“It is one of the strange ironies of this strange life… those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal, are the happiest men.”
~ Brutus Hamilton: Olympic track coach
“The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.”
~ Vince Lombardi
i’m studying 10 hours each day outside of the 5 hours of class time and still feel like i’m getting my butt handed to me on a silver platter. this sucks.
>> most interesting thing learned: grapefruit juice is a liver enzyme metabolism inhibitor which can reduce clearance of certain drugs and make them work longer or harder or faster. danger! St. John’s Wort is an enzyme inducer which can increase clearance of certain drugs, meaning you might actually need more to get the same effect. be sure to tell your doctor about ANY over-the-counter drugs or herbal supplements you are taking. no matter how innocuous they may seem.
physical diagnosis
- skin
- head & face
- neck
- eyes
- ears & hearing
- nose & oropharynx
- thorax & lungs
>> most interesting thing learned: the word “fremitus” refers to the vibrations heard through the chest wall when someone speaks. in lab, we place the sides of our hands between the scapula and spinal cord and ask the patient to say “ninety nine”. increased fremitus indicates consolidation. and consolidation indicates pneumonia.
huge congratulations to my Aunt Kelly (mom’s brother’s wife) who won her Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar riding with a 250 vote margin! she is a wonderful hard-working woman and i’m certain she will do a terrific job representing her constituent.
i still remember when she and i floated around the dock at Camp Oshkidee on an inner tube together and brushed up against someone’s catch of the day. it was so gross! she was so fun.
i haven’t been back to Saskatoon in a few Christmases now. looking forward to seeing everyone this year (no pressure, Brandon – hehe). great work behind the scenes, Uncle Milton!
with the practical skills training labs and hospital rounds this semester, our studious medical student brains have been whisked away from the comfort of our uncritical narrow desks and non-judgmental scantrons. we’re now being confronted with on-the-spot questions from professors and real world doctors and expected to come up with equally on-the-spot answers. this is naturally more than a bit intimidating and most of our brains seem to plod along uncomfortably as if we were 80 years old and trying yoga for the first time. we just don’t bend that way yet. but even if the answers come slowly, there is one thing i notice above all else:
we are afraid to be wrong.
whether it’s a group question with students answering quietly under their breath (our physical diagnosis lab teacher is a bit older and hard of hearing) or saying “i don’t know” or just not saying anything, it seems we would rather err on the side of looking like we haven’t studied (yet) rather than saying the wrong thing.
is this really a good way to approach the situation? and is it a good way to learn in the long run?
or is it better to put yourself out there to criticism and potentially expose your blatant ignorance to all of your colleagues and mentors? saying the right answer quietly under your breath is never quite as satisfying. knowing you know the answer is one thing, but having your attending and residents know you know the answer is much more gratifying. no guts, no glory.
i like to think i would prefer to give the answer i come up with in my head (loudly and clearly) even if it is wrong. the more i become aware of the situation, the harder i am working at volunteering an answer instead of going along with the mute group. next year on the wards i’m bound to make a zillion mistakes and be wrong a zillion and one times, but isn’t it important for those mistakes to be brought to light and corrected? i mean, it’s not like i’m working in video games anymore. there will be, um, real lives on the line. scary.
then again, that person that sits in the front of the class and just doesn’t seem to have a filter between their head and their mouth? yeah. probably not the best approach either. there has to be some sort of ideal balance between the shy girl that makes straight As but keeps it all to herself, the loud guy that makes himself look like an idiot every time he opens his mouth, and the show-off that knows the answer and isn’t afraid to make everyone else look like an idiot.
that must come with practice, right? our personalities will define to some extent what sort of doctors we will become. and i have a sneaking suspicion that experiences over these next few years will shape (or break) each and every one of us in different ways.
as a lot of you are already aware, almost all of the photos i post in my blog entries are linked to my flickr account. huge thanks to my Aunt Jean in Saskatoon for the latest extension of my pro account.
i love flickr. well, i loved flickr when i had the time to enjoy it as the addicting social network it can be. with the adventures of medical school, my online socializing has taken a drastic nosedive. along with my photographic experimenting. so, flickr sort of turned into a photo archive for me.
which i can do much more easily (and privately) from iPhoto at home.
as such, i’ve nuked the photos from my account and am managing all 8,000+ of them on my hard drive instead. this means all of the photos from previous entries will be “broken”. sorry for the inconvenience and annoyance and extra large white boxes. still figuring out how i want to handle future post photo uploads.
[Maddy is thankful* for early snow in Saskatchewan - photo by Janice]
well, that was probably the most mentally and emotionally draining week since sometime wayyy back in MED 1.
whew.
after decompressing with a little gin and a little Grey’s tonight, i will likely spend the next couple of days picking up the pieces. then i will be cleaning and packing for our big move on Saturday. then Block 3 will be well under way and i’ll get to do it all over again.
but first. i am staring at 85 messages in my email inbox.
back soon. and no, i have no idea how the exams went… : (
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*happy turkey day, fellow Canadians! i have a ton to be grateful for this year, but i think the thing i am MOST thankful for is that my mom and sister quit smoking. yay!
home safe. the weekend was perfect in every way, including lattes and Oreo cheesecake and my first visit to Chipotle and friendly cab drivers and a win for the Dolphins and movie theatre seats and well-timed flight connections.
now we have a ton of work to do before blocks on Monday… see you next week!
yup. you guessed it. we are taking the plunge (pun intended) and trying to save a little bit of money in these last few months. for Brandon, going from paying 1/3rd of the rent to paying 1/2 is a bit of a step up. but for me, it’s a HUGE step down. other than sharing a grocery bill with someone bigger than me, i will probably save at least $400/month in the new place.
and yes, we decided to both ditch our own homes and start fresh together. after all, it never quite feels right when you move into space that already “belongs” to the other person.
we’re higher up the mountain: further from the beach, but with a better view. and instead of an airport in the front yard, we have our own pool. no second bedroom or bath, but a nice comfy daybed perfect for Kayla (November!) and Brigette (February!). the unit is actually a bottom floor suite with a three bedroom house upstairs that is currently empty*.
we get the keys October 18th. photos will come soon.
but first!
we are off to Miami** for the weekend to watch Sparano try to pull a repeat of his Patriots magic trick. either way, it’s my first time to Miami and my first NFL game!
oh, and it’s our first time together off this crazy little island. let’s see if we can make it in the Real World. ; )
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*which would be perfect for our parents when they come for island graduation in April.
**saving money in rent then splurging on a weekend getaway? i didn’t go home in August, so i figure i’m still well within my budget. heh.
2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, washer, indoor clothesline, microwave, nice big desk, rather uncomfortable chairs, shower with low pressure but hot water, screens and slatted windows, 1 A/C for the back three rooms (office & 2 bedrooms), ceiling fans in every room, patio furniture, couches, kitchen table & chairs, wonderful landlady…
and a whole lotta good karma.
all yours for only $850US/month — not including electricity or hammock.
