A(n)nals Of An Idle Mind

The most dynamic person I've known..

2011-09-09T16:57:00.000-04:00

My Dada (Grandpa) passed away yesterday.

Even though he had been ill for a while now with cardiac and arthritic issues, and this was expected sooner or later, the fact that he won’t be around anymore brings back a flood of happy memories of times with him.

There have been issues where we have disagreed with him and fought with him- like every other family- but he was definitely the most vibrant and active man I have known even in his old age.

Dada and Dadi would stay in West Bengal most of the year, and come over to our place for a couple of months every year.

Being the elder sibling I would sleep with them in their room. He had the most adorable way of waking me up for school. He would start with his daily chores around 4am, all the while humming shlokas from the Geeta and coming to whisper them in my ear every 10-15 minutes. Though (being a person that shows disinterest in any activity of the religious kind) I hardly ever admitted it, I quite enjoyed being woken up that way.

He would then spoil me by giving me some money (that my parents never allowed!) to spend at the thelas outside school. This was a daily ritual for the months that they were around in Rajasthan.

We would go out to Shastri Circle in the evenings. Him, for his walk and routine of getting the English newspaper (that would arrive in our city in the evening). Me, just for the fact that I could get him to buy me comics (which, again, my parents didn’t show much interest in getting for me! It was a task to convince them to let me get comics!)

So every first and fifteenth of the month we had special walks to the stationary shop at the Shastri Circle to get my fill of Champaks, Balhans, Nandan and Nanhe Samrat. On the other days, it was just for the fun of going out and climbing towards the statue of Shastri ji while listening to stories of freedom fighters and such.

[It sounds cheesy, I know. But I was a greedy kid!]

Those are most of the memories I have of him as a kid.

Then again, one act that I hold him in great regard for, is his kids’ education. Even though they stayed in a small village in West Bengal, and did not have much money, he made sure that his kids- not just the sons, but also the daughter- went to one of the best boarding schools in the country.

Even with our differences, he was definitely the most dynamic person I knew.

I’ll miss him.

[The post was just written as a vent-out for me, since I have no one to talk to right now, and needed closure]

Stranded! - Dwitiya

2011-04-29T15:34:00.006-04:00

It all started with the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, Efjya.. Ejffya *googles* Eyjafjallajökull. A lot of European airports were shut down, including Frankfurt, where I was stuck for four days.

Here's my story in pictures. This should hopefully keep it cohesive and concise.

[The backdrop is in the previous post Stranded - Part One, which is a hurriedly scribbled affair]

Day 1:

Frankfurt Airport where I was supposed to stay for six hours but ended up staying for four days.

The Longest Day

Rows of cots for people who had already been stuck there for a day.

Everyone was upset and confused over what was going on. And apprehensive about what was to come next.

Most people staying at the terminal were the ones who did not have a visa for Germany. [Those who did, could go and stay at an airline sponsored hotel]

Day 1: By early evening, it became apparent that this was for real. Nothing flew in. Nothing flew out.

Day 1, Evening: They had to add additional rows of cots to accommodate the large numbers of people.

Day 1, Night: No activity on runways.

My little bed on Day 1. Covers were provided by Fraport authorities/Airlines.

Ended up shifting base to a corner of the main terminal, where most people were staying put.

Day 2:
Did not click many pictures on Day 2 since I was panicking by this point and was hoping to get out of there as soon as possible.

New friends.

"What to do?" Just sitting and waiting.

Day 2: Decent (airline) food. Yes, it was indeed good to get something different and palatable after 3-4 meals of sandwiches and soup.

Day 3:
On coming to terms with the situation, and with some ideas from the family, I decided to click pictures and post on Facebook!

New day. New news. [Although it had no news about any potential changes to our state].

More new friends.

People in queue for clean clothes.

This was because by day 3, everyone had run of clean clothes in their carry- on. We had no access to our checked baggage.

Day 3: Sleeping. Talking. And roaming around clicking pictures.

"Doesn't matter if we can't go out!"- This gentleman decided to do some sight seeing within the airport itself! :o)

Finally took a shower on Day 3. All clean. Yes :) [ Clean clothes were provided by our Airlines!]

Sitting and talking. All from different parts of the world.

FOOD! By Day 3, we got some really good food provided by the Airlines. Available 24*7!

Making the terminal our home.

