So I'm jealous...

Of those girls. You know the ones. The ones in class who sit there... ever so calm and collected... knitting. Yes folks, I'm jealous of the girls that knit. There's several in class. They don't take notes. Well, I don't take notes either... but not for any cool reason like knitting. I don't take notes because it's too boring and I won't read them anyways. I'm just, well, doing nothing.... just thinking up a million new ideas every 10 seconds and listening to lecture. I guess I'm an auditory learner. I'd love to have something else interesting to do. When I was an epidemiologist I had to review tons of ID cases. Which was ever so boring, and took me FOREVER. But I noticed that if I piled on a few more senses... like simultaneously drinking tea, listening to an audio book, face-booking, AND reviewing cases... I could get them cranked out significantly more efficiently. Now maybe all that wouldn't work for making it through lecture... but knitting.... that's another story. It all looks so soothing... beautiful yarn, complicated stitches, back and forth... and then poof! The next day the fuchsia yarn turns into a cute sweater... that she's WEARING. Then I'm envious all over again. She can make CLOTHES while sitting in med school. If only I could do that with shoes....

Boyfriend as Psychiatrist

Ahhh. Dating a psychiatrist. Well, I guess we're past dating because we own a home together... but just for fun, I'll say we're dating. So of course you've heard that all psychiatrists are crazy. Well let me clear up that rumor right now. It's true. My boyfriend is nuts. In a good way. Most of the time.

The cool thing about dating a psychiatrist is that he is acutely insightful about everything he does wrong. For instance if I say angrily, "How many friggin' times do I have to tell you....If you don't RINSE the sponge with hot water and SQUEEZE it dry, it gets moldy. Do you SMELL that? Do you want to eat off a plate cleaned with THAT?" He'll say "Ok, you're right. That sounds logical. I'll try to be better. I'm not promising anything... but I'll do my best to remember." Ok, so this kind of psychiatrist talk gets under my skin a little... cause it seems a little condescending but what can you really say to that answer??... However, it sure beats "Yo bitch, if you'd do the damn dishes yourself we wouldn't have this problem"

Additionally, what's cool is that he always sticks up for me by labeling others with Axis I disorders to make me feel better. For instance, if I am complaining about how Alisha is too boy crazy and a drama queen... he'll be like "Well, she's classical histrionic. Hypersexual type." Or if I complain that somebody stood me up twice for a meeting and didn't call he'll say "He's so ADD he can barely function"

Ok, the part that sucks is that when you're dating a relatively insightful person... you're supposed to be insightful and reflective too. On demand. Which I'm not. I'm much more of a "go to bed pissed, wake up a little grumpy, forget about it an hour later and never think about it again type of person". I am definitely NOT a "lets talk about this, what could I do better, here's what you could do better, yes in retrospect a good compromise would be, kiss and make up" type of person. And dating someone who is a "lets talk about" kind of person can make you feel incredibly immature when you just prefer to skulk and steam for a little while, then forget about. Because the disconnect leads to "I really don't think we properly resolved that problem last month. I think we should talk about it again and make a list of the things we should do better" from him... and all I'm thinking is "uh....what argument????"

There IS Such a Thing as a Free Lunch

10 Ways to get a Free Meal in Medicine...

1. Resident recruitment dinners

2. Pharmaceutical dinners

3. Club meetings at lunchtime (technically this would be lunch I guess)

4. Hang out near the doctor's lounge... someone will invite you in

5. Clinical trials investigator's meetings

6. Dean's hours

7. Department weekly meetings (Cardiology has AWESOME food. Big budget I guess)

8. Interview meals

9. Journal Club

10. Academic Conferences

You can pretty much LIVE this way... my boyfriend brings home PILES of food after conferences or things left over from a journal club. Tonight we're going to a resident recruitment dinner. Yay!

Sympathetic Crying

I'm a sympathetic crier. And a sympathetic vomiter. And a sympathic sleeper (I can't STAND seeing someone cozy sleeping while I have to study. I instantly fall asleep). But today I'm talking about crying. Because I think I've just recently discovered that I am WAYYYY too sensitive. Not in a "she said something mean about me" kind of way. Rather, I let myself get emotionally wrapped up in my patients. Or any patients. I have the syndrome. Thinking that what's happening to my patients is actually happening to me.

For instance, in genetics class we have patient presentations. Patients with genetic diseases come with their parents to discuss their experience with the disease process. I'm practically in tears the whole time. And once the parent starts crying I really lose it. Today a mom started crying when she discussed finding out that two of her children had the same genetic disease. She started, then I started. Not full on snot and tears, but enough to where I feel the hard lump in my throat, my eyes get watery and my nose a little flushed.

And recently a prominent physician at my school was murdered. I didn't know him AT ALL beyond simply seeing him in the hospital. But I lost SLEEP over this, folks. And we all know how precious sleep is these days.

I guess I'm just wondering if this gets better?

