Hiatus

I have been neglecting the blog for quite some while now (umm.. over three months!). While I apologize for it, I would also like to tell y'all the couple of excuses that I have lined up for the neglect :P

1. Microblogging: Twitter has taken over my blogging (for now). Now days, anything remotely interesting that happens in life is reported instantly on Twitter, rather than waiting to write on the blog later. Even things that I am wondering about, missing, enjoying or need to decide on are posted on Twitter for instant decisions.
Must say, I've met quite a few fantastic (and some not-so-fantastic-yet-interesting) people via the microblogging site. :)
I tweet as @drarps by the way.

2. Laziness: Yes, I've admitted to this before and I'll say it again-- I am a lazy blogger. (I still have the Birthday post to finish -- which I can't actually do for another couple of months since I don't have the clues with me as I travel)

Which brings us to point three:
3. Travel: I have been traveling quite a bit in the past two months. If you think it would provide quite some fodder for the blog, you are correct!
I've had my share of mishaps and incidents, (been lost in a strange city, seen some amazing places, spent more than the average person's share at the airport, traveled in a bus where a physical fight broke out at 3 in the night! etc.) but I've seriously been pretty busy planning out the routes and flights, to keep up with the blog.
Again, all these incidents were taken out of my system by ranting on twitter.

4. Exam-lessness: As is natural, the quantity of blogging ideas (and will to publish them), is inversely proportional to the amount of time on hand. Therefore, I blog most often when I am preparing for an exam and am constantly stuck with books.
Technically, I have an exam to prepare for even now, but I haven't been studying for it (why: see point #3). So, I guess for me, no exam= no blogging.


Well, my excuse list ends here. I agree these are pretty lame, but this is all I have for now. Maybe one day I'll become more responsible towards the blog and write more often. Till then I leave you with these pictures that show how I've been the past three months--

(Keep praying for me. Okay?)

And where have I been? Here mostly.

Also, while I end the excuse post, I'll leave you to read the pick of posts on the blog-
Making of a Doctor - First post after the first day of clinical posting.
Best-est teacher in the world - (Clearly it wasn't one of my English teachers! :P)
Test-imony- One of the most hilarious stories I heard in med school! (<--MUST READ!!) Also in line, mono-phonic thinking!

Happy Holidays! :)

Just dropping in a line to wish y'all a Merry Christmas! :)

Happy Holidays!

Brutal Assault

A black day was written in the history of Dr. S.N. Medical College last night when scores of students and doctors were brutally assaulted by the police/jawans. These residents of the UG boys hostel were victimized in their own home, as police barged inside the hostel and beat them up.

_________________________________________________________
Penned by Telly, here is a summary of what happened:

Scheme of Events, (4th-5th Sept. 2010)

• Trauma Centre – Two injured brought in, Resident Doctor attends. Lots of attendants with the injured, who end up in a verbal tussle with the Doctor. Doctor stops treatment. Returns to treat the injured after talks.

Room broken in

• Trauma Centre – The gang which assaulted the injured rushes in. Start violence. Doctor informs the colleagues to swarm in. Policemen come, and start hitting anyone, and everyone with Lathis. Resident Doctors beaten up.

• Trauma Centre – In the meanwhile, Interns come for rescue. Police kick start their jeeps, and drive at break-neck speeds at Interns. Interns forced to run to their hostels.

Blood on the Terrace

• Boys Hostel – Policemen run and lathi-charge the few students there. Students start pelting stones on them.

• Boys Hostel – Huge number of policemen called in. 200 policemen, including RAC jawans stationed outside the Hostel. Students are called for. They are asked to come outside.

• Boys Hostel – Policemen and RAC jawans rush in the hostels, indeterminate hitting by Lathis. Innocent students studying quietly in rooms, Sleeping, are hit with lathis. Doors are broken open. Coolers dismantled. Even students cooperating to come out are beaten like criminals.

• Each step you take on the staircase, you receive one hit. Hit on head. Run behind a student till the terrace, loses balance, and falls down.

• Mass looting by the policemen, money, mobiles. Laptops thrashed on the floor, on purpose. 

Meeting for calling a strike

• Post-massacre – Immense political pressure to not let the senior doctors go on strike. Threatened in different ways.
  

