To Peds or Not To Peds...

As a reply to my previous post, I got this list from Dr.Parang Mehta (who is an aluminus from MY college!! Woo)

Posting it here..

*According to this list, I am definitely NOT made for Peds!! Lol!!*

Five reasons to choose Pediatrics:

1. You like to cure patients. The child with severe pneumonia you admit in the ICU today will be sitting up and trying to pull his IV line out. On Day 2 he'll be running around the ward, destroying everything he can reach.
2. You like challenges. The challenge of diagnosing uncommunicative patients, the challenge of treating reluctant medicine-takers,the challenge of examining a patient in the cacophony created by a child crying and the parents trying to make him stop...
3. You like honest patients. When they say their tummy hurts, it's because their tummy hurts. It's not because of college exams, a tough boss at work, a difficult mother-in-law at home.
4. You like to see the gratitude in parents' eyes when their child gets well. Even if it is ephemeral.

5. You like kids.

Five reasons to not choose Pediatrics:

1. You like money. Pediatrics is the least lucrative of the specialties.
2. You like peaceful nights and undisturbed weekends.
3. You like respectful, cooperative patients.
4. You like patients that keep coming back to you. Forever.
5. You do not like kids.

:/

What next??!!??

Ah well... here I am again. And with nothing better to do than sit at home, watch TV & sleep (as though there could be anything better than this!), I decided to think over my specialization choices once again.

The list definitely needs to be refreshed.

One thing's for sure, it'll have to be a medical branch & not a surgical one.

-With my clumsy fingers, I'll manage to cut the appendix in a cholecystectomy operation.

-Then, I don't really like to care about the minor precise details. So what if I cut an artery or a nerve.

-All the blood & smell turns me off.

So for the branches:

Paediatrics: Yay for the IAP Paediatrics Quiz! I got my interest into this branch after I'd studied loads of syndromes for the quiz. & I even enjoyed it! Now that is not something that happens everyday!

I like to study about these congenital defects & all these Pediatric situations more than any other subject.

I like the small instruments thwy have for the neonates. & the li'l X-rays are nice too :)

Genetic diseases have always been in my area of interest even since the pre-med days.

Then these cute li'l kid patients tend to attract me to the field.

*Although my experiences with them in the past two exams have been slightly less than good. In the Pre-Univ prac, the kid, 3y/o male, was a happy little fellow while I got history from his mom. He had the chocolates I'd got him, played around with my steth, decided to bang around with the hammer. But the moment I touched him for examination, he decided that I was not a nice person anymore & started to cry! He wailed pretty much throughout the exam & did not allow me to examine anything more than two lung areas.

Pretty much a similar story followed in the Univ Pracs too! The kid, 2y/o male, was fine till the inspection part, but started crying the moment I touched him. Then there was no stopping him! He cried everytime I got near him or his Grandma. This one even had temper tantrums & rolled on the floor!!! Boy, I couldn't even do the anthropometry right!

So basically these two incidents have me doubting my ability of dealing with the young lot. I guess they're put off by my presence!! :( *

But still, peds is on the list. I'll finally decide on it after my intern posting in Peds.

Obs/Gyn: Since the last list, where O&G topped with a hu-uge margin, its gone down so deep, that it'll be tough to get it back on the charts.

This is all thanks to the fetal pelvis and maternal skull (..or whatever!!). I mean, it seems stupid to me to make this whole hue & cry over li'l centimetre or two. And with stubby fingers like mine (yeah! the endomorph..i knoww), it'll be hard reaching the sacral promontery in any damn pelvis! So then, all maternal pelvis-es (is that correct??) will be nice and adequate if the doctor is yours truly.

And my experiances with Obs says that however much I try learning, I'll never get my cms right. Even if I do, the I, ermm, am not that good at assessing measurements. (Those who really know me can testify for that.. :/)

Managing malpresentations & malpostions is not my cup 'f tea. Add to it, those manouvers & protocols, & hey, you lost me.

Most imprtantly, I am not made to manage emergencies. Hell, you might need a bed for me by the patient's side, if I'm asked to singularly control a haemorrhaging third trimester bleed!

Then there's this thing about Gynae. I mean after reading it all, I still think that the Gyanecs give OCPs & progesterone for any damn disease! The entire list is like 10 drugs & they keep shuffling b/w those for all pathologies. C'mon, I need more variety than that! (I know this is a stupid reason to write down, but hey, it was bothering me!)

