Sunday, April 29, 2007

Actually, I'm In Between Posts Right Now


(The Cambridge Anatomy Department is recruiting and I thought I'd help them out.)

Anyhoo, I've been mulling over a post for a long time now, and it's coming up as soon as I finish the endless stream of mock exams that should hopefully end on Monday (after which we have an endless stream of practicals. Experimental Psychology practicals. What the hell are those about anyway? To test if we're sane? Crap, I'm finally going to be found out. Well if they expel me, I'm going to sue. "Sanity" was definitely NOT on the admissions requirements list in the prospectus. --Editor) but I thought I'd give you some background reading to do first.

This issue is a universal one that affects all of us, because all of us question whether we're really doing what we want to be doing in life. Three links:

1. I sat down and wrote a post for Medscape on it. The volume of comments surprised me (and made me really REALLY glad I'm not the only one feeling that way! --Ed) and has passed 60. Do go read it and do leave a comment here or there. I'd really like to hear your thoughts on this one.

2. Nathan of A Jolly Company expresses it better than I do in his article on the famous physician Sir William Osler. Take a look at the comments too, especially the first one by a 'Tinea' and the last one by Medstudentitis.

3. And saving the last for best, this post over at one of the best medical blogs out there, a blog that has inspired countless other bloggers, medical or otherwise, but has reached such a pinnacle that its author doesn't update as frequently anymore and no longer replies to comments: Ah Yes Medical School. Best summarised in the words of one commenter over there: "Really good, blah, blah, blah."

And just because you've all been so good and read this far without falling asleep or haemorrhaging out of your ears, I'll include a bonus link: Donald Trump's first rule is also about passion.

Passion, passion, passion. Starting to see a pattern here?

30 comments:

Anonymous said...

You know, I've never really like this picture. The cadaver seems to suffer from atrophy of the upper and lower extremities. It has always bugged me to see the error in foreshortening accomplished by the artist. The remainder of the painting is fine, but just not the centerpiece.

The Angry Medic said...

MSG: You're ALIVE! And dangit, I was going to reference one of your posts for this piece, but you've gone and retired. Sigh. 'Tis a pity, you did express your sentiments well in that one.

(And you RECOGNISE this picture? Whoa. Either you're really scary, or I'm just an uncultured swine.)

Anonymous said...

I don't get the joke about the ear bone. Can you expain?

The Angry Medic said...

Stapes: Yikes. Sorry, that was a bit obscure. It's just that when I heard 'Osler' for the first time, I immediately thought of 'ossicle', which (as you know, being a stapes and all) are the ear bones. It's lame, I know, but then again this is ME you're talking to :P

Anonymous said...

Thanks for explaining.

Yes, I am an ossicle. I'm the smallest ossicle. I sit in the oval window and I hammer on the vestibule when incus nudges me. It annoys me when people call me Stapes pronounced as one syllable, because it's pronounced Stay-peas.

The name Osler makes me think of Osler's nodes, but you're quite correct he described many more things. Not the ear bones though.

Anonymous said...

He was also part of the Osler-Weber-Rendu gang who starred in one of Calavera's recent posts.

Ms-Ellisa said...

Hi angry
Did you get my comment on the medscape?my computer keeps crashing and I'm not sure if it completes the task . . . .
*grrrrrrrrr*

Anonymous said...

i'm a third-year med student, currently waiting to twin to my clinical med school. I read your post on medscape,and it's exactly how i feel at the moment. Out of the 6 months i have to wait, i've actually spent 3 of them doing everything and anything that's NOT medically related. Made me wonder, what happened to all the enthusiasm i first had when i entered medical school? Am i not supposed to be preparing for clinicals instead of wasting my time? So maybe i made the wrong choice, maybe not. Because when i go back to why i chose med school in the first place, i feel that i simply couldn't have made any other choice. I'm drawn to the art of medicine, not just the science. I really enjoy talking to patients,listening to them and helping in any way i can. So I hope that will keep me going whenever I get discouraged. And i hope that'll keep you going too - helping people. Hopefully it'll be better in clinicals! =) time for me to hit the books.

P/s: i think you'll make a great doc =)

The Angry Medic said...

