I have ADHD.
We have to take Psychiatry, which was really interesting when we were studying Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders, and even addiction. But some of it is just lame. Like Freud.
ADHD is one of the lame things. The definition is broad enough that pretty much everybody I know could be diagnosed. Well at least all the males I know.
Showing posts with label WSUSOM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WSUSOM. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Monday, August 11, 2008
On Disparities and Health
We had a lecture today from one Dr. Flack, a very interesting man whose lectures I always enjoy. The topic was health disparities, specifically disputing a number of common assumptions.
1. For example "There are health disparities between races." In reality the genetic differences between races are minor. The reason African Americans and Hispanics appear to be disadvantaged is that they are disproportionately poor. Now that in and of itself is a result of disparities in economic opportunity...but African Americans are not inherently unhealthier than other groups.
2. "The United States spends the most on Health Care but still lags most other developed countries in Health Status." There is a false assumption here: the medical establishment can create good health in a population. The truth is, most diseases of high prevalence in the developed world are dependent on choices made by individuals years before the disease presents itself. The fact that Americans choose to live unhealthy lifestyles leads to the poor results on international surveys. Spending more money won't fix that.
As Americans we have gotten used to the idea that you can buy your way into anything. But in medicine there is a limit. The only way to improve health generally is to convince people to live healthier lifestyles.
There is one group of people, however who are consistently disadvantaged when it comes to medical care...the poor. They live disproportionately in cites, where access to fresh fruits and vegetables is limited, and fast food abounds. Where it isn't safe to be outside at night, the only time many people could exercise. They have less access to education, they drop out more (educational attainment is the single biggest determinant of health status) And there are fewer medical clinics and hospitals to serve the populations of urban poor. Consistently underserved.
1. For example "There are health disparities between races." In reality the genetic differences between races are minor. The reason African Americans and Hispanics appear to be disadvantaged is that they are disproportionately poor. Now that in and of itself is a result of disparities in economic opportunity...but African Americans are not inherently unhealthier than other groups.
2. "The United States spends the most on Health Care but still lags most other developed countries in Health Status." There is a false assumption here: the medical establishment can create good health in a population. The truth is, most diseases of high prevalence in the developed world are dependent on choices made by individuals years before the disease presents itself. The fact that Americans choose to live unhealthy lifestyles leads to the poor results on international surveys. Spending more money won't fix that.
As Americans we have gotten used to the idea that you can buy your way into anything. But in medicine there is a limit. The only way to improve health generally is to convince people to live healthier lifestyles.
There is one group of people, however who are consistently disadvantaged when it comes to medical care...the poor. They live disproportionately in cites, where access to fresh fruits and vegetables is limited, and fast food abounds. Where it isn't safe to be outside at night, the only time many people could exercise. They have less access to education, they drop out more (educational attainment is the single biggest determinant of health status) And there are fewer medical clinics and hospitals to serve the populations of urban poor. Consistently underserved.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
On brains and sledgehammers
On Friday I took a test. It was in Neuro. I studied for it all week. I basically didn' do anything last week except study for this test. And it was a brutally hard test.
I woke up on Friday morning with a headache. I didn't sleep well the night before because I had a lot on my mind. So I woke up with a headache. Usually such headaches kind of go away as the day goes on. They kind of wear away. I get them all the time...probably because I don't sleep as much as I should. Clouds also seem to increase their intensity...but that's neither here nor there.
The point is, I started praying when I woke up that I wouldn't have a headache for the test and that I would still be able to do well. I kept it up all day...I can see why monks uses to flog themselves or put their thumbs in vice grips. Pain really tends to focus your mind on prayer.
But this stupid headache wouldn' go away...at least all the way. It diminished to the point where it was only a minor disturbance to my stream odf thought. My test was at one. So I took the test, and while I was taking it I was a little annoyed that I still had a headache. I thought, "So much for this prayer thing"
As I said it was a brutal test. They picked out the minutest details to test upon and wrote the questions to confuse and flummox even the most prepared of test-takers.
