Some people in the Falcon class never went to medical school. They couldn't have! Based on the questions some of these people ask, I have no idea how they could have possible made it through! Here's a small sample:
Teacher: Group A strep is inhibited by bacitracin
Barely medical student: But I thought it was bacitracin sensitive?
Teacher: Uh.....right...[silence for a moment as he wonders if they're joking]...they're the same thing!
Barely medical student: oh, right.
Teacher: Giardia causes a particularly foul smelling stool
Barely Medical Student: But it already smells bad, so how do you know if something is wrong?
At least stuff like this keeps the class interesting. I really worry for patients if these people ever make it through the step though. On the positive side, today was the last day of micro! I have a TON of studying to do now to actually learn everything we went over. Micro is not my subject.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
disgusting
This fantastically ugly example of computer "design" is one of the many reasons I only purchase or use macs
Monday, June 8, 2009
iPhone in medicine!
If anyone has any doubt that the iPhone is the best thing out there, particularly if you're in the medical profession, just have a look at this:
If you can't tell by looking at it...that's a new iPhone application by AirStrip that allows you to stream patients' information to your phone! This goes well with Epocrates, the Osirix iPhone app, Med equations, and numerous other apps that are already available.
Simply put, no other phone even comes close. Some people are making a big deal out of the Pre, but today is not a good day to be Palm. Today, Apple also announced the new iPhone, which is obviously a much bigger deal than this new application. The current 3G iPhone already has many of the same features as the Pre, plus some that the pre does not have, and about 50,000 applications, compared to 18 on the Pre. However, what's much worse for Palm than the new iPhone (which beats the pre in just about every area), is the fact that the current 3G is seeing its price dropped to $99! So now, you can get an iPhone, which is already arguably better than the Pre, for $100 less than the Pre!
If you can't tell by looking at it...that's a new iPhone application by AirStrip that allows you to stream patients' information to your phone! This goes well with Epocrates, the Osirix iPhone app, Med equations, and numerous other apps that are already available.
Simply put, no other phone even comes close. Some people are making a big deal out of the Pre, but today is not a good day to be Palm. Today, Apple also announced the new iPhone, which is obviously a much bigger deal than this new application. The current 3G iPhone already has many of the same features as the Pre, plus some that the pre does not have, and about 50,000 applications, compared to 18 on the Pre. However, what's much worse for Palm than the new iPhone (which beats the pre in just about every area), is the fact that the current 3G is seeing its price dropped to $99! So now, you can get an iPhone, which is already arguably better than the Pre, for $100 less than the Pre!
On a more positive note
Falcon micro began yesterday. Some people don't like the guy, but most people (including me) do. The people that don't like him mostly think that he goes too slow. Well, they probably aren't thinking that anymore. Yes, the first day was a little slow, but the intro stuff usually is. And, I need all the help I can get in micro...if he wants to repeat the same thing 20 times, that's fine with me. I'd be upset if he went slow, and then had to fly through the last day to cover everything, but it doesn't seem like that will be the case.
He went along at a decent pace today...not fast, but fast enough that he should get through everything without having to rush. He has some pretty amusing stories and he definitely knows what he's talking about. He also seems good about pointing out the most high-yield topics. He does cover it MUCH slower than the Kaplan videos, but I think that's the whole point of the class! I don't need someone to speed through basically reading the Kaplan book to me....I can do that on my own. I need someone to go through it slowly and pick out what's most important. He's also doing somewhat of a review of micro-related pharm as he goes along, which is a big help. I'll have a better idea of how he did when I start doing USMLE World questions, but so far, so good.
He went along at a decent pace today...not fast, but fast enough that he should get through everything without having to rush. He has some pretty amusing stories and he definitely knows what he's talking about. He also seems good about pointing out the most high-yield topics. He does cover it MUCH slower than the Kaplan videos, but I think that's the whole point of the class! I don't need someone to speed through basically reading the Kaplan book to me....I can do that on my own. I need someone to go through it slowly and pick out what's most important. He's also doing somewhat of a review of micro-related pharm as he goes along, which is a big help. I'll have a better idea of how he did when I start doing USMLE World questions, but so far, so good.
I told you so...
Specifically, I told you that Obama was a terrible choice as president. He's accomplished almost nothing positive in his administration and is now apparently set on even further destroying the country. First up on his list of things to destroy? Healthcare!
Current proposals by the democrats would have a national health insurance program set up, unsurprisingly paid for mostly by even more taxes on the wealthy and forcing employers to pay for their full time employee's health care. Although...I do have a good solution for that one: all employees will now be working 39 hours/week. Forget the fact that the US cannot possibly afford to pay for a national insurance company, the biggest problem is that they'll no doubt try to determine who gets what treatment, and how much it should cost. I guess I should just leave medical school, because doctors really don't know anything. Naturally, the best people to be making health care decisions are politicians. Why have someone qualified make the decisions when you can have politicians, who know nothing about medicine, make the decisions for you? You think they're having trouble finding primary care physicians now? Just wait until the government moves in.
