I'm a soon to be Medicine resident, ask me anything

[spootbat]

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Hi guys, I just graduated med school, I'm starting my medicine intern year soon and after that I'll be doing 3 years of neurology at a hospital in the Northeast. Ask me anything.

 

[911 Turbo]

Hi guys, I just graduated med school, I'm starting my medicine intern year soon and after that I'll be doing 3 years of neurology at a hospital in the Northeast. Ask me anything.

Why neurology?

 

[loltopsy]

Does a unilateral lesion of fibers going to the hypoglossal nucleus cause UMN symptoms unilaterally? I've read several sources, and they all conflict. Some say you will get symptoms, others say there is bilateral innervation and no significant symptoms will be observed.

 

[911 Turbo]

Does a unilateral lesion of fibers going to the hypoglossal nucleus cause UMN symptoms unilaterally? I've read several sources, and they all conflict. Some say you will get symptoms, others say there is bilateral innervation and no significant symptoms will be observed.

.......

 

[circulus vitios]

Does a unilateral lesion of fibers going to the hypoglossal nucleus cause UMN symptoms unilaterally? I've read several sources, and they all conflict. Some say you will get symptoms, others say there is bilateral innervation and no significant symptoms will be observed.

 

[spootbat]

Does a unilateral lesion of fibers going to the hypoglossal nucleus cause UMN symptoms unilaterally? I've read several sources, and they all conflict. Some say you will get symptoms, others say there is bilateral innervation and no significant symptoms will be observed.

No.

 

[ventulus18]

Does a unilateral lesion of fibers going to the hypoglossal nucleus cause UMN symptoms unilaterally? I've read several sources, and they all conflict. Some say you will get symptoms, others say there is bilateral innervation and no significant symptoms will be observed.

What sources? 🙂

 

[Ost3oclast]

Does a unilateral lesion of fibers going to the hypoglossal nucleus cause UMN symptoms unilaterally? I've read several sources, and they all conflict. Some say you will get symptoms, others say there is bilateral innervation and no significant symptoms will be observed.

Hhmmmm.....

 

[spootbat]

Why neurology?

I think the brain is the most interesting organ in the human body. While most of my colleagues have decided to go into specialties dealing with poop moving through a tube or a mechanical blood pumping organ and its pipes, or fixing bones, I am going to be dealing with a computer. The brain is so complex in its structure, interactions, and manifestations of disease that was immediately drawn to neurology.
I also enjoy the cooperation with other specialties, like radiology, cardiology, neurosurgery, ENT, IM, ophtho, psych etc. Neurologists get fun, expensive toys like MRI and CT, and less expensive but high yield tools such as the neuro exam, reflex hammer, ophthalmoscope, tuning fork, and mental status exam.

 

[Ost3oclast]

How do you like the patient population in neuro? Do you get a wide variety of age groups?

 

[spootbat]

How do you like the patient population in neuro? Do you get a wide variety of age groups?

Anyone can have stroke or seizures, although strokes typically happen in older people. Child neurology is in itself a separate residency, actually a fellowship in pediatrics dealing with its own slew of congenital and development neurological disorders. Demyelinating diseases can affect people of any age, most tragically and commonly in young adults.

To most other medical subspecialties, neurology is almost magical. Very few non-neurologists bother to learn about neurological diseases or how to properly examine a patient's nervous system and intelligently interpret the results, so in the hospital setting neurologists can be called by a variety of other doctors to consult on their patients, whether it be in the ER or in labor and delivery for a woman in labor. I'd call that a wide variety.

 

[Mornhavon]

.

 

[Ost3oclast]

Anyone can have stroke or seizures, although strokes typically happen in older people. Child neurology is in itself a separate residency, actually a fellowship in pediatrics dealing with its own slew of congenital and development neurological disorders. Demyelinating diseases can affect people of any age, most tragically and commonly in young adults.

To most other medical subspecialties, neurology is almost magical. Very few non-neurologists bother to learn about neurological diseases or how to properly examine a patient's nervous system and intelligently interpret the results, so in the hospital setting neurologists can be called by a variety of other doctors to consult on their patients, whether it be in the ER or in labor and delivery for a woman in labor. I'd call that a wide variety.

Wow man that seems pretty legit. I can tell you enjoy what you do.