Just before I reply those comments:

Does anyone think the poster in this post is arrogant or inappropriate? If it is, tell me and I'll remove it immediately.

Anonymous said...

Not at all. Professor Tulp would be proud :)

Anonymous said...

Not at all. Professor Tulp would be proud :)

Anonymous said...

Just for the record Angry, you're an uncultured swine. Every fool knows it's Rembrandt's Professor Tulp teaching anatomy. Rembrandt was only 26 when he painted it, and it was though to be a masterpiece of genius at the time because whilst the cadaver is clearly dead, the students appear to have 'movement' and Tulp is using his right hand to point to the flexor digitorum whilst using is left hand to demonstrate the flexor.

I have that picture on the wall next to my bookcases :)

Ms-Ellisa said...

I thought it was funny because of "you" in the background. Just that.

The Little Medic said...

Great medscape post dude. Made me think too... I'm coming to the end of 4th year and still have doubts.

Also, dude, how do you get the time to write so much and read so much and comment everywhere? Everywhere I go there are bits and bobs from you! You're a Cambridge medic for gods sake, is there something you're not telling us? *suspects something sinister - have you been experimenting stopping time with Stevie Hawking or something?*

Argus Lou said...

Methinks you cloned yourself, dintcha, Angry? ^_^

You know you love being a medic. In meantime you need to get through/over all these seemingly unrelated or nitpicky stuff. It's hard, yes.

Thing is whatever choices you make, they are going to enrich your life and fill it with experiences. Even if you end up being an author of bestselling novels, your life now as a student (and later as a doctor or surgeon) is going to inform it.
In the end - this sounds cheesy, I know, but - it's going to be how many lives you've affected positively, how much humanity you show, how much time you take to love and care for others, and not just your family and friends.

Anonymous said...

He's gonna be a surgeon. And an actor and writer. And win Nobel prizes for medicine, literature and peace.

Calavera said...

Only one explanation....

HE HAS A TIME-TURNER!!!

Ahem. Ok.

Anonymous said...

Maybe he really doesn't go to Cambridge. Maybe he's 40 years old and pretending to be a Cambridge medic. I've never seen him on campus :P

Argus Lou said...

Sorry, Angry M, I must have sat in the sun too long. Yeah, your poster made me want to donate my body (yikes) and other (busy) bodies. But then you'd say it wouldn't be for the betterment of science. Sigh.

Lauren said...

I think that the ONLY way I could get into med school would be as a cadaver.

Stupid MCAT.

Anonymous said...

Only the cleverest kids get time turners, Hermione.

Dr. Deb said...

LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
that photo.

There really is nothing like a good sense of humor.

The Angry Medic said...

Ms Ellisa: Yep, your comment on Medscape came through fine. Thanks! I was SO glad to see I wasn't the only one who felt that way :P

And aw, you noticed me in the pic!

3rd-Year-Med Anonymous: Whoa. That's exactly like what I feel. Art of medicine, not science. That's... *sniff* so profound, man. I might use that in a future post if that's okay with you. And yep, here's to clinicals, and to the hope that your kind words about me become true :)

P.S. when I get sued by my patients' families, I'm pointing them to this comment.

Swine Anonymous: Well pinch my snout and call me Porky. Thanks for the culture lesson. A side-effect of medicine at Cambridge, I'm afraid :)

Little Medic: Look who's talking! I could say exactly the same thing about YOU - everywhere I go the comment box has 'L.M.' stamped on it (no Lady Margaret wisecracks, wiseass). And you update your blog like a MACHINE. I'll prolly have no trouble spotting you next week - you'll be the huge Austrian lumbering down the high street saying 'Hasta la vista, babeh' and frightening the bejeezers out of little old ladies :)

But don't worry, I'll be putting the blog into hiatus soon. Less than a month to go, and I'm shitting bricks so much the cleaner's called in a bricklayer to clean out the loo.

Argus Lou: Aww, Argus. That was lovely. Thanks. I needed that, I really did.

And hey, why didn't you give me that busybody-donating idea earlier? I know quite a few nerds I'd like to, uhm, make a contribution to society with. Now where'd I put that sledgehammer...