Neurology: Ahem, its very quickly climbing up to the top of my list. The only hurdle is that I'll have to do a PG in Med to do Neuro... & that means studying Cardio!! Now those who aren't aware of my realtionship with everyone's-favourite-oh-so-good Cardio....Well... I HATE IT!!! Those tiny ECG scrawls, the similar murmurs, the lub-dub of the heart...& everyone's infatuation with cardiology, makes me dislike it even more.

Anyways, back to Neuro.

I like doing a neurological examination.

I like how precise everything is. I mean a UMN lesion...exaggerated jerks & extensor plantar. LMN....absent reflexes with flexor plantar. Add a UMN & LMN as in SACD, & u get extensor plantar with absent jerks. How calculated is that!! :) :D Its like organised clockwork.

Btw, even as I'm writing this, my interest in Neuro is increasing.

Then, those problem solving classes in Neuro were fun. I like that kind of a thing. U get facts, and u deduce an answer. No messing around with the type of sound, its pitch & quality!

I'll end halfway thru coz now I'm bored of typing.

Will write more if & when I decide to think further.

Freedom!!

Ah! So I finally finished Final Yr y'day.. & can assure you - I don't care how bad they were- I'm just glad that the exams are over!!

I've been giving exams on & off since last November!! First the medicine tutorials, then PUCs (which lasted for almost a month!!), then the whole set of Univs & finally the University decided that we did NOT deserve a break...so they lined up the practicals..!!!

Actually I've so gotten into this habit of giving an exam, enjoying for a day or two, & then getting back to the next subject; that its hard for me to believe that I don't have to study anymore!!

Anyhow.. all that's past now!!

Altho I want to give a blow by blow account of the Universities, I won't do it coz it brings back scary memories. Lets just say that, Surgery-1 was the biggest nightmare of my life *goosebumps*. If I pass that one, I'm sure I'll do well in the others.

Will just leave it at this now.

The other happy news is that I got broadband back. Must admit, it'll take time for me to adjust to this computer screen now. My eyes & hand have well become adept at typing on the miniscule mobile screen.
Still, now that I have a full Qwerty board & a speed net connection, I'll try put up lots of posts... :)

The latest from AMUL...

:)

Warning:

Dates in the calendar are closer than they appear!

*This is just to remind me to not while around, & get back to books!

4 & A Half Years... Still A Novice!

Okay! So I'm getting into that chilly zone of exams again. With Pre-Univs round the corner & Univs lined up as a Happy 2009 gift in early Jan, its high time that I start studying seriously.

But the so-called 'Final Year' that was supposed to be the toughest (yeah!I know it IS!!!) & the most exhaustive period of Med College, somehow flew by! I wonder if I actually got to learn anything new this year!

I still cannot differentiate between a bronchial & vesicular breath sound.

I still get my vertex & breeches mixed up!

I still see a nothing more than a tiny scrawl while reading an ECG. (Okay, maybe I can tell you where a ST elevation is, but that's only when I'm told beforehand that its a MI ECG)

I still don't know the the Glasgow coma scale.

I still can't get an IV line in!

I still can't auscultate & recognise a heart murmur on my own!

Although there are some things that I can do, too (tho they're really numbered):

I can tell you what a 'strawberry tongue' is.

I know a lot of things eponymous with 'Charcot' in medicine :)

I know the triad of congenital rubella syndrome.

I know what 'Battle's sign' stands for.

I might not know the exact components of Brown-Sequard syndrome, but I do know how it was discovered :P

I know what Pickwickian syndrome is.

I know the story behind Ondine's curse.

I know what a Keel operation is for. (It may be obselete, but who cares. The examiner will pop the question anyway!)

[One thing that I realised this year is that somehow, I'm good at just one thing. Eponymous syndromes & signs!! & the rarer the better. :) Of course, these aren't gonna come in use in any time during my medicine career. But then, these are about the only things I can learn with low input. Wonder if someonw would hire me where I just have to tell the components of named syndromes. Man, I would love that job! :D ]

I know for sure that however much may I love Med College, I ain't no match for "FINAL YEAR"! It calls for continuous studying, with lo-ooong hours of cramming & rote. Well, my butts aren't prepared for that kind of sitting! So then, I might face a tough time just trying to pass some of the subjects. * Do pray for me!!*

& know the final year's almost ended, with me just worrying about finishing the syllabus. With the exams at a really scary distance, I'm still not one with even the first read of books! Haven't even purchased Psychiatry & Anesthesia ki books! :(

Well at this point of time, it seems kinda stupid for me to be still sitting here moping about the epic-course & my tiny pool of knowledge, when I should be studying surgery. But hey, this was a great way to let off steam.

