Island Med Student

Goodbye Passion Fruits

The Island Med Student — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:59:48 +0000

Micah and I just dropped our doggies, Scope and Molly off at the vet to get their “alterations.” AKA spayed and neutered. I’ve been dreading this day for so long. We should have gotten it done sooner, but money and time limitations prevented us. The surgeries happen tomorrow, and we should be able to pick them up by Friday. I can’t help but worry about them. I’m basically a nervous wreck.

When in Dominica, Scope’s “manliness” was referred to as “passion fruits,” and the name just stuck. Okay, I know this sounds very strange, but I’m going to miss them. And Molly’s surgery is a more invasive procedure, which scares me as well.

I hope they both pull through okay. I know this is a very routine procedure, but my motherly instincts have me worried, nonetheless.

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The Dog Days of Med School

The Island Med Student — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:42:03 +0000

Check out my post on Medscape about how my doggy doos are the cure for what ails ya.

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Calibishie Cove

The Island Med Student — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 23:58:41 +0000

There is a new luxury hotel opening up in Calibishie, Dominica. Check out their website for more information! They are also offering a 15% discount to Ross parents!

From their site:

Calibishie, Dominica is a lush, natural paradise, but also has some of the friendliest and happiest people in the World. It is with this in mind that we created Calibishie Cove, our vacation home. Calibishie Cove has four rental units in Dominica that provide a special experience that combines luxury, privacy, Dominica’s incredible natural beauty and environmental sensitivity. All rooms feature 110v US power outlets throughout, as well as free wi-fi.

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A Lovely Day

The Island Med Student — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:17:47 +0000

Even the most floridly psychotic patients have many important things to say. Sometimes, their words are profoundly wonderful.

Today reminded me of this fact.

To protect confidentially, I’ll change the words, but the gist is this.

Today, I sat in on a music therapy group.

After listening to the Bill Withers song, “Lovely Day,” a patient said, “that’s a biscuit song.” When asked why, the patient responded, “because it’s fluffy and has lots of layers.”

That remark is one of the millions of reasons why I really do love my job (that I pay to have).

The abbreviated lyrics are below:

When I wake up in the morning love
and the sun light hurts my eyes

And something without warning
love
bears heavy on my mind.
Then I look at you and the world’s alright with me

Just one look at you and I know it’s gonna be -

A lovely day - lovely day

When the day that lies ahead of me seems impossible to face

And someone else instead of me always seems to know the way
Then I look at you and the world’s alright with me

Just one look at you and I know it’s gonna be -

A lovely day - lovely day

When the day that lies ahead of me seems impossible to face

A lovely day - lovely day

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Doll Parts

The Island Med Student — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:54:41 +0000

Today’s pic was taken on Barclay Street in Baltimore, not far from my apartment. This was an incredible find. I saw one of her legs a few feet away. It reminded me of Hole’s song, Doll Parts, so I thought I’d include the lyrics here:

I am doll eyes,
Doll mouth,
Doll legs,
I am doll arms,
Big veins,
Dog bait.

Yeah they really want you,
They really want you,
They really do,
And yeah they really want you,
They really want you,
But i do too.

I want to be the girl with the most cake.
I love him so much he just turns to hate.
I fake it so real i am beyond fake.

And some day you will ache like i ache.

I am doll parts,
Bad skin,
Doll heart,
It stands for knife
For the rest of my life.

Yeah they really want you,
They really want you,
They really do,
And yeah they really want you,
They really want you,
But i do too.

I want to be the girl with the most cake.
He only loves those things
Because he loves to see them break.
I fake it so real i am beyond fake.

And some day you will ache like i ache.

“Baltimore - The Greatest City in America” photo series

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The Del Sol Revolution

The Island Med Student — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:45:07 +0000

Someone commented on my last post wondering how I could afford to commute from Baltimore to DC every day. Well, I have a surprising answer. My Del Sol is the bomb! I recently calculated the gas mileage I get with my car, and it’s up to 40 miles per gallon highway, and it averages around 34 MPG for my commute (which includes a little city driving, and sometimes stop and go traffic on the highway). My commute is about 40 miles each way, so I end up using about two gallons of gas for the entire commute. The gas at the closest station to my house has been hovering at just over $4.00 a gallon, so my commute costs me about $9.00, round trip.

