September 28, 2008
Not a lightsaber but…
Recently, Aunt Margi entrusted me with Grandpa Buck’s stethoscope. His is the one on the left. I’m not sure if it’s the same scope they gave him when he was at Med school in St. Louis. If so, he would have received it it in 1941, taken it to China in WWII, and then brought it back to CA where he settled with grandma after the war. It’s a solemn, wonderful feeling to place his scope next to my own.
September 25, 2008
Science Fictional, Medicinal
So second year is already in full tilt boogie. We are already pre-clinical masters of the kidney and halfway through the GI track—in the first third of the small intestine to be precise. Second year provides much more opportunity to see what practicing medicine actually involves. I was assigned to the Palo Alto VA for a little clinical exposure and did a full history and physical on a Vietnam Vet. Great guy, has a problem list longer than my leg and involving every organ in his body, but still laughs about the world and still loves his wife—who sat in on my H&P, injecting snarky comments about her husband’s healthy habits along the way. After that I was fortunate enough to shadow a pediatric ophthalmologist (read: eye surgery on children) and was fascinated by how much can be done to restore failing vision in children and prevent blindness. Read the rest of this entry »
September 6, 2008
Renal Run Around & Saturday Redirect
Oh dear, the med-student-run-around has resumed. Second year is filled with an organ by organ march through the body culminating in the first step of the medical boards. Presently the kidneys are taking over my life. And, to make things more difficult interesting, I’m applying for a Med Scholars grant in hopes that “Endosymbiont” will convince the academic powers that be that my short, medical SF qualifies as a legitimate research pursuit. Keep all possible appendages crossed for me. And, sadly, my blogging has begun to wane again.
In an effort to combat that, I’m going to try a new type of post: Ye Olde Redirect Post in which the Author Links to Various and Sundry Things that have been Distracting Him. Read the rest of this entry »