 

[spootbat]

Were you inspired by Raleigh St. Clair?

I don't know who that is, sorry.

 

[Warriors90]

Can you help explain to me what a neurologist's turf is? I understand the stroke aspect, but between psychiatry and neurosurgery, how much is left for neurologist to do? And how do you feel about how little is known about the brain and specifically, common diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's Huntington's, etc

 

[spootbat]

Can you help explain to me what a neurologist's turf is? I understand the stroke aspect, but between psychiatry and neurosurgery, how much is left for neurologist to do? And how do you feel about how little is known about the brain and specifically, common diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's Huntington's, etc

I'll try to answer this question by describing the boundaries of psych and neurosurgery with relation to neurology. There is a lot of overlap. Psychiatry deals with behavioral disorders, which of course are generated in the brain and can be treated with drugs that manipulate neurotransmitters. However, psychiatrists defer to neurologists when there may be "organic" disease causing a patient's behavioral symptoms.Organic means a systemic disease or a disease process that is not just causing behavioral symptoms. So maybe a psychiatrist or a neurologist could care for a patient who is psychotic, but when they do a CT of the head and see something abnormal, they call the neurologists. There is a subspecialty of neurology called behavioral neurology which deals with odd disorders of perception after stroke or Alzheimers disease. There is also a weird reverse of this relationship, where patients will present with bona-fide neurological symptoms like a seizure, weakness, or visual loss, but nothing is found and it is determined that the symptoms are psychosomatic or something called "conversion disorder", and in that case the neurologists call the psychiatrists for help!

Neurosurgeons are surgeons, and they like to get their hands dirty. Anything anatomically wrong in the brain or spinal cord is possible. So diseases like acute or subacute brain bleeds, brain or spinal cord trauma, brain tumors, brain abcesses or cysts, certain vascular conditions in the brain like aneurysms, etc are the domain of the neurosurgeons. But again there is lots of overlap and neurosurgeons are neurologists are often BFFs.

There are other things for neurologists to do, too. There are neuromuscular diseases like mysasthenia gravis and all the muscular dystrophies. Pain/headache specialists. Movement disorder specialists. Neuro-interventional. Neuro-critical care.

 

[synecdoche]

Hi guys, I just graduated med school, I'm starting my medicine intern year soon and after that I'll be doing 3 years of neurology at a hospital in the Northeast. Ask me anything.

Did you have to apply to your intern year and the 3-year neurology program separately, and are all neurology residencies like that? Are you doing them in the same place?

 

[spootbat]

Did you have to apply to your intern year and the 3-year neurology program separately, and are all neurology residencies like that? Are you doing them in the same place?

Some neurology programs (called "categorical" programs) include the intern year. However, most are "advanced" programs and thus start when you are a PGY2, so you need to apply separately to a preliminary medicine intern year. I am doing my intern year and neurology residency at different hospitals but they are very, very close to each other geographically. Prelim programs are actually pretty competitive because so many different specialties require one, such as radiology, dermatology, rad-onc, ophtho, PM&R, etc.

I don't know how I ended up getting a spot at the program where I'm doing my prelim year, since it is pretty nice and has few spots. I mean, I don't even consider myself the best of my class, even in undergrad. It really has been a whirlwind ride from taking the MCAT to somehow not failing at medical school to getting a cool residency spot. I remember in undergrad a lot of the other premeds (often the most obnoxious, douchey ones) self-doubted themselves so much that they psyched themselves out of applying at all. Ooh...orgo was brutal for all the premeds.I was a pretty quiet, unassuming person, never boasting how I was premed. I even got some Bs and a C. I didn't flamboyantly volunteer or go on overseas missions or anything like that. It was the moment of truth at the pre-health society meeting in January when I was a junior. They said "If you want to apply to AMCAS this year then come to the front of the auditorium and write your name on this list. I thought "Oh what the heck" and I did it, and I somehow got into an american med school first try. Remember, I could have doubted myself at that moment and not gotten up, not applied that cycle, took a year or two off, and then it could have not worked out.

To be clear, there is a lot of luck involved. But don't be a douche, be determined, don't psyche yourself out, be confident in your abilities and credentials. Have a definite plan. This board is a poisonous place for premeds, since it seems the douchiest gunner-types post here and scare you into thinking that you are not good enough to make the cut, but some of you are definitely good enough to get into med school and make it. I mean, if don't be a Don Quixote, but recognize that you are worth something and you are worthy of charging forward into the competitive world of medicine.

