MED 4 Block 3 [re-cap]
“Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.”
~ Ovid
pathology
- hematology
- Hb, Hct, MCV, MCHC, RDW
- anisocytosis and poikilocytosis
- iron deficiency anemia
- thalassemias
- anemia of chronic disease
- sideroblastic anemia
- aplastic anemia
- G6PD deficiency
- autoimmune hemolytic anemia: cold and warm
- microangiopathic hemolytic anemia
- sickle cell
- leukemoid vs. leukoerythroblastic reaction
- acute lymphocytic leukemia
- acute myelogenous leukemia
- chronic myelogenous leukemia
- chronic lymphocyte leukemia
- adult T cell leukemia
- hairy cell leukemia
- myelodysplastic syndromes
- myeloproliferative disorders
- plasma cell disorders
- Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas
- viral, bacterial, fungal, parasitic infections
>> most interesting thing learned: i can’t remember learning anything interesting (the lymphomas and leukemias are already mushing up in my brain), but Brandon thought polycythemia vera was pretty cool. it’s a disorder of the bone marrow that produces almost twice as many red blood cells as normal — sometimes as many as 11 million per cubic millimeter. the debilitating symptoms of the disease come from vessels packed with so much blood they don’t know what to do with it all. the 5 Hs of polycythemia vera are: hypercellular, hypervolemia, hyperviscosity, hyperuricemia, and histaminemia.
pharmacology
- general anesthetics: inhaled & parenteral
- local anesthetics
- skeletal muscle relaxants
- Parkinsonism
- antipsychotics
- antidepressants: TCAs, SSRIs, MAOIs
- opioid analgesics
- NSAIDs
- drugs for migraine headaches
- drugs of abuse
>> most interesting thing learned: benzodiazepines can produce anterograde amnesia. this means you can’t remember what happens from the time that the drug is administered to the time that the drug effects dissipate. this effect is obviously pretty useful when patients are undergoing stressful procedures, like surgery. i’d also like to make a crummy joke about it working well on dates not going the way you’d hoped, but i’m almost positive that’s sexually offensive enough for someone to take the wrong way.
physical diagnosis
- heart mumurs & auscultation
- jugular venous pulse
- stuff that can go wrong with male genitalia before and after birth
- breast cancer screening and examination
>> most interesting thing learned: the heart is really amazing. i enjoyed learning about it the first time in anatomy (blue blood in pulmonary arteries, remember!), then again in physiology (Wigger’s diagram) and now listening to the murmurs in PD pulls a lot of stuff together. this site has a pretty cool auditory and visual tutorial. i could just walk around with a stethoscope around my neck all day asking people to hear their S1 and S2 if that didn’t sound so creepy.
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photo: i stare at these busy-bodies all day out our front window from the comfort of the window-seat daybed. the photo is softened because it was taken through the screen.
looking for MED 1? or MED 2? or MED 3?
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November 4th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Oooh, sounds like a fantastic block! I know you were really burnt out though, which is too bad because hematology is absolutely fascinating if you’re in the right place in your life to enjoy it. I understand the burnout for sure though (going through similar issues at the moment), hopefully next block will be better!
November 4th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Love the picture. Captures the beauty of the front window perfectly. : )
November 4th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
This election is so exciting! Even for a lowly canadian like me. Looks like Obama is going to take it. If I could vote, I don’t know what I’d do. generally I’d lean towards conservative (is that republican in America-talk?), but that Sarah Palin scares me. I think McCain would make a less scary president, since he’s so experienced, but Obama might be the change the country needs.
I’m glad to hear you voted Brandon! It’s a privilege nobody should take advantage of, and I hope America is better off for chosing whoever wins.
Btw..when it comes to politics, I’m a total moron, and I like it that way..so that’s why this post sounds like it was written by a 12 year old.
November 5th, 2008 at 7:23 am
You are right about the country being for the better. I liked George Bush, but the pressure and strain got to him and he made some bad decisions and his advisors did as well and now he has to accept those decisions. I voted for John and Obama won so I have accepted that and really hope that the country made a good choice. I hope that that many people cannot be wrong in their decisions. The best part is that the color barrier is pretty much gone now and goes to show that anyone can be President. Unless you weren’t born an American citizen : P Sorry Sarah!! LOL : )
November 5th, 2008 at 7:47 am
I hope you got to watch some of the coverage from over there. I was glued to CNN all night! I don’t know how how good Obama will be for Canada, but i think he was the right choice.
I’m kinda bummed about never being able to run for president. I mean, even though I don’t really plan to, I’d still like to have the option! Being prime minster just wouldn’t be the same. Who even knows who our prime minister is? He’s so boring.
Well…hope everything is going well over there. I’m missing the constant posts Jen, but I know you must be swamped. Congrats on yet another excellent block (was this your best one yet??). I think you need to put up Brandon’s marks too, so we can compare! The countdown to Christmas is on!!!
November 5th, 2008 at 10:27 am
My marks are not public knowledge… however, I may post them on my website that Jen is helping me with. Should be up after this weekend!!
November 5th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Oh boy! I can’t wait! Now I’ll have to try to divide my comments equally between the two of you so that nobody gets jealous.
November 6th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I’ll be jealous!
November 6th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
That’s what I like to hear
November 7th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Such a cruel Mistress. But oh so desirable.
November 8th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Indeed.
Indeed.
(PS: I HATE heme)