Food and Drinks..

..And some good coffee and hot chocolate!

All this was enough to keep me happy! :D

Going barefoot, because by day 3, my shoes were stinking! [You don't really think about these little things until you actually go through them]

The crew that fed us! :D

They had chocolates too! :o)

Finally by afternoon Day 3, the Indian Embassy officials decided to pay us a visit. People crowding around them, trying to talk through their problems.

Talking to the embassy officials for basic requirements like clean clothes, shoes and medicines. [We had ample to eat and drink, but clothes were in short supply]

The embassy got us some clothes, but apparently these were from some Flood Relief Fund. Basically they treated us like refugees of some sort. [Shame on them!]

People still tried to get their hands on as many clothes as possible. [And I ended up just clicking these pictures :@] It was chaos! -- As our fifth grade teacher would say, "A fish-market, really!"

Talking to an Embassy official

Telling them our problems, and suggesting solutions.

Doctors in the group making a list of medicines that would be needed. Most of the people with conditions like DM and HTN had run out of their supply of meds by this time.

Listing medicines.

A group of people babysitting for another passenger :o)

Evening of day 3. Still no activity on the runway.

As one of them said, "All in band uniform". All in clothes supplied by the Airlines.

The empty pathway. One random guy in the distance trying to make a call from the very German pay phone.

Day 3, Evening: We had come to terms with the fact that it might not be soon that we would get out of here. So why not make the most of it? So a couple of new friends and I, decided to watch 'The Terminal'. Much fun it was!

There were these TVs that kept on blaring news 24*7. How do we sleep? Well, AN found a way to turn them off at night! :D

Successful in turning the damned TVs off for a good night's sleep.

Day 4:
Most of early Day 4 for me, was spent in a queue and in one of the airport offices, since I decided to have a go at trying to get a German visa.
Rumors were that there was a loooooong queue at the office. This was one of the reasons why I did not go there earlier.
On getting to the office I found it to be true.
But as I waited there for a couple of hours, and was about to give up and go back, I found that they were making special concessions for Indians and giving them a visa out of turn! :)
So I went in and got my visa stamped! (Yayyy!)

As I got to the main Airline counter to get my Hotel vouchers, it turned out they they were now giving vouchers for just one day. There was no guarantee of how long we'd have to stay there though.
So on discussing with some other passengers I decided to stay put at the terminal. The logic being- a) I'd save money b) I'd find out sooner about flight statuses here than at the hotel. c) I had already stayed here three days, and was well acquainted with everything by now.

So I stayed on.

Day 4: Early afternoon, there was some news of some flights being re-started that evening. We weren't sure when our turn would come, but it was a start. :)

Saying Goodbyes: Loved this smiling gentleman. He was the epitome of calmness. Busy with his own work, but always greeting everyone with a smile. [Reminded me of the singing guy from FRIENDS for some reason]

Day 4: There were cheers from everyone as the first flight in four days took off for Chicago!

Everyone was happy now! My main concern was to make sure I got up early enough in the morning to stand in queue for the earliest tickets out.

Day 4, night: With hopes of leaving the next day, it was time to clean up the clothes line in our corner of the terminal.

My home for four days! :')

The boards were almost empty, but some flights had resumed. They had posted details on this sheet of paper.

Day 5:
I forgot to mention, we were issued temporary tickets everyday in the hope that flights might resume that day. But the catch was that there was always a long queue to get those tickets too. So I always chickened out.

This time, it was for real.. Some flights had already taken off!

I set up multiple alarms to make sure that I'd be up early the next morning and not miss out on my chance to get a ticket to Delhi. Who knew how long the airport would stay open.. The volcano was still erupting after all.

Day 5: 6.00 am, Standing in queue to get our tickets.

Lufthansa- Who took good care of us while we were at the airport.

MY AIRPLANE!! I was so excited at the prospect of going back home that I ended up shopping for more chocolates than I had actually brought from the US! Duty free shopping FTW!

We left Frankfurt at noon of day 5. The journey back was uneventful. Full of sleep and watching Tum Mile.

PS: This post in pictures was basically an extension of the Facebook album that I had posted LIVE from Fraankfurt. But I wanted to make sure I chronicled this on the blog, since that Facebook album might very well be deleted.

PPS: The chronology of pictures might be a leeeettle bit skewed, well because it has been an year hasn't it?!

