Random non-MCAT and only peripherally related to the MCAT thread - Part 8

[Arsenic]

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how's your studying going guys? are you freaking out? burned out?

this is our stress relief thread....or our group anxiety thread, whatever..... 😀

for those of you that have no idea what the mcat random threads are about, check out molly's explanation:

It's basically a restaurant. That serves breaststicks. And lots of cute fruit and veggies. And is patronized by a HO. And Tucker Carlson. Vin Diesel, too. Lots of race car drivers eat here, as well. We're very well respected by the Amish... one girl in particular is here almost all the time.

The food is great if you're low on iron. It's not on the menu, but you can ask about the special secret garlic cure home recipe. One of the hostesses often makes weather predictions, but she's not always around. I think she has another job with the government. Or a government. Something like that. One of the other hostesses says "Bitch, please," a lot, but she's joking... don't take it personally.

Forget anything you've heard about the girl who died here from arsenic poisoning. That was a long time ago, and she's still alive, anyway... just busy so she doesn't come in as much. Besides, a little arsenic adds a lot of flavor to just about any dish.

Pretty flowers by the entrance, hey? Lilis, they are. Beautiful. And the music is totally hopping... we have our very own DJ. Looks a little like Brad Pitt.

I guess that's pretty much all you need to know. I'm usually in the corner booth over there drinking a nice glass of wine. You're welcome to join me, anytime. We're open 24/7.

EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO POST HERE, you're welcome to jump in at anytime. Here's the final tally from part 7:

Arsenic 1,194
beary 1,021
Nikki2002 934
Anastasis 878
WilliamsF1 868
jlw9698 757
oxeye 422
UMP 420
BrettBatchelor 379
Dr Durden 378
RAD11 359
Teerawit 302
ironmanf14 267
scentimint 250
MollyMalone 200
megboo 189
Crazy Canuck 182
mshheaddoc 180
lilithny 161
supernova33418 154
TypeA 126
gujuDoc 116
EvoDevo 83
Penny2004 39
QofQuimica 31
Pemberley 16
Noeljan 9
Darlaa 8
jamie_kee_mac85 8
polarbingbear 8
Tristero 7
dc52e55 5
Hernandez 5
gradu8in2003 4
StellarOrigins 4
stiffany 4
abadri421 4
rogerwilco 4
CanadianPremed 4
Dr. Pepper 4
medfool24 3
KentW 3
nittanylionmd 2
ADeadLois 2
jophe 2
spicedmanna 1
yellowledbetter 1
DRKUBA 1
jessie 1
IBF 1
Oschemi 1
simpleman 1
clsr2nrvna 1

 

[Nikki2002]

beary what's up??? 🙁 🙁 😡 😡

 

[Nikki2002]

so i've heard at airpoirt security at an arizona airport you can either choose to be frisked or walk through this new machine. I guess this machine is pretty revealing--it can even show if you've had a brazilian. well then....

 

[Anastasis]

oh hells yeah. dodged a bullet. turns out he's dropping the lowest biochem test score 😉 yeah cause I bombed that

He didn't tell us he was testing TCA again! I didn't even review that stuff! 🙁

 

[Anastasis]

so i've heard at airpoirt security at an arizona airport you can either choose to be frisked or walk through this new machine. I guess this machine is pretty revealing--it can even show if you've had a brazilian. well then....

oh hells no.

 

[Nikki2002]

ana--you had an exam today? i'm sorry if that's the one you didn't do well on--and why the heck does the tca cycle have like 10 different names?

 

[Nikki2002]

pirates 2 comes out today!! woot!👍

 

[Anastasis]

ana--you had an exam today? i'm sorry if that's the one you didn't do well on--and why the heck does the tca cycle have like 10 different names?

I don't know but I find that annoying as well.

Yeah I had my last biochem chapter test this morning. The final is next week.

Should I go listen to the admissions dean at San Antonio give a talk or just skip it? I'm already in. I hoped it might help me make my decision.