When I left the room, I felt like someone had hit me on the head with a sledgehammer as I walked through the door. I could barely walk. I still had to drive home. So there I was driving home with sunglasses on and my eyes half closed to keep out the light, with tears flowing down my face. Luckily there wasn't much traffic. And I was able to hold off the pain induced discharge of gastric contents until I got home. It was one of the worst headaches I've had in a long time.
So praise God for headaches
I woke up on Friday morning with a headache. I didn't sleep well the night before because I had a lot on my mind. So I woke up with a headache. Usually such headaches kind of go away as the day goes on. They kind of wear away. I get them all the time...probably because I don't sleep as much as I should. Clouds also seem to increase their intensity...but that's neither here nor there.
The point is, I started praying when I woke up that I wouldn't have a headache for the test and that I would still be able to do well. I kept it up all day...I can see why monks uses to flog themselves or put their thumbs in vice grips. Pain really tends to focus your mind on prayer.
But this stupid headache wouldn' go away...at least all the way. It diminished to the point where it was only a minor disturbance to my stream odf thought. My test was at one. So I took the test, and while I was taking it I was a little annoyed that I still had a headache. I thought, "So much for this prayer thing"
As I said it was a brutal test. They picked out the minutest details to test upon and wrote the questions to confuse and flummox even the most prepared of test-takers.
When I left the room, I felt like someone had hit me on the head with a sledgehammer as I walked through the door. I could barely walk. I still had to drive home. So there I was driving home with sunglasses on and my eyes half closed to keep out the light, with tears flowing down my face. Luckily there wasn't much traffic. And I was able to hold off the pain induced discharge of gastric contents until I got home. It was one of the worst headaches I've had in a long time.
So praise God for headaches
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
boring
I took a test today. The rate-limiter on the test was reading speed. the first person out of the room was done in 17 minutes. That's more than 4 questions a minute. The last couple weeks have been really slow. It's as if, for both of the classes we have right now, they had too much material to fit on the last test, but not really enough to justify another whole test. That's ok though because it has allowed me to really not spend any time on schoolwork.
After I finished the test I had some extra time and didn't feel like studying for next weeks test, so I went to the hardware store. I replaced the thermostat and a broken light fixture. Now I can see the clothes in my closet and we have a functioning thermostat, which I guess is better than being cold all the time.
After I finished the test I had some extra time and didn't feel like studying for next weeks test, so I went to the hardware store. I replaced the thermostat and a broken light fixture. Now I can see the clothes in my closet and we have a functioning thermostat, which I guess is better than being cold all the time.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
This is a one minute transcript from one of my lectures. I took the time to transcribe it for you. Go ahead and read it...read it out loud for maximum effect. the (hhh) is just a full exhalation, make it sound like you're getting the wind knocked out of you.
Lets uh look at uh uh neonatal jaundice ah uh uh also e ref(hhh)erred to uh as uh kern(hhh)icterus and uh and uh anduh this is ah a ah ah transient jaundiceah in uh neonates and ah and ah and ah d eh d eh dis ah occurs in particular in ah uh premature inf(hhh)ants ah um ah since ah since ah ah de ah de ah immature ah enzy(hhh)mes involved in ah bilirubin conjugation and ah and ah so there is ahthese pigments uh are ah metabolized ah ah by ah ah by ah ah so cytochrome P 45(hhh)0 and ah and ah for example ah cytochrome 3A4 ah that ah ah that ah is absent in the fetus and ah ah uh and uh in the...
Here is the relevant section from the notes we were given by the school
Neonatal Jaundice
In Neonates transient jaundice is common particularly in premature infants, and is due to immaturity of the enzymes involved in bilirubin concentration.
