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Need Some Back to School Gear?

July 30, 2009 by 2 Comments

Lenovo is having a giveaway for this back-to-school season. Now I’d normally encourage others to go with Apple unless they absolutely must run windows (even though I know about and use Boot Camp). But if I were to get a PC, I’d definitely go with these guys.

You can enter every day from now until September 14. They are also running some online sales for the next few days. So if you’re in the need, stroll on over to Lenovo.com. But be sure to click the widget below and see if you win anything. Go ahead.. you can thank me later 😉

Filed Under: My Life, Other, Outside of Medicine
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A Short History of Medicine

July 29, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Complaint: “Doctor, I have an ear ache.”

2000 BC – “Here, eat this root.”

1000 BC – “That root is heathen, say this prayer.”

1850 AD – “That prayer is superstition, drink this potion.”

1940 AD – “That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill.”

1985 AD – “That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic.”

2000 AD – “That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root!”

*****

Found on Facebook

Filed Under: Humor
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Back to Blogging

July 29, 2009 by 11 Comments

After a long hiatus I am finally back to blogging. The last few months have been quite hectic. It’s been full of questions. Those of you who have been following me on twitter know that I have been on a leave of absence since sometime around March.

But before I went on a leave of absence, I had actually planned to withdraw. Here is an excerpt form a post I was working on:

I’ve been thinking about writing this post for a while. Well at least I’ve been thinking about it shortly after I came to my decision.

My decision: withdraw from medical school.

It’s a weird feeling. It’s also a bit scary. But I’ve concluded that medical school and me are not a good fit — at least not right now.

After writing that post I went to see my dean, fully intent on following through with my decision. At that point I had already skipped two midterm exams because of my decision. But an hour after I walked into my dean’s office, I left with a signature for a leave of absence.

He asked me why I wanted to quit.

My answers were simple. I had been struggling to stay focused and concentrate on what I needed to do. At the suggestion of another dean (we’ll call him Dr. A), I went to see someone who could serve as a coach to get me motivated. That was in November. By March he told me that if I couldn’t get myself focused by now it probably would not happen. Furthermore, he mentioned that maybe it just wasn’t a good fit. He also said that others in my position had benefited from withdrawing and then re-applying in a couple years if they still wanted to. If they got in again, they usually never had any issues staying focused.

A few days later, Dr. A said the same thing.

And so, I strolled into the office of Dr. B to ask for his signature for a withdrawal (Dr. A and Dr. B must both sign the slip). And as I wrote above, I walked away an hour later with a leave of absence.

The leave didn’t guarantee anything. Dr. B said that if I wanted to return I’d have to begin my second year over. I’d also have to go before the Academic Review Committee and make a case that I should be allowed to do so.

Well I saw the committee on Monday (2 days ago). A couple hours later Dr. A called me to let me know that they had decided to allow me back.

Looking back, I am glad that Dr. B stopped me from withdrawing. Between getting my leave and asking the committee for another chance I had to do quite a bit of questioning. I had to examine myself and figure out why I had a problem focusing, concentrating, and staying motivated.

It was never an issue of whether or not I wanted to be a doctor. The problem was the training part. I don’t like studying. I don’t like spending hours with textbooks in a cool, windowless library. But it is a necessary step to reach that goal.

I believe I now know what was wrong… More importantly, I am hopeful that I now have the tools to fix it… (I may write about it some other time… but not now…)

And so the countdown begins. I will have to start my second year over again right after Labor Day (September 8, I believe) and join the Class of 2012.

As far as residency goes, a committee member told me that it would be extremely hard (if not impossible) for me to get into certain residencies as I would have to explain all of this. (And I wonder how wise it is for me to detail these things on a public blog like this. After all, it isn’t exactly anonymous — at least not the way I have done it.) I would have have to do very well on Step 1.

As my journey once again continues, I will continue to write about it here (I no longer write for Medscape’s The Differential blog). I’ve taken a strange path — definitely not the typical medical school path. And maybe that will provide for some interesting perspectives. And in the end I hope to achieve what I set out to do when I applied to come here: tacking on that “MD” onto my name.

P.S.
No, I didn’t apply to medical school just to add a couple initials to the back of my name.

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life
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Lessons Learned From First Year

April 17, 2009 by 15 Comments

Originally posted on The Differential on September 3, 2008

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I’m sitting here in my room on the island of Kauai. It’s the week before classes resume and my second year begins. Coincidentally, I’ve met two of my classmates on Kauai within two days of arriving on the island.

Being this close to the start of a new school year, I can’t help but remember the feelings I felt before starting first year. I also can’t help but think about what I’ve learned during the first school year.

My cousin, who is now an OB/GYN, told me to just study like I did in college. Unfortunately for me, I hardly studied at all in college. I was in an undergraduate program that was heavily math-based. I used to cram and be alright for tests because all I needed to know were theorems and/or concepts. The rest could be figured out or derived during an exam. Medical school was a big shift for me because now the majority of my studying consists of rote memorization.

So, from the perspective of someone who has had his share of first-year struggles, here are some of the lessons I learned from first year.

1. Figure out your learning style and figure it out fast. This one seems like it’d be common sense. But sometimes students find out that their way of studying isn’t working and instead of changing their approach, they go at it harder. Personally, I felt that going to lectures helped me. But I know many of my classmates hardly ever showed up. If you thrive in a good group study, seek out some classmates and make a group. If not, then don’t be forced into one. However, even lone “study-ers” can benefit from the occasional discussion with classmates.