 

[oxeye]

oh hells yeah. dodged a bullet. turns out he's dropping the lowest biochem test score 😉 yeah cause I bombed that

He didn't tell us he was testing TCA again! I didn't even review that stuff! 🙁

Ummm you're already accepted. Stop caring about your biochem grade!

 

[oxeye]

Fun, I get to take my car in to have a recall repair. Apparently it could just turn itself off while driving, even on the freaking freeway! 😱

Means I have to switch the carseats to the other car. Such a PITA to move those things!!

 

[PBandJ]

pirates 2 comes out today!! woot!👍

saweeeeeet! 👍

 

[PBandJ]

Fun, I get to take my car in to have a recall repair. Apparently it could just turn itself off while driving, even on the freaking freeway! 😱

Means I have to switch the carseats to the other car. Such a PITA to move those things!!

not saweeet! 👎

 

[Arsenic]

AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! 😱

sorry beary, i hope your day got better

dude, my intern rocks and the resident is pretty nice too. funny thing about the attending though, the other MS3 on my team asked the attending a question about antibiotic selection in pneumonia the attending promptly responded with "why dont you look that up and give us a talk about it tomorrow."

my poor partner made the all critical mistake of asking an attending he just met a medical question without really knowing the topic first.... did i get assigned a topic to present to the team tomorrow? hells no, i didnt ask the attending anything and just paid attention to when he talked and smiled and nodded to show i was listening.

 

[Arsenic]

AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!! 😱

oh beary btw, the CPRSChart electronic records they use at all the VA Hospitals KICKS ASS. my god, i'm gonna get so spoiled after i have to go back to my main hospital and write actual notes again. its so cool to be able to type your notes, sign them electronically, pull up consult notes, progress notes from previous admissions etc....... soooo soooo soooo much more efficient, as is at my other hospital most of the time i can only read every other line in a consult note because the handwriting is just horrific. plus i'm a fast typist thanks to SDN, ha. and since the system is linked to all the VA hospitals, I could even pull up notes from other VA hospitals around the country where the veteran may have been seen.

VA computer system = 👍 👍

 

[PBandJ]

sorry beary, i hope your day got better

dude, my intern rocks and the resident is pretty nice too. funny thing about the attending though, the other MS3 on my team asked the attending a question about antibiotic selection in pneumonia the attending promptly responded with "why dont you look that up and give us a talk about it tomorrow."

my poor partner made the all critical mistake of asking an attending he just met a medical question without really knowing the topic first.... did i get assigned a topic to present to the team tomorrow? hells no, i didnt ask the attending anything and just paid attention to when he talked and smiled and nodded to show i was listening.

ouch for your partner... but good job on keeping your trap shut and listening, a-man! 🙂

 

[oxeye]

the other MS3 on my team asked the attending a question about antibiotic selection in pneumonia the attending promptly responded with "why dont you look that up and give us a talk about it tomorrow."

That'll teach him to ask questions and try to learn something.

Note to self: Don't ask the attending questions.

 

[PBandJ]

also, you guys might enjoy this pic:

 

[PBandJ]

he's a pediatric dermatologist. 🙂

http://www.pediatricalliance.com/doctors-kgpai.cfm

 

[Arsenic]

ouch for your partner... but good job on keeping your trap shut and listening, a-man! 🙂

That'll teach him to ask questions and try to learn something.

Note to self: Don't ask the attending questions.

i know it sounds weird guys but questions like that should really be made to interns or residents first, if you read the clinical rotations forum sometimes you'll see that point brought up a lot. the attending evaluates us mostly on our admission/progress notes and patient presentations at rounds, thats pretty much it. most of our learning is done independently or picked up from working with our resident and intern.

when you ask the attending a medical question you better know something about the topic. ie, instead of asking "how do you know which antibiotic to use for pneumonia?" a better question for the attending would be something like "when treating your pneumonia patients, do your patients tolerate macrolides like azithromycin better than quinolones like levofloxacin?" the 2nd question shows more knowledge about the subject and is much more likely to be followed by a real answer instead of something like "why dont you read up about that and tell us all tomorrow".

