[block 1 re-cap]

yikes. what a brutal block. physically, mentally, and emotionally this has been the toughest block yet. and i’m not delusional enough to hope it’s going to get better any time soon.

physiology
- cardiac pressure-volume loops
- cardiac cycle: Wigger’s diagram
- cardiac output and vascular function curves
- regulation of blood pressure
- renin-angiotensi-aldosterone system
- microcirculation
- Starling forces
- myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, valvular disease
- lung volumes and capacities
- mechanics of breathing
- breathing cycle
- gas exchange & partial pressures

>> most interesting thing learned: fever is produced by pyrogens that alter the brain into thinking the normal temperature of 37.5oC is too low. the body compensates with heat producing mechanisms to bring it up to a new (too high!) set-point that it thinks is correct. aspirin works to reduce fever by inhibiting the cyclooxygenase enzyme necessary to produce the prostaglandins that raise the set-point.

the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke: heat exhaustion occurs when you’re in the hot sun too long and your body works overtime dissipating the heat (ie: too much sweating). heat stroke occurs when you’re in the hot sun too long, but there is something faulty with your body’s heat dissipating mechanisms (ie: you can’t sweat at all).

biochemistry
- classification of carbohydrates
- isomers, epimers, diastereomers, enantiomers, etc
- monosaccharides & their bonds
- digestion of carbohydrates
- deficiencies and abnormalities of carb digestion
- glycolysis (reactions, regulation, & enzyme deficiencies)
- tricarboxylic acid cycle (reactions, regulation, & enzyme deficiencies)
- gluconeogenesis (reactions, regulation, & enzyme deficiencies)
- glycogenolysis (reactions, regulation, & enzyme deficiencies)
- glycogenesis (reactions, regulation, & enzyme deficiencies)
- fructose metabolism (reactions, regulation, & enzyme deficiencies)
- galactose metabolism (reactions, regulation, & enzyme deficiencies)
- lactose synthesis
- hexose monophosphate pathway (reactions, regulation, & enzyme deficiencies)
- uses of NADPH

>> most interesting thing learned: i could never really understand how high sugar diets can make you get fat. i mean, doesn’t eating fat make you get fat? and yet, after the liver and muscles get what they need, high sugar consumption (glucose, fructose, etc) shuttles the products of their breakdown almost directly into fat production! so just because some Hershey’s products are fat free doesn’t mean they won’t make you fat!

of note, this biochemistry class is geared to medical students. we did not have to memorize structures and electron movement and bond breaking and all of that fun chemistry stuff. whew.

psychology
- anxiety disorders
- panic disorder
- specific phobias
- obsessive-compulsive disorder
- pharmacology of everything mentioned above
- systematic desensitization
- classical conditioning
- operant conditioning
- death & dying
- human sexuality
- sexual disorders
- paraphilias
- child sexual abuse

>> most interesting thing learned: a man who thinks he’s a man and wants to have sex with men does not have a disorder*, but a man who thinks he’s a woman and wants to have sex with men does.

also (and i already knew this from training Maddy), the best way to get someone to keep performing a learned behaviour is to reward them randomly. so if you want that guy to keep calling and asking you out on a date, don’t say “yes” every time. i suppose we know this as playing “hard to get”. slot machines do it too. and Maddy will sit every time i ask her to because she isn’t sure if this is the time she gets a treat or not.

alternatively, the best way to extinguish a learned behaviour is to reward it every time and then suddenly stop. so if you want that guy to STOP calling you because you’ve decided he’s annoying, start saying “yes” every time for at least a few weeks in a row. then stop saying “yes” and he’ll get the picture much faster. you won’t have to resort to that restraining order after all.

medical ethics
- advanced care planning
- informed consent

>> most interesting thing learned: Dr. Anna Pou still faces civil charges for the three people she administered lethal doses of painkillers to three days after Hurricane Katrina. to put it another way: one of the very few doctors that stayed behind after the shockingly tragic events of Katrina, is being persecuted by families for ensuring their critically ill loved ones were comfortable when she found out they would not be evacuated and no other help was coming.

if the courts could not find evidence of murder (mercy or not, ethical or not), i am saddened that these civil suit families are undermining this woman’s courageous attempt to help in such a terrible situation. i mean, what doctor in their right mind is going to stay behind after the next disaster?

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looking for MED 1?

*in this particular instance, it’s Gender Identity Disorder and whether or not you may agree that it’s a “disorder” (as in, something “wrong” with the person) is a completely different discussion.

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