The road less taken.. and how much it'll cost

I’m going to make a list of the moolah spent by an IMG (Indian in this case) if they want to do a Residency in the US of A.

The journey from USMLE to MD ( Yeah! Borrowing term from Digital Doc :D) is a long, and, of course, expensive one. A lot of juniors at college have asked me this question time and again - "How much will it cost me if I decide to work for a Residency in the USA?"

Having been through almost 3/4^th of the process, I’m just listing the basic $s that I have spent on the process till now. By the end of this post you should have a gross idea of how much it’ll cost, and thus you can make a realistic decision of what you want to do next – AIPGEE or USMLE.

(I assume that you have basic idea of what the USMLE and the whole process is like on the whole, and are familiar with the terminology.)

-A lot of costs vary by individual choices. So I’m going to list what I spent as an example where this difference arises.

Exams:

There are a lot of exams that you need to take to be fully ECFMG certified.

TOEFL: An optional exam that is steadily converting into almost a mandatory one if you want to have a competitive CV for electives- Fee $130  Its $165 now.

USMLE Step 1, 2 (CK & CS): A little over $1400 ($700*2) for USMLE Step 1 and 2CK, and $1200 for CS. EDIT: Exam now costs much more than that. USMLE Step1 $880, Step 2CK $895, CS $1295. Check official website for regular increments!

USMLE World: QBank plus the Self Assessments- They’re worth every penny. For Step 1, a two month UW subscription plus UWSA will cost you $195 ($135 + $30*2). And Step 2, will be $165 ($135+$30)

NBME Self Assessment: To assess your prep, you’ll end up taking online NBME practice tests. Since each test costs $45 to take (and $60 for one “special test’ for each exam), the number of tests you take depends on your preparation. There are some who take none while others end up taking all tests. I spent a total of $375 for NBME SAs for both exams.

Electives:

Application: Most Universities have an application fee of $100 or so. Although there are some that are free too. Umar Tariq’s website has a comprehensive list of all information for electives. (I spent about $500 on applications)

Tuition Fee: This totally varies by University where you end up doing electives. Some like Harvard and Tufts have a fee of $2000-3700, while others like Cleveland Clinic and NIH are free. (I paid about  $1400 as tuition)

Malpractice Insurance: This is another thing that is new for us and since there seems to be just one company that provides MI to students on a monthly basis, they have been increasing the premium with every passing year! I ended up spending about $600 for MI.

Travel and Housing: Of course travel to the US will cost another $1000-1500.

Housing will vary from $300 to $500 per month depending on the location. This cost multiplies depending on how long you stay in the US. (I’ll take my expenditure as $500 since I was in luck wrt housing.)

Misc: Add to it other costs like travel insurance, visa fees, immunization titers before going to the US.

Then there’s the whole other set of expenditure on FOOD (major spending if you don’t know how to cook daily meals!), travel within the country and, of course, SHOPPING in the United States. ;-)

Fed Ex:

Giving this a special slot since there is a LOT of paperwork to be sent! There are numerous applications, college documents and Godknowswhat!! Each packet costs about $50, and I’m sure I’ve sent over ten such packets. (= well over $500)

Applying for Residency:

After all this preparation, we come to the main application! It costs a bundle, especially for an IMG!

Registrations: $50 for NRMP and $90 for ERAS token

Application: Come September 1, and a major hole in your pocket is just one click away.

In ERAS, applying to 30 programs in each specialty adds up to $305, and then for each additional program its $25 per program. So, if you are a regular IMG who needs a visa, and is not a big hot shot already in the medical world, you’ll apply to over a hundred programs.

You do the math.

(I ended up spending over $2500, plus another $70 for a USMLE transcript release)

Then there’s more:

Although till now this is the stage I’ve reached in the process, there’s a lot more to come.

Travelling again to the US, expenditure of travel within the US for interviews, USMLE Step 3, living there for about six months… and it goes on.

Bottomline:

Going by this list, USMLEtoMD -till now- has cost about a total of *drumroll* $11,350 *faints*

For those who are planning to start on this journey, this was just a preview for you to have an idea of what the costs are going to be like. Just a thought to keep it realistic.

