.The Grey-Eyed Goddess.

My aunt— a reconstructive surgeon who just recently moved...

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:26:00 -0400

My aunt— a reconstructive surgeon who just recently moved to Munich— gave me her first set of dissection tools. I love her and I am very happy to have them going into next year. They feel like a good luck charm. :)

Photo

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:56:23 -0400

chongthenomad: Leaves From the Vine Produced by Chongthenomad

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:28:33 -0400

chongthenomad:

Leaves From the Vine

Produced by Chongthenomad

i want to learn how to make bread pudding.

Tue, 21 May 2013 23:47:46 -0400

i want to learn how to make bread pudding.

wordsthatididntsay replied to your post: Here’s a question I’ve been struggling with for...

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:20:29 -0400

wordsthatididntsay replied to your post: Here’s a question I’ve been struggling with for a long time:

Such a good question. I’ve always identified as a nerd. I rarely even use the word geek for some reason.

kellythepsycho answered your question: Here’s a question I’ve been struggling with for a long time:

I *think* geek is to describe people that are more into anime,marvel etc world while nerd is of more knowledgeable of the academics.

dakreeeets answered your question: Here’s a question I’ve been struggling with for a long time:

geek is a person with a huge obsession to a particular topic/subject/anything but may not be completely knowledgeable on it, imho

splitsmeopen answered your question: Here’s a question I’ve been struggling with for a long time:

xkcd.com/747

bygrace-forglory answered your question: Here’s a question I’ve been struggling with for a long time:

I think nerd has academic connotations (books and marks) and geek is more for subject/fandom obsession and more socially awkward.. I’m a nerd

Okay good! It seems like the consensus agrees with my world view, which is that “nerd” refers to the intelligent, academic type (with the glasses of course) who gets excited over symbolism and new advancements in research and “geek” refers to a person who likes those niche interests — technology, anime, video games, etc. The kind of person who cosplays at comicons.

So I am primarily a nerd. But I guess I’m also a little bit of a geek. Glad we got that all sorted out.

And that link, hee hee.

Here's a question I've been struggling with for a long time:

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:27:00 -0400

How do you define and differentiate between “nerd” and “geek”? Which would you identify as and why?

Lessons from Angelina: The Tricky Calculus of Cancer Testing | TIME.com

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:31:00 -0400

Lessons from Angelina: The Tricky Calculus of Cancer Testing | TIME.com:

Angelina Jolie’s preventive double mastectomy was a difficult choice that may not be right for most women who live in fear of developing breast cancer.

I really like this article (and others) that commend Angelina Jolie’s bravery and ability to make an informed and difficult decision. And anybody slamming the twitter idiots for using a woman undergoing a double mastectomy as fodder for their disgusting misogynistic brand of humor.

But my first concern afterwards, was that Angelina would attract a slew of imitators, because no one had addressed that her situation and her solution were both rather radical. It’s one thing when the fastest increasing cosmetic surgery is getting your arms to look like Michelle Obama’s, it’s another to surgically remove both of your breasts, or even pay to get the BRCA genetic test done, for fear of developing cancer because the most famous actress in the world also did so. So thank you Time, for addressing that.

Book Review: Lord of the Flies - William Golding

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:37:00 -0400

“Maybe there is a beast… maybe it’s only us.”

There are several books from high school that took several years to grow on me (usually because I read them pre-The Iliad). Lord of the Flies is one of them. I remember being annoyed whenever I turned the page and literally saw a wall of text with no breaks. Or being disgusted that someones head was smashed in and literally just plain not understanding the titular character of the novel.

But then I realized how dark my true taste in literature and themes really is, because Lord of the Flies, like Heart of Darkness or Crime and Punishment looks at the worst parts of human nature. What happens when people are let wild and leave the ‘human’ realm to that of ‘nature’. Only in this case, the animals let loose are children, adding a layer of complexity and tragedy to their situation.

And the Lord of the Flies, what occurs and what it represents is so fantastically mortifying and fascinating and inflammatory and wonderful.

The novel has been labeled a parable, an allegory, a morality tale, possibly a parody or a political treatise. It’s even been called a vision of the apocalypse, and reading it over with a different perspective each time solidifies its place as a classic in literature.

niizib: The magic beat.

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:28:24 -0400

niizib:

The magic beat.

In your post, you said that ER docs barely get time to interact with their patients, since they seem so many of them all at once. Do you think that you would choose EM as your specialty then? Because I know that because ER docs don't spend a lot of time with their patients, they probably don't remember their patients' faces/names.

