Mending Wall

-
Sorry about that really boring previous post on neuroanatomy. haha. Today isn't heaps better but I promise that once these exams are over I will endeavor to entertain a bit more (or maybe I'll be so busy having fun that you won't hear about any of it).

Anyway, at least today I'm being outward-looking. Literally. My neighbours were fixing the fence between our properties today. It reminded me of 'Mending Wall' which is a poem by Robert Frost. Good fences make good neighbours. I would have gone to help but I don't usually leave the house before exams. Even if I'm totally done studying.. like now. I just sit home, stew, veg and pretend that the knowledge in my head is deepening like fine wine.. or christmas cake.

Also, given how much time I have, I've begun to think about silly things.. like how much caffeine there is presently in my blood stream. Surely there is a way to measure this? Sort of like how the cops have breathalyzers to measure alcohol levels? I'm pretty sure there's a fairly high concentration in me right now because I've been having two cups of strong coffee daily. The Brain doesn't retain that well without coffee. And this is after a full 8-10 hours sleep. I always sleep more during exam periods... because there's nothing else to do. (and because I have this semi-factual theory that sleeping improves memory). We learnt it in med school. ;-) Apparently it is when you sleep that all the memories you 'laid down' during the day get consolidated and organised properly somewhere in the brain. And I definitely want all my medical facts to be nicely consolidated in time for the exams so I'm sleeping alright!

Uhm, yea, that's all for today. Unless you want me to go off on a medical tangent again. (I'm reading about lymphomas and cancer if you must know). Till tomorrow my friends. Adieu!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Brugada Syndrome

-
Image
I don't think I will ever be a plastic surgeon. Not because I like plastics any less but because I cannot let cardiology go. Today I started studying cardiology cases for my exams and came across a segment on Brugada syndrome and the ECG patterns that are typical to this condition. I was surprised to see that this condition was discovered and described as recently as 1992 by a family of Spanish Catalan doctors (the Brugada doctors). I love finding 'new' cardiology information because the problem with being so interested in something is that I sometimes run out of novel 'findings' to keep me interested in the field. Lately I have been reading about microvascular dysfunction (related to womens cardiac conditions) and today Brugada ECGs. I think I could do this forever.
Read more

Reflections

-
The number of times I have felt slighted because of my gender has been countless. The number of times my male (and female) counterparts have silenced me, or taken me less seriously, are many. People will not acknowledge a problem that exists, if it does not exist in their world. If they do not experience the slights because they are any combination of rich, white, or male. We have come to a point where people will accept the presence of 'White Privilege' as a concept, but they do not truly believe that their accomplishments are any easier to come by as a result. And they do not care. Why would they when the establishment is in their favour? I have come to learn many things about being female. I have learnt that some times we play a role in our own destruction. We wait to be rescued, or to be handed a hall pass, because for many years we have not been expected to excel on our own merit. We wait for mentors, without realising that mentors pick people in whom they see something
Read more

Reflections - On whether I am on the right path in life.

-
I have spent the past 3 months working with a particular resident at my hospital. Some times when you walk around the hospital it is like walking in a Marcs/Country Road/CUE showroom. Many of our doctors come from affluent backgrounds - whose fathers, and sometimes mothers are doctors, university chancellors, business-people, lawyers, politicians. I often wonder if they have ever had difficulties in life. If they know what it means to earn your keep, and to actually have to work for their 'achievements'. Many of them live at home, or in homes paid for by their wealthy and protective parents. Their biggest problems is probably divorce between those parents. They travel extensively, with numerous photos of their exotic exploits posted onto Facebook. They are athletic, intelligent and beautiful. They will often go on to marry other wealthy individuals, usually surgeons, cardiologists, lawyers. They have massive impractical heirlooms on their ring fingers. They are entitled. They w
Read more