Prostitute's Pupils

Although I am entirely fed up with ICM since it is taking HUGE amounts of time away from studying for every other class, we did learn something very interesting today, which I thought I'd share. There's a disorder called Argyll Robertson pupil, which is a pupil that constricts when looking at a close object (accommodating), but not when exposed to bright light. It's very rare, but is usually caused by syphilis or diabetic complications. It has the mnemonic of "prostitute's pupil" because they "accommodate but do not react." Think about it :)

Come to my workshop...get free food!

I'm teaching the EKG workshop this coming Thursday afternoon, so everyone should come! They don't really teach EKG in med school, so now's the time to do it if you want to actually know something about them when you get to clinicals! Free food!!!

Poor OPEC

After a long time of price gouging and making absurd amounts of money, OPEC (including Iran and Venezuela) are getting very upset at the dropping price of gasoline. I just can't seem to feel bad for them though. They thought they'd just continually raise prices, roll around in money, and nothing would ever change? Well fortunately, people have stopped driving as much, and gas usage has decreased more in the past month than it has in 66 years!! And, since it cost so much to drive, people are investing in ways to use even less gas with alternative energy sources. Just goes to show that you can only piss customers off for so long before it comes back to get you. So, OPEC, we'll be enjoying the continual fall in prices just as much as you enjoyed raising them!

Suture Workshop!

Today, AMSA hosted their suture workshop, which they do pretty much every semester. This is my favorite of the workshops since it's pretty much the only one that I have no experience with (and don't teach). Since they didn't have it last semester and I didn't wake up for it my first semester, this was my second time attending. The first half hour or so is spent in lecture with one of the anatomy teachers, who was a general surgeon before teaching at AUC. So, he's very qualified to teach the class and does a great job of it. After the lecture, we spend the next couple of hours in the anatomy lab suturing up the cadavers. It's not a difficult skill, but it definitely takes practice and getting used to it. I was certainly better this time than the last, and spent much of the time helping other people with the knots.

We went over the same suture techniques this time as last, but I also got Dr. Nwasu to show me how to hand tie the knots, which is completely different than tying with the instruments. It looks very easy, and once you get it, it really is very easy. But, it's a somewhat tricky maneuver and for about 5-10 minutes, it seems like you might never get it. So, I'm now fairly proficient with the basic suture knots, and can tie them either with the instruments, or manually. I'm pretty excited about that!

I would have liked to have gotten pictures of the actual class, but cameras aren't allowed in the anatomy lab. Unfortunately, this guy is maybe a bit beyond my skill level ;)

Yeah yeah, gross picture...but this is a blog of a medical student!

Harlem voters

I'm really not sure what this says about our country. It pains me that Obama has a good shot at winning, partly due to such offensively uneducated people as these.

rarrrrrr...

I do not like ICM, I'm tired of ICM, I don't have time for it, and I don't want to go. But, I have to...so off I go...

New Gym Equipment!!

Today, the new gym equipment was installed! We now have all brand new cardio equipment, including 3 treadmills, 3 ellipticals, and 4 bikes. It was supposed to be 3 bikes and 4 treadmills, but we'll see what happens with that. There is also a new dip station / pull up bar / ab thing (don't know it's real name) that was added recently. Finally, AUC has a pretty respectable gym.

Hurricane Omar Damage

Here are a couple more pics of the damage from Omar. It looks like Sunset might be rebuilding, but the deck was definitely completely obliterated. The only thing left standing was the bar (which some might argue is the most important part).

Scott - 1, Mosquitos - 0

The results from the dengue screening came in today. I have no idea how, but after being practically eaten alive by probably well over 100 mosquitos, I have managed to escape the wrath of dengue fever! 14 other students were not so lucky. Hopefully they won't all get sick, because it's not a very nice bug to catch!

Love and hate with American Airlines

Really, the only thing I have against American Airlines is that they always layover in Miami or San Juan (lately, usually Miami). I'm not going to get into the reasons why again, but if you read my blog, you'd know that I hate everything that is the Miami International Airport and until proven otherwise, I believe it's the worst airport in the US. That being said, American Airlines customer service did (mostly) make me very happy today.

This morning, I woke up at 6:00 for a 7:20 flight, and the airport is 45 minutes away, with no traffic. Of course, there was traffic this morning, so the drive took a full hour. So, I arrived at the airport at exactly 7:00, 20 minutes before my plane was scheduled to take off. While the customer service lady on the phone was completely useless and unfriendly, the supervisor at the gate was amazing! She checked me in in about a minute and said she'd walk my bag to the plane so that it could be checked, even though it was going to leave in 20 minutes. So, I was helped quickly through security and made it onto the plane just as they were about to shut the door.

When I arrive in Miami, I realized that in my rush, I left my passport with security at Reagan airport! But, I went to the gate supervisor in Miami and she was able to call St. Maarten, speak to someone in immigration, and get approval for me to enter the country without my passport! So, despite doing just about everything wrong this morning, I made it safely to St. Maarten, on time. Thank you to everyone at American Airlines that helped me get here!!