You're a slacker, McFly!!

For anyone who doesn't get the title of my post, it's from one of my favorite movies ever, "Back to the Future". I'm feeling like such a slacker right now. I'm three days away from my board exam, and I can't bring myself to study anymore. And it's not like I've been studying very hard to begin with. I'm so easily distracted, and even when I do study it's only half-heartedly. I just don't have it in me anymore. I'm tired of tests. I'm horrible at standardized tests. And I get really anxious about them, which probably makes me perform even worse. My second year of med school when I was getting ready to take Step 1 of the USMLE, one of our advisors did this thing where he figured out who was "at risk" for failing the boards. He used this equation that he made up, which included our MCAT scores, cumulative GPA and so on. Anyway, I ended up being calculated as high risk. I had to go talk to the advisor and he told me I needed to study extra hard. Duh. Like I wasn't gonna study before he told me that. I ended up scoring 20 points above what he had predicted. Boo-yah.

Still, I get nervous. If my old advisor were to come up with an equation for predicting Step 3 success, I wonder if I would be high risk again. And if so, would I be able to beat his prediction again? I hope so. I really don't want to have to take this test more than once. It's incredibly painful. My brain hurts just thinking about it. This is cruel and unusual punishment.

Okay so maybe I'm being a little bit dramatic. But I just had to vent. Please pray for me to pass my board exam. It's on Thursday and Friday. Now I suppose I should try and study. Next time I write, I will be DONE with the exam!

So, what IS the What?

I just finished reading "What is the What" by Dave Eggers. It's an autobiography about a young Sudanese refugee named Valentino Achak Deng, and it was an AMAZING book. Sad, moving, even funny. I still don't know what "the What" is, though. If you want to try to figure it out, pick up this incredible book at your local library or bookstore. It's a great way to get an insider's perspective of the conflict in Sudan. There's also a website, http://www.valentinoachakdeng.org. If you're interested, there's lots of great information, pictures, and links. Oh, and by the way... when you purchase "What is the What", the proceeds go towards aiding Sudanese refugees. Pretty cool.

Now that I've finished, it's time to start reading the final Harry Potter, woohoo!! I love J.K. Rowling. She's such a genius.

For all you coffee lovers out there...

I saw this article on Yahoo today. It made me happy. And it made me want to say "Told you so!!" to all those people who try to say drinking coffee everyday is bad for you. I love my coffee. It's more than just a drink, or even a caffeine buzz (although those are both nice) - it's the ritual of drinking coffee that I enjoy. It's my morning routine. It's sitting in a quaint little shop with a good friend, chatting over white chocolate mochas and caramel macchiatos. Or cozying up in a big loveseat with a mug in one hand and a book in the other. It got me through those all-nighters in college, med school, and now residency. Not to mention, it keeps me regular. Haha. :)

Anyway, here's the article:


Good News About Coffee: Filtering the Facts

Coffee lovers may be raising their cups—and perhaps eyebrows—at the recent news (in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry) that the drink contains soluble fiber, the type that can help lower cholesterol. With about 1 gram per cup, coffee’s fiber impact is modest. But the report is the latest in a growing stream of positive news about coffee.



Some of the most promising findings come from studies of diabetes. When Harvard researchers combined data from nine studies involving more than 193,000 people, they found that regular coffee drinkers had a significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those who abstained. The more they drank, the lower their risk.

And, despite coffee’s reputation for being bad for the heart, recent epidemiologic studies haven’t found a connection; some even suggest coffee can be protective. A study in February’s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that healthy people 65 and over who drank four or more cups of caffeinated beverages daily (primarily coffee) had a 53 percent lower risk of heart disease than non-coffee-drinkers.

It’s even more beguiling when you consider that the immediate effects of drinking coffee tend to go in the opposite direction, raising heart rate and blood pressure and temporarily making cells more resistant to insulin. “But those effects are probably short-lived, as people develop a tolerance,” explains Frank Hu, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard School of Public Health, who has studied coffee extensively. “In the long term, beneficial components in coffee may have stronger, more lasting effects.”

How coffee might work isn’t clear; the studies weren’t designed to identify cause-and-effect relationships. Antioxidants, such as chlorogenic acid (related to polyphenols in grapes), are likely players: coffee has more of them per serving than blueberries do, making it the top source of antioxidants in our diets. Antioxidants help quell inflammation, which might explain coffee’s effect in inflammation-related diseases like diabetes and heart disease. Magnesium in coffee might help make cells more sensitive to insulin. And caffeine seems to have its own beneficial effects; the diabetes studies found that those who drank regular coffee had lower risks of the disease than decaf drinkers. Caffeinated-coffee drinking has also been linked with reduced risk of Parkinson’s disease, gallstones, cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Bottom Line: For healthy adults, having two or three cups of joe daily generally isn’t harmful and it may have health perks.