Stranded! - Part One

2011-04-27T09:04:00.001-04:00

Now that I am done with all my travels and exams, its time to finish up writing some old stories that I wanted to jot down.
This post is about the mini 'vacation' in Germany last year.

So I was about to end my US trip and head back home, when about a day ahead of my travel I heard this news about some volcano erupting in Iceland. "Whatever..!", I thought. I was just glad that I was flying Lufthansa since they shut down the Heathrow Airport. My connection was in Frankfurt, and that was still working in full swing so I was safe.

I boarded my flight on time and the trip to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful. I had about a 6-7 hour layover there, so I decided to catch up on the book I was reading ('The Longest Day' - A story about D-Day partly based in Germany) and some sleep.

While I was dozing off, a desi Uncleji came up to me to ask which way I was heading. I told him.

He then told me that his flight to Bombay was cancelled. And there were rumors of other flights being cancelled as well. "WTF! Seriously what's going on here!". I decided to got out of my cozy corner and check with the airline people.

By the time I reached the information desk, I was shocked to see long lines of people queued up already. And even more surprising were long rows of cots around the terminal.

Apparently, while I had walked to the terminal, I had conveniently failed to notice these people who were sleeping with makeshift arrangements of cots and blankets. Turned out that these people had their flights to Heathrow cancelled and were forced to make an emergency landing here.

Anyhow, by the time I stood in line for about fifteen minutes, it became clear that all flights in and out of the airport were being cancelled.

"Blow!" I thought. "What do I do next?"

Since there were a lot of desis around, I decided to hang around there and find out what was going on.

Rows of Cots

It turned out that since all flights had been cancelled, the airlines were handing out hotel vouchers to those who had a Germany visa. Since I (and a lot of travelers around me) did not have one, we were eft with two options- a) Stand in line for an emergency short term visa at a distant corner in some faraway terminal. b) Get one of those cots that the airline had provided and make base right at the terminal.

I was traveling alone, so I decided not to take any chances with getting lost by roaming around the huge airport (trust me, Frankfurt airport is HUGE! And its very much possible to get lost, especially when its shutdown). So I stayed with a bunch of Indians stuck in the same situation.

I had assumed this would last a day at the maximum, and we would be able to make our connections.

Bed On Day One

As the day progressed it became clear that no change in status was expected for the next 48 hours at least. Rumors were flying around.

I panicked a little.

Now that I had a place to call home-- a row of benches and some covers, the next task was to get connected to people back home.

Now calling them up was not an option for me. I'd tried that from the same airport about four months back and had failed because everything on the pay phones was in German!
I looked around for the next best thing. Free WiFi? Nope, this airport had none.
Then after wasting some precious Euros on an hour long connection, I decided to cough up for a month long unlimited access pass.

When I purchased it, I did not know that I'd actually have to use it for four days. But as it turned out it was hands down, the best investment I ever made.
As I spoke with the family in both corners of the world and updated Twitter and Facebook ;D, I felt much better.

While I spent most of my awake time on the internet, I also happened to meet some really nice people there.

The Terminal

- There was a group of four people, a doctor, a priest, an IT guy and a business person, who had met at the airport and become good friends! Hung out with them for some time.

- Then there was this elderly couple, who were going to the US for their daughter's graduation who took care of me like their kid!

- This group of people my age who had set up a Facebook group for those 'Ashed@Frankfurt' even before I did! All of us ended up downloading and watching 'The Terminal' together. I was awesome fun to compare and contrast our condition with Tom Hanks! :)

- There was this guy who was going for the Boston Marathon from Bangalore. He decided to return back to Bangalore eventually since he missed the race while stuck at the airport :(

- There was a pregnant lady in the group. Also an Ob/Gyn :)

- A group of Pakistani people who were going to London, and could have taken a bus to get there had they gotten a visa. [Apparently while its hard for Indians- for which I cursed the regulations a zillion times- since they need a visa, its even worse for Pakistanis and people from certain African nations. They were repeatedly being denied a visa, despite having a genuine request!]

- These, and hundreds more people with a thousand different stories.

There's so much more to tell about those four days. I'll continue with my story in another post..
:)

PS: My story might be very fragmented since there are so many things, and I keep jumping from one point to the other. But I hope I can do it justice. I was an adventure of a lifetime.

