International Osteopaths

One thing I constantly hear from pre-meds is that they don't want to go to DO school because they won't be able to practice internationally. This is just a nasty rumor... perpetuated for reasons unknown to me. DO's currently have FULL privileges in 44 countries and partial privileges in another 8. Additionally, the AOA has advocates to help DO's apply for full licensing in countries who lack full privilege.

The AOA confirms this, and Wiki has a list... See for yourself...

Countries who recognize Osteopaths

Not Heartless

If you think I'm heartless for not writing about Haiti, I'm not. It's just that I despise American sensatio-journalism...and I refuse to contribute to the nonsense. Frankly, I don't have anything legit to write about, as I am not there. So I won't. Unlike most journalists, who are willing to drag some poor Haitian guy off the street on the promise of sending word to his family in Miami that he is ok, and then tricking him into discussing things on camera which they promised they wouldn't ask him. I've been through a natural disaster, and I can safely say you should never, ever believe the media. Their truth to false ratio is about 1:1000.

That being said, I think about Haitians every moment... and wish I had a real way to help. In a few years I will. Until then, I will wait. Bless Haiti.

Things That Suck in Med School

1. 600+ emails per day, all recruiting for trips, clinics, conferences, retreats, volunteer projects, parties, political movements, etc. which all sound oh-so-nice... but I don't even have time to read the freakin' email let alone actually participate. That, and I have to sort through these 600 daily emails to make sure I read the important shit... Like at 10:24 pm two nights ago I received an email informing us of a mandatory 8:30 am class and a reading assignment for the morning. Nice.

2. Endless Facebook updates from my 180 classmates verifying the 100 biochem concepts that I, indeed, have not yet studied, looked at, nor have even heard of.

3. A little class we have called Foundations in Medicine (FIM). In theory, this class should be great. Teaching future docs about ethics, death and dying, nutrition, alternative medicine, exposing them to the community, volunteering, etc. In reality, it is the biggest bane of my existence and the hugest time-waster ever. This class has hundreds of "points" you have to get in order to pass. Yet you don't get them the normal way... like 30 points for an exam. You earn your points POINT BY POINT. For instance, attending a lecture might be 1/3 of ONE POINT. An essay might be 2 points. Going on an ambulance ride is 1 point. Attending an intubation simulation is 1 point. OH GOD oh god. I'm FIM's bitch.

Our Pulmonary Phys Prof

So our pulmonary physiology professor is basically the go-to-guy in the pulmonary world. You probably studied physiology from his books. His first lecture was today... and in addition to the g-rated quote above, he came out with some doozies.

Por ejemplo, famous pulm prof says... "Wow! Your next exam is cardio AND pulmonary? Well, that would tap about 90% of all the knowledge I have. The other 10% is just some worthless sports trivia and tips on how to find naughty websites"

LOL

Football vs. Biochem.... And the Winner is...

Football.

Um, my school just postponed our biochem exam so our class could watch the playoffs on Sunday, and still have Monday to recover before our metabolic biochem exam... which is now on Tuesday...