Another day in paradise

Well it was another lovely night of call. I slept about 45 minutes, and found myself falling asleep while sipping coffee this morning. How does that happen?? Anyway, it was a pretty busy night. There was a 27-week premie born around 1:00 in the morning (WHY is it always in the middle of the night??). Unfortunately because I'm an intern, I don't really matter (not dissing myself, it's just the truth)... so I wasn't called to the delivery. I was examining another new baby. But when I got back to the NICU I saw a whole mob of people around this teeny little baby, hooking him up to the ventilator. Then they noticed I was there and invited me to help. I attempted to put an umbilical arterial line in, but was not successful. It's a lot harder than it looks! Those vessels are so small, and the catheter is stiff and gets caught at every bend or valve. I also attempted an IV last night, but was not able to get that either. I blew a couple veins and decided to stop using the baby as a pin cushion. So all in all, it was not the best night for my self-esteem. But at least I got to try.

Sometimes I wonder what I would've done if I hadn't gone down the doctor route. A couple of residents were joking about that the other night at my friend's party. This lifestyle is just very demanding. And work is continually challenging. Especially intern year, when you have so much to learn. So I guess I better get to it - time to hit the books.

I am NOT a radiologist

I haven't written in awhile because, well there's just not much to write about. I've been hanging out with the Pediatric Radiology department this week, as part of my elective rotation. After 4 days in a dark room looking at X-ray after X-ray, I can say with certainty that I was not meant to be a radiologist. I mean, it's an interesting job and all... and I'm glad someone likes to do it. But it's just not for me. I think I'm too ADD. I get bored sitting in one spot and staring at the computer screen.

I can't complain, though, because the hours have been great. I left at noon today. I'm supposed to be taking advantage of these hours to study for my boards. But instead I went to see "Transformers" with one of my friends tonight. It was fantastic. I had forgotten all about Megatron and the Decepticons. Brings back memories. :)

Camp CAMP

I spent the last week at an incredible summer camp called Camp CAMP. CAMP stands for Children's Association for Maximum Potential, which is a non-profit organization that "enables children with disabilities to thrive in a recreational environment where safety and nurturing are primary." I found out about it from my residency program - they encourage residents to attend camp as medical staff if our schedules permit. Fortunately, my schedule did allow me to attend, and I'm SO glad I had the experience. I've never been around severely handicapped children before. At least not in this sort of setting. I learned about them in medical school. I've seen them in hospitals. But I've never had daily encounters with them in a laid-back, non-medical environment. It was like a little taste of what life must be like for these kids and their families. Everyday we drew up their meds, distributed them (which could be very challenging!), and assessed the kids to make sure they were staying hydrated and not having any medical problems. The job of being a camp doctor wasn't really that hard. What was difficult was trying to find time to get to know the kids and their counselors. We had lectures every morning and I had to work in the infirmary a couple times, so between those responsibilities and managing meds, it was hard to really feel like I was part of the tribe (the kids were divided into four "tribes": Cherokee, Apache, Mohawk, and Pawnee... notice the initials are C, A, M, and P?). But I tried to attend activities when I could. They had typical camp activities, like swimming, horseback riding, and archery. Every child had a counselor, which I thought was really neat. It makes sense, though, since most of these children are so medically complicated that they need constant supervision. But here's the amazing thing - the counselors were all teenagers! They were aged 14 and up, and each one was paired with a disabled child. They were responsible for their child 24 hrs a day, for the entire week (they got a few breaks, but not many). They fed them, bathed them, changed their diapers, pushed their wheelchairs, and soothed them when they were homesick. They had to put up with all kinds of nasty bodily fluids, temper tantrums, hair-pulling, biting... and they did it with such grace and patience. I was so impressed with the counselors. I don't think I was nearly as mature or selfless when I was their age.

If I had to tell you about one camper that stood out in my mind, it would have to be a little boy who was about 8 years old, and I'll just call him Danny (he's a foster child, so I have to be careful about giving too much information... I can't put his picture on here, which is too bad because he has the CUTEST smile). He has a disease called Duchenne's muscular dystrophy, which is an inherited, progressive, muscular disease. These children are missing a muscle protein called dystrophin, and have weakness of certain muscle groups (initially in the lower half of the body, but eventually affecting the upper half as well). Many children end up in wheelchairs by adolescence, and death occurs in the second decade of life (usually from lung problems). They are usually intellectually normal, but may have some mental delay. I believe Danny was only slightly delayed. It is a devastating disease because it's progressive, and there's no cure. Anyway, Danny just had the sweetest disposition and the brightest smile! He was still able to walk, but his gait was abnormal because of his leg weakness. The last night at camp, there was a dance held in the outdoor pavilion (the traditional "prom night" for the campers, held every year). Danny was so enthusiastic about dancing and so popular amongst the other campers and counselors, and he ended up being crowned Prom King! It was so cute. He was very proud of his "crown" (a baseball cap decorated with puff paint and glitter). The med staff went crazy taking pictures. We called ourselves the camp paparazzi.

There were so many other adorable and loveable kids, I could tell a million more stories. Let me just say, I enjoyed it so much that I am planning on going back if I can. If you're interested in learning more about Camp CAMP, check out their website at www.campcamp.org. Now I gotta go to work - I'm on call tonight. Good times!