What Type of Medicine Am I Interested In?

August 31, 2009

Like most exam weeks, last week came and went rather quickly.  After intense studying for a 2-week course, I felt like relaxing this weekend.  Although I did manage to take my first neurology online quiz on Saturday, I spent most of the weekend enjoying the non-student aspects of my life.

Yet, even while I was trying to do other things, medicine still whispered a few times (and I am not referring to the tiny voice that always is telling me, “study!”).    I am talking about the big questions that run through my head, such as “what I am doing in medical school?” and “what exactly do I want to do as a physician?”  I still feel passionately about being a doctor, but as I learn more about medicine, I realize how vast this field is!  I also realize there are some parts of medicine, although I hate to admit it, that I do not enjoy.  Hence even though it is too early, I can’t help wondering, “Where will my passion and gifts fit in best?”

On Friday, after my exam, I started reading several articles that my grandfather clipped for me this summer.  Among them were two articles from my grandparents’ local paper about the shortage of primary care doctors.  I found two quotes that I really loved:

“…the family doctor is often a person with an almost religious ‘calling’ to enter the field.” –from Rx. More Docs

“…the kind of student who gravitates to family practice or general internal medicine tends to have a special calling, a sort of Peace Corps mentality.”     -from Family Doctors Become Rarer

That evening I went to a weekly Quaker group that Ben and I have started attending, and I met a new woman.  The exciting part was that she is a primary care doctor who loves her job.  She asked me the common question, “So, do you know what type of medicine you’re interested in?”  And I gave her my common answer, “I’m trying to keep an open mind.  However, if I were forced to apply today I would either choose a residency in family medicine or internal medicine.”  We chatted for a while, and her story of patient relationships, motherhood, supportive colleagues, and a gratifying career made me feel stronger about general medicine.

As the quotes describe above, I do feel some kind of push to go into primary care.   As a former Peace Corps Volunteer, I wonder if it is my actual “Peace Corps” mentality.  Another version of a quote comes to mind… “Ask not what medicine can do for you, but what you can do for medicine.”  I still have plenty of time to make the decision about my career, but I can’t stop wondering as I explore the options.  Meanwhile, I love my neurology class, and wonder… “Maybe neurology?”

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Posted by Liz

Some Signs I’ve Grown

August 25, 2009

After one week of classes, I already feel like I’ve fallen into the same rhythm. Unlike last year, this rhythm and the people around me are familiar. I can’t help but marvel at how fast my first year went by, and wondering where I’ll be this time next year; already through several third year rotations if all is “on track.” This fast-paced academic schedule and my classmates will be replaced with clinical rotations, shelf-exams, residents, and doctors. Now that I am a second year, I realize that the familiarity I’ve found will be short-lived, so I am trying to enjoy it.

I’m less exhausted by the schedule, people, and studying, even though we started lectures immediately: Introduction to Pharmacology (an overview of drug classes and calculations), Neuroscience (neurology), and Phsycopathology (psychiatry). Introduction to Pharmacology is only a 2-week course, so my final exam is this Friday! Yet it seems expected, and I’m already back in high study gear. This afternoon I spent several hours working through math problems to determine drug clearances, volumes of distribution, and half lives (which involved graphing on logarithmic paper- something I never imagined would be part of medical school training).

Yesterday I had a phlebotomy session where I practiced drawing blood on a classmate with a butterfly needle (a thin needle connected to tubing which goes to a test tube) and a straight needle (a needle directly connected to the test tube). The straight needle is a bit thicker, and harder to maneuver. In fact, the hardest part of the whole job (for me) is popping the test tube in and out of the needle device while holding the needle perfectly still. But I managed to get blood with both needles. Unfortunately my partner did not have the same luck with me because my instructor determined that I did not “have the veins for it.” She meant my veins were too small, possibly because the room was freezing! Then, I practiced putting IV’s into a dummy arm, but made a huge mess of that.  The instructor told me not to worry, since we’ll have plenty of time to practice.  For once, I left without doing it right and I was not worried about it.

Tonight I am off to volunteer my evening at my medical school’s free clinic. I expect to see a lot of new first-year students there, and wonder what it will be like to be part of the “experienced” second-year students at the clinic. I certainly don’t feel so experienced, but in comparison to where I was a year ago, there is clearly a big difference.

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Posted by Liz

Second Year Starts

August 18, 2009

Yesterday was the official kick-off for my second year.  As a surprise to me, I interviewed for an article that appeared in yesterday’s paper.  So my first day back started with a coincidental bang.  The article was about anatomy, which seems like a while ago now.  I enjoyed speaking with the reporter, Tara Ballenger, and as you know, I think this topic is worth reading and writing about.

I also saw the movie, “Julie and Julia” last weekend, which is the first movie I’ve seen about a blog. It made me think more about my blogging.  Unlike the character in the movie, who seemed obsessed with her readers, I enjoy blogging mostly for myself.  It creates a reason for me to write something creative every once in a while.  However, during medical school I usually feel like my writing is not my best.  I don’t often have the time and energy to devote to thoughtful reflection, and my entries from last year seem pretty disjointed.  I can take refuge in knowing that few people probably read this, and I still find it to be a useful personal practice.

So, one goal I decided for myself is that I will try to post more regularly (probably something short every week).  I hope this will create better flow, and I’m also exploring the idea of getting my own domain name to continue this practice in the future without creating multiple blog sites.  So… stay tuned, second year has started!

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Posted by Liz