Right, I might as well get back to reading how to amputate a limb now. :/

*Plus one more thing on my mind right now: I HATE OBS!!!!!

The Best-est Teacher In The World!

(I’m writing this while I’m sitting in the car, on my way back home.. So got an excuse for doing this instead of studying. :))

This post is for my absolute favourite teacher in the world- My Dad!

Umm..not citing his name as the best teacher for general things you learn from parents like how to live, love & care (Yes! He’s taught all that too!) but for literally being the best teacher through the years.

My Dad’s been teaching me since I-can’t-even-remember-when. Every year as my syllabus changed, he had to (read: was forced to) read it too, coz being the lazy bum that I am, I used to do just one casual reading & consider it done (..& obviously I didn’t remember any of it an hour later!). He used to sit with me before every test & exam, & do it with me.

There’s this one incident that I remember vividly. (Shruti, you might’ve even heard this one from me before). I had my Sanskrit half-yearly exam the next day & midway through noon I was busy playing with my cousins who had come over. When my dad came back home from work, he asked about what my scenario with the preparation was, I was quick to reply with a “Papa, wo to ho gaya..”.Then when he decided to quiz me with some questions; within 5 minutes I had tears running down my face & a blank look with no answers. He then took me up to the terrace & instead of scolding, sat down with me & got me started with balak ke shabd roop (ermm..its the basic grammar in Sanskrit. I had not bothered to learn ANYTHING!). This was quite some work for him too, coz he knows zilch in Sanskrit! I can still picture us sitting there-me on a ragged old dari & him, in front of me with the book, sitting on an old piece of bedding, & both of us reciting “Balakah, Baalakau, Baalaka”!
But then, by the end of the day, I had done enough to last me that exam (& quite a few exams in the coming years too!)
....That’s the kind of teacher my Dad is. :-)

And now, that I’m in his field, I get to know more & more about his knowledge n teaching skills each day. Believe it or not, questions that he says are important have a habit of turning up on the exam the next day.
There’s this other incident that is my favourite. (You might’ve heard about this one too, Shruti)
It was right before my AIIMS pre-med entrance exam. We were standing outside the centre & I was busy doing some last moment cramming. Out of nowhere, he told me that Thalidomide, was a drug that had re-entered the market recently as it had found new use in Multiple Myeloma.
**What was a drug that had re-entered the market recently as it had found use in what!!**Seeing the blank look on my face, he said, “Just remember that the drug caused Phocomelia i.e. seal like limbs,in the fetus… So it was withdrawn from the market earlier. & is now used for MM”. Now being the stubborn ass I am, do you even think I bothered with all these new names!
But then, there I was in the Exam hall & Ha! It was right there, “Thalidomide in utero causes:..” My heart skipped a beat! I knew this! I tried to recollect, but it wouldn’t come to me…(You see, I hadn’t made any effort to learn it!) Couldn’t make out what the answer was. But in the excitement, that I at least knew the name of the drug, I marked an answer (which turned out to be wrong!!)

And then in my First year Per-Univs, one night before the Anat exam, I was studying at Ritu’s place. As I talked to Pa, he said that they had a full question on ‘Arches of the foot’ in their Pre-Univs. So that was an important topic, I ought to study it too.
I didn’t. Ritu did.
Voila. The first question, carrying 10 marks was… [No prize for guessing what that was!]

He somehow has this knack of knowing what might be there in the next day’s paper! (Last year, he even got Bhavesh a 4 mark question in the Boards!! He’d just told him the thing before leaving for the exam centre!)

Okay, not only this, he’s also an amazing teacher otherwise. Never knew about his knowledge till I started with Medicine. Clinics with him are awesome. Ask him anything off-hand & he’ll explain it to you really well. (Once taught a topic in Gynae too.. :)). Even at classes, he’s one of the good teachers. Plus, he’s always there to clear my concepts of the tracts in the spinal cord and diabetes insipidus!

He loves teaching. Even if its dud students like yours truly.
In fact, he’s the one I hold responsible for me-making-it-through into Medical! He did more Zoology than me in my pre-med days. There are some things that he told me back then (like all about Adrenals on a trip back home from Jaipur), that have been helping me till this day!

Not many can boast of a combo of an amazing dad & an awesome teacher!
Am really really lucky to have him!! I’d be screwed otherwise! Bigtime!

Learn To Live

Rock On!!

