December 2011
24 posts
5 tags
Only a med school student
Gets worried on a tropical beach winter vacation of contracting Vibrios vulnificus and thus won’t go ocean swimming with his buds and blogs about it instead.  This is what I get for having immunology/infectious disease block before break.  #MLIMS
Dec 29th
7 notes
4 tags
Feels a bit strange
…not to receive about 50 emails from my school’s administration or a med student club during the break. Almost forgot I had an email account. #MLIMS
Dec 28th
12 notes
5 tags
It still counts where I'm staying right now at...
Okay, so over the last couple weeks I’ve been studying a lot of immunology, and that included typing up summaries and questions for some friends and classmates. Now I think I got so conditioned to typing M-A-S-T in sequence that all today, when I’ve been sending out “Merry Christmas” (f$%@ I just did it there) messages to my friends, I inevitably type “Merry...
Dec 26th
5 tags
With Exam Week over, I can attest to this
Pretty sure I passed at least. #MLIMS
Dec 24th
55 notes
7 tags
Well this could be a great Christmas present
New HIV vaccine approved by the FDA, huge potential here:  http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/12/20/hiv-vaccine-western.html #MLIMS
Dec 20th
37 notes
4 tags
Gotta love that British Humor
So the BMJ ran a comparative study between Orthopods and Anesthesiologists, comparing which specialty is ‘smarter’. All to answer an age old joke (my buddy’s grandpa’s favorite saying too about orthopods): “Orthopaedic surgeons got to be as strong as an ox and at least twice as smart”. http://www.bmj.com/content/343/bmj.d7506?tab=full Love how this was...
Dec 20th
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How you know med students are studying
Medically inspired parody song videos on youtube start popping up by the hand full. Oh and all the facebook activity. #MLIMS
Dec 19th
6 tags
Something useful from FoxNews
I don’t usually find many facts from FoxNews, but I did chuckle from this retelling: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,452186,00.html How to date a Med Student indeed. Ladies, take note.  #MLIMS
Dec 17th
2 notes
4 tags
Hidden curriculum
Learning about allergies and hyper immune responses.  Got to poison ivy and type IV hypersensitivity reactions. That talk taught me 5 things.  1) You can’t get a hypersensitivity IV reaction from eating poison ivy 2) You will get the worst case of perianal dermatitis apparently though if you eat poison ivy.  3) Med students in my class tend to google image everything that’s new and...
Dec 16th
11 notes
4 tags
Not sure if they are joking about the last part...
One of the reasons it sucks having a med school/student lounge in the same building that conducts a lot of basic science. Saw this posting today. A Friendly Microwave Usage Advisory: before putting your food in, start it for 30s to 1 minute first. That way, the flies infested in the microwave should die before you put your food in… unless they’re anti-microwave mutant flies from...
Dec 16th
173 notes
4 tags
It makes for good doctor-patient rapport
We had a family doctor who was also an illusionist come in to give a talk at lunch about how being a magician has helped his practise. The guy taught those attending some basic tricks. For the next few hours, we were all just working on the tricks instead of studying for our string of exams next week. Worth it. #MLIMS
Dec 16th
5 notes
5 tags
Can't ever figure this out
Why is it I can never remember the names of drugs I spend hours trying to memorize and yet I can sing the opening theme songs of half a dozen 90s cartoons perfectly having not seen those shows in at least 12 years? #MLIMS
Dec 15th
9 notes
4 tags
I think I just leveled up.
Today was a busy day classes and shadowing the wards, so much that I really forgot to eat all day. Yet I’m not hungry. It’s relieving to know I’ve reached this new level of ability where hunger no longer affects me. If only the same could be said about lack of sleep. #MLIMS
Dec 14th
16 notes
4 tags
Season's greetings
December is supposed to be the time for holidays, celebration, and family. However, after what seems like countless years as a student, I associate this time with coffee, shitty convenience food, and hermitting away for exams. #MLIMS
Dec 12th
2 notes
Active learning
Went out for some sushi while studying some GI. Ate a bit too lob of wasabi and felt it burning all the way down. I guess that’s one way of reinforcing the idea of my GI anatomy. 
Dec 12th
5 tags
Cue the Alanis Morrissette
Got a staph infection during our microbiology block. Great. #MLIMS
Dec 10th
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5 tags
Can anyone confirm...
Was studying infectious disease, we were going over Yersinia pestis and I got to the symptoms: Buboes…now the thought just occurred to me. Is this where the childhood term”boo-boo” comes from? I know, I know, such a med student thought. But can anyone confirm for me? Thoughts? #MLIMS
Dec 8th
7 notes
3 tags
I think double entendre was intended...
So this is how my friend described his day: I went up to get a new pager battery when I’m greeted by two office desk clerks.  The first goes: “You have great bedside manner *pause* I know I haven’t actually seen your bedside manner, but as soon as you walked in I could tell” Me: “uhh.. thank you.” Lady number 1: “Are you single?” Lady 2:...
Dec 8th
5 notes
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Medical advances eh?
Post found off reddit.  Kind of what I think of when we are taught about the DRE.  #MLIMS
Dec 7th
17 notes
3 tags
That's one way to remember it.
Learning about various bugs and we got Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum, which causes syphilis. Our prof mentions some of the symptoms of syphilis includes a loss of pupillary reflex, apparently the way to remember it was the fact that it’s called Prostitute’s Pupil.  The way to recall this loss is that the eye cannot react to change in light/dark but can accommodate for...
Dec 6th
12 notes
3 tags
More words taken out of context
I think the lack of sleep is getting to us. As my friends and I are practising getting the reflex test right (using the ol’ tendon taps), their roommate (in speech pathology) comes in asking, “Whatcha doing.” Cue the immediate response, “we’re just banging each other.” Nope, she’s not blonde. #MLIMS
Dec 6th
13 notes
3 tags
Group work
So we’re doing a mini set of presentations on infectious microbes. Our group has a list of Gram Negative bacteria. Facilitator asks, “So who wants gonorrhea?” There were no takers. #MLIMS
Dec 5th
3 notes
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Important to note
When describing a wound with pus in a chart, use ‘purulent’ instead of ‘pussy’. That’s just going to confuse everyone. At least the nurses had a laugh. #MLIMS
Dec 3rd
9 notes
4 tags
Bound to happen
Was doing an observership in the university hospital Emerg Dept. As I went to find the attending the desk clerk told me he was in bed 8. So I rush over to join him, and find him treating an old classmate. Awkward. #MLIMS
Dec 2nd
1 note