(And now I won’t have to explain the details individually to anyone who inquires- I can just direct them here! :D)

Note: I’ve tried to keep all figures correct and comprehensive according to my memory. If there is something that you’d like to add or remove, let me know. Hope this post was useful! 

:)


Image credit: Google Images

Medic Music- 3

Here's the next bit in Medic Music.
Sung to the tune of the classic 'The Reason' by Hoobastank, listed some side effects of anti-cancer drugs.
(Apologies in advance for killing the awesome song that The Reason is.)

Here goes:


Lyrics:

Vincristine’s neurotoxic

It causes SIADH too.

Vinblastine blasts the marrow

Hematopoetic cells remain a few.

Cyclo-P is an alkylating agent

That causes cystitis

--Hemorrhagic cystitis—

That needs to be prevented

Acrolein is the culprit.    

Mesna prevents it.

Cisplatin harms the kidneys

It causes 8^th nerve toxicity too

Lung fibrosis is bleo--

And doxo is cardiotoxicity

With 5 fluoro uracil is seen

Photosensitivity-- yyy

(That’s *not* reversible with

A dose of leucovorin)

It needs thymidine for rescue

Thymidine rescues (4)

Mtx -- fatty liver

Myelosuppression’s also a taboo

Mucositis is prominent too

All s/e of Mtx

Coz folate is what he lacks

Leucovorin reverses

(It makes the patient the patient all better

And that’s all that matters!)

Original Song:

The Reason

Image from here.

Another thing, if anyone is interested, there's this cool Chemo-man to remember s/e of anti cancer meds:

Chemoman's image from here.

World's Simplest Cake

I’m not much of a cook.

Doesn't look very tempting in this picture.
But its totally Yummy! ;-)

There are only a couple of things that I can work up in the kitchen- Chai, instant popcorn, Maggi and this surprisingly delicious cake brownie thing which I like to call the “World’s Simplest Cake”

Now this cake is one of the simplest desserts that you can make! Plus most of the ingredients are easily available.

One of my best friends taught me the trick, and since then I’ve taught this cake to lots of people, and believe me they all loved it. Try it out:

[Writing down exactly from the recipe that my friend wrote for me:] 

Ingredients:

1 cup Maida (Refined flour)

½ cup cooking oil

1 cup curd (preferably thick in consistency)

1 cup grated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon Baking soda/Eno

½ cup Cocoa powder (the unsweetened Cadbury kind)

¼ teaspoon Coffee ( *very very little*)

Process:

1. Mix all ingredients. It will become a semi solid paste. Add a little milk to make it slightly liquid.

2. Pour into microwave safe container.

3. Microwave for 7 minutes.

4. Remove and let it stay in a cool dark place for about 15-20 minutes.

5. Remove from container. Serve warm, with vanilla ice-cream.

(This post was written basically to keep an online record of the ingredients needed, since I always mess up the proportions. But if you do happen to try it out, leave experience in comments!)

PS: This post reminds me of OB Cookie’s blog. It makes a pretty interesting plus useful read. With every post she manages to write a post, *and* throw in a delicious recipe.

PPS: My third bit for Medic Music is done (..actually, it has been done for a while now) but my microphone’s busted now. So unless everyone likes a drone with their music- it’ll have to wait till I have enough money to get a new mic.

Medic Music -2

I'm back with the second song for Medic Music.
This time its in a much more listener friendly setting- you don't have to navigate away or download it. :D

The song is sung to the tune of Lollipop by Mika. Of course, even after all my efforts, I could not get a karaoke generator, but Pranab's advice was useful- made the clip with Audacity (unlike the generic Windows sound recorder used last time). Thanks Pranab! :)

The song isn't all that good ( I like DJS more) but had to get it out of my system before I could move on to something better. Made it up somewhere during the exam prep, when I was trying to remember various drugs for Parkinson's disease and what each of the drug's role is in treatment.

Here goes- for *both* of my listeners! ;)

Lyrics:
So you dx'ed Parkinson, eh?
What you gonna do about
x2

For young- with mild
Anti cholinergics do the trick
x2

For oldies with mild disease
No anti cholinergics please.
For mild ones, give 'em amantadine
No side effects in seeing or peeing.
x2

Severe severe
Rx'ing it now m'dear
x2

Young get agonists of dopamine
Much less side effects are they seen.
Levodopa is for older men,
Add carbidopa then!
x2


Original song:


Image from here.
Shobit: Still waiting for some tricks.

