This week was our first week of Cardiology. At our campus, we have no "Step 7" professor, so we only get lectures from outside physicians as they are available. Therefore, we only had an arrhythmia lecture on Monday, and a nuclear medicine lecture today (plus our 3 days of paper cases). Considering we need to learn ALL of cardiology this week and next week, it just is not enough. Most of my classmates have found that the Indianapolis lectures are a good resource (I'm at a regional campus of 25 students in my MS2 class). I've learned about valvular diseases, pericarditis, aortic dissection, and ischemic heart disease. This past summer, I worked with a cardiologist (more specifically, an electrophysiologist). I really enjoyed cardiology, especially the interventional side (stents, pacemakers, etc.). However, the HARDEST part, especially right now, is learning the different heart sounds. I'm not sure I will ever be able to tell them apart! However, it's definitely more fun to be learning the clinical applications now that we have all the basic sciences under our belt.
Besides my boring life of study, not much else has occurred this week. I spent yesterday morning at my preceptor's office. He is an ENT (ear, nose, and throat doc). I think I've learned ENT is not a field for me. Too specialized, too quick, and too boring. He loves surgery; I'm not a huge fan. I would rather be in a field where I am challenged, have to think critically, and come up with crazy differential diagnoses (kind of like a female Dr. House ;)). I also had my Chronic Patient presentation this week. At our campus, we are assigned a chronic patient to follow-up with monthly over a year and a half time frame to learn the progression of chronic disease and establish relationships. Last night, I also talked with other MS2's and MS1's to premed students on our campus about medical school: the application process, undergrad, med school in general, being female in the medical field. Thankfully, today is Friday, and I get to enjoy a little time off with my boyfriend who is coming to visit me! We are going to go see the new Denzel Washington movie.
So when I started this post, it was to begin writing more and become inspired on novel ideas. I have thought of a couple ideas and would gladly accept feedback, comments, or more ideas!
1. Write a series of (at least) 4 books about life as a medical student. It would be a fiction series, centered around a medical student as they progress from 1st year to 4th year (hence the 4 books). There would be truth in the lifestyle of the student and the ordeals, stresses, and achievements of becoming a doctor. There would, however, be some fiction in the life of the character, with more development on the plot. It would probably be a more sincere, heartwarming novel about life. Just a simple idea that needs a lot more growth.
2. A more silly idea: A character (most likely a resident at a hospital) who begins to hear music and other noises while working long hours. No one else hears this noises, and the character is a skeptic who doesn't believe in supernatural things. He becomes convinced he has a brain tumor. When the scan is clean, he is concerned he has a psychiatric disorder (i.e. auditory hallucinations). As the plot develops, something more supernatural WILL be occurring. (This idea, I realize, is more of a mystery; I'm a big fan of Dean Koontz, and I would like it to be similar to his plots.)
Next week, part 2 of Cardiology! We will also be learning how to break bad news to patients.
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