 

[mshheaddoc]

I got a new laptop! I'm back in business now 😀

 

[Anastasis]

i know it sounds weird guys but questions like that should really be made to interns or residents first, if you read the clinical rotations forum sometimes you'll see that point brought up a lot. the attending evaluates us mostly on our admission/progress notes and patient presentations at rounds, thats pretty much it. most of our learning is done independently or picked up from working with our resident and intern.

when you ask the attending a medical question you better know something about the topic. ie, instead of asking "how do you know which antibiotic to use for pneumonia?" a better question for the attending would be something like "when treating your pneumonia patients, do your patients tolerate macrolides like azithromycin better than quinolones like levofloxacin?" the 2nd question shows more knowledge about the subject and is much more likely to be followed by a real answer instead of something like "why dont you read up about that and tell us all tomorrow".

I'm getting my ass kicked in med school 🙁

 

[beary]

sorry beary, i hope your day got better

dude, my intern rocks and the resident is pretty nice too.

Glad you have a good intern and resident! That makes all the difference. How is everything else on medicine treating you?

My day has gotten better. This stupid test will be over in 72 hours.

Funny story, though I don't know if it will come across in text. I couldn't find these brain slides this morning for an autopsy I did and was running all around looking for them. Finally, I was down in the morgue for other brain cutting and found the brain down there that I had never cut. Oops! 😳

Anyway, so I'm chilling down there cutting the brain and hanging with the dieners. (The morgue is a fun, relaxed place). One of my classmates came down to chat with me so we're all just chatting. My back was turned and one of the attendings came in to the morgue. Our department is very formal/ivory-tower and this was an elderly guy, bow tie, etc. So my classmate said hi, and I didn't really turn around but said "hey, what's up?" Everybody else just busted out laughing. It was SO FUNNY. Fortunately the attending seemed ok with it. Now the rest of the day I've heard a lot of "hey, what's up?" LOL.

 

[beary]

oh beary btw, the CPRSChart electronic records they use at all the VA Hospitals KICKS ASS. my god, i'm gonna get so spoiled after i have to go back to my main hospital and write actual notes again. its so cool to be able to type your notes, sign them electronically, pull up consult notes, progress notes from previous admissions etc....... soooo soooo soooo much more efficient, as is at my other hospital most of the time i can only read every other line in a consult note because the handwriting is just horrific. plus i'm a fast typist thanks to SDN, ha. and since the system is linked to all the VA hospitals, I could even pull up notes from other VA hospitals around the country where the veteran may have been seen.

VA computer system = 👍 👍

Totally agreed. 👍 It will be so nice when you go to residency too because if you are at a VA during your residency you will already know the computer system!

I can't believe you don't have an electronic medical record at your institution though! 😱 We did at Iowa and do here at Michigan. The only handwritten notes I ever had to write my whole life were on OB at Iowa. I have no idea why OB does handwritten notes when everybody else does computer notes.

 

[Anastasis]

Totally agreed. 👍 It will be so nice when you go to residency too because if you are at a VA during your residency you will already know the computer system!

I can't believe you don't have an electronic medical record at your institution though! 😱 We did at Iowa and do here at Michigan. The only handwritten notes I ever had to write my whole life were on OB at Iowa. I have no idea why OB does handwritten notes when everybody else does computer notes.

I think I noticed that Parkland had handwritten notes... at least I didn't see a really extensive computer system. Plus I think the tour guide made some comment about writing up notes and indicated to a huge stack of binders. 😱

Hey guys - I'm logging out until my finals are over. (Still reserving some daily Beary AIM time though 😉 ) Good luck to everyone who is taking finals! 🙂

 

[beary]

Note to self: Don't ask the attending questions.