Aazaadiyaan!

This song from the movie Udaan (2010) has some of the best lyrics I have heard in a long time.

Pairon Ki Bediaan Khwabon Ko Baandhe Nahi Re, Kabhi Nahi Re
Mitti Ki Parton Ko Nanhe Se Ankur Bhi Cheere, Dheere Dheere
Iraade Hare, Bhare, Jinke Seeno Mei Ghar Karein
Woh Dil Ki Sune, Kare, Na Dare Naa Dare

Subah Ki Kirnon Ko Roke Jo, Salhake Hain Kahan
Jo Khayalon Pe Pehre Daale, Woh Aankhein Hai Kahan
Par Khulne Ki Deri Hai Parinde Udke Chumenge
Aasma Aasma Aasmaaaa
(x2)

Aazaadiyan Aazaadiyan
Maange Na Kabhi,
Mile Mile Mile
Aazadiyan Aazadiyan
Jo Jeele Wahi Jeele Jeele Jeele

Subah Ki Kirnon Ko Roke Jo, Salhake Hain Kahan
Jo Khayalon Pe Pehre Daale, Woh Aankhein Hai Kahan
Par Khulne Ki Deri Hai Parinde Udke Chumenge
Aasma Aasma Aasmaaaa
(x2)

Chorus:
Kahani Khatam Hai, Ya Shuruwat Hone Ko Hai
Subah Nayi Hai Yeh, Ya Phir Raat Hone Ko Hai
(x2)

Aane Wala Waqt Dega Panahein
Ya Phir Se Milenge Do Raahein
Khabar Kyaa.. Kya Pata..

(Lyrics from here )

:)

The Ballad Of Sigmund Freud

This hilarious song has been stuck in my head for two days now-



Well, it started in Vienna not so many years ago
When not enough folks were getting sick
A starving young physician tried to better his position
By discovering what made his patients tick
He forgot about sterosis and invented the psychosis
And a hundred ways that sex could be enjoyed
He adopted as his credo "down repression of libido!"
And that was the start of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Well, he analyzed the dreams of the teens and libertines
Substituted monologue for pills
He drew crowds just like Will Sadler
When along came Jung and Adler
And they said by God, there's gold in them there ills!
They encountered no resistance
When they served as Freud's assistants
As with ego and with id they deftly toyed
But instead of toting bedpans
They wore analytic deadpans
Those ambitious doctors Adler, Jung and Freud!

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Now the big three have departed
But not so the code the started
No, it's being carried on by a goodly band
And to trauma shock and force us
Someone's gone and added Rorschach
And the whole thing's got completely out of hand!
So old boys with double chinsies
And a thousand would-be Kinseys
They discuss it at the drop of a repression
And I wouldn't be complaining
But for all the loot I'm paying
Just to lie on someone's couch and say confession!

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud



:D :D
PS: Avina.. dedicated to you! XD

Medic Music

** Scroll downnnnn for embedded video**

Hey all,

This is my first effort at recording and podcasting.

I'm one of those people who can remember and recall lyrics to songs very easily. So, I always wanted to write some medical knowledge into popular sounds and hum it along.

Today was the day when I finally did it.

The song used is "Love Song" by Right Said Fred, and has been used since it was the song playing while I started doing this.

So basically what we have here is something that might sound like a hybrid between music bySubstance P (-I am a huge fan of his) and those roadside bhajans that you hear to the sound of popular Bollywood numbers (Yes, I do find them hilarious and easy to remember!).

There's no music in the background, because, well I don't play any instrument that well. And the vocals.. ermmm... lets just say we're here for learning. okay? ;)

I know there's a lot to improve on, but like I said in my previous posts, I'm running short on time these days. This is just a beginning and I was excited to share.

Criticism, suggestions and feedback would be appreciated.

:)

PS: Remember it is very very amateurish and has been done in about an hour! Next time the song will be more carefully chosen and more research will go into the topic.

