Friday, February 26, 2010

How not to treat your students #3

Another one for the series.

Resident: You guys can do whatever. But stay in the hospital. We're getting an interesting patient soon. I'll page you guys when she gets here
Students: OK, thanks.

5 hours later, no page... students page the resident... no response, students go home

The next day:
Student: Did the patient get here yesterday?
Resident: Oh yeah, she cam at one (2 hours after he said he'll page us).
Student: Did you get my page?
Resident: Yeah, I already took care of the patient by then.

I know the resident has more important things to think about, but med students really, really appreciate it when someone keeps them in the loop (especially when they say they're going to).

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Credit Cards Suck

The Mrs. just got a letter from her credit card company saying they're starting an annual fee unless she spends a certain amount per year. And, I've heard rumors that my credit card will start charging if you pay your balance in full each month (wtf?). It'll definitely be canceled, but it sucks that our credit suffers because the credit card company decides to be assholes.

Monday, February 15, 2010

How not to treat your students #2

I was talking with a few students in the hallway when a resident, who was in no particular hurry, walked down the hallway and literally pushed us away while saying "Outta the way kiddos!"
WTF? Just because you have an MD doesn't make you any more worthy of the hallways than us. (I replied with "Kiddos? I'm probably older than you!")
Later that week we were all sitting in a room with other residents and attendings, when the same resident walked into the room and said, "Med students, get out of your chairs. I need to work." Granted she may have been doing some important work, but she could treat the students like human beings and ask nicely, rather than ordering us to give up our seats as if we're second class citizens.

There are lots of simple things that residents and attendings could do to make med students enjoy their time in the hospital better. The easiest one is to treat them like normal human beings. I hope I'll treat my students better.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

How not to treat your students

I recently worked with an attending who completely ignored my presence. Not too unusual in med school. But,I got pretty upset when the attending responded to every question I asked by turning to the resident and replying to him. He didn't want to stoop so low as to talk to a med student. Arrogant ass.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Radiology as a med student: Not always fun

Radiology is great and is still on top of my list for what I want to be when I grow up. However, as a med student, it can be pretty boring. Last week I spent some time in the neuroradiology department. My two favorite fields, neuro and radiology, combined. Yet, my 2 1/2 days with them were pretty dull. The problem is that to enjoy radiology, you have to look at and interpret images on your own. Shadowing a radiologist doesn't really make much sense. Basically, you end up looking over someone's shoulder as they quickly scroll through scans and talk to themselves (into their dictation programs). There is very little opportunity to figure things out for yourself. Luckily, during neurology and my other rotations, I've gotten plenty of chances to go through images on my own. So, this post isn't about how I stopped wanting to be a radiologist. I'm just venting about my disappointment about the neurorad week.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

About damn time

The Lancet retracts Andrew Wakefield’s article.
Ten of the original 12 authors of the study retracted their support for the study and its interpretation. In 2004 the Lancet published a retraction. However, it was only a partial retraction, and the study remained as part of the published literature.

10 out of 12 authors wasn't enough to fully retract it?

Monday, February 1, 2010

Peds neuro: Can it tear me away from radiology?

On my neurology rotation I was assigned to pediatric neurology, and that random assignment might have changed my career plans. I loved it almost immediately. The patient population seems great. The diseases are often very challenging. And each patient is completely different. Granted for a lot of patients there is no treatment. Although, figuring out the mystery of why something is wrong with someone's child does a lot for both the parents and the child. For those kids for whom a difference can be made, the difference is dramatic. It could change a potentially severely disabled child to a normal, healthy child. Also, adding the normal changes that a child goes through as they get older along with the neurological problems they face is an added factor that makes the field interesting. Finally, the research opportunity is limitless. There is a lot that is not known about the conditions that these kids can suffer from. For many of them there is no treatment available. Also, their disorders shed light onto my field of interest, how the brain works and how the brain's plasticity can be used to overcome their deficits.

Will I go into it? Not sure yet. Radiology is still winning, but peds neuro is a quick second. The training in peds neuro is a little strange (for most people, 2 years of peds, 1 year of adult neuro and 2 years of peds neuro - you have to go through two different matches). Also, I'm not completely sure if I really like the pediatric population... we'll see, my peds rotation is next. Stay tuned.