Medical School: Week 1
Monday:
We had a problem based learning (PBL) case that was meant to exercise our public health and disease prevention knowledge. Besides that most of classes were just introduction to various topics and what's expected of us. After all of our classes were over we had the opportunity to sign up for special interest groups that occasionally meet and teach about various specialties and service opportunities during lunch. I signed up for several and got to do an ultrasound on some guys arm. He showed me what his artery looked like on the machine. I thoght it was pretty darn cool.
Tuesday:
Classes technically ended at 12:00, although I didn't get home until about 4:00. We learned a little bit about statistics used for screening for diseases in our first lecture. In our second lecture a fourth year medical student taught us about societal determinants of health. As one student put it, "He talked so fast he sounded like Eminem." We then spent the remaining time in small groups learning how to use the library's resources. We each received an assignment to go the the medical library's "stacks" and find a specific book.
The "stacks" is basically the collection of books that they lock up after certain hours because they're too valuable to risk being stolen, or something like that. You get to the "stacks" by opening a lone door in a hall of the library. Once one opens that door they are thrust into a world entirely separate from that which they came. My entrance into the "stacks" immediately led me down a staircase into a room full of narrowly placed shelves with dim lighting. To proceed on my journey I had to step around several pipes, which only further introduced me to the musky scent of aged paper. As I wandered towards yet another staircase I realized that if Hogwarts exists I must be in it. Throughout my journey I only saw two people, a student studying and an elderly woman stacking books. I'm sure one of them had magical qualities and cast a spell on me. That's why I gained a pound on Tuesday.
When I got home Lexi and I probably spent at least an hour dealing with Medicaid either on the phone or gathering paperwork. I'm pretty sure the reason poor people don't choose to utilize some resources is because is it might actually be easier to die than wait for the government Jus process paperwork..
It also was our anniversary. We celebrated by telling each other that we were still in love and not giving up after dealing with Medicaid.
Wednesday:
The typical schedule of two morning lectures followed by a problem based learning activity resumed. Our PBL culminated in me role playing a doctor trying to explain to an anti-vaccine parent why the flu shot would be helpful for his asthmatic son (please just get vaccinated). Afterwards I spent lunch troubleshooting a program I was working on.
Rochester is really big on the biopsychosocial model of medicine. Basically, we're suppose to treat people as people instead of mere bags of cells. We had a lecture discussing in detail how to approach a patient in such a way that allows us to really understand their concerns. A surprising amount of issues go unanswered because doctors just breeze past them or they don't give the patient enough time to vocalize all of their concerns. We then practiced this skill on patient actors. That was pretty nerve racking because it involved a room of ten people watching you interact with a patient actor. Once a mock interview is finished the floor opens up for critiques. The instructor decided to go in alphabetical order so Christensen, Zachary had the privilege of going first. It went alright but I spent the rest of the time watching my classmates do really well and was kicking myself for not doing some of the things they did.
When I got home I was able to watch the girls while Lexi went to the store. Zoey has decided that her favorite toy is her swing. She'll just lie underneath it and knock it back and forth until she roles too far away from it.
Thursday:
We learned about the normal distribution and how it can be applied in medicine. I also watched some really dry videos about how to use PubMed searches for my mastering medical information course. We also had lunch with our advisory dean. The advisory dean is someone who is in charge of being a sort of mentor of sorts for each student and they help us get a broad view of how our education applies to a clinical setting. There are something like four advisory deans that divide the class up among them. Ours read a really long article about patient centered interactions (by long I mean it took nearly 30 minutes to read). He promised he'd never do it again.
I then met with Dr. Bazarian who does a lot of DTI (a type of MRI modality) research in sports injury. We discussed the possibility of me becoming more involved in the future with his research.
Friday:
We started the morning off with some light biostatistics lectures where we spent the majority of the time guessing what types of statistical test to use given certain data. Afterwards we had a PBL and addressed issues of sexually transmitted diseases on a biological level and how it's handled on a community level. We typically have learning objectives (LO) at the end of each PBL. I dibsed gonorrhea. When they were trying to establish had each LO I exclaimed, "I've got gonorrhea." Poor, poor Lexi.
