Tag: medicine

  • An Adventure in Nicaragua

    At a very young age (like age 5), I decided that I wanted to travel and help people. I was going to be a veterinarian in Africa. As we can see, that is not exactly how life played out. We don’t even own a dog. When I was about 13, I worked in a vet’s…

  • 10 Practical Tips for Your First Year of Medical School

    10 Practical Tips for Your First Year of Medical School

    Take EVERYONE’s advice with a grain of salt. – Your mom means well, your friends mean well, your mentors mean well, even I mean well. But even the people who have been there before you are—well—different people. They have different priorities, responsibilities, goals, and bents. So seek advice, but then craft a plan that is…

  • Healthcare Reform: The Document

    Alright. So now that we have all gotten over our initial emotions (hopefully) of the approval of “Obamacare” or whatever you prefer to call it, I have seen many people griping about other people making opinions without knowing what they are talking about. It is certainly one of my pet peeves. So I invite you…

  • Silent Killers: Why Do You Wear Purple?

    What do Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, opera singer Luciano Pavarotti, actor Patrick Swayze, and iCEO Steve Jobs all have in common? Unfortunately, they are all joined by our first Silent Killer—pancreatic cancer. The Pancreas: What is it? The pancreas is a gland that has many functions for digestion and regulation of blood sugar.…

  • Silent Killers

    There are many diseases that I would consider to be “silent killers”…mainly because we simply cannot detect them early enough to treat them effectively. That’s why it is very important to be aware of risks and symptoms–so that we can prevent and detect early as much as possible. Now, while ninjas and mimes may not…

  • What Really Causes Heart Disease

    We had a professor this past year that went on rants…many, many rants….in a style similar to this… One such rant I remember being about how the problem with our eating habits as a country isn’t due to fat intake- but it is “a result of those sugar cereals replacing bacon and eggs for breakfast”.…

  • Life and Death

    Very rarely do I ever hear a physician say that they were really glad that they went through the process of becoming one. In fact, 9 times out of 10 I hear the opposite. I hear statements of regret—for not being with family, for a failed marriage, for a squelched life, for a loss of…

  • It is Finished.

    It is finished. Year one of medical school is over…along with year one of motherhood. Talk about Bittersweet at its finest. First things first. Cheese sticks and Dr. Pepper from Sonic (because that’s how I roll). Now that I’m sitting on my couch—in a completely quiet house—you would think that I would be running around…

  • 23 and 1/2 hours

    In Bounding Into Health I talked about how important it is that we take care of ourselves. So practically, what does that look like? Being in medical school, I like evidence. Good evidence. I also like to prevent disease as much as possible. So when asked what is the number 1 thing that can not…

  • Finals Start in 9 Hours…

    And I had to perform my first rectal exam today. What an interesting start to finals week. (No worries, I’m not spending a lot of time blogging right now- though it would be a very nice distraction…) I don’t remember where this is from, so don’t give me credit for such awesomeness. Haha apparently I…