 

[joonage]

I'll try to answer this question by describing the boundaries of psych and neurosurgery with relation to neurology. There is a lot of overlap. Psychiatry deals with behavioral disorders, which of course are generated in the brain and can be treated with drugs that manipulate neurotransmitters. However, psychiatrists defer to neurologists when there may be "organic" disease causing a patient's behavioral symptoms.Organic means a systemic disease or a disease process that is not just causing behavioral symptoms. So maybe a psychiatrist or a neurologist could care for a patient who is psychotic, but when they do a CT of the head and see something abnormal, they call the neurologists. There is a subspecialty of neurology called behavioral neurology which deals with odd disorders of perception after stroke or Alzheimers disease. There is also a weird reverse of this relationship, where patients will present with bona-fide neurological symptoms like a seizure, weakness, or visual loss, but nothing is found and it is determined that the symptoms are psychosomatic or something called "conversion disorder", and in that case the neurologists call the psychiatrists for help!

Neurosurgeons are surgeons, and they like to get their hands dirty. Anything anatomically wrong in the brain or spinal cord is possible. So diseases like acute or subacute brain bleeds, brain or spinal cord trauma, brain tumors, brain abcesses or cysts, certain vascular conditions in the brain like aneurysms, etc are the domain of the neurosurgeons. But again there is lots of overlap and neurosurgeons are neurologists are often BFFs.

There are other things for neurologists to do, too. There are neuromuscular diseases like mysasthenia gravis and all the muscular dystrophies. Pain/headache specialists. Movement disorder specialists. Neuro-interventional. Neuro-critical care.

I've always been interested in the brain (neurobio/psych double major) and have hopes of going into a specialty that deals with the brain, particularly neurosurgery (although I know opinions change in med school!)

What made you decide for one versus the another? Length of residency? Lifestyle?

Thanks!

 

[JackyLin]

Do you believe healthcare to be a right or privilege? Why?

 

[punkedoutriffs]

Did you ever consider Psychiatry or Neurosurgery? If no, why not? If so, why did you choose Neurology over Psychiatry and Neurosurgery?

 

[ToldYouSo]

hhmmmm.....

+1

 

[deleted503015]

Hi guys, I just graduated med school, I'm starting my medicine intern year soon and after that I'll be doing 3 years of neurology at a hospital in the Northeast. Ask me anything.

How much debt did you come out of medical school with? How much will you have at the end of residency? What is your strategy going to be for paying it off?

 

[vonburen]

When a patient gets diagnosed with something like alzheimers, multiple system atrophy, frontotemporal dementia, etc. and they're obviously going to be losing their job/independence, and say they don't have a family support network, what role does the neurologist take in ensuring the patient doesn't go homeless and die?

 

[spootbat]

I've always been interested in the brain (neurobio/psych double major) and have hopes of going into a specialty that deals with the brain, particularly neurosurgery (although I know opinions change in med school!)

What made you decide for one versus the another? Length of residency? Lifestyle?

Thanks!

People who are going into neurosurgery KNOW they are going into neurosurgery early on. It truly is a calling, and it has to be when you are dealing with cutting into people's skulls and spines. For me, I'm a thinker, not so much a doer, as in I don't feel comfortable rushing in and doing something like what surgeons do. Also, neurosurgery has a tremendously taxing lifestyle and long, difficult residency. I've known people in medical school who go into neurosurgery and end up as completely different people 2 years into residency (not in a good way). It was not for me!

 

[spootbat]

Do you believe healthcare to be a right or privilege? Why?

I think it is a right, but people also need to take ownership of their own health too. Healthcare is not an unlimited resource like water or air, so people can't just ignore their own health and expect us to fix them, or not follow our directions for treatment or follow-up of their disease and then expect us to just keep fixing them again and again. It is complicated.

 

[spootbat]

Did you ever consider Psychiatry or Neurosurgery? If no, why not? If so, why did you choose Neurology over Psychiatry and Neurosurgery?

I didn't choose neurosurgery because I am not really a doer plus I don't like the lifestyle. I didn't want to do psych because I think a lot of it is unscientific, plus mental illness is very hard to understand to treat and the patients can be very abusive.