______________________________________________________

Post completion update: So, I could not figure out how to podcast. So just embedding it. Also, heard it for the first time and okay, sounds crappy. So if you want, you can just learn the lyrics instead of listening to the audio. I won't mind.

Post post completion update: The song's link is actually embedded into the title of the post. Or here . Next time I'll try to get it to stream somehow. (Tips on how to do this would also be appreciated)




**Scrap the post post completion update. Here's the latest. Embedded it! :D **

Image from here.

:X

[Wow.. look at me I'm on a roll here. Second post in one week!]

I was just writing some notes and noticed that I have a short-hand lingo of my own that just a few can understand (heck.. sometimes even I can't understand it! ) and I tend to shorten things by suffixing them with the letter "x" a lot!

The theme started off with the obvious "Rx" - which actually doesn't even have an 'x'. It is supposed to be a diagonal line cutting through the 'R'. Rx in modern day means prescription. It comes from the Latin verb recipe or recipere, which means 'to take'.

So, well, using Rx for Treatment was given. But thus originated a spew of other short forms, which if taken into the English Dictionary would bring down the score for the 'X' tile in scrabble to a mere two or three points!

Here goes the list in alphabetical order:

Bx - Biopsy

Cx- Complication(s)

Dx- Diagnosis

DDx- Differential Diagnosis

Ex- Exercise (Yes, I still use Eg. for example)

F(x)- Function (This has been used for 'function' ever since we were taught functions in Maths)

Hx- History/ History of

Ix- Investigation

Mx- Management

Ox- For oximetry in Pulse ox

Rx- ...well...

Sx- Symptom

Tx-(sometimes treatment)

Well, that's the list for now.. Thirteen out of twenty six. Not bad. But not as many as I thought either. (Mental note- suffix more letters with an 'x')

Feel free to add more if you have any.

______________________________

I know this was kind of pointless, but the thought amused me (Yes, it takes very little to amuse me these days. Blame it on the alleged 24*7 studying!)

And while I have to prepare for this exam, I absolutely *had* to scribble my thoughts before I could move on to anything else more productive!

_______________________________

PS: iPhone wali post- Part two should come up next (Hopefully after the exam)

Apps For The iPhone -My Recs

- This post is meant only for iPhone/iTouch users. You have been warned.

- Also, if you expect to see some extensive reviews and discussions, then this is not the place. I'm just writing this post to list some of my fav apps, and my opinion.

I am fifteen days away from another dreaded exam, but am sitting here writing a blogpost. Why? Because try as I might, I 'm unable to concentrate on studying right now. Might as well use this time to write this post that I intended to write ever since iOS4 was launched.

Now that we have the options for folders on the iPhone, I've downloaded a bunch of apps that I did not have earlier and am thoroughly enjoying them.

So in this post, I'll just list some of my fav apps and you can try them out (if ye haven't already) Most of these are free! :D

Here goes:

SOCIAL:

Twitter for iPhone: If you're a

Twitter buff like I am, then this is the *ultimate* application. Beats others like Tweetdeck, Echofon, Twitterific hands down! Supports multiple accounts, is iOS4 compatible (which basically means you can mutitask on it-- yay!) and has a cool interface. The only thing it probably lacks is push notifications.

Facebook and Skype: Well, if you use these two on the computer, then what's stopping you from using them on the iPhone? Skype makes it really easy to make PC-PC calls over wi-fi, which is one thing I love about it.

The best thing I like about the facebook app is its push notifications.

Y!Messenger: I'm a major Y! lover, so this app has been pretty handy for staying connected. Again, this one has push notifications too :D

In The Mood: A random app to broadcast your current song to Twitter or Blip fm. I like it for its simplicity.

Nimbuzz: Has a bunch of social sites in one, but I mainly use it to access GTalk. (Also on the same lines is, Fring )

FourSquare: Well if you *have* to broadcast where you are, go ahead download this too. (I can't use this right now, since my phone refuses to locate me without a sim! :P)

MEDICINE:

Medscape: Have a couple of medical apps on the phone, but I love this one right now.

Let me take a moment to explain why:

I'm using my phone without a sim these days. So the only internet access I can get is over wifi. Now most of the places like the library or my college don't have internet access.