This is a good note to self. It's ashame but that's the way it is. 🙁

When you're an M3, ask your intern (or even an M4 if there's one on your service). Now that I'm an intern, I ask my senior. Sometimes in path though, there is no senior and it's just me - then I will ask the attending. Still makes me nervous though!

 

[Arsenic]

I'm getting my ass kicked in med school 🙁

no you're not, you're going to be a star. 😀

the 1st 2 years are just like undergrad except its a lot more info in much shorter time plus sessions like how to perform a physical and patient encounters sprinkled in throughout. you get use to it within the first year though and adjust very well.

in years 3 and 4 is when you enter the real world of clinical medicine which is when the environment really changes, it just takes getting used to. i'm actually still not use to it, like i was telling nikki yesterday every team is different and every attending is different and until you learn how they like things presented and done, its stressful. then by the time you do things exactly the way they like it and you're a star you move on to your next rotation and present to a new team and attending in that style you just got praised on the week before and the new attending hates it and teaches you their way, the cycle just repeats over and over again.

 

[beary]

I

Hey guys - I'm logging out until my finals are over. (Still reserving some daily Beary AIM time though 😉 ) Good luck to everyone who is taking finals! 🙂

Awww, thanks for reserving beary AIM time!! 😍

 

[Anastasis]

no you're not, you're going to be a star. 😀

the 1st 2 years are just like undergrad except its a lot more info in much shorter time plus sessions like how to perform a physical and patient encounters sprinkled in throughout. you get use to it within the first year though and adjust very well.

in years 3 and 4 is when you enter the real world of clinical medicine which is when the environment really changes, it just takes getting used to. i'm actually still not use to it, like i was telling nikki yesterday every team is different and every attending is different and until you learn how they like things presented and done, its stressful. then by the time you do things exactly the way they like it and you're a star you move on to your next rotation and present to a new team and attending in that style you just got praised on the week before and the new attending hates it and teaches you their way, the cycle just repeats over and over again.

lol - it's funny, at SW they asked me what I thought the hardest part of medical school was going to be and I said it was going to be hard to no patient contact for the first two years (after working at the clinic) because that's the whole reason why I'm in this game. I don't know if he believed me or not

I'm really so psyched about rotations. I think that's why I like Baylor so much; 1.5 years and you're out of basic sciences

Plus I get the impression like rotations can be alot of problem solving (which I love). I know I have to memorize too but it just seems like there's more room for concepts in rotations. But then maybe I'm too optimistic 😉

 

[Arsenic]

I got a new laptop! I'm back in business now 😀

congrats mushy 😀

 

[beary]

in years 3 and 4 is when you enter the real world of clinical medicine which is when the environment really changes, it just takes getting used to. i'm actually still not use to it, like i was telling nikki yesterday every team is different and every attending is different and until you learn how they like things presented and done, its stressful. then by the time you do things exactly the way they like it and you're a star you move on to your next rotation and present to a new team and attending in that style you just got praised on the week before and the new attending hates it and teaches you their way, the cycle just repeats over and over again.

Yeah, and then the cycle continues when you're a resident and switching rotations and attendings all the time too. 🙁 I sort of like to get settled in and do something for a while and get used to it, but MAN is it nice to get off of rotations I've had like autopsy, and especially VA surg path.

During our more senior rotations here, we have subspecialty signout (GU, GI, gyn, etc.) when we switch rotations every 2 weeks. That might get to be a bit overwhelming for me. 😱

 

[Anastasis]

Yeah, and then the cycle continues when you're a resident and switching rotations and attendings all the time too. 🙁 I sort of like to get settled in and do something for a while and get used to it, but MAN is it nice to get off of rotations I've had like autopsy, and especially VA surg path.

During our more senior rotations here, we have subspecialty signout (GI, GI, gyn, etc.) when we switch rotations every 2 weeks. That might get to be a bit overwhelming for me. 😱

How many rotations total?