 

[spootbat]

How much debt did you come out of medical school with? How much will you have at the end of residency? What is your strategy going to be for paying it off?

I have little debt from med school, only around $80,000, of which 20,000 I just managed to pay back because of some extra money I had. That leaves me with about 50,000, or 70,000 with the accrued interest over 10 years. I plan to pay about 600 dollars a month to pay it back in residency, but once I'm done with residency and my salary more than doubles, I can finally put an end to the debt in one shot.

This is not the typical case, I warn you. Most of my classmates have over $200,000 in debt. A lot of them are choosing to do residencies and then after residency work in a non-profit institution, and after 10 years the debt is forgiven.

 

[spootbat]

When a patient gets diagnosed with something like alzheimers, multiple system atrophy, frontotemporal dementia, etc. and they're obviously going to be losing their job/independence, and say they don't have a family support network, what role does the neurologist take in ensuring the patient doesn't go homeless and die?

In neurology and most other fields in medicine it is important to have a good working relationship with social workers, physical therapists, rehabilitation centers. They can assess a patient's ability to carry out the activities of daily living and then find solutions such as home nurses, nursing homes, outpatient rehab, or something else.

 

[Loveless]

Do you plan on going into academics? If so, any research areas in mind?

Also, did you always kinda know you wanted to work with the nervous system or was this a 3rd/4th year epiphany for you?

 

[iforget2]

How much time did you have in medical school to workout and watch TV?

 

[ar2388]

neurosurgeons are an entirely different species. they agrue AGAINST work-hour restrictions (for good reasons but still) and they want to be in the hospital for 100+ hours a week...
neurology is really interesting and i considered it for a while. they are super smart people and know soooo damn much. but the patient stuff i didnt want so radiology it is for me! probably neuroradiology actually 🙂

 

[nysegop]

neurosurgeons are an entirely different species. they agrue AGAINST work-hour restrictions (for good reasons but still) and they want to be in the hospital for 100+ hours a week...
neurology is really interesting and i considered it for a while. they are super smart people and know soooo damn much. but the patient stuff i didnt want so radiology it is for me! probably neuroradiology actually 🙂

Pretty much sums it up.

 

[deleted503015]

I have little debt from med school, only around $80,000, of which 20,000 I just managed to pay back because of some extra money I had. That leaves me with about 50,000, or 70,000 with the accrued interest over 10 years. I plan to pay about 600 dollars a month to pay it back in residency, but once I'm done with residency and my salary more than doubles, I can finally put an end to the debt in one shot.

This is not the typical case, I warn you. Most of my classmates have over $200,000 in debt. A lot of them are choosing to do residencies and then after residency work in a non-profit institution, and after 10 years the debt is forgiven.

Wow, good for you!

 

[spootbat]

How much time did you have in medical school to workout and watch TV?

There is plenty of time to do that stuff. Less time in 3rd year because of clinical rotations, but still plenty of time. I guess it depends if you're a gunner or a little more laid back. It is less about being a gunner or laid back than when to "turn on" that part of yourself when you need to. Give into your studious tendencies when exams are coming up. Relax when you are done for the day. It is all about balance.

 

[spootbat]

Do you plan on going into academics? If so, any research areas in mind?

Also, did you always kinda know you wanted to work with the nervous system or was this a 3rd/4th year epiphany for you?

I took a neuroscience course in undergrad and I hated it. When I got to neuroscience in 1st year of med school, I thought the structure and function of the brain was interesting and I liked the way neurologists think. When third year rolled around and I was in my neuro rotation my mind didn't change, and then in 4th year I did an away elective in neurology and I loved it. I ended up matching there along with the other med student I was with on that elective! Go figure.

 

[ericksonj15]

.

 

[ziva23]

Hi,

I've been doing some research on which US schools accept transfer student from UAG. So far, none of them do. Does anyone know if there is a school that would accept transfers from UAG in the 2nd year?


Ziva

 

[21Rush12]

Hi,

I've been doing some research on which US schools accept transfer student from UAG. So far, none of them do. Does anyone know if there is a school that would accept transfers from UAG in the 2nd year?


Ziva

This thread is almost 5 years old, and it’s not really related to your question.

You can post a new thread to ask your question rather than bumping old ones in the future.