Sun, 19 May 2013 18:24:37 -0400

As of right now, and still keeping an open mind, I’m interested in going into primary care — family medicine or internal, etc. For different reasons (salary obviously not being one of them), but I like the idea of being able to establish that relationship, primary care is one of the best places to intervene when it comes to chronic illness, and I feel like I would get very bored if I ever became too specialized.

neurosciencestuff: You Wish Your Neurons Were This Pretty When...

Sun, 19 May 2013 10:00:28 -0400

neurosciencestuff:

You Wish Your Neurons Were This Pretty

When Greg Dunn finished his Ph.D. in neuroscience at Penn in 2011, he bought himself a sensory deprivation tank as a graduation present. The gift marked a major life transition, from the world of science to a life of meditation and art.

Now a full-time artist living in Philadelphia, Dunn says he was inspired in his grad-student days by the spare beauty of neurons treated with certain stains. The Golgi stain, for example, will turn one or two neurons black against a golden background. ”It has this Zen quality to it that really appealed to me,” Dunn said.

What he saw under the microscope reminded him of the uncluttered elegance of bamboo scroll paintings and other forms of Asian art, and he began to paint neurons in a similar style. He supplements traditional brush painting with methods he’s developed on his own, such as blowing a drop of ink across a surface. The ink spreads much as a neuron grows, Dunn says, propelled by a natural force, but forming random branches as it finds its way around microscopic obstacles. “I like the concept of drawing on similar forces to produce the art,” he said.

Dunn has sold commissioned works to research labs and hospitals, and he says his prints are popular with neuroscientists, neurologists, and others with a special interest in the brain, including people with neurodegenerative disorders. “I think it helps them come to terms or appreciate this thing they’ve been so vexed by,” Dunn said.

The images in this gallery are drawn from his imagination, but they’re informed by his knowledge of neuroanatomy. ”One of my frustrations with grad school was the necessity for absolute adherence to truth, and principles, and facts,” Dunn said. “I’m inspired by anatomy but not a slave to it.”

Why do bad things happen to good people? Is it a different perspective for say, doctors, if they have their loved ones that are sick as opposed to their patients? Not to say that they wouldn't care about patients, but really though.. do all doctors in the hospital care about patients?

Sat, 18 May 2013 22:35:00 -0400

That’s a really difficult question to answer. Whenever I hear “bad things happen to good people”, you have to also remember, bad things happen to bad people, good things happen to bad people, and good things happen to good people. If you can even classify people as good and bad (which I don’t think you can). It’s easy to tend to focus on the most negative or unfair or painful scenario, but all kinds of things happen in life to all kinds of people.

I am not a doctor, or even a medical student (not just yet, anway), but I know a couple of things. To an extent, medical education teaches doctors to distance themselves from their patients; there is a fear that emotional involvement can result in bad decision making— which is why an unspoken rule exists: you never doctor your own loved ones. Caring too much might possibly inhibit your objective judgement, which is obviously bad when you are taking on the responsibility of managing another person’s health for them.

It also depends on the kind of doctor you are. ER physicians see patients in and out every hour on ridiculous hours. Their job is to stabilize them and move to the next one, so there is a lot of times little room to get to know and involved with your patients. Same with highly specialized surgeons. At the other end, primary care physicians and doctors who manage chronic illness will see the same people consistently and are in a better position to build that relationship with them.

I would like to think, and in my experience, it has been that most doctors genuinely care about helping people. You can’t really be in this profession without that. There might be constraints that make it seem otherwise: limited time, fear of malpractice, etc. but I do think they genuinely care.

Like I said, medical school is a very homogenizing vehicle in a lot of ways, and there MDs are taught to stay at arms length. Dr. J (featured in some of my shadowing posts) is an oncologist, so she sees her patients consistently, but also sees them consistently suffering. She throws herself into her work and into their lives. She knows them all by name and life story, and every one of them told me that she walks on water. They all have her personal cell phone number. She’s mentioned that there are days where she cries alone in her car, because someone has regressed, or she wonders if she’s made the correct decision. And it has to be alone in her car, because she can’t take her work sorrows home to her personal life. She does legitimately care, despite the taboos that exist about getting close to patients, and one of the doctors I most aspire to be like.

I think physicians find themselves in a very difficult position; it’s hard to negotiate between what you have been taught, the system in which you’re conditioned to practicing medicine, and being a generally nice sympathetic caring person. If you encounter a doctor who doesn’t seem like they care, remember that they probably do, and that they are still human after all.

Getting accepted into medical school

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:00:38 -0400

totalpremedmove:

A Discussion on Science This is a very entertaining (and...

