Oct

31

Take a Trip To The Dark Side

October 31, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Dead to Rights
I invite all of you to visit a very interesting blog called “Med School Hell,” the link for which you will find on the right. It is the diary of a disgruntled medical student who decided not pursue further training after medical school. I must warn you that his blog is not for [...]

Oct

22

Random Madness I

October 22, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Free Chow

Free food. Just another thing to consider when selecting a residency program. I’m not saying this should be one of the top three factors guiding your ranking decisions but if you have no other way to differentiate programs, I’d go with the place where you can eat for free. If you think about it, [...]

Oct

21

Pulmonary Consult

October 21, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Breathe
“I’m a difficult patient,” declaims Mrs. Olafsen proudly around a mouthful of Whopper with cheese. “Nobody knows what’s wrong with me.”
“Really? It certainly looks like that from your chart.” Mrs. Olafsen is gigantic. It took four nurses to get her from the stretcher to her bed. Her legs, like two scaly tree-trunks, encircle a greasy [...]

Oct

11

An Exercise in Frivolity

October 11, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Why Suffer?
There are two broad categories to keep in mind when selecting and ranking residency programs. One type is at a large academic teaching hospital. The other is at a smaller “community” hospital that may have only a polite affiliation with a university or even none at all.
You can get good training at either type [...]

Oct

10

Two Minute Drill III

October 10, 2006 | 2 Comments

Pathology

Instant credibility at a parties. Hushed respect from the public. Pathology is the coolest specialty. Sure, shows like Nip/Tuck and ER have made plastic surgery and Emergency Medicine seem glamorous but pathologists cut up dead bodies, man!

They certainly do, but not every pathologist does this regularly. Pathology is the study of disease. In this respect [...]

Oct

5

Two Minute Drill II

October 5, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Psychiatry

A specialty at a crossroads. Once dominated by Freud and Jung but now becoming evidence-based like the rest of medicine. The psychoanalyst’s couch being replaced by the SSRI. Now as much pharmacotherapy as behavioral therapy.
No specialty is more polarizing for medical students. I don’t think anybody hates psychiatry (because how could working with the insane [...]

Oct

5

Two Minute Drill II

October 5, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Psychiatry

A specialty at a crossroads. Once dominated by Freud and Jung but now becoming evidence-based like the rest of medicine. The psychoanalyst’s couch being replaced by the SSRI. Now as much pharmacotherapy as behavioral therapy.
No specialty is more polarizing for medical students. I don’t think anybody hates psychiatry (because how could working with the insane [...]

Oct

4

Two Minute Drill

October 4, 2006 | 6 Comments

Your Opinions Will Vary
Haterade is welcome but please have a point.
Internal Medicine
The backbone of medicine. You will know a lot about everything upon completion of residency, so much that you will frighten those around you, especially when you generate a three page differential diagnosis from obscure symptoms, every item of which is reasonable and makes [...]

Oct

4

Two Minute Drill

October 4, 2006 | Leave a Comment

Your Opinions Will Vary
Haterade is welcome but please have a point.
Internal Medicine
The backbone of medicine. You will know a lot about everything upon completion of residency, so much that you will frighten those around you, especially when you generate a three page differential diagnosis from obscure symptoms, every item of which is reasonable and makes [...]

Oct

1

Persephone

October 1, 2006 | 2 Comments

Persephone, my faithful black lab. Frisbee dog. Running partner. Lovable goof.