First Time Being a Rockstar

Yesterday I went to visit my preceptor, the bariatric surgeon. One of his patients was having what they thought were complications from a procedure... so he sent her over to the ER. She had a gastric bypass 10 years ago... then a resectioning about 6 months ago. She started having complications so they put in a stent and a drain on the mid-axillary line. But that was a couple months ago. Today, the patient's chief complaint was that she was having increasing pain on inspiration, and the docs were thinking that possibly the stent slipped... or maybe she had an infection where the drain was.

When we visited the patient, the drain seemed to be ok. No obvious signs of infection, no pus, no fluid accumulation. Also the Chest Xray showed the stent was in place. So the doc was basically planning on waiting for the lab results and CT scan to come in.

So then my preceptor says to me "Do you have any questions you'd like to ask, doctor?" (LOVE it, by the way, when I get called doctor)

Which I did. So I asked the patient if she was having simply pain on inspiration... or if she was also having trouble catching her breath. She thought about it and said both. Which started recently. I suggested that she might have pneumonia. To which the doc said... "Maybe"

Before I left the doc said to call tomorrow for the results. I called today and he'd left me a message. I was right. Pneumonia. YAY!!!!! Well... yay for me not her.

Help

I'm having an anatomy breakdown....

Eyeballs

If you know anything about me, you should know that eyes skeeve me out. I don't like foreign objects in eyes (especially pencils, fish hooks, etc), I hate "retinal tears" and the idea of a buckle (ohhhhhhhhh, god.......)... and frankly, I'm a -10 in both eyes and would rather be eaten alive by maggots than to go get lasik (which I am an "ideal" candidate for). I do manage to put my contact lenses in in the morning, and to take them out at night... but that's about the extent of my strength. Beyond that... there's hyperventilation, weak knees, all-over shakiness, increased pulse, and a distinct feeling of nausea.

I'm not sure of the source of this irrational fear... Maybe because as a young child my ophthalmologist yelled at me when I couldn't put in my first pair of contacts, then he grabbed my face and stuck them in my eyeballs? Or all those "eye trauma" pictures in EMT books I sneaked pics of as a kid... (while all the other kids were sneaking looks at porn, I was looking at trauma... go figure)... Or maybe it's from when I was a firefighter and one of my first calls was a little girl who zipped her eyeball into her hoodie. Hell I don't know.

So why oh WHY did I go to lab today? Today when we dissected the eyeball? So I could see the frontal bone of the skull being crushed by a hammer to access the orbit? No. So I could see my lab mates skin the eyelids and remove the rectus muscles? So I could poke the optic nerve? Nope... not those reasons either.

I went with the sick idea that maybe... just maybe... participating in the dissection would toughen me up a little. You know "what doesn't destroy you makes you stronger?" Well, that was a big fat negative. I tried to be tough for the first 20 minutes... then I was destroyed. Grossed out. I didn't even DO anything. Oh, my lab group hates me I'm sure... but I just couldn't. It was just.... EEEEWWWWWEEEEEE.

Genetics

A new class... yay! I'm really ready for a change of gears... hopefully this will be cool. So far so bad though... I actually fell asleep during the first lecture set. Hopefully it will get more exciting...

18 Specialties For D.O.'s

Here's a list of the 18 Specialties that D.O.'s can become board certified in (not counting sub-specialties):

1. Anesthesiology

2. Emergency Medicine

3. Dermatology

4. Family

5. Internal (plus 11 sub-specialties - Cardio, Allergy, ID, GI, Oncology, etc.)

6. Neurology and Psychiatry

7.Neuromusculoskeletal

8. Nuclear Med

9. OB/GYN

10. Ophthalmology

11. Orthopedics

12.Pathology

13.Peds

14. PMnR

15. Preventative

16. Proctology

17. Radiology

18. Surgery

Not to mention, DO's can apply to allopathic residencies and then apply for board certification in those as well....

Doesn't seem so limiting now, eh?

Whoa.... psychiatrists and neurologists... relax. The AOA lists them that way. Don't shoot the messenger.

Well since we're on the subject....

I put my DO vs. MD link on the side, had a few comments, and others are posting about it again. Here's Ella's version of the straight dope.

Moment of truth: If I had to do this again. I would have gone to DO school.

GASP!

Not because I don't love my school or my program. I love where I'm at. But I could have gone to DO school years ago. I could have been a doctor by now, half way done with residency. I didn't do it out of pride. Pretty much pride only. Because I wanted to be an MD, and because I didn't want to "defend" my education to others. Which is a pretty BS reason to waste years of your life.

Additionally, I think I would have had a different peer group. More alternative routes to med school, more diverse backgrounds, and more older students. Which is something I do feel that I miss out on here.

I really don't think the education is any different. And while there is undeniable residual stigma associated with osteopathic schools... I think it's lessening. All the time I hear MDs say how cool the DO physical manipulation is. And how so-n-so is a DO and is amazingly good. And I promise... very soon osteopathic schools will have the exact same academic criteria for admission. Some of the best osteo schools are already there (like the Texas program). Others are building their reputations.

Consider it. Or don't... and spend however many extra years of your life stressing about how you can POSSIBLY become an MD.