 

[Arsenic]

Glad you have a good intern and resident! That makes all the difference. How is everything else on medicine treating you?

My day has gotten better. This stupid test will be over in 72 hours.

Funny story, though I don't know if it will come across in text. I couldn't find these brain slides this morning for an autopsy I did and was running all around looking for them. Finally, I was down in the morgue for other brain cutting and found the brain down there that I had never cut. Oops! 😳

Anyway, so I'm chilling down there cutting the brain and hanging with the dieners. (The morgue is a fun, relaxed place). One of my classmates came down to chat with me so we're all just chatting. My back was turned and one of the attendings came in to the morgue. Our department is very formal/ivory-tower and this was an elderly guy, bow tie, etc. So my classmate said hi, and I didn't really turn around but said "hey, what's up?" Everybody else just busted out laughing. It was SO FUNNY. Fortunately the attending seemed ok with it. Now the rest of the day I've heard a lot of "hey, what's up?" LOL.

hey, whats up? 😛

glad you had a funny day dr.pgy1

so far so good for me on med, beary. my intern is the coolest, like totally took an hour out of her day to show me and my partner the VA computer system.... how sweet was that? she didnt have to do that at all. she even read my note and told me what changes to add before i signed it electronically and it went to the 3rd year resident for co-signing. 🙂

and get this..... yesterday my team was on call and when they met us they told us to just come in today. that was soooooooooo nice, they could totally have kept us on call with them last night. so yeah, i'm really liking my resident and intern right now. 👍

the attending is young, probably in his late 30's so he's actually more laid back than your typical medical attending i think but he's still an attending so.....

my team has this crazy q2 call schedule where they have short calls and long calls broken up amonst the residents, short call goes home by 3-5pm. long call goes home by 11pm, they alternate. i'm on short call tomorrow with that nice intern and then on long call this sunday, i think the students are just q4 but i'll check with my intern tomorrow.

 

[Arsenic]

Totally agreed. 👍 It will be so nice when you go to residency too because if you are at a VA during your residency you will already know the computer system!

I can't believe you don't have an electronic medical record at your institution though! 😱 We did at Iowa and do here at Michigan. The only handwritten notes I ever had to write my whole life were on OB at Iowa. I have no idea why OB does handwritten notes when everybody else does computer notes.

yeah, its a county hospital so since its strapped for cash we use paper charts. the computer system is set up to get radiology like CTs/MRIs, or lab results, or pharmacy orders or previous discharge summaries and stuff but thats the extent of it pretty much. it reallllllllllly needs upgrading. seriously, written medical records suck. you waste soooooooo much time running around looking for the chart sometimes and then when you find it, you can barely read any of the notes. i'm not kidding that i can only read like every other word in a consult note or something.

 

[Arsenic]

I think I noticed that Parkland had handwritten notes... at least I didn't see a really extensive computer system. Plus I think the tour guide made some comment about writing up notes and indicated to a huge stack of binders. 😱

Hey guys - I'm logging out until my finals are over. (Still reserving some daily Beary AIM time though 😉 ) Good luck to everyone who is taking finals! 🙂

later anastasis, good luck!

 

[oxeye]

lol - it's funny, at SW they asked me what I thought the hardest part of medical school was going to be and I said it was going to be hard to no patient contact for the first two years (after working at the clinic) because that's the whole reason why I'm in this game. I don't know if he believed me or not

I'm really so psyched about rotations. I think that's why I like Baylor so much; 1.5 years and you're out of basic sciences

Plus I get the impression like rotations can be alot of problem solving (which I love). I know I have to memorize too but it just seems like there's more room for concepts in rotations. But then maybe I'm too optimistic 😉

You should come to my school. 😀 We get patient contact starting the first week!

