the cocktail party Psychiatry is for you. The crazier the better you say? You have your calling.

If you like nice people that smile a lot and you like to smile a lot it seems like Pediatrics is for you. Bow ties and more relaxed dress code seems to be the best.

If you like the hours of 3:30-5:30 AM and reading frantically the patient history before you spend a couple hours holding their organs then surgery is definitely for you. Tips given by experienced third years: Don't lie to the attendings and always looking at the wound. 8 weeks of gaping wounds.

This is all pretty much in jest. I am actually very excited about next year, all of it sounds amazing. So, excited in fact that it is difficult for me to keep focused on looking at power points for 8 hours a day which is what I do most of the time.

A week in the mountains

I was home this week in Waynesville shadowing at a family practice. Lessons from the week are these:
1) I have learned something in the last 2 years. BUT I have much more to learn. Especially that no one uses the generic names of drugs. And that drugs are VERY important to the arsenal of what doctors can do.

2) Saw some cool physical findings, which is exciting to me because most of the time we only see "normal" so, finding something good means it is worth it to try and examine every patient. Tough things were heart murmurs and some lung rales. However I got a good look at interesting eardrums-scarred, full of nasty pus etc. Also saw a couple cool procedures chopping off skin cancers and lancing a cyst.

3) Loved the variety of people we got to see. People with lots of education, people with only a little education, poor people, wealthy people. People I knew, people I didn't know. It was great to wade into every room and expect something different but also to get to talk to very different people.

4) Got to toughen up for a final push of studying for my Boards during the summer (June 15th)

Picture from Ecuador mountains looking over the jungle but enjoyed the mountains of WNC this week!

Off the Map? Off the Mark

Hey guys,

Dad encouraged me to keep writing on my blog here in case people are still interested in what people who look at power points 7 hours a day do with their lives.

I thought I would start with the new ABC Show


Off the Map

I watched the pilot and have refused to watch since. It presumably takes place in the jungle of South America. Having been there for awhile it is of course beautiful but I was so disappointed in how they portrayed American doctors.
A) NONE of the new american doctors spoke Spanish. Every doctor I interacted with in Ecuador spoke Spanish. You cannot be a doctor if you can't talk to people and at least understand a little bit about the culture. These people they brought in were idiots. We are taught to fit our medicine to the culture of our patients and that sometimes culture is a much stronger influence on health than we ever will be. Why are they not at least TRYING to learn Spanish?

B) They don't NEED to be there. The governments of these countries have outposts into the jungle. Far better than any Americans could decide to do it. There is a health system there. They don't have everything that we have but they don't have to chop down coconuts to make a saline solution. So while they do need supplies they most certainly do not need doctors who don't understand the language or the culture.

That is my rant on Off the Map. I do continue to watch Grey's Anatomy...I mean after this long I am just getting old and can't bear to let it go.

I also study...but more on cool diseases later.
Let me know if you want to keep hearing about medical school!