What's On Your Mind?

[Falling]

^not at all. I'm also 25 turning 26. This is my first application cycle and MCAT as well, which means I probably got a couple more ahead of me...after my MPH I'll be 28 and that is scary to think about.

 

Well, I don't think applying at 28 is a big deal unless there are other financial/personal circumstances. Realistically, you finish med school by 32 and then residency by 34-37 (+1-2 for fellowships if you need to). That still leaves 30+ years of medical practice. 

[amichel]

I'm feeling conflicted today about all the Facebook statuses remembering 9/11. It was terrible, and innocent lives were lost.

 

But I can't help thinking about the hundreds of lives being lost in Syria ever DAY (and thousands elsewhere in the world). Were those lives any less innocent? Who's remembering them?

 

I don't think I've ever been so affected by news coverage as I have been by the photos and videos of people desperately shoving their small children through the windows of trains, and of the young man desperately throwing himself, his wife and child on the train tracks to keep from being hauled off to a refugee camp. It has upset me very deeply. I don't know why this crisis, why this time, but it has really got to me.

 

Sorry all, just had to get that off my chest.

[Lothrandir]

I'm feeling conflicted today about all the Facebook statuses remembering 9/11. It was terrible, and innocent lives were lost.

 

But I can't help thinking about the hundreds of lives being lost in Syria ever DAY (and thousands elsewhere in the world). Were those lives any less innocent? Who's remembering them?

 

I don't think I've ever been so affected by news coverage as I have been by the photos and videos of people desperately shoving their small children through the windows of trains, and of the young man desperately throwing himself, his wife and child on the train tracks to keep from being hauled off to a refugee camp. It has upset me very deeply. I don't know why this crisis, why this time, but it has really got to me.

 

Sorry all, just had to get that off my chest.

 

I feel the same way, but not just for Syria, for Iraq and Yemen too. The refugees on TV are just a sample of the actual population being affected. To understand why this is happening, you'll have to know a little bit about the Middle Eastern History a few centuries back at least, religion, regional politics, proxy wars and covert operations.

[Falling]

And tbh, the only reason the Syrian refugees have been given media coverage is because the west dislikes Assad (because Russia likes Assad). 

[amichel]

Well, that's what I meant. That's only one example and it's still many times more people over the course of a short amount of time.

[Birdy]

I love Mac. No idea why people rag on Mac; the program is fantastic. So far anyway.

[freewheeler]

Kind of feeling indifferent about being back at school. I think I just need to get some more sleep.

[futurefamilydoc]

I love Mac. No idea why people rag on Mac; the program is fantastic. So far anyway.

 

Some of the criticism I have heard is from older physicians who just don't feel 1 year of pre-clinical education is enough (even though if you asked them whether Mac grads seemed deficient in any skills or knowledge they would say no). It does depend on the person too, someone like yourself who is good at staying on top of things and being self-directed will likely love the program, whereas I've heard that someone who needs exams to motivate them to study might find it hard to transition to Mac's program. Ultimately as a physician you need to be self-directed in your learning anyway, so it's likely best to get used to that early on rather than having an abrupt shift later on.

[Birdy]

Some of the criticism I have heard is from older physicians who just don't feel 1 year of pre-clinical education is enough (even though if you asked them whether Mac grads seemed deficient in any skills or knowledge they would say no). It does depend on the person too, someone like yourself who is good at staying on top of things and being self-directed will likely love the program, whereas I've heard that someone who needs exams to motivate them to study might find it hard to transition to Mac's program. Ultimately as a physician you need to be self-directed in your learning anyway, so it's likely best to get used to that early on rather than having an abrupt shift later on.

 

We have 15 months of preclerkship, so not much less than traditional programs when you take that into account. 

 

We do have evaluations, of sorts, just not marked exams. Though the "Pfft! It's Mac - we don't have tests!" thing has come up a few times, it's not really that simplified. I have a 180 question evaluation of sorts tomorrow. We do have things that help us monitor our progress and if we're not progressing sufficiently, the school intervenes, so I don't think it's as easy for someone to slide under the radar as I've heard it made out before I went here. 

 

It's definitely different, that's for sure. Feels so different than classroom learning and I just love it. 

[amichel]

We have 15 months of preclerkship, so not much less than traditional programs when you take that into account.

 

We do have evaluations, of sorts, just not marked exams. Though the "Pfft! It's Mac - we don't have tests!" thing has come up a few times, it's not really that simplified. I have a 180 question evaluation of sorts tomorrow. We do have things that help us monitor our progress and if we're not progressing sufficiently, the school intervenes, so I don't think it's as easy for someone to slide under the radar as I've heard it made out before I went here.