One word for the movie: Rocks!!!!!
Man!! I had been waiting for the movie long enough...& now that I've seen it, all I can say is that, is was WORTH the wait!! Farhan Akhtar rocks as the actor & more so, as the SINGER!! Has a different *in a good way* voice that blends really well with Shankar-Ehasaan-Loy's music! The music trio have put together an awesome bollywood-rock score. 'Socha Hai' & 'Pichle Saat Dino' are my absolute favourites!!
The actors were great. All four gel as a group. *gives a DCH like feeling at times* Get Purab's boyish charm, Luke's seriousness & Joe's solidarity. .& you can't help but feel good!
The direction-WOW. The song 'Sindbad the sailor' was the high point for me. It feels as if you're actually in a concert!!

Why am I doing a (something that cannot be even called a )movie review here? Coz I LOVED the movie *& Farhan in particular ;)* & wanted to pen down something abt it, just to get it out of my system :)
Go watch the movie. Live your dream.

Rock on!!

Part 2- My Verry Happy Birthday

. . . Finally Part-2 of ‘My Verry Happy Birthday’. . .

A bit of jolting from a stranger on the blogging world, an unexpected stretch of peace (thanks to the awesome mausam) & ‘Friendship Day’- a day when I’m really happy & thankful for the best-est friends I could’ve asked for in College - All these have gotten me back in the mood for finishing the long forgotten post abt my birthday.


Lets see.. I’d left off at the point where I found these two "blank" scrolls of papers at AFJ.

Now this was the kaminiyat part… that these guys had planned. On those two scrolls, I was supposed to write a “thank you” note to ANY TWO of the pple. Now of course, it was hard to choose from 10!! & whichever two I chose, the other 8 were bound to kill me with senti-dialogues & what not about how I love those two more than the others! & the worst part was , that I had to do it BEFORE I got my next clue…. :(
So, back at the hostel, I wrote down two names (don’t remember which ones I decided to oblige..) & had to hear a lot of “Oh..you like her more than us!!” & “Ahh… So I’m not a favourite!Sigh!” . It was fultoo melodrama plus meri taang kheechna!

Now, after this, I was given the next Clue. Clue #4.
Here it is:
“Gehra pyaar hai issse
Utpatang hain kaam hamare
Din mein do baar
Saptah mein saat baar
Karta hai CARRY throughout YEAR”
Now this riddle was one of the toughest ones. Took me a looong time to figure it out. I finally got CARRY-YEAR…. CARRIER by myself… But something was missing… I kept lookin & BANG! It hit me:
It was : “GUDS CARRIER”… that’s what they call my Activa sometimes… (Guds is my nickname, for the uninitiated)
I ran to the Activa… But there was nothing there.. Ran back to my room to get the keys.. But of course, I couldn’t find them. That was the hardest part. Again got some help from Anks, while the others were having a good time teasing me! After looking EVERYWHERE, I finally found the keys in Navy’s room (who was either pretending to, or had very conveniently gone to sleep in there!!)…
Getting to the Activa I found my next gift..but no clue..

As I ran back up, got my next Clue in there. Clue #5 was another music clue. As Ritu played the song “Hips Don’t Lie” on her cell, I guessed it was something to do with MG Hospital. As it was almost 11.00, we had to go to the Medicine posting at the hosp. I was told to leave the clue at the moment.
When we got to the Hospital, I saw Navy & Aditi already there. They were waiting at the parking lot for us & grinning. I looked around for a clue or gift- But nopes, nothing in there. Rushed to MM I- nothing in there too! Went to the Medicine office- nothing in there!! Then I decided to go on with the proceedings of the posting, & look for the gift later. Ab finally, when we were winding up with things at the posting, we decided to look for the clue again. Aha.. Hinting time again. I was asked to go & look in the Seminar room once again. I went in there &, Voila! There were two scrolls (once again) near the Podium. And sitting innocently, right next to the sheets was my next clue!

Here it is:
Clue #6:
“Sum of today’s date _____
Arps comes in class ______
Our grp is number _______
Govinda is Hero No. ______
The time you’ll get your next gift _____”
‘Aha! Pretty simple this time’, I thought. Of course, it was all ‘ONE’…
But waitaminnit, as I had calculated, the sum of today’s date was NOT ‘one’!! (1+5+0+3+2+0+0+8 =19; 1+9=10) It was ‘TEN’! & as I pointed this out to the others, *smug at the thought that I’d found an error in their riddle*, I was hit in the head & asked what the sum of 1+0 was…
Oops, I’d been an ass!!! It WAS ‘one’ alright!!! (They were all lauging at my well known maths skills by now!!) ;)

Next was the Paeds Tutorial at Ummed Hosp. We reached there, at about 12.30. Waiting for the tut to start, it was already ‘one’ o clock! I was handed my next gift. These were strips of really cute stickers! Wow! Plus of course, there was the next clue!