2. Seek help. Students who make it into medical school are used to being near, if not at, the top of their respective classes. It might be hard to ask for help. If you need help, put aside your pride and ask for it. At my school there are tutors available for the first and second year students. I think that if I had sought out a tutor, I could have had some better scores. Don’t wait until it’s too late to get help.

3. Make time to do other things. It’s really easy to get caught up with studying when the pressure starts piling up. But it’s important to remember to make time to do things outside of schoolwork. Volunteer to tutor high school students. Take up a new hobby. Continue an old hobby. Go to the gym. Or even go and volunteer at a free clinic so you can get patient interaction. Don’t let studying define who you are.

4. Study hard. Push yourself — at least through the first semester. Then, you can decide how much you can afford to pull back while still attaining acceptable (in your eyes) scores. It’s easier to “ease off the throttle” because you’re studying more than you need to, than to “floor the pedal” trying to catch up at the end of the school year.

5. Finally, visualize. Remember the reason you wanted to go into medicine. Don’t forget it. Then, picture yourself done with medical school and residency, and practicing medicine. Aim for that goal. Try not to let the stuff in between — the grueling hours of studying in medical school or running around in residency — get you down. They might be necessary parts of the journey, but they sure aren’t the destinations.

Good luck!

Filed Under: My Life Tagged With:
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How Good Do You Want To Be?

April 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Originally posted on The Differential on August 25, 2008

*****

I’ve been obsessed with these Olympics. It’s been so inspiring watching the athletes compete. The last event I saw was the Women’s Beam Final where America, led by Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin, won the gold and silver medals. After Shawn Johnson won the Gold Medal, the commentator talked about her background.

Ten years ago she bounced into Chow’s (her coach) gymnasium and began training at the age of six. During those years of training her coach asked her an important question: How good do you want to be?

That is a question every athlete must answer for himself or herself. The top athletes in the world only want to be the best. And they put their whole soul into achieving their goals, putting in hours and hours of training every day. The answer to that question determined what kind of training Shawn Johnson would need; it dictated the course of her childhood, finally culminating in an Olympic Gold Medal.

A couple of weeks ago I asked why we, as medical students, should bother learning something we’ll eventually forget. A number of people commented and left what they felt was the reason for learning such things. And I think they are all very useful answers to this question.

For me, the answer is best phrased in the question I heard while watching the U.S. Women’s Gymnastics competition -– the same question Shawn’s coach asked her: How good do you want to be?

At the end of my first year I spent almost two weeks on the General Surgery service. On the last day I was there I spoke with the chief resident who was less than a week from completing his general surgery residency. He spoke about his training and how he felt it was very well rounded. Because he had to rotate through many services, he felt comfortable speaking to internists, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, radiologists, etc. Even though those areas were not his specialty, he knew enough to communicate intelligently about a patient. These days, with multiple teams caring for a single patient, effective communication between healthcare providers is crucial.

Someone commented that a doctor with a broad base of medical knowledge is a well-rounded doctor.

A well rounded doctor means better care for patients. And it’s all about the patients, right?

So… How good do you want to be?

Filed Under: Medical School, My Life Tagged With:
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Uncertain About Uncertainty

March 20, 2009 by 2 Comments

I spoke with the one of the deans in charge of the School of Medicine’s graduate programs. We spoke about the program and I asked about the PhD and MS in physiology.

She said there are positives and negatives to science and a job as a scientist. One big positive is the feeling one gets when making a big discovery. There is nothing like it. Unfortunately, those times are rare and one must cherish and hold on to those special moments.

Then she asked me how I deal with uncertainty because, in her mind, there is quite a bit of uncertainty when doing research.

I told her that I wasn’t quite sure. “I guess I’m uncertain about uncertainty,” I answered with a chuckle.

By the look on her face, I don’t think she was too amused…

Filed Under: My Life Tagged With: ,
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Picture Perfect

March 20, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Originally posted on The differential on August 17, 2008.

*****

Like many Americans and non-Americans alike, I have been following the 2008 Summer Olympics. It’s been fun watching Michael Phelps grab a record 8 gold medals, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh dominate on the sand, and the “Redeem Team” (I’m not sure who came up with that nickname) led by Kobe Bryant and Lebron James handle business in the early preliminary rounds.

But it’s also been amusing to read the news about how Beijing has focused on putting on the perfect show. First there was news that some of the fireworks outside of the Olympic stadium were faked using the wonders of modern technology. Then I read that the cute little singing girl dressed in red was, well, just cute and little. She wasn’t actually singing. The real singer wasn’t “cute enough” and so the red-dressed girl was told to lip-synch.

It looks like China has been doing a whole lot to convince the world that all is well and perfect in their country behind that bamboo curtain. And maybe it is. But most likely it isn’t. Of course, I have yet to find any place on earth that is perfect.

The whole idea of projecting perfection, though, reminded me of some of the things we discussed in class. One professor noted that doctors have this strong desire to stick together. They want to give a colleague the benefit of the doubt. As a result most doctors are very slow to offer any criticism, often exercising their right to remain silent because they weren’t present during the procedure.

I think that giving the benefit of the doubt is great. False accusations can lead to devastating consequences. But there have been instances when certain doctors no longer deserved the benefit of the doubt. An extreme situation is described in the book Blind Eye by James Stewart. In that book, Stewart writes about a doctor that got away with murder.

Would transparency in the medical field be beneficial to both doctors and patients? I’d like to think so. But sadly, with our current litigious environment, complete transparency would be a nightmare.

And so, doctors may very well have to continue painting that picture perfect image of medicine.

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