 

It's definitely different, that's for sure. Feels so different than classroom learning and I just love it.

What I've heard is that some preceptors feel it's easier for people to slip through the cracks at Mac. I think self-directed learning is fantastic but not everybody is as self-motivated and driven as you. I can see how it would be possible to sneak by at Mac. In pre clerkship, that is.

[rmorelan]

exactly - Mac is what you make of it.

 

My main concern was always the loss of the summers - which just pushes more stuff to be done during the year etc. Can be done of course

 

the elective system was also a bit weird - not sure if that changed. Nothing like running into a gen surg keener on an away elective as one of his first blocks. Wasn't easy to impress when you simply didn't know anything yet

[IMislove]

I just want to get in this year and meet some of you amazing folks, we will have such amazing times together!! Praise be the based Med gods.

[amichel]

exactly - Mac is what you make of it.

 

My main concern was always the loss of the summers - which just pushes more stuff to be done during the year etc. Can be done of course

 

the elective system was also a bit weird - not sure if that changed. Nothing like running into a gen surg keener on an away elective as one of his first blocks. Wasn't easy to impress when you simply didn't know anything yet

Meh. We have electives first too. We manage. Our curriculum is set up such that we have a good bit of clinical experience prior to electives. Also it's very focused on problem solving rather than facts so I think that helps too.

[Birdy]

I'm in my third week of class (inasmuch as we have "classes") and many of my classmates have had clinical exposure already and I believe my group is going to be in the hospital next week. We've had simulated patients already and we get to start (optional) clinical electives next month. Obviously not the same as clerkship electives, but we have plenty of opportunities for clinical exposure right from the get go.

 

Very random question for the more experienced: precisely what do I do to keep my glasses from sliding down my nose when I'm in an OR if I can't push them up? Is there some trick to this or should I just try to get contacts again?

[Lactic Folly]

You could use one of the home remedies out there for sliding glasses, but usually I just asked one of the circulating nurses to push my glasses back up.

[rmorelan]

Meh. We have electives first too. We manage. Our curriculum is set up such that we have a good bit of clinical experience prior to electives. Also it's very focused on problem solving rather than facts so I think that helps too.

 

maybe it has changed - I ran into a couple of Mac gen surgery to be med students on away elective on their very first surg election. Basically that is a waste of their time - hard to impress in that case. It is like everywhere else - you have to do core stuff before electives in stuff you care about or you just don't look your best.

 

It wasn't fun when the gen surg section head was asking one of them about cholecystitis and he didn't know the first thing about where to begin. I had to train him after the days end in how to scrub in so he could even get into the OR. Ha - suboptimal

[amichel]

maybe it has changed - I ran into a couple of Mac gen surgery to be med students on away elective on their very first surg election. Basically that is a waste of their time - hard to impress in that case. It is like everywhere else - you have to do core stuff before electives in stuff you care about or you just don't look your best.

 

It wasn't fun when the gen surg section head was asking one of them about cholecystitis and he didn't know the first thing about where to begin. I had to train him after the days end in how to scrub in so he could even get into the OR. Ha - suboptimal

Maybe a surgery vs medicine thing too.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure my entire class can scrub. Haha.

[Birdy]

maybe it has changed - I ran into a couple of Mac gen surgery to be med students on away elective on their very first surg election. Basically that is a waste of their time - hard to impress in that case. It is like everywhere else - you have to do core stuff before electives in stuff you care about or you just don't look your best.

 

It wasn't fun when the gen surg section head was asking one of them about cholecystitis and he didn't know the first thing about where to begin. I had to train him after the days end in how to scrub in so he could even get into the OR. Ha - suboptimal

 

Yikes. I'd be inclined to think that's a that-particular-student thing vs. a Mac thing, though. Every school has students who do not attend sufficiently to their educational responsibilities. I'm not even a month in and can give a pretty good clinical picture of cholecystitis, but then I do tend to read ahead. I know there's a case of it that we'll get to next MF (the 'blocks' of our education) so Dec/Jan of first year so the student would have had some education on it in pre-clerkship. We do have evaluations of knowledge (concept application exercises, PPI) even if we don't have tests so that sort of failure to learn should be addressed somewhere along the way. 

 

Then again, I'm still at the stage in my education where I get to be unreasonably optimistic, so there's that. 

[rmorelan]

Maybe a surgery vs medicine thing too.

 

Also, I'm pretty sure my entire class can scrub. Haha.

 

maybe some updates in how you do things. At the time this student couldn't - and that is part of the problem, there is a bit of a lag in updating people's appraisal of a program. Mac's program is relatively new after all - it only makes sense that they would be innovating as they go along and fixing things up/improving things.