And yes he was actually reading off the power point screen
And this is what most of his lectures are like. The thing is though, I like the guy. He's really smart, and when he talks about his areas of specialty he's actually pretty interesting, if hard to follow. He taught the lecture on the biochemistry of AIDS(which ironically took place on Valentines day)--it was fascinating. He also brought candy bars to class.
Lets uh look at uh uh neonatal jaundice ah uh uh also e ref(hhh)erred to uh as uh kern(hhh)icterus and uh and uh anduh this is ah a ah ah transient jaundiceah in uh neonates and ah and ah and ah d eh d eh dis ah occurs in particular in ah uh premature inf(hhh)ants ah um ah since ah since ah ah de ah de ah immature ah enzy(hhh)mes involved in ah bilirubin conjugation and ah and ah so there is ahthese pigments uh are ah metabolized ah ah by ah ah by ah ah so cytochrome P 45(hhh)0 and ah and ah for example ah cytochrome 3A4 ah that ah ah that ah is absent in the fetus and ah ah uh and uh in the...
Here is the relevant section from the notes we were given by the school
Neonatal Jaundice
In Neonates transient jaundice is common particularly in premature infants, and is due to immaturity of the enzymes involved in bilirubin concentration.
And yes he was actually reading off the power point screen
And this is what most of his lectures are like. The thing is though, I like the guy. He's really smart, and when he talks about his areas of specialty he's actually pretty interesting, if hard to follow. He taught the lecture on the biochemistry of AIDS(which ironically took place on Valentines day)--it was fascinating. He also brought candy bars to class.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
On not writing and difficult tests
I know that perhaps you have checked the sight a couple times since last I wrote. In fact if statistics are anything to go by you've stopped checking it entirely.
Anyway...I had a test today...and I had a test yesterday...and I had a test last week...Now I don't have anything looming for a few weeks.
So in a sign of how priority inverting curved test scores can be, I have decided that I prefer difficult tests. Especially when I don't know they're going to be difficult and they really knock you off your feet.
Here's why:
I pretty much get the same score on every test. I've only been outside the 90-95 area a couple of times when I moved up near a hundred. So when the test is really difficult the average plummets and my standard score shoots through the roof. When tests are really easy the average rises and my standard score falls.
Yesterday's test was tough. I struggled on at least a third of the questions. I couldn't see straight by the time I left. Everybody else complained about how tough it was...I smiled. Today's test left me blurry eyed too...but for a different reason. It was so boring I felt like I was going to fall asleep. There were only a handful of questions I even had doubts about. (probably missed a few because I went too fast though). Everybody else smiled as they left the room...
Anyway...I had a test today...and I had a test yesterday...and I had a test last week...Now I don't have anything looming for a few weeks.
So in a sign of how priority inverting curved test scores can be, I have decided that I prefer difficult tests. Especially when I don't know they're going to be difficult and they really knock you off your feet.
Here's why:
I pretty much get the same score on every test. I've only been outside the 90-95 area a couple of times when I moved up near a hundred. So when the test is really difficult the average plummets and my standard score shoots through the roof. When tests are really easy the average rises and my standard score falls.
Yesterday's test was tough. I struggled on at least a third of the questions. I couldn't see straight by the time I left. Everybody else complained about how tough it was...I smiled. Today's test left me blurry eyed too...but for a different reason. It was so boring I felt like I was going to fall asleep. There were only a handful of questions I even had doubts about. (probably missed a few because I went too fast though). Everybody else smiled as they left the room...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Crazy
This man:
http://www.zorkot.org/Houssein2.html
a third year medical student at WSU was arrested Saturday running through a public park in camoflouge with a loaded AK-47. That's right...he was carrying a loaded Russian assault rifle openly on the streets of the United States in the name of Islam.
It's a crazy world.
http://www.zorkot.org/Houssein2.html
a third year medical student at WSU was arrested Saturday running through a public park in camoflouge with a loaded AK-47. That's right...he was carrying a loaded Russian assault rifle openly on the streets of the United States in the name of Islam.
It's a crazy world.
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