Epilepsy: WWYD

[Caboose]

So you have a new patient who has mostly controlled juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. You slap her on some Lamictal, hoping it's enough to counter the college parties and exams. As you turn to scrawl out a prescription, you feel a small tug on your coat. You turn to see two wide, Disney-like eyes staring up at you.

"I wanna be a doctor when I grow up," she tells you. A wave of doubt melts over her face, "But my other neurologist said I should never, ever do it - so I tried research for a while, but..." She guiltily pulls her physiology text out of her bag and breaks down sobbing.

"Get a hold of yourself, you wee slut!" you yell as you strike some sense into her. The nurse in the hall rolls her eyes and sighs as she closes the door for the inevitable beating.

...o.k., maybe the last part didn't happen. Still, I was curious to see what you would have told the patient about medical school and the sleep deprivation bit. I'm stubborn as hell about going for it, but I'm naive. I'm on the wrong continent at the moment, so I can't go wandering around the hospitals like a lost puppy asking for opinions and advice - it's SDN time. Please tell me what you think about this scenario and what possible complications you foresee me having.

Oh - and she's weird and talks a lot.

Caboose.

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[neurologist]

So you have a new patient who has mostly controlled juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. You slap her on some Lamictal, hoping it's enough to counter the college parties and exams. As you turn to scrawl out a prescription, you feel a small tug on your coat. You turn to see two wide, Disney-like eyes staring up at you.

"I wanna be a doctor when I grow up," she tells you. A wave of doubt melts over her face, "But my other neurologist said I should never, ever do it - so I tried research for a while, but..." She guiltily pulls her physiology text out of her bag and breaks down sobbing.

"Get a hold of yourself, you wee slut!" you yell as you strike some sense into her. The nurse in the hall rolls her eyes and sighs as she closes the door for the inevitable beating.

...o.k., maybe the last part didn't happen. Still, I was curious to see what you would have told the patient about medical school and the sleep deprivation bit. I'm stubborn as hell about going for it, but I'm naive. I'm on the wrong continent at the moment, so I can't go wandering around the hospitals like a lost puppy asking for opinions and advice - it's SDN time. Please tell me what you think about this scenario and what possible complications you foresee me having.

Oh - and she's weird and talks a lot.

Caboose.

Sure, why not? She wouldn't be the first doctor with epilepsy. Let her go for it and let the darwinian medical education system weed her out if it can. And remember, medical training is becoming (at least on paper) more "humane" nowadays, what with 80-hour rules and all that. Plus, there are plenty of specialties with tolerable lifestyles (derm, path, etc) that don't demand chronic sleep deprivation.
As for being weird and talking a lot, well, again, I've met plenty of, um, "eccentric" doctors along the way . . .

 

[Caboose]

As for being weird and talking a lot, well, again, I've met plenty of, um, "eccentric" doctors along the way . . .

Thank the Christ.
So by saying, "you can't make me stay up too late without some pumkinage going on," I'm not asking them to redesign the curriculum? I switched focus to PA for a bit and they told be if I couldn't meet the physical requirements, I wouldn't be able to attend.
Thanks for answering by the way.

Caboose.