PPS: 80% of this post was written a couple of months back. So I'm posting the half baked thing just for the heck of it- so that it doesn't stay in my draft folder forever!

Final PPPS: After putting in some pictures, I realized that I would me much easier (and chronologically correct) to tell the story via pictures. So that's what I'l do next.

Kinect-ing the world

2011-03-07T12:52:00.001-05:00

This post is intended solely for people who happen to chance upon the blog looking for a solution to the US vs India XBox adapter solution.

_____________________________________

On my last rip to the US, the only shopping I did was getting a XBox 360 with Kinect bundle. Since this was my first video game purchase since the old Nintendo-consoles-of-the-90s (the kinds that had Tetris and Mario and Contra!), I was pretty excited!
Also, the prospect of being able to control the game without a controller was kind of futuristic!

Now, after I bought the game, I realised a potential problem. The game was bought in US, but was intended for use in India. Since the voltage used in both countries is different, ie: 220 volts in India while 110 in the US; this needed a solution.
One option was a step down transformer. But reading up and researching a bit on the internets, I was pretty sure that a transformer was a bad idea and would blow up pretty soon!

Now during my search for the perfect solution, I came across this blog ! According to this, if you contacted Microsoft and told them your problem, they would send you an adapter free of charge.
Hah! Free adapter! High hopes, I thought!
But then, there was no harm in taking a chance!

So I got my brother to note down the registration number and the invoice number of the Xbox and contact Microsoft support on their toll free India number -- 1-800-102-1100.
And voila! The next day my brother tells me that they have responded to his problem and are sending in an adapter and cord FREE OF CHARGE! This was apparently a 'goodwill gesture' on part of Microsoft.

Sure enough, they wrote down my home address and sent the cords in! We got it on the 12th day of dispatch!*

We did not have to pay ANYTHING for the whole deal-- neither for the cords nor the shipping charges.

----------------------------
Overall, I feel the Microsoft support was fantastic in responding to our problems! Even while they had shipped the cord, my brother (like an immature kid) would call them up every other day to find out the whereabouts of the cord. While they could not trace the cord, they were pretty nice, and made all efforts to let us know the exact date by which we would receive it!

---------------------------
*Also, while we waited ten days for the adapter, we tried all sorts of jugaad measures, but unfortunately none of them worked. We tried a step down transformer, a friend's XBox adapter, a regular power plug without voltage conversion, just looking at the gaming system for hours, making trips to the courier shop! (We just could not buy a new original cord since it was not available in my city)
I do think we blew up the original adapter in the process too!

---------------------------
All said and done, now that I've played it. The Kinect is FANTASTIC! Love the technology! :)

_______________________________________
I've written down this post just to try and make the solution to this issue more visible on the internetz. During my searches for a proper solution, the above-mentioned blog was the only place where I could find this solution.
So now that I have tried and tested the solution, why not share it with more poor souls who might be looking to find a voltage solution for their US-bought-but-to-be-used-in-India XBox 360.

You-Know-What

2011-02-11T01:46:00.010-05:00

Okay, the topic of the post might sound misleading to most, but those who are aware of it, might agree.

I am taking about the San Francisco Match (or the SF Match, as we call it affectionately). There seems to be a surprising lack of resources for more information about this match and how it works. I have yet to see another website besides the official site (which is quite informative for a beginner) that has some information on the system.

First things first, this is NOT a match for match in California! In fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with location whatsoever. A lot of people ask about whether you need a SSN or PTAL for this match. And the answer is NO.

This is just the same as the NRMP/ERAS match, except for the fact that its for certain fixed sub-specialties, and takes place earlier in the year.
Now since I matched for Child Neurology, that is what I'll talk about (even though the SF match also caters to other sub-specialties like NDD, Ophthalmology, Plastic Surgery etc)

Three Years of Child Neuro include one year of Adult.

What is Child Neurology and why am I talking about it here?
Well to answer the latter first. I MATCHED! And want to spread the love! (Especially for IMGs who don't have a med school advisor, and rely on seniors and forums for all information!)

To answer the former, read on..

When can you get into it?
WHENEVER YOU WANT! (..Well almost!) There are a couple of separate pathways to get into Pedi Neuro. To make sure I don't give a wrong message, let me quote from the website:

"Prerequisite Training: The training can be initiated following one of three options:
(1) 2 years of residency training in pediatrics in the United States or Canada;

(2) one PG-1 year (as described in the Program Requirements for Residency Education in Neurology**) and 1 year of residency training in pediatrics; or

(3) 1 year of pediatrics plus 1 year of basic neuroscience training.