All Obama has managed to do during his time in office is spend more of the taxpayer's money, largely to private companies, and come up with proposals to spend even MORE! He has not, however, come up with a way to actually pay for anything or help the country out of the recession. Unfortunately, people have allowed themselves to be blinded by his campaign BS and have no idea how much he is going to screw up this country. Yay for socialism!
Current proposals by the democrats would have a national health insurance program set up, unsurprisingly paid for mostly by even more taxes on the wealthy and forcing employers to pay for their full time employee's health care. Although...I do have a good solution for that one: all employees will now be working 39 hours/week. Forget the fact that the US cannot possibly afford to pay for a national insurance company, the biggest problem is that they'll no doubt try to determine who gets what treatment, and how much it should cost. I guess I should just leave medical school, because doctors really don't know anything. Naturally, the best people to be making health care decisions are politicians. Why have someone qualified make the decisions when you can have politicians, who know nothing about medicine, make the decisions for you? You think they're having trouble finding primary care physicians now? Just wait until the government moves in.
All Obama has managed to do during his time in office is spend more of the taxpayer's money, largely to private companies, and come up with proposals to spend even MORE! He has not, however, come up with a way to actually pay for anything or help the country out of the recession. Unfortunately, people have allowed themselves to be blinded by his campaign BS and have no idea how much he is going to screw up this country. Yay for socialism!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Jealousy!
It took me a long time to finally decide that I wanted to be a doctor. Well, I always wanted to be a doctor...but it took me a long time to decide that I was willing to go through the necessary work to get there. However, I made the decision mostly because of my time as a paramedic. I wrote in my personal statement, on my med school application, that I wanted to go to med school because being a paramedic left me constantly wanting more. I hated that most of the time, I never really knew exactly what was going on with the patient. Sure, I may know that they're most likely having a heart attack, and that I was going to give them nitro, aspirin, and maybe morphine, but that was about it. And, what bothered me even more was that no matter what I did, I was always going to have to hand them over to someone else (a doctor) to actually fix them.
That's probably why I want to be a surgeon; I want to actually go in and fix people. I can't imagine that I'd enjoy figuring out the diagnosis, but then handing them over to the surgeon for the repair. I'm going to keep an open mind going into clinicals, but I'd say there's about a 95% chance that I'm going to wind up a surgeon. At the moment, Trixie the Pixie, the caffeine junky (yes, that's her real name...the whole thing) is going through her surgical core rotation, and has decided that she now wants to be a surgeon. I know that my time is coming up in a few months, but for the time being, I could not be more jealous of the stuff she's doing and the experiences she's having. You should definitely check out her blog, which is linked on the right side.
I'm hoping she lands a kick ass surgical residency spot, and then can put in a good word for me ;)
That's probably why I want to be a surgeon; I want to actually go in and fix people. I can't imagine that I'd enjoy figuring out the diagnosis, but then handing them over to the surgeon for the repair. I'm going to keep an open mind going into clinicals, but I'd say there's about a 95% chance that I'm going to wind up a surgeon. At the moment, Trixie the Pixie, the caffeine junky (yes, that's her real name...the whole thing) is going through her surgical core rotation, and has decided that she now wants to be a surgeon. I know that my time is coming up in a few months, but for the time being, I could not be more jealous of the stuff she's doing and the experiences she's having. You should definitely check out her blog, which is linked on the right side.
I'm hoping she lands a kick ass surgical residency spot, and then can put in a good word for me ;)
Big study day approaches
Tomorrow, mixed in with various amounts of procrastination, will hopefully be large amounts of studying. Today, I was pretty decent with not procrastinating, and I listened to the recordings of half of my pharm notes, while I read through them along with the tape. Tomorrow, the plan is to listen to the remaining half the notes, read the pharm stuff in First Aid, and spend some time doing USMLEWorld pharm questions. If I can get through all of that, then I should be fairly good to go in pharm, for the time being. Of course, I'll have to do it all again sometime before I take the step. Fortunately, since pharm is one of the subjects that I'll actually have to really remember in clinicals, it is a little easier for me to make myself study. Although, I'll also be able to use Epocrates, once I get to clinicals!
Also today, since it was a half day of class, I went to see Land of the Lost...Will Ferrell's newest movie. If you really like him (which I do), you'll think the movie is funny. But, despite the fact that it made me laugh a few times throughout, it was probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It definitely does not live up to Step Brothers, which is one of my favorite movies. OK...time to get to bed so I don't wake up tooooo late tomorrow (10 or 11 sounds good).