We had a problem based learning (PBL) case that was meant to exercise our public health and disease prevention knowledge. Besides that most of classes were just introduction to various topics and what's expected of us. After all of our classes were over we had the opportunity to sign up for special interest groups that occasionally meet and teach about various specialties and service opportunities during lunch. I signed up for several and got to do an ultrasound on some guys arm. He showed me what his artery looked like on the machine. I thoght it was pretty darn cool.
Tuesday:
Classes technically ended at 12:00, although I didn't get home until about 4:00. We learned a little bit about statistics used for screening for diseases in our first lecture. In our second lecture a fourth year medical student taught us about societal determinants of health. As one student put it, "He talked so fast he sounded like Eminem." We then spent the remaining time in small groups learning how to use the library's resources. We each received an assignment to go the the medical library's "stacks" and find a specific book.
The "stacks" is basically the collection of books that they lock up after certain hours because they're too valuable to risk being stolen, or something like that. You get to the "stacks" by opening a lone door in a hall of the library. Once one opens that door they are thrust into a world entirely separate from that which they came. My entrance into the "stacks" immediately led me down a staircase into a room full of narrowly placed shelves with dim lighting. To proceed on my journey I had to step around several pipes, which only further introduced me to the musky scent of aged paper. As I wandered towards yet another staircase I realized that if Hogwarts exists I must be in it. Throughout my journey I only saw two people, a student studying and an elderly woman stacking books. I'm sure one of them had magical qualities and cast a spell on me. That's why I gained a pound on Tuesday.
When I got home Lexi and I probably spent at least an hour dealing with Medicaid either on the phone or gathering paperwork. I'm pretty sure the reason poor people don't choose to utilize some resources is because is it might actually be easier to die than wait for the government Jus process paperwork..
It also was our anniversary. We celebrated by telling each other that we were still in love and not giving up after dealing with Medicaid.
Wednesday:
The typical schedule of two morning lectures followed by a problem based learning activity resumed. Our PBL culminated in me role playing a doctor trying to explain to an anti-vaccine parent why the flu shot would be helpful for his asthmatic son (please just get vaccinated). Afterwards I spent lunch troubleshooting a program I was working on.
Rochester is really big on the biopsychosocial model of medicine. Basically, we're suppose to treat people as people instead of mere bags of cells. We had a lecture discussing in detail how to approach a patient in such a way that allows us to really understand their concerns. A surprising amount of issues go unanswered because doctors just breeze past them or they don't give the patient enough time to vocalize all of their concerns. We then practiced this skill on patient actors. That was pretty nerve racking because it involved a room of ten people watching you interact with a patient actor. Once a mock interview is finished the floor opens up for critiques. The instructor decided to go in alphabetical order so Christensen, Zachary had the privilege of going first. It went alright but I spent the rest of the time watching my classmates do really well and was kicking myself for not doing some of the things they did.
When I got home I was able to watch the girls while Lexi went to the store. Zoey has decided that her favorite toy is her swing. She'll just lie underneath it and knock it back and forth until she roles too far away from it.
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| She has great hair. |
Thursday:
We learned about the normal distribution and how it can be applied in medicine. I also watched some really dry videos about how to use PubMed searches for my mastering medical information course. We also had lunch with our advisory dean. The advisory dean is someone who is in charge of being a sort of mentor of sorts for each student and they help us get a broad view of how our education applies to a clinical setting. There are something like four advisory deans that divide the class up among them. Ours read a really long article about patient centered interactions (by long I mean it took nearly 30 minutes to read). He promised he'd never do it again.
I then met with Dr. Bazarian who does a lot of DTI (a type of MRI modality) research in sports injury. We discussed the possibility of me becoming more involved in the future with his research.
Friday:
We started the morning off with some light biostatistics lectures where we spent the majority of the time guessing what types of statistical test to use given certain data. Afterwards we had a PBL and addressed issues of sexually transmitted diseases on a biological level and how it's handled on a community level. We typically have learning objectives (LO) at the end of each PBL. I dibsed gonorrhea. When they were trying to establish had each LO I exclaimed, "I've got gonorrhea." Poor, poor Lexi.
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| My notes get iffy when lecture goes on too long. |
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