Official Site Logo!
As some may have already noticed, I decided to make an official “Medical Minded” logo the other day. I may come up with something a little fancier in the future, but considering the time crunch of med school life currently, I’m happy with it!
Excellent Resource – CDC Public Health Image Library (PHIL)
I recently stumbled upon the CDC Public Health Image Library (PHIL) and thought it would be an excellent resource to share with others. I’ll be adding it to the growing list of recommended websites for this blog as well.
Basically, you can use keywords to search through their image database and you’ll find a lot of pictures related to your criteria. It’s a very useful resource for anyone completing a presentation, research, etc. It’s also really nice to just look through images of stuff you’re learning about. For example, we covered tuberculosis today and a quick search yields pages and pages of pictures of cultures, X-rays, slides, lesions etc. It could be especially beneficial for any visual learners out there! Give it a try!
If You’re Involved With Medicine, Go Here!! – Meducation.net
I’m always on the lookout for medical resources. Honestly, it’s somewhat of an obsession. I love figuring out the most effective means of learn something, developing streamlined processes, etc. One of the reasons I maintain this blog is to help education others, generally premedical students and/or medical students. I recommend that any and all premed/medical students should visit www.meducation.net and create an account. Do it… seriously…. right now.
I haven’t got the chance to explore this site very much yet, but the potential is what catches my attention immediately. From what I can gather, it’s a UK-based e-learning startup company. It immediately reminds me of a Pinterest for medical professionals. You can create boards and add different medical materials to them. Materials are regularly added by other members of the website and some of them are very well-done and extremely beneficial to medical education. You can also add you own materials so that others can use them to continue their own education.
Instead of me going into the details of the site, just do yourself a favor and go sign up!
Medical Love Language
The perfect Valentine’s Day image to share with loved ones.
Choosing A Specialty – Brilliant Insight!
Today I heard some of the most insightful information throughout my time in medical school. This insight was told to my class by the dean of education in regards to selecting a specialty. Although we won’t be required to do so until the end of 3rd year, it was still a very encouraging concept. Obviously I am paraphrasing, but the general concept went as follows:
Don’t eliminate pursuing a certain specialty based on the idea that it won’t fit the type of lifestyle you want. You can modify your career to conform to whatever lifestyle you want to live. You can choose to work part-time, full-time, etc. No matter what, there will be times when your career as a physician interferes with your life outside of healthcare. The important thing is that you’re missing those outside moments of life to do something you love. If you miss out on things like family for a career you don’t have a passion for, you’re going to be miserable. Choose to pursue a specialty because you love it.
It seems that many physicians today have a propensity to focus their attention on the negative aspects of medicine. More often than not, people don’t like change, and medicine is a rapidly changing field. There will undoubtedly be both good and bad outcomes as a result of these changes. However, it is very encouraging as a medical student to hear someone discuss the ability to maintain a well-rounded lifestyle in medicine. Being a person who is family-focused in every choice that I make, this is especially meaningful to me. My wife and I have always known there will be times when I can’t be there for family events or activities. However, I also know that I want to be there as often as possible. If it came to choosing between my family and my career, it’d be my family every time. No questions asked. However, hearing an MD say that raising a family will not and should not restrict me from choosing a specialty I develop a passion for is extremely encouraging.
Medical School Education
People often ask what medical school is like, so I made this fun cartoon as a response. Basically, trying to learn everything they throw at you in medical school is like drinking from a fire hose. Enjoy!
Neuroanatomy Complete!
I officially completed neuroanatomy as of yesterday when I took the NBME Shelf Exam. What is NBME? The National Board of Medical Examiners is an organization that provides assessments of healthcare professionals. After each completed course in medical school, we take an NBME Shelf Exam that serves as a cumulative assessment of the material we should have learned. Unfortunately for any campus on block scheduling such as myself, most exams implement material from other courses as well (some of which we haven’t even taken yet!), but you just have to suffer through those questions and focus on what you know. But I digress…
Neuroanatomy was definitely a challenging course since I wasn’t familiar with most of the material. However, it was also one of my favorite courses thus far. The complexities of the nervous system are absolutely fascinating, and what’s even more amazing is how much is still unknown. The brain is a truly amazing machine. The course seemed to be the most clinically applicable of everything I’ve had thus far, which made me much more dedicated towards learning the material. Although there is so much more to learn, I can tell that my ability to actually diagnose various conditions is continually developing. Even prior to taking neuroanatomy I had considered neurology a field of interest, and I could still see it as a possibility in my future. That being said, Emergency Medicine always seems to be calling my name. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to explore that field until my fourth year of school. However, I intend to keep an open mind about all fields until I’ve had a chance to experience them. As for now, it’s on to physiology!
The Brachial Plexus Made Easy!
Want to learn the brachial plexus? Check out this video! I’ve also made a pdf file of the drawing done in the video that you can print off and save. Just click the link.
I’m starting a “Medical Resources” page that will contain the file above, as well as any future helpful documents I create or encounter during my own studies. Enjoy!
My Thoughts On People Who “Don’t Read”
Let me premise my argument with the fact that I was once a person who didn’t read for fun. The only reading I claimed to do was reading that I was required to do for my classes. In hindsight, that wasn’t true, as I’m sure it isn’t true for most others.
Unless you are illiterate, in which case you wouldn’t be reading this blog, you’re a reader. Think about it for a second. News articles, magazines, billboards…. each requires you to read. A self-proclaimed nonreader might exclaim, “But that doesn’t count!” Why shouldn’t it count? The fact of the matter is that everyone reads, but they only read material they’re interested in. Sports fanatics read news articles, parents reading parenting magazines, scientists read science journals, and so on and so on. What many people fail to realize is that the short articles they find so interesting are in fact just smaller version of numerous books. It seems like most people hear the word “book” and immediately think of nonfiction stories or educational textbooks. The fact of the matter is that there are books dedicated to every subject matter you could imagine!
My point is simply this: everyone reads, even self-proclaimed “nonreaders”. More often than not, they just haven’t found the right book!
I’m a perfect example of someone who was essentially force fed various books throughout my education that led to my thinking I just didn’t like reading. The reality was that I just didn’t like reading the books I was being given. Once I discovered there were books I actually enjoyed reading, the damage had been done. I’d become a reader.
I don’t mean to say that everyone will have an insatiable desire to read once they find a subject matter they enjoy. Some people enjoy reading more than others to be sure. However, I do think that everyone enjoys books if they can simply find the right books.
Biochemistry Complete!
This post is long overdue since I finished classes on Dec. 13, but I’ve been taking full advantage of my Christmas break away from school!
I finished up biochemistry, which went much better than histology. I actually really enjoy biochemistry and had taken it during undergrad which definitely helped! My professor in undergrad was awesome, but very tough since he wanted to prepare all of us for grad school. Looking back, I’m so glad! It seemed like there were much more clinically related aspects to this course compared to anatomy and histology, something I enjoyed. Although there were many detailed mechanisms that didn’t exactly hold my attention, I learned a lot of interesting material.
The complexity of the body is truly fascinating. It’s pretty remarkable that so many processes can occur in such a balanced way. Each time you think something couldn’t possibly get more intricate, you learn something else that makes it even more amazing. The more I learn, the more I thank God for making the world so complex and giving me the ability to learn everything I can about it. I know many people in the field of science and medicine lose faith in God or may have never believed in Him at all. For me, each thing I learn is an affirmation that we couldn’t be here with Him guiding our creation.
Medical Minded 