Here's where Medscape has become a saviour. It has an option where you can download and get offline access to all articles. So, thanks to this app, I have a personal reference guide wherever I am- internet or no internet! :)

Epocrates: The holy grail of medical reference, this! Right now I have only the free version, but will purchase the full version later when I actually use my phone with its sim and over *3G*. Till then the free version stays, which again is pretty useful at times.

MedCalc: My personal favourite med app this is! It is a must must have! Download it and you'll see. If you're in practice, you'll feeling like giving your phone a big hug when you use this app. Trust me.

NEJM App: Released just a short while ago, this app has the best interface one could ask for! And its free (for the timebeing atleast) I love doing the image quizzes on this one. Go ahead enjoy NEJM on your phone while its still there.

Eye handbook: While we are on the topic of med apps, let me just fill you in with this one. This is essentially meant for ophthalmologists, but has a couple of nifty uses. The 'cartoon movie' option has helped me a couple of times in engaging kids and assessing their neurological status. Pretty useful that way :)

Other med apps: DxSaurus, Eponyms, Growth Charts, QxCalculate

PRODUCTIVITY:

UYH Gold: This is one of the very few apps that I purchased from the app store. I love this one since it allows you to actually write with your finger. This makes making lists much simpler than typing it out in notes. So all my random lists go in this one :) It also has a free version that you can check out. Its called UYH To Do, I think.

Dropbox: If you use it on the computer, then get it for your iPhone too! If you don't use it on the computer, get it! It basically provides virtual space to you where you can drop files, and later access them from anywhere. Simple 'nuff?

Team Viewer: Again would say the same thing as for Dropbox, get it! Get it on the computer as well as iPhone, and get remote access to your desktop! I love to reboot my computer from the iPhone (even though I'm sitting in the same room :P)

Converter+ : This app it the *ultimate* conversion app! Has everything from mass to currency to even mortgage value. Another cool thing is the 'tip calculator' :D Plus, the icon looks similar to the new Calculator app, so that adds some face value.

Moment Diary: I'm just sad that I didn't have the iPhone and this app when I started college. I could have recorded all the hilarity and fun times in this single app!

This is like a personal diary where you can put text snippets (140 character limit), photos, videos.. and it'll save it with date and time. Go ahead, make your own media diary. (I've already started! :D)

Evernote: Oops, how did I forget Evernote! The baap of all productivity apps this is!

Stick it notes: This is another one where you can make To Do notes and stick them as your lock screen wallpaper. I don't like the interface much, since it takes a lot of time to make notes and stick them as wallpapers, but its useful when you have a zillion important things to do and a short time to do them!

UTILITY:

Accuweather: The best app for weather updates! This one was a huge friend when I had to walk to the hospital earlier this year! (Dear Ritu, Remember the chattris :D)

Dictionary: An *offline* dictionary. That's the best part! :D

On this day: Heh! It just shows the events that marked the date in history. I happen to enjoy random stuff like this. I'm just weird like that :D

Dishant Radio: The ultimate Bollywood radio! It streams all the new songs and you can search for the randomest old ones. Of course, I haven't been able to stream it on the slow internet connection that I have (.. Yes its broadband :/)

Hutke Radio: Another bollywood radio that is hutke. It streams songs by your mood.

Doodle Buddy: One of my personal favs. Just go along and doodle :) (iDoodle2lite is another one)

FingerCut: Only for the creepiness my friend, only for the creepiness! It has a saw that *cuts* your finger. :/

Virtuoso: A virtual piano :)

Sleep Cycle: Oops! Almost forgot this one! This is one of those alarm clock apps that wake you up in the REM phase of sleep based on your body activity. I think it works, but haven't had a chance to use it much yet. It has beautiful sounds though, that you'd love to wake up to. Oh and also, it's a paid app.

Okay, that's it for now.

I'll continue in the next post with Photography and Games apps that I like. That will be another long post!

:)

Rihints

Do you have any of those little quirks that you never seem to get rid of?

One of mine is 'Rihints'

As a kid, once I was down with a nasty cold.

[If you've ever had a really bad cold (-which you probably have-duh!), then you might remember that one of the most infuriating things about this common-cold, is that constant lacrimation occurring unilaterally.]

