Ode to Wikipedia

Thousands of dollars paid to the institution of U.M.C.
Loans upon loans to be paid back by little ol' me
Money for textbooks, computers, and a hefty lab fee
And countless professors sporting their PhD.

But the teachers say words they think I already know
Or textbooks mention concepts I understand only so-so
Basically for any reason when my knowledge is low
This is when the truth of medical education will show

Oh dearest Wikipedia that is when you are there
To quickly teach me things that I'd never dare
To spend the time looking up, and that's why I swear
I dedicate my M.D. to Wiki, the fountain of knowledge of health care.

Freedom! Freedom!!

Exam week is over. Enough said.

Happy Birthday Lanie.

Yesterday was my girl's birthday. Here's how she spent the day. It truly is a dog's life...

When I Get Out of Here...

I find that during exam week, I begin thinking and acting like a felon who is only days away from being granted parole after a 25 year stent in the big house. Although finding distraction has never been my weakness, this week I seem to plan for all the fun things I'm going to do once I'm free. So far here's the list, in no particular order.

1. Have a wine and cheese night, even if its just me.
2. Make a killer Halloween costume.
3. Clean my house. Fold laundry. Rake my backyard. (But that's probably just crazy talk.)
4. Give the dog a bath.
5. Invite friends over for dinner and a movie... Transformers anyone?
6. See my sister, finally get to tell my brother-in-law happy birthday.
7. Learn to make the world's best cheesecake.
8. Read a book for pleasure.
9. Go on a trip. Maybe New Orleans. Maybe New York.
10. Have a lazy movie day.

Yeah, this is just a beginning of all the things I want to do once I can honestly leave my "command center" without guilt. My guess is maybe half of those things will get done. But, a girl's gotta dream.

System Overload... Automatic Shutdown

Maybe it is Fate's way of punishing me for some cosmic offense, or maybe I'm just a hypochondriac, but I'm pretty sure I'm going blind. Yes, as I sit here, I am losing my sight. So, maybe we can play a quick game of "Mystery Diagnosis" and figure out why I've got increased pressure behind my right eye with blurred vision. A skull base fracture? The pathogenic course of a misplaced micro lab unknown? Elevated intracranial pressure due to increased knowledge absorption?... I'm thinking the last one....

M1 Flashback

I found this on my computer, an artifact from the good ol' days when we used to think "When are we going to start learning things to help us diagnose people?? I came to medical school to treat patients!!" . . . Now, I find myself saying, "Holy frick! Are we expected to be able to diagnose people?? I'm not ready to treat patients!!" Good...


Top Ten Reasons Not To Drop Out of Med School...

10. The chance to have your head directly in between someone else's knees six hours a day.
9. Playing "where's the laser?!?" when professors forget to bring their own laser pointer yet decide to use the dead R153 one anyway.
8. Only having to actually think about wardrobe choices once a week... otherwise the only decision is "blue or green?"
7. Being able to recklessly wield a scalpel without any worry of being sued.
6. Occasional free lunches--- basically make the $100,000+ of debt worth it.
5. The endless array of fascia--- all day, everyday... no extra cost!!
4. Gross anatomy humor... For example, my favorite of the intestine lab: Why did the colon need Viagra? Because it had a rectal disfunction... (provided by Brooks)
3. The joy of having every activity in your life tainted by the thought, "I should be studying...."
2. The oppurtunity to check your email, facebook, etc. 12-14 times an hour and knowing that at least 10 of those times there will actually be something new because all of your med school friends check their emails, facebooks, etc 12-14 times an hour too.

And the number one reason.....
1. The brachial pleckthuth.

Ophelia... Where have you gone?

Despite the ever growing need for me to spend 24 hours a day studying, this weekend my dad brought one of the greatest joys to Jackson, Ophelia, my 2006 Harley Sportster 1200XL. She's back in Baton Rouge now, and I can't lie, I miss her.


I realize I'm the butch girl with the Hog, but riding offers me a chance to let it all go. It's just you and the road, and the joys, dangers, and smells that go with it. Too often riding in a car you are merely a bystander, watching as the world passes you by as if on a television screen. On a bike, you are the scenery. If you don't ride, I don't know if you'll ever understand...


"Sometimes it's a little better to travel than to arrive."
~ Robert M. Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

Eye for an Eye

Last week we had a "Getting to Know Your Opthalmascope" lesson. Since I've been reading the worst 60 pages of my life this weekend about all things eyeball, I thought I'd post a flashback in the style of Wedding Crashers on how that lesson went...

Fellow M2: "Have you ever used one of these things before?"
Me: "The whole 2 years we've known each other I've been sneaking off to go on opthalmic exams around the world. No, I don't even know what the f*** a fundus is!"

And it begins...

I'm new to the blogging world, and considered briefly posting an intro post... Screw that. I've got things to say...

I am under the impression that you do not decide what type of doctor you want to be in medical school, you merely eliminate all the types you don't want to be. As I sit here looking at pictures of yummy skin conditions like necrotizing fascitis, gangrene, and my personal favorite, furuncles, I realize I will not be spending my life as a dermatologist. Go ahead and mark that one off the list. And who says I haven't accomplished anything today...

(Note to self, as will be a theme on this blog, the links to pictures of the above conditions are not for the faint of heart... or stomach.)