I am tying up the last few strings for this semester as the holidays are coming around. I have issues with holidays. There some cruelty to them. Everyone is expected to act certain ways and have certain components in their life: family, friends, wealth enough for a banquet. Many don't enjoy these things. Many people are products of broken families, either by choice or by difficult circumstances. Holidays provide an impetus for many to believe their lives are wrecked. After all, if you don't enjoy the common, American rituals there must be something wrong with you, right?
I'm a big fan of constantly enjoying the people around you and the people who are important to you. We shouldn't need holidays for that. So as the holidays come, I would like to encourage those struggling. We are all one community. I hope everyone has a happy holiday that doesn't revolve around rituals that contain little meaning.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Arrhythmia
I've developed a bit of a rythm to my Sunday mornings. I wake up around 9, check email, watch something online (most likely daily show), work out, clean my room, listen to some NPR. It is the only rythm to my life. I find comfort in it for whatever reasons.
Reflecting on this, it is odd to me that I have chosen a profession in which I hope to have no rythm. As an academic physician, I hope to be pushing boundries, treating new patients, and progressing my field. This course is not at all regular among physicians. There seem to be so many routes and such disparate lifestyles to be had within medicine. Some specialties I feel to be so adverse to the things I want to do and be, all under the umbrella of medicine. I could just as easily see myself being a fisherman as being a plastic surgeon or a dermatologist.
The rythm of being a physician is an important factor to me. I don't want to spend too much time fighting insurance companies or filing for payments. Our depleted, ruined system has taken so much of the life out of working in medicine. I wonder how much more dedicated and excited caregivers would be if this was not the case. Would quality of care go up? Would costs go down?
I have a month now to get into finals rythm. Pathology last week was quite an exciting test. The time given for the test was not enough. Classmates were running from room to room to look at slides and think about what exactly leads to subendocardial infarcts. I will be using the month to study and write papers, hopefully with some coherent rythm.
Reflecting on this, it is odd to me that I have chosen a profession in which I hope to have no rythm. As an academic physician, I hope to be pushing boundries, treating new patients, and progressing my field. This course is not at all regular among physicians. There seem to be so many routes and such disparate lifestyles to be had within medicine. Some specialties I feel to be so adverse to the things I want to do and be, all under the umbrella of medicine. I could just as easily see myself being a fisherman as being a plastic surgeon or a dermatologist.
The rythm of being a physician is an important factor to me. I don't want to spend too much time fighting insurance companies or filing for payments. Our depleted, ruined system has taken so much of the life out of working in medicine. I wonder how much more dedicated and excited caregivers would be if this was not the case. Would quality of care go up? Would costs go down?
I have a month now to get into finals rythm. Pathology last week was quite an exciting test. The time given for the test was not enough. Classmates were running from room to room to look at slides and think about what exactly leads to subendocardial infarcts. I will be using the month to study and write papers, hopefully with some coherent rythm.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Immunocompromised
Took an immuno test this morning that covered virtually all of the basis science behind immunology. Fun. Immunology actually is fun because it is very clinically relevant. Clinical case presentations go a long way to understanding the mechanisms behind immune response. One more test in a couple days on Pathology and then its cruise control until finals.
On another note, I performed my first physical examination last week. It was a bit impromptu. The physician walked me through it and held my hand at every step. It was still quite strange acting like a doctor. It felt a bit like I was being asked to go through the motions for a play rather than examining another human being for signs of disease. I did learn a lot, though. I believe becoming a practicing physician will take much repetition before I feel as though I am not a complete poser.
On another note, I performed my first physical examination last week. It was a bit impromptu. The physician walked me through it and held my hand at every step. It was still quite strange acting like a doctor. It felt a bit like I was being asked to go through the motions for a play rather than examining another human being for signs of disease. I did learn a lot, though. I believe becoming a practicing physician will take much repetition before I feel as though I am not a complete poser.
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