To my Future Patients and my Colleagues

Wow, third block of 1st semester is almost over. Where did the first semester go? Amidst the brachial plexus, cranial nerves, trilaminar plate, and "Dom's double rainbow", it's really easy to get bogged down in the details of medical school. This just means that it is more important now than ever that medical students not lose site of the forest for the trees. Let's regroup for a moment: we will see patients someday. They will bring with them their thoughts, fears, maladies and humanity. All of this we must synthesize and interpret in order to provide them with unmatched care and healing.

So, what's the point of all this? Well, it's really quite simple. Begin caring for your future patients today.

Go vote.

I will be voting because the health of my patients matters to me. I will fight tooth and nail so that they have access to the best health care there is.

To my future patients: you are my primary concern although I have yet to have the honor of meeting and caring for you.

One of the real travesties I've noticed during undergrad is that while many premed students are notorious for being real go-getters - the ones that (admirably) shadow physicians for added experience, organize community service projects and readily volunteer to help others - they are often driven by an ulterior motive: the almighty resumé. Accordingly, more subjective achievements like participating a democracy are granted less importance in the battle for extracurricular time. This is not to say that the things I listed are not important, much instead they are all well, good and fine and are a testament to the tenacity of tomorrow's doctors. However, what I ask of myself and the future physicians around me is to channel that energy into other arenas as well, such as advocacy. Put simply:

Go vote.

Whether we like it or not, the fate of the American health system as it stands did not happen overnight. Nor can we ignore the fact that institutions such as the AMA, ACP and others have been advising and influencing legislation during this process and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The decisions coming from the chambers of Congress have real effects on our patients, doctors. Additionally, we have a say in who we will work with in making those decisions in the future.

Fight for your patients. Go vote.

Volunteer. Work the Saturday Free Clinic. Be a helpful person. But also, be an active member of the democracy you are in. Your vote is absolutely vital to the outcomes of your patients.

True, this is a heavy burden to bear, but then again, who said this whole process was easy? This is our profession now. We must be active in it. The time to create change and institute policy is not twenty years from now when our patient hopefully asks you "well, what can you do for me, Doc?" It is today. Go to your local voting poll, grab a pen, and check off the names of those that represent your interests and will enable you to best answer that question. No one expects you to know everything about politics and this election. But they do expect that you put forth an effort. Don't know who is who? Well, there are some good resources for just that (see below). Take a break from studying for exams and spend the twenty minutes to make a decision. Research the candidates, even if briefly. Ask other people around you for their thoughts. Talk to your advisers. Hell, grab a physician in the hallway and ask them about this whole "health care reform thinga-majig".

The same is true for patients. Physicians are not the only ones who should have a say in your health care. The best medical care is always prevention, but in this case, advocacy is a very close second.

Please, go vote.


Sincerely,
Raman Kutty
Medical Student
The Medical College of Wisconsin


Resources

For the Wisconsinites: Journal Sentinel Online ballot summary

ACP/AARP summary of the effects of the health care law

General advocacy site of the American College of Physicians (ACP)

Current topics in advocacy courtesy of the American Medical Association (AMA)

Messin' with Suppliers

Normally, the freebies at conferences suck, but for some reason SFN was pretty good last year. Anyway, Thermo was handing out 4 gig flash drives, Sigma had rat-shaped t-shirts and Kent Scientific was handing out coffee mugs.

Which was good until my mug broke.

After a few months, I produced this e-mail in a fit of unproductiveness. As a sidenote, I intentionally dressed this message up for the occasion. I'm really not that attached to the mug, but for the sake of principle, I figured, eh, why not. Here you go:

*****
To Whom it May Concern,

I've had a Kent coffee mug that I have been using faithfully - it's my absolute favorite. The problem is this: it got chipped at work today and a hairline crack now stands between me and my daily Joe. I know this isn't a normal request, but here it is anyway: may I have a replacement? For most this seems trivial, but trust me, it is anything but. Aside from the fact that I am useless without my coffee, I've found it impossible to come across a mug of that weight, volume and quality. Not to mention the fact that the neat Kent logo on the side gives a sense of purpose to my otherwise unproductive routine - something the boss hasn't caught onto just yet.

I've included two pictures below...it's such a pity that such a small crack is such a huge problem.

If you could find a way for a replacement to come my way, I would be SO appreciative. Thank you very much!


Cheers,
Raman

Raman Kutty
MD/PhD Candidate
The Medical College of Wisconsin
rkutty@mcw.edu
****

The best part? Getting this in my inbox:

****
Dear Raman,
I am sorry about your mug
We can send you a new one but we do not have any in house at the moment
My associate is at a show in DC and has them with him
He will be back on Monday and I will be happy to send a new one out to you
****

Too easy. Maybe next I'll convince Thermo that a HPLC machine broke and I'd really like a new one. I'm sure they'll oblige. Small victories.

Maturity Regressing

Ok, study break. Back to undergrad for a second:



Yeah, I'll bet you wish you did!!

The bad news: 60% of exams still to go. 40% of which are tomorrow (blegh). Overwhelmingly GOOD news: OSU is stopping by MadTown on Saturday night and you better bet your ass that's what's getting me through this week.
Prospective schedule:

Wednesday:
Anatomy Lecture Exam
Human Development Exam

Thursday:
Cram 'n Jam

Friday:
Biochem Exam
MSTP meeting
Lunch
CRASH
Madison.