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:00 -0400

A Discussion on Science

This is a very entertaining (and educational!) discussion about science, education, astrophysics, and society between astrophysicist Neil Degrasse Tyson and Stephen Colbert.

Neil Degrasse Tyson is actually one of my favorite people ever. When memes were first becoming a thing, “look out we got a badass over here” was my favorite one. And he’s so cute and funny— with his Titanic sky bit. What a boss. And I just love it when people are passionate about science education and making it accessible to everybody, because it really is as important as everybody says it is. I know I’m still mad that we live in a solar system with only 8 planets instead of 9, but I trust you NDT.

By Eileen Healy

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:50:46 -0400

By Eileen Healy

Summer means...

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:15:30 -0400

Summer means its reading list time again. I have to finish this one first but I’m already working on a new one for when that’s done. :D Setting the obligatory goal of 50 books by August 5 (although I know I’ll come in at about 29). I also bought another book today, I didn’t need to do that… (but I needed Cuthulu…!).

Summer vacation — Italy, Germany, & France. Whoo. :)

Getting ready for school. I feel like I need to be doing things, but I know I shouldn’t. I’ll just find my plum stethoscope and maybe just generally be less lumpy than usual. I actually need to just not be a lump in general. This is excitingg.

Do productive things! Learn about science and read books and work on my Spanish and become a fabulous artist and maybe find an online MPH program and become a better cook and learn how to budget my money and manage my time.

Continue shedding what’s unnecessary. Like the so bad its masochistic Phantom sequel soundtrack on my iTunes or the sliver of frustration I feel written all over my new moleskine. Maybe put some of the plushies on my cluttered bookshelves away…

Maintain high levels of freshness, always.

I still don’t feel like being introspective. I’m just going to sum up the last few days with my hot pink silly band and Ja Rule Radio on Pandora. I wore the party sombrero all the way home. <3

I started drinking bourbon, wat.

Also, it is no longer appropriate for me to say this in real life so prepare to see this gif a lot—

frommimiwithlove replied to your post: buying a moleskine and...

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:07:00 -0400

frommimiwithlove replied to your post: buying a moleskine and some nice pens tomorrow……

hoppin on da moleskine train, nuh? join da paaartaayyy

frommimiwithlove replied to your post: buying a moleskine and some nice pens tomorrow……

also is my planner *~inspiring~* you

Wanted to jump on the moleskine train since I reblogged this, but yees, meemers, you are my muse dahling. ^_^

Also got some Lovecraft cult literature and more coffee up in here (not the frapp). Can’t wait until I have a better phone camera so I can be a better medblr beverage club member. ;D

medicalstate: What Your Body Does In 30 Seconds.

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:36:43 -0400

medicalstate:

What Your Body Does In 30 Seconds.

"Practicing Medicine Can Be Grimm Work"

Thu, 16 May 2013 09:17:00 -0400

"Practicing Medicine Can Be Grimm Work":

teethingontigers:

“The practice of medicine bestows the sacred privilege to ask about the unmentionable. But what happens when the door to Bluebeard’s horror chamber opens, and the bloody secrets spill onto your aseptic field of study? How do you process the pain of your patients?

I found my way back to stories. The Grimm fairy tales once seemed as if they took place in lands far, far away, but I see them now in my everyday hospital rotations. I’ve met the eternal cast of characters. I’ve taken down their histories (the abandoned prince, the barren couple) or seen their handiwork (the evil stepmother, the lecherous king).

Fairy tales are, at their core, heightened portrayals of human nature, revealing, as the glare of injury and illness does, the underbelly of mankind. Both fairy tales and medical charts chronicle the bizarre, the unfair, the tragic. And the terrifying things that go bump in the night are what doctors treat at 3 a.m. in emergency rooms.

So I now find comfort in fairy tales. They remind me that happy endings are possible. With a few days of rest and proper medication, the bewildered princess left relaxed and smiling, with a set of goals and a new job in sight. The endoscopy on my cross-eyed confidante showed she was cancer-free.

They also remind me that what I’m seeing now has come before. Child endangerment is not an invention of the Facebook age. Elder neglect didn’t arrive with Gen X. And discharge summaries are not always happy; “Cinderella” originally ended with a blinding, and Death, in his tattered shroud, waits at the end of many journeys.

Healing, I’m learning, begins with kindness, and most fairy tales teach us to show kindness wherever we can, to the stooped little beggar and the highest nobleman. In another year, I’ll be among the new doctors reporting to residency training. And the Brothers Grimm will be with me.”

buying a moleskine and some nice pens tomorrow… and a frappuccino.

Thu, 16 May 2013 00:36:00 -0400

buying a moleskine and some nice pens tomorrow… and a frappuccino.