Bored

Today was my second day back at my medical school. I have to admit I had forgotten how BORING med school could be. In between haematology and anatomy lectures, I found enough time to take several naps and catch up on the latest gossip from our med school weekend party (where I caused a surprise scandal). Aaaah, back to normalness.

I couldn’t help but feel how it seemed like a rock had been lifted of our shoulders. The rock was simply the first year of medical school. Every year you manage to complete a year in medical school, it seems that the dream of being a doctor keeps getting closer and closer – as it should be! I bumped into a few freshmen who were still clueless about classes and electives and they were all asking questions which just illustrated how scared they still were with their first week in as medical  students…noobs

I recently finished reading a book called   by Alicia Erian and   by Dr. Vincent Lam. Both are quality reads. The former book (the title of which you shouldn’t be caught saying out loud) was rather funny in the beginning and then entered some serious territory: teenage sex, rape, racism, etc. Though it took me two weeks to finish it  (yes, I am the world’s slowest reader), I felt proud of myself and scared at the same time for teenage girls everywhere. Shit Scared. Read it and find out why. The novel by Dr Vincent Lam, also had a rather innocent start consisting of Canadian Students trying for, and getting into, medical school. It takes a romantic twist in the beginning but that is soon removed to bring in other issues such as patient-doctor relationships, stress, drinking on the job, asking the questions of whether medicine is right for me, etc. Good read, however, it did make me think that maybe when I finish medical school I would be one of those people who is unhappy with his life but is a great doctor…frightening really.

The day has pretty much got me relaxing and listening to my roommate talk about trying to get an australian girlfriend. Good times.

PS If you get a chance, watch the indie documentary called Waltz with Bashir. An excellent doco about the lebanese civil war, told with the use of animation. Brilliant and sad.

Take care

Passion is the quickest to develop, and the quickest to fade. Intimacy develops more slowly, and commitment more gradually still.

Robert Sternberg

Something I found that I thought was passionate and straight forward.

Here are a list of some of the Medical Mnemonic Sites I use. You really only need to bookmark one of them since they pretty much share the same information.

Email me if you think you know better ones:

#1:

Medical Mnemonics – Probably one of the largest ones out there. Massive database and also a version available for your PDA.

Download the PDF with all there High Yield Mnemonics here

#2:

Value MDs Medical Mnemonics – another site with a myriad of information, however, maybe not as flash as the first one.

“Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

German philosopher (1844 – 1900)

I often wonder the same thing about medicine – whether treating and socialising with the sickly makes us more prone to become patients ourselves.

Tell me what you think?

Year of The Ox

Just thought I would let you know that this is my year as I was fortunate to be born in the year of our cart pulling friend. Enjoy and take care.