MedWorm.com provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest items from the 'vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine' source. Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:55:50 +0100 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/447143534/make-sure-you-know-what-you-are-getting.html One of the pieces of advice I was given as a pre-med, and that I frequently give to pre-med students (it's #7 on my Top 10 list of advice for pre-med students) is, "Make sure you know what medicine is like before you sign up for it."That was ringing quite loudly in my mind when I started my call shift the other night. I had had a busy week in surgery. There were some really long days of showing up on the ward at 7am then a full day of office then going straight to the hospital at 5pm and seeing emergency patients and eventually taking them to the operating room and getting home well into the wee hours of the morning... with a full day in the office after that. Most of the surgeries were routine, but some came with the emotional stress of having to tell a patient and their family they had a... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1947366 Sat, 08 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1947366 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/441358136/poking-screaming-child-thatll-put-hair.html "Bet you feel the testosterone surging through your veins now, eh?" the ER doc supervising me said. "That'll put hair on your chest." Then again, I'm sure everyone else in the ED (and all the other wards on that floor) also had a snappy comment for me, seeing as how each and every one of them could hear the screams of my patient. A young girl had gotten a huge gash in her arm after falling through a plate-glass window, and the emerg doc took one look at her chart and handed it to the resident, who handed it straight to me. At that point I was still unsuspecting, super keen to sew up yet another wound. Boy, was I naive.After looking at the wound I flattered her quite nicely about being such a trooper, such a large gash and all and so little crying. Turns out that all my buttering up was for... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1933396 Mon, 03 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1933396 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/424171887/call-any-med-student-in-emerg-is.html It was shaping up to be quite a boring shift. Only a couple hours to go, and nothing very interesting. There must have been a notice in the paper that the super keen medical student (myself) was going to be working a shift in Emerg, because there really could not have been any other explanation for the massive numbers of people showing up in droves with a chief complaint of "I have a runny nose."Then suddenly the night got very interesting. Here's the play-by-play.6:30 pm ::: A call came in from ambulance dispatch, and the unit clerk quickly summoned the doctor and charge nurse to keep them informed: "There's been a massive car accident down in the valley. A minivan and a car carrying six people in total crashed into each other head-on, somehow got entangled to the point where they were at... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1888368 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1888368 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/419224627/she-was-one-of-those-natural-people-and.html She was one of those 'natural' people, who always wanted to do things naturally, and even the odd x-ray terrified her. Too much radiation. She once wore a cast on her arm for 6 weeks after falling off a horse, for what could have been just a sprain, just to avoid the two x-rays it would have taken to rule out a fracture.So, obviously, getting a mammogram was out of the question.Her doctor tried over and over again to explain to her that a mammogram gives you a very minimal amount of radiation, the same amount as living in a city for 7 months (0.7 milliseverts) - the average U.S. citizen is exposed to 3 mSv per year of 'background' radiation. The mammogram would have picked up her breast lump long before she felt it, long before it was diagnosed as cancer, and long before she would have to ... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1876270 Sun, 12 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1876270 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/413522757/if-this-post-ends-abruptly.html Note - I'm writing this in the hospital as I'm on call, so if it ends abruptly it means I got paged and have to run and was up all night and didn't get the chance to finish it.While most of my call shifts have been pretty interesting, tonight seems to be very slow. So far, I've just been sitting around in the library, doing noth (Source: vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine) vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1862946 Mon, 06 Oct 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1862946 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/404802961/curse-of-medical-student-on-obstetrics.html Number of babies delivered on Monday and Tuesday morning while I was scheduled to be in the obstetrician's office: 9Number of babies delivered on Monday and Tuesday afternoons while I was on the ward waiting for deliveries: 0Number of babies delivered on Wednesday when I had been scheduled for a day of looking at rashes with a dermatologist: 6Number of babies delivered on Thursday when I had been scheduled for academic sessions: 5Number of babies delivered on Thursday night and all of Friday when I chose to give up sleep and instead sit on the ward in order to assist with some deliveries: 0Plan to increase the number of deliveries for my second week of Obstetrics: Release prostaglandin into the city water supply, show up at the hospital, and wait. (For those who don't know, prostaglandin i... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1834787 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1834787 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/397825597/when-patients-try-to-fool-doctors-four.html Most people have heard of Munchausen's syndrome, a fascinating condition in which patients try to fake a condition in order to draw attention or sympathy.There are a few syndromes that doctors need to keep in mind, some of which are quite fascinating, in which the patient tries to fool the doctor for various reasons. Here are some of those conditions, how the patients fool the docs, and how the docs avoid being fooled.1. Drug-seekersWhat are they – In a sentence, the bane of any ER physician's existence. They're either addicted to pain meds, or obtain and fill prescriptions then sell them on the street to addicted people for a huge profit.How they fool doctors - Drug seekers can be very slick. I have seen a patient had another doctor vouch for them, one who wore their full police uniform... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1811416 Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1811416 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/391603138/join-me-on-my-first-on-call-shift-and.html For the future (and pre-clinical) medical students out there who are wondering what being "on call" is, I have just completed my first call shift. Therefore I am now a reliable source for information about what being on-call means. Here's how my night went:5:00 pm ::: Start of on-call shift. On the phone with a friend in residency asking for some on-call tips. #1 tip: While on call, eat, sleep, and pee when you can. You don't know when your next chance will come.5:21 pm ::: Fell asleep on the toilet while eating a granola bar.5:36 pm ::: Woken up by a patient who claimed I was sleeping in his bathroom.5:37 pm ::: Patient's claim corroborated by nurse, who is kind enough to explain to me what an "on call room" is, and where I could find it in the hospital. 5:41 pm ::: Changed out of my scru... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1791708 Sat, 13 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1791708 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/387462848/top-10-list-ten-things-i-learned-in.html 1. If you give a bunch of medical students pagers, many of those pagers will go off during the very next lecture.2. If you train and test medical students in anatomy, physiology and pathology for two years, when you give them a schedule saying "Monday - On Call" they will likely have no idea what this means or what they are supposed to do. Or if they should bring their pagers.3. Lectures by fourth-year students explaining what "being on call" means and what to do when on call are very helpful. Lectures by senior faculty describing the abstract, theoretical concepts of effective learning aren't so much.4. Rounds are not to be confused with rounding. Rounds come in two types, teaching and grand. While teaching is done on grand rounds, it is not the same as teaching rounds. Likewise, teaching... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1782775 Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1782775 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/384562788/real-first-day-of-medical-school-moment.html I told a group of first-year pre-med students today, "The moment I'm at right now is where you want to be." True, they all want to become doctors, so technically the moment they really want is med school graduation.But what I'm talking about is that the learning I'll be doing this year - on the wards, seeing patients, learning medicine - that's the learning they wish they were doing this year.Unfortunately for them, they are a long, long way away from this moment, and the learning they have to go through now is very different.For them, they have to take courses in intro biology, biochemistry, organic chem, physics, a whole degree's worth of courses... the MCAT... the application process including interviews and admissions...and then two years of medical school which are fun and exciting an... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1770679 Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1770679 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/382040940/job-title-medical-student-health-remedy.html Job duration: Full time (approx. 168 hours/week, some additional overtime required)Job location: Local university and all hospitals in a 3-hour radius, including some national travel in Year 4 (not compensated)Advancement potential: significantExperience: Will trainRequired equipment (Textbooks, etc.): Supplied by employee (not compensated).Term length: 4 years Duties & Responsibilities: Learn all common diseases and conditions and how to diagnose and treat themWork well with people pushed to their extremes (and become one yourself)Successfully pass frequent extensive examinationsDeal with life-threatening emergencies with a calm, cool headQualifications: Must have university degree (or nearly completed one), preferably a Ph.D. or M.Sc.Excellent GPAVast array of extracurricular activit... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1764060 Tue, 02 Sep 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1764060 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/376707332/casting-learn-by-doing-and-making.html It is being made very clear to us, in our orientation to our third year, that in medicine some mistakes result in deaths. Others result in really annoying tiny chunks of fiberglass on your fingers for a few days.At a practical clinical conference I went to recently, one of the workshops offered an hour of putting on learning about various fractures and practical casting and fracture re-setting tips, followed by an hour of putting casts on each others' arms. We learned some neat practical tips to make slightly casts, from how to cut the material so it doesn't bunch up between the thumb and pointer finger, to how to apply a bit of extra padding where the cast is likely to have a few extra pressure points. For example, we learned "a good cast is an ugly cast" - if the cast is made properly, a... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1739339 Wed, 27 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1739339 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/370687080/bearly.html The rain was pouring into the windshield. The headlights may well have been candles, since they did barely anything to light up the dark night, especially around the corners and over the crest of the upcoming hills.And of course, it had to be in these horrible driving conditions, was when he heard and felt a definite THUMP. He'd hit something. His wife started shrieking. "You killed it!"After slowing down to a stop on the side of the road, he sat and took a breath and thought in apprehension about how cold it would be stepping out into the rain. As his wife's yelling got louder, he realized that no matter how cold it would be outside the car, at least it would be quiet, and he jumped out into the rain.First was the priority of seeing if his car was damaged. Great, he thought to himself. Th... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1720475 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1720475 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/369752645/mmmm-sweet-black-nectar-of-bean.html My loftiest goal at the start of medical school was to not get addicted to coffee. Yeah, that went real well. I decided this after going to breakfast with a friend in residency, who, after her 3rd cup of coffee, declared "Now my caffeine headache is gone!" I could stand to do without headaches, I concluded, and set my noble goal which probably made you shake your head at my naive foolishness.After seeing Alice admit she gave in to the aromatic stranglehold of the percolator, I can now come out and admit that my determination lasted only until about the start of 2nd year. I am clearly much weaker than Alice (but I already knew that).I started to drink my coffee, and now I tell myself it's because I love the flavour. Once a day, then twice a day, sometimes more. I would never say that I'm ad... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1717326 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1717326 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/366677947/valuable-principles-for-my-upcoming.html I've heard that on the words, nurses can be your best friend, and your worst enemy.I have also heard that the more careful attendings, when asked to write a reference letter for you, ask your residents, nurses and other hospital staff about their experiences with you when the attending wasn't around... and you should therefore always act as though your attending is right beside you. Rumors can travel fast in hospitals, especially small ones.This week I experienced a situation that reinforced both of these points quite well.I was job shadowing an anaesthesiologist in the OR, and our second-last case of the day was the cutest ten-year-old girl, who charmed the socks off every single person she smiled at. She was such a sweetheart that everyone was disappointed when we had to put her under fo... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1709436 Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1709436 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/362645690/every-doctor-has-needle-story-or-two.html If you ask any doctor to tell you an interesting story from administering an injection, they probably have plenty. Most of them involve patients with countless tattoos and piercings who have to get one small needle to freeze a wound before it is stitched shut, but the fear of the needle is just too much, and the patients protest violently.I was reading a needle story at Scalpel or Sword, along with the additional stories in the reader comments, and was reminded of a few of my own. One of them did involve a huge, burly motorcyclist with a very, very worried look on his face, who kept asking the paramedics, "I'm not going to have to get a needle, am I?" He had too many tattoos to count. I'm not sure how he survived getting those if his fear was that intense.Another involved a man who must ha... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1696347 Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1696347 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/359158489/medicine-still-amazes-meand-still-lets.html As I learn all the physiology, pathology and pharmacology that medical school has to offer, sometimes there are unique things I see during my medical training that really, really impress me. Whether it's the capabilities of a 3D reconstruction of a CT scan of a bone or the heart, or watching a patient's debilitating tremor disappear instantly at the press of a button activating a microelectrode in their brain, or re-starting the still heart of a dead person inside the chest of someone else, I occasionally find myself with my jaw on the floor when I learn things that medical practitioners are able to do and see that, only a few years ago, were an impossibility. Then again, judging by something that happened earlier this month, perhaps I'm just easily impressed. The doctor I'm working with w... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1689141 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1689141 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/352109902/speeches-for-medical-students.html A little while ago somebody googled my blog looking for "SPEECHES FOR NEW MEDICAL STUDENTS." (Yes, I do sometimes look at the things you type in order to find my blog. Sometimes I even make fun of the weirder ones.)I'm not sure if the googler was a professor who needs to give a speech to welcome new medical students, or a new medical student who can't wait to hear what you're going to learn about when you start classes. My money is on the first one... in the many times I end up helping older people with basic computer things, I have found that lots of them aren't aware that the CAPS LOCK button does something other than ensure your cap doesn't get blown off in the wind.Digressions aside, for whatever your intention, here is a summary of some of the speeches we have received in medical so f... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1671651 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1671651 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/350211612/why-should-pre-med-students-read.html One of my biggest mistakes as a pre-med student was not taking advantage of the online medical blogging community.My excuses not to were stupid. I didn't read medical blogs for the same reasons that I didn't watch medical shows - I really to be in those medical situations so much, and then I ended up feeling guilty for watching TV instead of studying. In retrospect, though, by avoiding blogs I made things a lot more difficult than they needed to be. That's because reading medical blogs can dramatically improve your chances of getting in to medical school.You'll do better in your interview, improve your essay, learn more about the life of a doctor and whether medicine is right for you, and you could even improve your MCAT score. You'll do better in your interviewAll great speakers use stori... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1664463 Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1664463 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/345058511/vitum-goes-high-tech-which-pda-i-chose.html Now that clerkship is rapidly approaching many of my classmates and I are buying PDAs (personal digital assistants) or smartphones (cell phones that have the capability to load medical software). I ended up doing a ton of research and buying one this week, so I figured I'd save others some time and post what I found...despite the fact that "technical reviews" isn't getting a lot of votes on the poll in the sidebar (because it's not even listed).If you have one, this review might not be that interesting to you... but please comment with your tips on which PDA medical software I should get! Thanks!Though some students don't get a PDA and prefer to look things up in books, for me and most of my classmates, getting one isn't really an option. I've heard stories of students who get yelled at by... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1652463 Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1652463 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/342333885/sometimes-it-seems-as-though-worlds.html Happy birthday Dad!!!The flight paramedic I worked with this week started his job the year I was born. He has seen patients of all sorts, at all stages in life, with all sorts of background stories. Yet, the story of the patient we flew into the big city, and what she did right before we loaded her onto the helicopter, he told me later really moved him.... something that means a lot considering how hardened he is and how much he has seen. Actually, considering the several shifts I've had with the flight paramedics over the years, I have been surprised at how sensitive they are to their patient's needs while serving in a job that could have the tendency to see them slip into the mindset of a courier transporting inanimate packages. Even in the little things. "You're gonna feel a poke here" ... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1642757 Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1642757 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/335608425/failed-mandate-of-our-family-practise.html Our medical school has a strategy to fight the sagging number of doctors choosing family medicine as a profession: expose students to the profession through a mandatory course in family medicine. Unfortunately, if you ask anybody in my class, it's quite apparent this strategy is probably doing more harm than good. It involves exposing us to family medicine by arranging for us to shadow family physicians for a few hours per week in our first two years, assigning various time-consuming projects, and providing a number of family medicine-related lectures, attendance to which is encouraged (with limited success) more by sending threatening e-mails to the students than by providing interesting topics.Then, we are given an exam for each of our first four semesters, asking medically relevant minu... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1622315 Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1622315 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/333827939/blinded-by-silver-lining.html As I've mentioned before, some people seem to be much more willing to open up to you about their medical details when they hear you're a medical student. Often this involves unpleasant details, such as elaborate depictions of fungating lesions and uncontrollable bodily functions. Once in a while, though, I get a response I don't expect. I was at a coffee shop a couple weeks back - to relax, not refuel, unlike during the school year - and was served by a cashier whose competence at baristing I immediately called into question. After she dropped a few things, had difficulty counting out my change, and made something other than what I ordered, I admittedly made some silent judgments about her intelligence too, which I assumed were related to the lack of natural pigment in her hair. It was a s... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1616272 Sat, 12 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1616272 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/331158675/doctors-are-better-than-nurses.html Okay, okay, there is no way I actually believe that doctors are better than nurses. Too many nurses are friends of mine and know where I live and would make me pay dearly if I ever actually held beliefs like that. I just put that in the title to get your attention (and it worked, right?)... and in the past I've made a point of proclaiming my respect for good nurses on many occasions.But on to the story. Something interesting is happening in the medical blogosphere I thought I'd draw your attention to.Three days ago, Guitar Girl, RN apologetically admitted to correcting a new intern in front of a patient.A doctor who replied to that post in the comments section is getting roasted for presenting his opinion on how doctors and nurses have different roles in the care of a patient, for saying t... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1603255 Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1603255 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/329464893/oh-youre-medical-student.html Now that I'm well into medical school... well, who am I kidding, this happened back in pre-med too... family or friends or even strangers are willing to tell me the most gruesome details of their personal medical lives. It's partly a testament to the amount of respect doctors have. They know that I should be able to understand that part of their lives a bit differently than some of their other friends. They know that I won't go broadcasting their story to the rest of the family.It's also partly a testament to apathy. Why book an appointment when Vitum is here and I can just ask him? I'm not mocking them... just saying, there are plenty of things I've not bothered to see a doctor about that maybe I should have (like how it always burns when I use the toilet).They way I respond to these vari... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1593938 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1593938 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/326455059/my-new-favourite-blog-science-based.html Are You Clean Inside?You may have seen them. The websites that promote natural healthy cures if you buy a certain product. Liver cleanses, colon flushes, to rid the body of 'toxins' and 'caked-on stool inside the colon.' The websites themselves can be pretty convincing. They use big scientific words, often refer to accurate physiology to support their claims, and most of all, are full of testimonials from people who swear the product worked on them (a big red flag...real doctors make treatment decisions based on scientific studies, not testimonials). Therefore I'm excited to introduce you to Science-Based Medicine, a blog I found while looking up some drugs that naturopaths were prescribing to a friend (admittedly out of fear for my friend's well-being). Written by a surgeon, it discusses ... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1575541 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1575541 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/318417538/are-todays-medical-students-wusses.html Lately I've heard more and more rants about how today's medical students need to "grow up" or that we are "wusses" for not wanting high-stress jobs or for asking what we need to know for the exam, or how today's senior physicians are "washed up and out of touch." Don't get me wrong, I strongly agree with the fact that medical students should not be recording remains of body donors (as mentioned in here). This does NOT happen at my medical school; along with virtually all of my classmates, I am strongly in support of my faculty's oft-stated policy that bringing cameras into the lab is grounds for dismissal from the program. While you can be upset at the students for doing this, there's also a lot to be said for not giving the students the opportunity.What I am referring to is the impression... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1543602 Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1543602 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/312497995/top-10-list-ten-things-i-learned-in.html Keeping with the tradition, my classmate Jay wrote another list of things he learned. Again, used with permission. 1) Chest pain at rest can also be diagnostic of 3+ cups of coffee before 10am.2) Being in med school, I achieve a high Woodcock-Johnson every morning.3) After one week of teaching us about chronic pain, the take-home message is to not call our patients liars.4) I get all teary-eyed in only 2 situations: watching the ending of the movie Rudy, and being bedside at a live birth.5) It is possible to almost completely forget what you had known front-to-back the previous week... and do this over and over for 20 straight weeks.6) Me, and possibly most of my friends, have this condition called Orbitofrontal syndrome.7) Apparently, the local hospital administration is willing to disrup... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1522336 Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1522336 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/308588313/what-about-those-canadians-studying.html A medical school dean once told me, "Every year we turn away as many applicants as we admit, who would also make excellent doctors - our class size just isn't big enough to hold them all."I've had the unique opportunity to spend time with a few Canadians who are attending medical school in Australia, and I've come to the conclusion that what that dean told me couldn't be more true. The students here have all impressed me with their life experiences, their intelligence, their motivation, their accomplishments, and how friendly each and every one of them is. In fact, if you had told me that they were students at my medical school, I would have believed you. I can't see any difference between the students here and the students in my class. They're by no means inferior, whatsoever. And while I... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1508744 Mon, 09 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1508744 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/307350446/vitum-experiences-medicine-down-under.html I didn't expect to find myself seeing patients in Australia this week, but there I was, in a general practitioner's office, shadowing as a medical student, just hours after getting off the plane to Australia.I have a buddy of mine to thank. I've always wanted to visit the Southern Hemisphere, and since he is one of the estimated 1500 Canadians studying medicine abroad (a quick tribute to the limitd number of medical school spaces in Canada) it worked out well to combine a trip here with a visit to an old friend. Not only that, but his preceptor graciously agreed to let me tag along with him during his placement in her office this week, an opportunity that I was very interested in taking part. It was fascinating learning about the similarities and differences between medicine here and in Ca... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1501491 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1501491 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/302213410/one-patient-five-minutes-ill-never.html Even though we only had about six hours a week during which we saw actual patients in our first two years, we’ve seen enough by now that the details of individual patients start to blend into each other and fade away.As for some patients I’ve met, though, I won’t forget them as long as I live.It was during one of our many small-group clinical skills sessions that I met one of those patients. The goal of this particular session was to apply some of our neurology physical exam skills by practising them with some chronic paediatric patients who displayed neurological symptoms.Memorizing a set of symptoms suggestive of a lower motor neuron disease (as opposed to an upper motor neuron disease) can be mundane when you read it in a library (or on a blog), but it can be life-saving in an eme... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1484981 Sat, 31 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1484981 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/294862483/unleash-medical-students.html I just found out that, should I pass my finals and make it to third year, within just a few months I'll be able to prescribe things and order some lab tests. Here I thought you had to be a doctor to do those things. But no, they'll be letting me and my classmates, fresh out of the pre-clinical years of med school, play doctor. With real patients. The best part is they're giving us plenty of time between us learning how to do these things... and us actually being on the wards. That's right. Rather than putting us in the hosptial as soon as we have written our finals, which is when we have proven that we know which lab tests to order and which drugs to prescribe....ok, well, we've really more just demonstrated that we can memorize thousands of PowerPoint sides containing millions of trivial ... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458663 Tue, 20 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1458663 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/289237792/vomiting-is-more-fun-than-pbl.html On a scale of 1 to 10, how ironic is it that I got food poisoning at the hospital cafeteria? (Source: vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine) vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1439813 Mon, 12 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1439813 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/288187986/learn-brain-in-1-minute-24-seconds.html This is all I'm using to learn the neuroanatomy of the brain for my neuro final.Even if you aren't interested in neuroanatomy, I highly recommend you watch it - the technology they use for animation is stunning and it really captures the essence of what happens in real life. As well the narration helps embed the anatomy in your memory.Helps that this was one of my favourite shows as a kid. (Source: vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine) vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1434576 Sun, 11 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1434576 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/285185921/cool-body-tricks-nystagmus.html In class a few weeks back, we learned that if you put hot water in one ear and cold water in another (the "Caloric test"), you can induce nystagmus, a symptom that involves your eyes quivering back and forth. A guy in my class changed his MSN name today to: "I just did the caloric test to myself... it works."Med students are a funny breed.Of course, the coolest tests come with a cool mnemonic: the mnemonic for this one is COWS. (Source: vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine) vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1426635 Tue, 06 May 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1426635 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/279730355/looking-forward-to-my-pager.html Yes, I'm a huge nerd.Yes, I'm looking forward to the day when I get a nice, shiny, new, pager.Yes, I am excited about what I'll have to run off and do when it first goes off.Yes, I know that eventually I will look back on this post and realize how naive I am, and how pagers are of the devil, and how I should never have wished for one.But right now I think that being in the clinical years will be so much better than the basic science stuff we are learning right now. Studying for finals sucks! (Source: vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine) vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1405438 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1405438 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/277332385/how-alternative-medicine-makes-fools-of.html Here's a book I just found, that I definitely plan to read this summer.Those of you who aren't new to my blog will remember that I consider myself open to learning about how alternative therapies can legitimately help patients, and I'm always open to discussions with my friends in naturopathy school.However, I'm sure I'll have plenty to discuss after I finish reading this.Find out more about the book... (Source: vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine) vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1397706 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1397706 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/273556298/what-trickery-is-this.html As soon as we opened the door to the clinic room, we could see the worry written all over her face. She sat in the chair, legs together, purse on her lap, and tightly clutching a piece of paper with notes scrawled all over.Prompted by the doctor, I began asking her questions about why she had come in. While at first she complained of generalized fatigue, she quickly admitted, "But that's not really why I'm here. I had a question about my son's asthma treatment.""Go ahead," said the doctor."Is it true that asthma puffers can make him committ suicide?""Well, actually, I haven't heard anything about that," he replied. "There are a lot of side effects for asthma medication, but depression isn't usually listed as one of them."She didn't respond to his question. Instead, she shoved towards him a... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1385450 Sat, 19 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1385450 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/269102844/was-that-click.html A funny thing happened while I was studying yesterday. I finally felt like all these random, individual information bits I was learning in the neuro/psych block were all starting to come together... things finally 'clicked' into place.You see, starting out the neuro/psych block feels like having to navigate a rainforest without a map. They might as well have written the entire set of notes in Latin. Every time you try to read something, you get about two sentences in before you don't know what something is. So you look it up... and... well... let me illustrate:"Hmm, what is the 'caudate'? Oh I'll just look that up. It says here, 'part of the basal ganglia.' Uh... okay.... better look that one up too. Basal ganglia... blazing danglia... here it is.... 'large nuclei deep within the cerebral ... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1368462 Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1368462 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/265231187/pap-smearon-man.html "Before you go and see the next patient, shut the door and let me explain something," my family practice instructor told me.I shut the door and took a seat in his office. This wasn't unusual - many of the doctors go over a patient's history with me before I see the patient. Fortunately I haven't had any of the doctors that like to play tricks on their students, and send them into an odd clinical scenario just to see how the students react, and teach them a lesson that you should never make assumptions about your patients. But I would never have guessed what the doctor was about to tell me."The next patient saw me for the first time several years ago, and throughout the initial visits confided in me that he didn't feel comfortable in his body. He was born as a woman, and has lived his whole... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1354130 Sun, 06 Apr 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1354130 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/260839327/vaccines-scare-us-because-diseases-dont.html One of the most compelling paragraphs I've read in support of vaccinations (read the entire outstanding article at http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/03/correlation_causation_vaccinat.php).Leaving children unvaccinated means going back to:Leg braces and iron lungs for people with polio (57,628 cases in 1952) Encephalitis and sterility for people with mumps (200,000 cases a year in the 1960s) Congenital rubella syndrome for children whose mothers contracted the illness during pregnancy. Blindness, pneumonia, encephalitis, and death--one per thousand--for people wth measles (nearly 1 million cases a year in the US before vaccines). Encephalitis and pulmonary hypertension for people with whooping cough--thanks to people who don't vaccinate their kids, in 2001, 17 people, mostly... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1337072 Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1337072 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/257466004/is-there-anything-in-your-life-causing.html The reason for the patient's visit only said "difficulty sleeping," and the inexperienced first-year medical student had been sent in to take a preliminary interview.It was going well, as usual. The patient was asking about work stress, home stress, and the like, and the patient kept responding that there wasn't any stress in those areas."Is there anything else that could be causing you stress right now?" the student asked.The patient replied, "Well, nothing, other than my trial.""Your trial? Are you a lawyer?""No," replied the patient. "I'm currently on bail, but I have a trial date coming up next month. I have to go on trial because I murdered my boss." Note the patient didn't say "on suspicion of murder." The patient flat out admitted that he was on trial "BECAUSE I murdered my boss."Ap... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1325227 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1325227 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/249271749/words-id-use-to-describe-med-school.html Medical school has provided me with the opportunity to meet some incredible people. I've already used the word Honour to describe medical school, and now I'll explain why I feel medical school could be described as Collegial as well. From inspiring classmates to amazing physicians, I've been inspired by so many of the people I have met, and how much I feel a part of a profession that works together to provide patient care.I've written about some of my amazing classmates (more than once), but not yet about the amazing doctors I've met. Based on my experiences with doctors ranging from the high-profile leaders to the average family physician, being part of med school has made me feel as though I am a part - not just an observer - of a collegial body of professionals.By the time this year is ... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1292325 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 04:00:00 +0100 1292325 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/246467242/canada-needs-more-doctors.html Please visitwww.moredoctors.ca (Source: vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine) vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1282292 Wed, 05 Mar 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1282292 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/239707621/this-memorial-service-is-unique-in-that.html "You'll never see this again in your career," the anatomy prof warned us. This week's anatomy lab, our last, was a particularly unsettling one for me. Even though we have done a number of dissections of every part of the body, most of them have retained the semblance of normal anatomy - while we've dissected the entire abdomen and thorax and arms and legs, we haven't removed limbs or anything.So when the anatomy professors showed us an incredible way to visualize the neck components from the back of the mouth to visualize the epiglottis, trachea, larynx, and then demonstrated the technique, I had a bit of trouble watching. That's because the dissection technique, shown to us by the anatomy instructor on the demonstration cadaver, involved dissecting through the back of the neck... to the p... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1251149 Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1251149 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/230004292/chemotherapy-hasnt-helped-yet-but-i-can.html In yet another assignment to hone my interviewing skills, I found myself on a hospital ward this week asking a charming patient about her medical conditions. Though it wasn't what had brought her to the hospital this time around, I soon found out this fairly young lady was battling pancreatic cancer, and could no longer work due to the severity of her condition."I come in twice a week for my chemotherapy. It hasn't really helped yet, but I don't think I've been on it long enough for it to start curing the tumor," she said, fidgeting with the Natural Cures for Cancer book on her lap. "I'm pretty optimistic that I can beat this."I was inspired by the patient's courage. Given her dismal condition, it was nice to see there was a ray of hope promised by the treatment.Before I presented the pati... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1207695 Tue, 05 Feb 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1207695 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/224120096/how-to-clean-your-brain-as-told-to-me.html Shortly after I decided to go into medicine, I knew the day would come when I would have to deal with a branch of medicine that both fascinates and intimidates me: psychiatry.I'm not sure what it is about dealing with psychiatric patients that makes me so nervous. Perhaps it's how much I value my own cognitive abilities. Maybe it's the stories I've heard of patients in acute psychotic episodes, throwing furniture and yelling obscenities. Or it could be that every psychiatric ward I've ever been to or seen in movies sends chills down my spine.But now that I've started my Clinical Skills unit on interviewing psychiatric patients, my naivety has resulted in a few surprises. I was blown away when I interviewed someone who has a severe form of a psychiatric condition, yet could still carry on a... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1180136 Sun, 27 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1180136 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/216088728/how-doctor-might-tell-you-that-you-are.html Which is worse... telling a patient directly "you are going to die," or having them leave your office having no idea because you tried to phrase it gently?While I haven't yet been trained in breaking bad news to patients, the answer to this seems like it may be fairly obvious.In an article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, author Scott Berry tackles this issue. Most interesting is a role-play situation in which physicians had to tell a patient they were dying; only one of eight oncologists used the word death. In the name of empathy and gentleness, perhaps the following statements veered too far into the realm of vague:What the physicain said: Most people with this disease will have problems soon...Time could be very short—a few weeks to a few months. I think it is advisable... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1147306 Sun, 13 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1147306 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/215356958/rite-of-passage.html Every medical student comes to a point in their career where they must perform their first digital rectal exam (DRE).Today, during a clinic rotation, was my turn.In a delicious twist of irony that I think was lost on my preceptor, another physician in the office was having a going-away party which we visited directly after this little procedure.In other words, within minutes of performing my first DRE I was celebrating my new-found skill with a slice of... ...wait for it......chocolate cake. (Source: vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine) vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1146580 Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1146580 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/VitumMedicinus/~3/212160415/i-have-never-understood-why-medical.html While my age has been posted on this blog ever since it began over a year and a half ago, only recently have some commenters drawn attention to my age:"Blogger, one question for you. How on earth did u get in to med school at 21? What was your life style like from high school through undergrad? " - anonymous"I have never understood why medical schools have twenty year olds learning medicine. They have gone from high school to undergraduate to medical school and have absolutely no life experience. Of primary importance are the marks of the applicants; all else is secondary." - fossildocBefore I begin I'd like to thank the many, many people who brighten my day every time they post a comment on this blog. Even if you don't agree with me (or my medical school's decision to accept me, perhaps, ... vitum medicinus ::: a life of medicine blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1132203 Sun, 06 Jan 2008 05:00:00 +0100 1132203