 

[beary]

my team has this crazy q2 call schedule where they have short calls and long calls broken up amonst the residents, short call goes home by 3-5pm. long call goes home by 11pm, they alternate. i'm on short call tomorrow with that nice intern and then on long call this sunday, i think the students are just q4 but i'll check with my intern tomorrow.

Yeah, we had that on medicine too. But the WHOLE TEAM had to do short and long calls. So it was call, post, short (out at like 10ish), golden. Start all over. We admitted everybody until 5 on the short call days and everybody after 5 on the long call days.

 

[Arsenic]

You should come to my school. 😀 We get patient contact starting the first week!

same here, those poor poor patients.

they had us taking vitals and doing basic histories within our first month.

 

[Nikki2002]

my psychic powers never fail me

 

[Anastasis]

same here, those poor poor patients.

they had us taking vitals and doing basic histories within our first month.

That's not such a big deal. I do that now!

My friend at Baylor said during their EM rotation they're basically in charge of their patients with little oversight (she didn't define what that means). That makes me scared ****less and excited all at the same time 😉

 

[Nikki2002]

way to keep your mouth shut sweetie--good job👍

 

[Arsenic]

Yeah, we had that on medicine too. But the WHOLE TEAM had to do short and long calls. So it was call, post, short (out at like 10ish), golden. Start all over. We admitted everybody until 5 on the short call days and everybody after 5 on the long call days.

ahhhhhhhh i see..... ok, so i'll probably be on that same q2 schedule where we get out at like 5 on the short call days. that makes sense, in between long call we'd be q4. that means i'll be on long call this friday which sucks since then i have to be here again on saturday morning to present and then come back for short call sunday. 😱 i hope not, i have somewhere to be this sat morning plus that would make it one of those dreaded 12 day weeks.

 

[Arsenic]

way to keep your mouth shut sweetie--good job👍

thanks nik, you came just in time! i need to actually go do some studying now..... blah

ttyl guys!

 

[beary]

same here, those poor poor patients.

they had us taking vitals and doing basic histories within our first month.

Those poor med students! 😉

From the Happy Pathologist

 

[beary]

You guys, I am working through cases for Step 3 and was stumped on one and ran it by Ana and she knew what it was!!

*needs to take randomites with me to Step 3 for consultation*

 

[DrBowtie]

I'm so sick of studying. Art History sucks...👎
Woodchuck Draft Cider...👍

 

[TypeA]

You guys, I am working through cases for Step 3 and was stumped on one and ran it by Ana and she knew what it was!!

*needs to take randomites with me to Step 3 for consultation*

Why am I not surprised??? 🙄

 

[beary]

Cold bothers me more than it used to. When I was in college in Montreal, I had no problems with it at all. Now I feel like it is too cold for me to take out my trash. And it's not even THAT cold (17!)

 

[pingouin]

Damn it - I knew I used that joke before 😉

BTW, just the laugh I needed before I bombed this biochem exam - which for some reason I was distracted from studying for last night. *looks meaningfully at Penguin*






Q is hot. Threesome? What? ;-) OMG so kidding

*considers last night payback for sitting up with VD the night the TX schools gave out acceptances and I was trying to study for my organic chem test the next morning because some of us don't have acceptances yet and still need to care about our grades*

 

[Anastasis]

*considers last night payback for sitting up with VD the night the TX schools gave out acceptances and I was trying to study for my organic chem test the next morning because some of us don't have acceptances yet and still need to care about our grades*

Don't think I don't 😍 you for that 😀

BTW, just got done with a study break with my dad, we watched Akeela and the Bee. Soo good 😍 😍 I love a good underdog story! 🙂

 

[beary]

Oh no it's patch day in World of Warcraft. 😡

All evening I've been looking forward to playing a little WoW to unwind. Who knows how many hours this patch will take. 🙄

 

[beary]

Haha, even the WoW website is down. When they go down, they go down.

I have only been playing since February and overall it seemed like they had really improved network stability and capacity since then. Tonight suggests differently.