[amichel]

maybe some updates in how you do things. At the time this student couldn't - and that is part of the problem, there is a bit of a lag in updating people's appraisal of a program. Mac's program is relatively new after all - it only makes sense that they would be innovating as they go along and fixing things up/improving things.

Well, I also go to Calgary not Mac. Not saying one is better. But maybe different.

[rmorelan]

Yikes. I'd be inclined to think that's a that-particular-student thing vs. a Mac thing, though. Every school has students who do not attend sufficiently to their educational responsibilities. I'm not even a month in and can give a pretty good clinical picture of cholecystitis, but then I do tend to read ahead. I know there's a case of it that we'll get to next MF (the 'blocks' of our education) so Dec/Jan of first year so the student would have had some education on it in pre-clerkship. We do have evaluations of knowledge (concept application exercises, PPI) even if we don't have tests so that sort of failure to learn should be addressed somewhere along the way. 

 

Then again, I'm still at the stage in my education where I get to be unreasonably optimistic, so there's that. 

 

it wasn't really the "book" knowledge aspect - I mean every clerk on their first few blocks are pretty useless That is exactly why you don't want an important elective prior to you getting the basics. It is often more subtle stuff - I mean you know pretty quickly if someone has spent a lot of time on a service etc. It was a bit of luck with these students - you don't have full control (anywhere really) of what order your core blocks are in and when your electives are. Sometimes there were unfortunate mismatches

[Falling]

I know its probably silly to ask for medical advice here, but its a small question and I wanted to make sure before I ask my GP: 

 

I read an article about how people who have been told that they are allergic to penicillin may not actually be allergic, and that if you were actually allergic as a child, it could have disappeared. 

 

Is this a real thing? 

[rmorelan]

I know its probably silly to ask for medical advice here, but its a small question and I wanted to make sure before I ask my GP: 

 

I read an article about how people who have been told that they are allergic to penicillin may not actually be allergic, and that if you were actually allergic as a child, it could have disappeared. 

 

Is this a real thing? 

 

yes - you can have an adverse reaction to penicillin and not actually be allergic to it all. 

[Birdy]

I know its probably silly to ask for medical advice here, but its a small question and I wanted to make sure before I ask my GP:

 

I read an article about how people who have been told that they are allergic to penicillin may not actually be allergic, and that if you were actually allergic as a child, it could have disappeared.

 

Is this a real thing?

(Replying only as someone who has experience with this stuff, obviously have absolutely no doctor skills yet and am unable to give any sort of medical advice so please talk to a real doctor)

 

thete are a few ways you can have issues with a drug. A true allergy, a sensitivity, or some other adverse event (range in severity.)

 

Allergies are immune-mediated (IgE specifically if I'm remembering correctly) by definition, so an allergic response involves very particular symptoms - things like hives or airway swelling (in a severe allergy) or severe rashes. Many people say they have an allergy to penicillin because they had some sort of uncomfortable side effect so they call it an allergy; something like GI side effects or a yeast infection. That's not an allergy and isn't life threatening the way a true allergy can be.

 

You can 'outgrow' a true allergy, but they can also intensify with repeated exposure. Best idea is to see someone for proper allergy testing to clarify things.

 

But you can have have non-allergic reasons to not be allowed to take a drug again which can aren't, to my mind, the same thing as a simple sensitivity. I had peripheral neuropathy for a month following Cipro so I'm not supposed to take fluroquinolones again.

[rmorelan]

(Replying only as someone who has experience with this stuff, obviously have absolutely no doctor skills yet and am unable to give any sort of medical advice so please talk to a real doctor)

 

thete are a few ways you can have issues with a drug. A true allergy, a sensitivity, or some other adverse event (range in severity.)

 

Allergies are immune-mediated (IgE specifically if I'm remembering correctly) by definition, so an allergic response involves very particular symptoms - things like hives or airway swelling (in a severe allergy) or severe rashes. Many people say they have an allergy to penicillin because they had some sort of uncomfortable side effect so they call it an allergy; something like GI side effects or a yeast infection. That's not an allergy and isn't life threatening the way a true allergy can be.

 

You can 'outgrow' a true allergy, but they can also intensify with repeated exposure. Best idea is to see someone for proper allergy testing to clarify things.

 

But you can have have non-allergic reasons to not be allowed to take a drug again which can aren't, to my mind, the same thing as a simple sensitivity. I had peripheral neuropathy for a month following Cipro so I'm not supposed to take fluroquinolones again.

 

to add to that - it is good to know if it is a true allergy because penicillin and other antibiotics in the came class are still the preferred treatment for many infections. A true allergy forces the use of a different antibiotic that will take longer to work or perhaps a more powerful one that has more side effects. In any case it knocks out a very useful drug class.