Also today, since it was a half day of class, I went to see Land of the Lost...Will Ferrell's newest movie. If you really like him (which I do), you'll think the movie is funny. But, despite the fact that it made me laugh a few times throughout, it was probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It definitely does not live up to Step Brothers, which is one of my favorite movies. OK...time to get to bed so I don't wake up tooooo late tomorrow (10 or 11 sounds good).
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Almost done pharm
Tomorrow is our last day of pharm, and it's only half day! After that, 1 week of micro/immuno, then a week of path, and then the Falcon course is over! Time is really flying by lately. It seems like Falcon just started, but we've already been here for nearly 5 weeks! Pretty soon (too soon), I'll be sitting at the Prometrics center, taking the USMLE...something which seemed forever away, just a couple years ago. Hopefully, my brain will not fill up before Falcon ends. I'm not sure if your brain can actually become full, but I'm really not positive that I can hold much more.
Doctors need to know an awful lot of stuff, in case you didn't already know that. If you asked me 2 years ago, I would have probably told you that I knew a lot about medicine, and didn't really have to learn that much more in med school. Turns out, I would have been VERY wrong. In fact, it might have been the most wrong that I have ever been.
On another topic...if you're debating taking the Falcon course and want to be as jacked and awesome-looking as I am, you'll be glad to know that we get a pretty nice discount at the local Bally's. They give us unlimited access for the 7 weeks, for only $40. The gym is huge, so even though it's usually pretty busy, you almost never have to wait for equipment. Here's a picture of the outside of the gym. It probably will not be helpful to you at all, but I wanted to post some sort of picture. I would have included myself in the picture, but after coming out of the gym, I probably would have eclipsed the building. Sometimes its tough being me.
Doctors need to know an awful lot of stuff, in case you didn't already know that. If you asked me 2 years ago, I would have probably told you that I knew a lot about medicine, and didn't really have to learn that much more in med school. Turns out, I would have been VERY wrong. In fact, it might have been the most wrong that I have ever been.
On another topic...if you're debating taking the Falcon course and want to be as jacked and awesome-looking as I am, you'll be glad to know that we get a pretty nice discount at the local Bally's. They give us unlimited access for the 7 weeks, for only $40. The gym is huge, so even though it's usually pretty busy, you almost never have to wait for equipment. Here's a picture of the outside of the gym. It probably will not be helpful to you at all, but I wanted to post some sort of picture. I would have included myself in the picture, but after coming out of the gym, I probably would have eclipsed the building. Sometimes its tough being me.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Free food is a good thing
Tonight, Sonic is giving away free root beer floats. I have no idea why they're doing it, or why it only starts at 8pm, but I don't really care. There's a sonic just a few minutes away, so I'll very likely be making my way there later tonight! 
Update: OK, I went there tonight with Chuck, Geneva, Tangra, and Josh. Gotta say, I was a little disappointed by the free float, even though it was free. For one, please use root beer which is carbonated. Second, it really should not be soft serve ice cream. I understand that they were pumping these things out in volume, but that's really no excuse for bad quality. Chuck didn't even drink his after trying Geveva's! But, the chili cheese dog and tater tots pretty much hit the spot.
Update: OK, I went there tonight with Chuck, Geneva, Tangra, and Josh. Gotta say, I was a little disappointed by the free float, even though it was free. For one, please use root beer which is carbonated. Second, it really should not be soft serve ice cream. I understand that they were pumping these things out in volume, but that's really no excuse for bad quality. Chuck didn't even drink his after trying Geveva's! But, the chili cheese dog and tater tots pretty much hit the spot.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
A boring Tuesday
Today was boring, but a lot has happened in the last day since I posted! An airplane has tragically crashed into the ocean, killing hundreds of people, GM as gone bankrupt, and tragically, Sotamayor is still a supreme court justice nominee. However, Falcon has not been nearly as exiting.
Yesterday began pharmacology lecture - about 800 pages of material that we have 5 days to memorize! This should be a lot of fun! The pharm guy is not extremely exciting to listen to, but he does know his stuff, points out the important points, and doesn't put you to sleep either. Unfortunately, no matter how good he is, I just have a ton of stuff to memorize over the next few days. I suppose that I should get to it...
Oh, P.S. - I was VERY disappointed today to learn that Boston Market has discontinued ham! What in the hell were they thinking? I loved their ham!
Yesterday began pharmacology lecture - about 800 pages of material that we have 5 days to memorize! This should be a lot of fun! The pharm guy is not extremely exciting to listen to, but he does know his stuff, points out the important points, and doesn't put you to sleep either. Unfortunately, no matter how good he is, I just have a ton of stuff to memorize over the next few days. I suppose that I should get to it...
Oh, P.S. - I was VERY disappointed today to learn that Boston Market has discontinued ham! What in the hell were they thinking? I loved their ham!
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