Now here comes the interesting part. I once tried taking the MARC train and Metro Rail to and from work. The commute took me almost twice as long, and get this, it cost over twice as much! Now, if you buy the monthly passes, and get all the discounts you can, it costs a little less, but it’s still twice as much as driving my little Del Sol.

I know that there are other concerns in this equation, such as emissions and pollution, etc. But given the fact that it takes almost twice as long to commute by mass transit, and costs over twice as much, I really do find it difficult to go that route. I’m sorry, environment!

With gas prices soaring, and no hope in sight, many people are making drastic changes to their lifestyle in order to be able to afford things other than driving. People are finding it incredibly difficult to sell their gas-guzzling SUVs, and I recently read an article which commented on the fact that little, fuel-efficient cars like Geo Metros are now becoming “chic.” The lady in the article actually paid 4 times the Kelly’s Blue Book value for the Metro!

What does this all mean? Well, there could be a Del Sol Revolution on the horizon. Who knows, when gas prices hit $10 a gallon, maybe my Del Sol will be worth tens of thousands of dollars. Sadly, I still don’t think I could sell her. She’s just too awesome of a car to let go. In the meantime, I’m very glad that I can still afford to drive her!

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Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard

The Island Med Student — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 23:47:41 +0000

I have finished the second week of my psych rotation. I absolutely adore every aspect of the rotation, except for the commute. It’s actually very strange for me being a med student on a psych ward. I previously only knew the experience as a psych tech. You get so much less patient contact as a med student…and so much more paperwork. But I love it. I mean, I really do love it.

I am commuting from my apartment in Baltimore, MD to the St. Elizabeths Hospital in Southeast Washington, DC every day. The drive takes me anywhere from an hour on a good day to two and a half hours on a bad day. Given the heat (lately, in the 90’s), and the lack of AC in my car, it can be a hellish commute. Pretty much the only redeeming quality of the commute is listening to NPR, which I love.

I realized the other day that I am commuting from Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Baltimore, MD to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Washington, DC. I am also commuting from one stadium (Oriole Park at Camden Yards), to another (RFK Stadium).

Chris Rock famously once said, “If a friend calls you on the telephone and says they’re lost on Martin Luther King Boulevard and they want to know what they should do, the best response is ‘Run!”

So funny, yet so true!

Note: I didn’t take the pic above, but rather, I stole it from Google Images. I promise to take some good pics of my commute in the future.

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The Copy Cat Building - Holga Style

The Island Med Student — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:43:02 +0000

Another pic stolen from Micah. This time it’s a Holga pic in color. The building with the sign on top is the Copy Cat, our home.

“Baltimore - The Greatest City in America” photo series

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MARC Train at Penn Station

The Island Med Student — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:55:18 +0000

Today’s pic was taken from my living room window. It’s the MARC train at Penn Station. I love everything about living above a train station EXCEPT the fact that on the weekends, they shut the train down, but leave it running so that it makes this horrible clicking sound for two days!

“Baltimore - The Greatest City in America” photo series

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Stuff Learned at St. Elizabeths #1

The Island Med Student — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:49:20 +0000

Oh my goodness, I have learned so much in my seven days of rotating at St. Elizabeths hospital. But, as I have mentioned already, I am suffering from amotivational syndrome right now, so I will give a very abbreviated list tonight, and try and post more often in the future.

Here is a short list of what I’ve learned so far:

1) TONS about pharmacotherapy for schizophrenia and mood disorders including indications, side effects, contraindications, etc.

2) Capgras syndrome is when you think your family has been replaced by imposters.

3) How to classify various disturbances in thought process such as circumstantiality, tangentiality, loose associations, and echolalia. I’ve seen patients with just about every one of the various disturbances.

4) How the laws of psychiatric commmittment work in DC.

5) Some nurses can be a little mean at first, but once you gain their respect, they are incredibly nice and helpful.

6) The DSM criteria for many different psychiatric disorders.

7) How Freud had his research in cocaine as a topical eye anesthetic stolen from him.

8 ) How to distinguish between the different subtypes of schizophrenia, and that paranoid schizophrenia doesn’t necessarily mean that a patient has paranoid delusions.

9) My experience as a psych tech is incredibly helpful to me on the wards.

10) The difference between bizarre and non-bizarre delusions. For example, thinking that you are being followed by the FBI is considered a non-bizarre delusion, whereas thinking that your heart was removed and replaced with Jesus Christ’s heart, giving you supernatural powers, is a bizarre delusion.

More goodies to come!

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