So then, I asked my dad for some medicine for those tears. He being doctor, gave me a cold medicine that was meant to 'Combat Rhinitis'.

Now as a kid of about ten years, I read it as 'rihints' ...(Note: R-I-H-I-N-T-S) and decided that it was a term used for those tears running down my face. (Maybe it was because of the blurry vision due to the "rihints"??)

..And rihints they have been ever since.

One good thing happened because of my silly error of reading. I got a term to describe that incessant lacrimation when you have a common-cold.

___________

Okay that was essentially the most useless story ever.

But what the heck, I wanted to post a new story for the pretty green template, and just decided to go on with whatever sprung to mind.

Hopefully some better stuff to come in the near future.

10 things that show that I've gone into pre-exam mode

10. Sleeping > 15 hours per day. With mornings that happen around noon, and pulling late nighters-- which include lots of random googling, surfing and browsing the web (and no studying, of course!).

9. Watching re-runs of FRIENDS, Full House or even Sarabhai/Sarabhai every chance I get.

8. Then again, going into anxiety mode over time that was wasted watching shows or sleeping!

7. Twitter stream filled with study facts (which ARE sometimes useful btw!) and rants about How I Slept For Another (Hour) (<-apologise for the extremely poor attempt at rhyming with HIMYM!)

6. Breakfast> Brunch>Lunch>Mid-day snack after nap> Pre-dinner>Dinner>Late night coffee. Repeat.

5. Ten different alarms on the phone for waking me up. To be repeated everyday! (First alarm starts at 6.30am. I duly wake up anytime after 10am)

4. Googling up any bit-of-information-about-any-obscure-person-or-thing that I come across. (Ritz pointed this out to me yesterday)

3. Being perpetually online, and knowing about every little update on Facebook/Orkut/Twitter. (Notice how, even at this stage of boredom, I did not resort to extreme measures like taking quizzes or playing farmville or deciding who my 'friend/enemy/lover of the day' was!)

2. Cribbing to anyone who will listen about the upcoming exam and how its making my life miserable.

1. Writing blog posts, like this one.

Mono-phonic Thinking

Another one from Dr. N. [This is the first one. And its hilarious!]

After examining a case of suspected infectious mononucleosis, Dr. N and the student on call were discussing the diagnosis and management.

Dr.N: "The heterophile test might not always be positive in the early course of the disease.. So, what other test can you use for diagnosis?"

Student: "Give the patient amoxicillin. And watch if he develops a rash.."

(This one cracked me up. Believe me, it might sound like me, but I wasn't the student here!)

Test-imony

Here's a true story I heard the other day from Dr. N while I was ordering labs for what looked like a girl with a sexually transmitted disease.

Dr. N is a Pediatrician, practicing in a small town in USA.

[Writing the anecdote in her words.]

I was working in the clinic one day, when I saw a 8 year old girl with urinary problems. I ordered labs on her. When her labs came back, I was shocked to see Trichomonas in he urine. Now, with a STD in such a young child, it automatically becomes a case of child-abuse. I had to call the Child Protection Services. But before I did that, I had to inform the mother, and try to find out the culprit. This woman was a single mom.

Dr. N: "Mrs. So&So, does the child go to stay with her father sometimes?"

Mrs. So&So: "She's doesn't stay with him. Why she hasn't met him in a while"

Dr. N: "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Mrs. So&So: "Not really, why?"

Dr. N: "Well we did some tests on her, and her lab results show that she has trichomoniasis, a STD. We suspect that your child is being sexually abused, and so I'm going to call the CPS."

Mrs. So&So: " No it can't be.. "

Dr. N: "Well, her urine culture results are right there.."

Mrs. So&So: "Ohh.. then she doesn't have the disease.."

*goes crimson red*

Dr. N: "Wha..??"

Mrs. So&So: "Well, yesterday when I took her for giving the specimen, I took her to the restroom. I waited and waited and waited... but she wouldn't pee. So I just took some of my own pee, and sent it.."

Dr. N: "Well in that case, I suggest you set up an appointment with *your* doctor as soon as possible! You have a STD!"

Image: http://www.pasozyty.net.pl/rzesistek-pochwowy/