On skin

So we're studying dermatology. One thing I've noticed that is a little bit different about this unit is that every lecturer finds it necessary to somehow insert into their lectures, justification for their ridiculous choice of a profession. There's generally one of two routes.

The first can be summed up, "mo money, no problems" Several lecturers had pictures of themselves on vacation--in Greece, Italy, China etc, and one talked for five minutes about how all his kids went to Harvard, others talked at length about how they never have to go into the ER and how they make lots of money.

The second can be summed up "melanoma". At least half the lecturers mentioned skin cancer and its role in their practice. One guy played this clip



Of course there was the one guy who admitted that most of Dermatology is cosmetic work--Botox, chemical peels, scar removal, etc.

Yep the best and the brightest, the doctors who did the best on their board scores and had the best recommendations--making us look better each and every day

PS GOOD THING HE HAS A WIFE TO SECRETLY CHANGE HIS BLOG AND ADD VIDEO!!!

Things I learned at school today: Part 2

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.

Interesting things I learned in School this week.

We learned about drugs this week.

1. Only 25% of acutely intoxicated patients in the Emergency Room are correctly identified as such. So always ask patients if they've had anything to drink.

2. An LSD trip lasts 12 hours. And the quality of the trip is related to your mood. So if you're in a bad mood, don't do acid.

3. Magic Mushrooms bruise blue. So if you're starving in the forest, you know which mushrooms not to eat.

4. One marketed brand of Estrogen is called Premarin, which stands for Pregnant mare urine And that pretty much sums up what it is. It is currently the fourth most prescribed drug in the US.

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.