This clue #7 was a ‘maths test’! This one might be hard for you to understand, but I figured it out pretty soon (faster than all of these guys had expected! ;))
Here goes:
“Location of ur gift = Your score in exam/ Total amount we’re spending on your gifts”
This one actually is a brilliant puzzle!!! Lemme explain. My overall score in 2nd year exams was 420 marks. Everyone remembers this coz of the sheer interesting-ness of the number ‘chaar sau bees’.
For the next bit: Since 3-4 days before my b’day Navy had been bugging me with her PJs about getting me gifts worth Rs.10… She had decided that they would get me 5 gifts of 2 rupees each… It was supposed to be a shampoo sachet, some toffees, a 2 rupee pen etc. So basically, she had been working to get me ready for this clue.
Now basic maths, 420/10=42. So there it was Room No.42!!!!! Yay!! Although, at that point I was confused whose room it is, but later, it turned out to be Avina’s!!
When we got to the hostel, (after the sad tutorial,) I went to Avina’s room. But there, I was told to wait. Coz the hunt had been put on hold till evening, when Ritz would come to the dorm! So then, I was assured that my guess was correct & my next gift would be in Avi’s room.

So after a fun-lunch, I went to sleep. Shit! I was so exhausted that I woke up right at 5 in the evening. As I went to find the others, I found everyone, including Ritz waiting in Avi’s room. & there were these really pretty balloons all over the place!!! :) :)
To burst my balloon of happiness, there I saw 2 more blank sheets!
It was then that I remembered that I had two more unfilled sheets lying around. Hmmm..This looked like a good prospect. I could fill in all the 4 gals’ names in those. (coz there were none of the guys around!). I was about to start filling in, when I was told that the sheets were to be filled in preference order in front of everyone!! Damn!!
So then again, I was verbally assaulted for thanking pple!

Okay that done with..It was time for the next clue. It was another musical clue.
Clue #8:
“Gudiya humse roothi rohogi,
kab tak na hasogi
Dekho ji kiran si lehar aayi
Aayi re aayi re hansi aayi…”
Instant answer! It had to be with my mom!
You see, this is one song that my Mum used to sing whenever I was mad at her. This would make me smile at once!!

These guys had done ALL their homework. The clues had been spread out all over the place!!!

So post-conformation, I went home.
There on the dining table was the ‘gift’- A pepsi bottle filled with water, with a shampoo sachet & 2 rupee pen floating in it! See, Navy had been true to her promise. I did get my 10 rupee gifts!!! I laughed heartily at it!!
As I went back to the hostel, there was my next riddle.

Clue #9:
“ They all point to one place:
1. Page no.616
2. Your hangout place
3. @^!’s louuu-uuuu”

Okay, I had to LOL at this!!! U won’t really understand it, but it’s an amazing riddle. Page 616 of Park’s PSM book is “Sulabh Shauchalaya”, which had been a butt of a lot of jokes during our stint of studying PSM. (Yes Shruti, we even have to study the sewage system & toilets!! One more point to my course! ;)). My ‘hangout place’: well, I love to spend a lot of time in the bathroom.
I ran to the bathroom & there they were (you guessed it), two more blank sheets & my next riddle.


Clue #10 is my favourite of the lot!!! It actually shows what brilliant brains these guys are. Here’s how it goes:
“You have ‘peritonitis’,
On your tummy, doctor gave a sign;
With ‘Hagrid’ lies your Rx (read:Treatment),
Can’t think of the last line.”

I had to think for a really long time to get this! But amazingly I managed to find the ans all by myself!
The answer was ‘Bhaiya’ ie the guard outside the hostel.
See, ‘the sign of peritonitis on tummy’ is guarding. The ‘Hagrid’ IS a guard. So my next gift was with Bhaiya downstairs. It was another really cute strip of stickers..!!

By the time I was done with it, it was already time for the party. So we got dressed & headed-off. I thought the clues were over, but nahi, there was more to come. . .
There were more clues at the party too!!!

..To be contd..

( Am getting sleepy now. It’s a really long typing session for a notebook-pen kinda person like me!*Yawn!*)

PS: A biiii-iiiiig HUG to all u guys for the awesome budday! Btw come to think of it, all my birthdays at college have been different (in a great way!!). All thanks to you guys!