Generous Praise Anonymous: Whoa whoa. Whaddya think my name is, Jonathan Miller? I'd be happy if half those predictions came true (and of course I mean the actor and writer part. Unless you're my Senior Tutor, in which case ha ha, only joking sir! Of course I wanna be a doctor. It's all that buttery food, see. Gets to your head sometimes, ha ha.

The Angry Medic said...

Cal: Oh dangit, you found me out. Yeah I borrowed one from my girlfriend Emma Watson. Ever since filming for Order of the Phoenix ended she's let me use it, as long as I let her play doctor and nurse with me. Sigh. The things I do for women... :)

But seriously, my secret? I don't revise. That way I get to do everything I want and still enjoy the perks of being a Cambridge medic. Until the exams, of course, but who cares about those little things, eh?

(And whatever I said to Little Medic applies to you too*. You're also a MACHINE at blogging.)

*except the Arnold Schwarzenegger thing, of course. Though since I don't know how you look, I'm going hmmm...

Suspicious Anonymous: Keep it quiet, will ya? It's already hard enough sneaking off to spy on medics without the other janitors noticing. If they catch whiff of this I won't be able to sneak in on the dissection session tomorrow and dream up a genuine-sounding post about it. Whistle-blower!

Lizbet: Ah, but that's what I thought, and look at me now! Granted, my eyelashes did the trick, but use a lash-curler and you'll be fine :)

Wiseass Anonymous: In reply to your barb at me: Ouchies! Sad but true. I'm a dumbass, even the Voice In My Head thinks so.

In reply to your barb at Cal: Ouchies! But true, all the same ;)

Dr Deb: "There really is nothing like a good sense of humor."

I know. Sigh...I wish I had one.

*bada-BING!*

Heh. Aw thanks! I was wondering about that pic. I love yours too ;)

Anonymous said...

Wow, so instead of Anon 1, Anon 2 etc, the anonymouses (anonymice?) are now getting named?

Nice one Angry :)

PS can I be Brad-Pitt-alike anonymous please?

Anonymous said...

why am i so short?

Anonymous said...

Your medscape post made me think. Too much. I thought too much until my brain melted and apparently, your post was like an alter ego of me. The part of me that's been wanting to take over me. Eventhough I haven't started my first year yet (Currently, final semester of pre-med), I've been having a lot of... Thoughts that are trying to drag me away from the path I'm supposed to be on. It makes me sick. Really. Scared too.

Michelle, Bethany, Zach & James said...

I like Jolly's use of the word "DE-motivated." Like its not she is no longer motivated, but that she has had it stripped from her. Pretty acurate!

The Angry Medic said...

Astute Anonymous: No. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Heh. It's fun naming anonymouses (anonymice? Whatever).

But aww, now I feel guilty. Fine the next time you post I'll call you Brad-Pitt-alike Anonymous. (But in return you have to call me Donald-Trump-alike Anonymous. Deal?)

Agnez: Because you lift weights. It's also the same reason you're so flat-chested. Stop lifting weights and the bulges will shift from your biceps to your chest. It's been medically proven, too.

Little Doctor: Awww, you sound like me (except the part where you actually can still get out of med school). I don't hate it as much as I sound like I do, actually...like Donald Trump says, the more you do something, the better you get at it, and the more you like it. But think carefully. I'm guessing you're American (or in a country that follows the American med system), so I suppose you have some debt by now and are limited in your freedom to jump ship. But give it a long thought, and if deep down (and I mean deeper than these doubts and thoughts dragging you off course) you know you couldn't do anything else, then by all means stay the course and tough it out. You'll never know otherwise.

(You prolly think I'm the world's biggest hypocrite now don't you?)

MHill: Yeah, Jolly's a really deep blogger and a very verbose blogger. I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote a book someday (just as long as he still remembered humble ol' me. And invited me to the mansion filled with Playboy bunnies that he'll inevitably have).

Unknown said...

I've been mulling over a post for a long time now, and it's coming up as soon as I finish the endless stream of mock exams that should hopefully end on Monday (after which we have an endless stream of practicals.

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