Saturday:
College.
Game.
Day.
Nobody does undergrad like UW-Madison.

Seriously...WTF Mate?

I woke up this morning and the first thing that went through my mind was, "The Ansa Cervicalis innervates the strap muscles of the neck, but what innervates the hyoglossal muscle?". My day is concluding with "So, wait, following a breakup people eat TONS of chocolate. Is this an evolutionary coping mechanism designed to to raise serotonin levels and thus make natural obsessive-compulsive thinking about a significant other diminish?"

Clearly, we left the realm of rational thinking a long time ago.

The good news is that the blog is finally seeing some love, so I guess it can't all be bad.

*Note: answer to morning question is: depends. Motor function? Hypoglossal nerve (Cranial XII). Sensory innervation (not special sensory as it's not involved in taste, though)? Lingual nerve, a branch of the Trigeminal nerve (Cranial V) - V3, to be exact. Bonus points if you knew it was supplied by the lingual artery. Unless you're an M1. Then..well...no soup for you. Sorry.

*Note2: with regards to night question - I highly doubt it.

Study Break

Exams suck.

In other news, I hear the Badgers are winning so that's a plus. I say "hear" because ESPN pushes updates to me and that's how I enjoy Badger games these days. Please, Bret, don't lose to Minnesota. For the love of all that is good and holy, keep this lead.

Sorry for being punchy. It'll pass after exams. Probably.

Wait...I still have a blog?!

Ok, so I didn't completely forget about this ol' gal, but in my defense, I've been pretty busy. And by that I mean really busy. And by that I mean, I'm not really sure what day it is. Actually, I take that back. I know that I have 8 days before my next exam block. Shit.

Med school has been like that. Each week is a different shade of "oh crap". Example: week after exams: oh-crap level(out of 10) = 1.5, week 2: 3.5, week 3: 7.0, week 4: 11. We had out first exam block already, and of course I was freaking out for that. Comparatively, however, it wasn't that bad. Only two courses, human anatomy and genetics. This time around, biochem (hello old friend!), clinical psych (I'm not really sure still what the purpose of this class is), human anatomy, and human development (odd, there's some sort of "human" theme going on here). So, 5 exams, 5 days - anatomy gets two because it's special).

So what's med school like? I'm searching for a befitting "Raman analogy" here but none really come to mind. It's pretty awesome, so we can start with that. We're learning some interesting stuff - did you know that cleft palate results from improper closure of tissues in utero - not unplanned separation? Down side: there isn't very much happening clinically though, which I suppose is good. We did have an afternoon on taking blood pressure, which I was allegedly good at. Great, I can correlate sounds starting and stopping with numbers. I take that back. I shouldn't be so down on it - after getting beaten over the head with basic sciences, this was a welcome reprieve. That, and I got to walk around with my stethoscope casually slung around my neck. SO PRO.

On that note, the MSTP has been a real gem. We've had two guest lecturers come to the College, and they've been pretty sweet. Numero uno: George Daley. This guy is a CHAMP. If you don't know much about it, seriously, look him up. Incredible. Numero dos: Stephen Archer. Another amazing research scientist who gave a really hilarious (and academic) presentation on hypertension. Cool to see that knowing the Krebs cycle has clinical importance!

Just like in high school and undergrad, we were welcomed with a speech that went to the effect of "we know all of you are smart, but this is different, some of you are going to really struggle". As usual, I didn't pay it much heed. Whoops. Med school is HARD. Initially, you laugh when people say that it is "like drinking from a firehose" - that is, until you realize it is true. Then you're not laughing because you're trying to choke down all the material they are throwing at you. It is a TON of work. Where one would normally say, "eh, they're not going to test us on that" or "we can't be expected to know ALL of that", you learn to say, "gee, gonna need to know that" and "Yeah. Know it."

But it isn't all studies, and that is probably the best part. MCW has a really good student culture. I.e.:
1. Gunners exist, but they aren't predominant or, really, prevalent.
2. There isn't any of this "that's my chair" ridiculousness happening. And yes, this happens at other institutions, even those greater than or less than 90 miles west...
3. TONS of student orgs. There's the usual lot, AMA, ACP, etc etc, but a bunch of purely leisurely ones as well. Speaking of which, you're talking to the new president of the MCW cycling club. In med school, it's the small victories. Mostly those that come after big losses (ahem, student assembly spots).
4. Really caring faculty. Best example is probably our newbie, Dr. Hoagland. Really awesome dude, and man, that voice can calm nuclear conflicts - which is good, because anatomy lab = freakout central.

Ok, update done, time to go study. Catch you on the flip of block 2, friends. C'est la vie.

The Times They are a Changin'

Howdy everyone, time for a quick little update on life here in the MSTP.

It's been a long time coming, and I'm still not sure I'm entirely ready for this. Still, though, I'm so excited! I've put a great deal of time, effort and, of course, blood, sweat and tears to have this happen. Tomorrow starts orientation for incoming medical students at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

So, here we go! This isn't undergrad anymore. Back then, if I screwed the pooch, that was on me and me alone. Now, though, someone else is going to feel the burn if I decided to put something off or ignore something important. The little tidbits are going to be important in a whole new way. Kind of a heavy thing to say, I suppose, but so is life in professional school!

Time for bed, need some sleep tonight. Tomorrow I wake up a medical student!