Hi everyone,
I am officially done with my neurology rotation!
Went to a Christmas party with the rest of the medical students yesterday night to celebrate.
The school is giving us 2 weeks of break. I'll finally have time to sit down and read a book 'cover to cover' as they say. Have a list of personal to do's before getting back into the swing of things.
I've recently been getting into Blancpain ladies watches, maybe I could visit their boutique over the break.
Other thing I wanted to do was donate blood... I actually showed up one time to the Red Cross on a random day after I had an appointment at school, and I couldn't donate because it wasn't a 'blood drive' day. I didn't know you had to coordinate the timing.
Other than that, I need to get my hands on some pathology books before starting my next rotation, which is in pathology at my home institution. I haven't looked at a slide in a while.
So plan for today is school library and red cross
Merry Christmas~
So I ended up donating today, but like years ago when I donated in college, I was hard to get blood from (#tinyveins). They only got about half-a-pack from me, even though I drank extra fluid this week. Person said to try the other (left) arm next time (I figured my dominant hand might have larger veins), and hydrate. From reading forums online, I guess they can probably use it for pooled products (platelets, clotting factors, albumin). Hopefully next time, I'll be able to reach 500 ml. The reddit has some good tips on what to do beforehand. Well it was only my second time donating so, if I donate again, maybe it will go better.
Fun facts: I'm O+.
You can donate whole blood every 56 days.
You aren't allowed to donate if your iron is too low.
There is a Blood Donor phone app from the Red Cross.
Red Cross FAQ Stories
Reddit for blood donors, potential and existing
Blood Bank guy <-- for those interested in CP
Blood types have been popularized in Asian countries to be a determinant of personality type similar to horoscopes. Just see the comic/show Blood Type ABO!
Saturday, December 22, 2018
Sunday, December 2, 2018
Harpsichord and the brain
Hi readers,
I have been loathe to write posts as I have been overseas for ~1 week to Singapore on vacation.
Currently I am on Neurology rotation, and I am actually really enjoying it. The hours and other docs on this rotation are very reasonable and I am finally able to correlate some neuroanatomy with clinical presentation which is really just icing on the cake. Stroke 'call' or rapid evaluation for stroke which can occur pretty much anywhere in the hospital would probably be one of the most important functions of having neurologists in the hospital, from what I am seeing so far. According to the attending, Neurology is one of the last bastions of specialties in which the physical exam trumps any imaging findings. i.e. if it's a stroke clinically, you call it a stroke regardless of the imaging. Given the complexity of the brain and the natural tendency for humans (read, radiologists) to make mistakes when faced with complexity, it will likely be one of the last hold-outs. I am not even concerned that a more powerful magnet / technology for imaging will make any sort of difference in this regard. An interesting pathway a neurologist can possibly go with regards to fellowship is neurointerventional, involving using catheters to treat brain disease. This is very interesting to me, as neurology in itself is not a very procedurally-inclined specialty, so the learning curve must be pretty darn high starting to be trained as an interventionist. Nonetheless, a few of the residents would like to go into this, and I say best of luck to them!
Recently, I have rediscovered the music of Domenico Scarlatti and the sonatas for harpsichord, which he wrote towards the end of his life. Very enjoyable.
This being the weekend, I went to the local art museum.
Speaking of which, I was also at the National Gallery of Singapore on my trip.
It was very interesting to see southeast asian subjects portrayed with traditionally European painting methods. I was listening to this on the plane ride back.
So in chatting with my attending, I did inform her about the difficulty of finding a geographically desirable location to practice or even a job as a neuropathologist, though working as a forensic pathologist is greatly enhanced having done training/fellowship in neuropathology. Just see David Dolinak and his wonderful books. She was unaware and it was nice informing her about the realities of being a pathologist in a niche specialty in this day and age. Perhaps it helps explain why there is such a lack of pathologists and especially neuropathologists, when it is such a huge risk to be taking given market forces and demand.
Speaking with them though, it seems radiology and neurology both agree that neuropathologists are a wonderful (but scarce) resource and trusted colleagues. Very happy to hear recognition by other specialties of pathology.
Enjoy~
I have been loathe to write posts as I have been overseas for ~1 week to Singapore on vacation.
Currently I am on Neurology rotation, and I am actually really enjoying it. The hours and other docs on this rotation are very reasonable and I am finally able to correlate some neuroanatomy with clinical presentation which is really just icing on the cake. Stroke 'call' or rapid evaluation for stroke which can occur pretty much anywhere in the hospital would probably be one of the most important functions of having neurologists in the hospital, from what I am seeing so far. According to the attending, Neurology is one of the last bastions of specialties in which the physical exam trumps any imaging findings. i.e. if it's a stroke clinically, you call it a stroke regardless of the imaging. Given the complexity of the brain and the natural tendency for humans (read, radiologists) to make mistakes when faced with complexity, it will likely be one of the last hold-outs. I am not even concerned that a more powerful magnet / technology for imaging will make any sort of difference in this regard. An interesting pathway a neurologist can possibly go with regards to fellowship is neurointerventional, involving using catheters to treat brain disease. This is very interesting to me, as neurology in itself is not a very procedurally-inclined specialty, so the learning curve must be pretty darn high starting to be trained as an interventionist. Nonetheless, a few of the residents would like to go into this, and I say best of luck to them!
Recently, I have rediscovered the music of Domenico Scarlatti and the sonatas for harpsichord, which he wrote towards the end of his life. Very enjoyable.
This being the weekend, I went to the local art museum.
Speaking of which, I was also at the National Gallery of Singapore on my trip.
It was very interesting to see southeast asian subjects portrayed with traditionally European painting methods. I was listening to this on the plane ride back.
So in chatting with my attending, I did inform her about the difficulty of finding a geographically desirable location to practice or even a job as a neuropathologist, though working as a forensic pathologist is greatly enhanced having done training/fellowship in neuropathology. Just see David Dolinak and his wonderful books. She was unaware and it was nice informing her about the realities of being a pathologist in a niche specialty in this day and age. Perhaps it helps explain why there is such a lack of pathologists and especially neuropathologists, when it is such a huge risk to be taking given market forces and demand.
Speaking with them though, it seems radiology and neurology both agree that neuropathologists are a wonderful (but scarce) resource and trusted colleagues. Very happy to hear recognition by other specialties of pathology.
Enjoy~
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)