Mid-term musings

It is now mid-term season as I have acutely observed from the changing colours of the leaves and the hoards of undergrads invading the library (and taking up space, ahem). Luckily at Queen's medicine, we have no mid-terms! This may explain the current ineptitude I possess in all matters medical, but nevertheless it lends me more time to pursue other interesting things that will surely "make me a better doctor".

At the moment, I am researching for a domestic violence workshop debate next week. Although I've never debated in my life and hence it shall make for an interesting session, I am excited about working with an interdisciplinary group of students from nursing, rehab and law. There are four students from each program that will debate the following question: "Should there be mandatory reporting for intimate partner violence by health care professionals?" As you may know, currently there is mandatory reporting for child abuse (and also gun shot wounds in Ontario, adult/elder abuse to a certain extent in the Maritimes, and reporting of HIV infection and drivers with certain medical conditions in many jurisdictions). I didn't get to choose what side I would argue for, but through chance I am defending against mandatory reporting for intimate partner abuse. So far, the research is going well although I don't think there really is a right answer.

My motto for this week is "once bitten, twice sympathetic". Long story, but every time I get sick (or attacked by fleas or whatever... like I said, long story) I become totally and utterly sympathetic to those who have had a similar condition. When I got infected by the Norwalk virus I swore never to forget how it felt and now I'm sure I can diagnose it when I see it... this goes for all the other illnesses I've had. I'm not advocating that all medical students should go out and overdose on cocaine or abuse alcohol to see what's it like (pfft, like they don't already), but wouldn't it be interesting if we could all feel what chronic pain would be like for a day? Or have both females and males alike experience the pain of childbirth? I'm not trying to sound all left-wing feminist or anything but I bet we'd all be better doctors.

This past week I organized a fundraising drive for victims of the South Asia Earthquake with the help of truly selfless people who carried lots of heavy change around. In all, Queen's raised $400 and this amount will be matched by the federal government so that makes $800! Woohoo! I love generous people and I love to be generous, but let me tell you, counting change is not fun. I forgot how dirty and nasty money is ('cuz thank goodness I quit my dumb cashier job at National Sports years ago!) and I also forgot how much it sucks to lose count when you have to go through a mountain of change (I basically counted all the change, then pushed the wrong button on my calculator and lost the total... and then I had to count the change all over again - I'm such a loser!)

Coming up next month is the medical variety night (MVN) and I'm really excited for it. Last year I sang "Cruisin'" with Paul and the Dartos band (you know, that song with Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis) and this year I wanted to do a duet again so we'll be singing "Picture" (Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow). I want to dress up in cowgirl gear and I wonder how my mom will react again to all the debauchery that happens at MVN. It's so bad that there's even going to be a talk about it by Dr. Charles Hayter next month: "Songs, Satire, and Sex: A Brief History of the Medical Student Show [at Queen's]".

As if there isn't enough going on, Friday night is our school formal! Then next weekend is Halloween... and the weekend after that I hope to go see Les Misérables in Toronto! Believe it or not, it would be the first musical I would have ever attended!

Okay, okay... I guess I better stop bloggin' (heheh) and do something called "schoolwork" now - for some reason the term seems so obscure (I wish!)

Today's newly discovered medical lingo: "I need a CT of T&T GSW HI STAT!!" That stands for "I need a computer tomography [image] of [a] through and through gun shot wound head injury RIGHT NOW [you bunch of SOBs]!!" *Sigh*. Those crazy neurosurgeons.