The program director must review and determine the acceptability of these initial two years of training."

** (Excerpt from the Neurology RRC Program Requirements (ACGME): 'Those that provide 4 years of residency training, the first year of which training (accredited in the United States or Canada) must include a broad clinical experience in general internal medicine. This year must include at least one of the following: (a) 8 months in internal medicine with primary responsibility in patient care or (b) 6 months in internal medicine with primary responsibility in patient care and a period of at least 2 months total time in pediatrics or emergency medicine or both. Residents must spend no more than 2 months in neurology during this year.'

I am taking the first pathway, by entering Child Neurology as PGY-3 in 2013. (Does that clear it up a little?)

So, wait, its a Residency after residency, or a Fellowship ..or what? Huh?

Child Neurology, while technically is a fellowship level thing since you do it after a Peds Residency; it is considered a Residency by the Board. So basically, if you do Peds then Child Neurology-- and end up taking both Boards-- you can be 'Double Board Certified' with 'Certification in Pediatrics' and 'Certification in Neurology with Special interest in Child Neurology'.
The Neurology Certification means you can practice adult neurology too (since you do have to spend one-third of your Child Neurology Residency in the Adult Year)
Then there's the opportunity to pursue a fellowship, in one of the many fields of interest like Epileptology, Neuromuscular disorders, Sleep medicine etc.

The Timeline:
Its an early match.
How early? Well, the process of submission of documents starts in June (as opposed to September, for ERAS).
- You mostly have interviews ranging from late-October and should finish by late-December (though I met someone who was finishing in mid-Jan, so that's how far it can go!)
- Then you submit the rank list by mid-Jan.
- And Match Day is usually in the last week of Jan. (It was January 27th this year!)

How many programs?
There are not as many programs for Child Neurology as are for Pediatrics (doh!!). There are about 70 odd programs (--they give you the comprehensive list once you register for the match) . I applied to twenty five programs, and received interviews from thirteen places.

Most of the programs via the SF Match are for the three year Child Neurology i.e. beginning as a PGY-3. But programs prefer if their residents do both- Peds as well as Peds Neuro-- from their place, so they *usually* try to co-ordinate with the Peds Department. This means while they might try to interview you for Pediatrics as well (if you apply there via ERAS), it is NOT an obligation.
Now some places like Cleveland Clinic, Rainbow Babies etc have a dedicated five year track. Which means, if you get in the Child Neurology part of the track, you mostly get in for Pediatrics as well (again, through NRMP!)

Match Data:
While people might think that the competition is less in Pedi Neuro, let me assure you-- its a MYTH! There are about 1-3 spots per year per program. So the ratio for candidates per spot boils down to the same thing. Here is a link to last year's match data from the SF Match. So last year 69% IMGs matched, which is more than the average NRMP match percent, but definitely involves more of a commitment!

I know some IMGs might be tempted to apply just for the heck of it.

If that is your plan, then DON'T!

Here's a scenario:
Assuming, you apply for about 30 Child Neuro programs and a hundred-ish Peds programs. (I did.. since I wasn't sure I would be able to make it in Pedi Neuro this year). If you end up getting interviews in Pedi Neuro, then quite possibly your credentials are good enough and therefore you will get interviews for 'just-Pediatrics' as well.
Now, if you aren't sure if you want to go for Peds Neuro, then you might be in a fix since the match date is earlier. Your rank list is divided between the programs that invited you for both Peds/CN and the ones that have only Peds!
You might end up going to a specialty you aren't sure about (Pedi/Neuro) without giving a specialty you might love (eg Peds or IM) a chance!
[Basically what I'm trying to say is, applying to Peds Neuro is not like applying to say Family Med or Peds as a back up that I've seen a lot of Internal Medicine people do! Its a different ball game altogether]

Apply to the field only if you LOVE it! Since if more than just five years of your life.

_________________________________
I tried to cover everything that sporadically kept coming up in my head. More questions are welcome. I'll try to write another post if I have some common queries, or answer questions in comments.

Good luck!
_________________________________

PS: Hugs to one absolutely fantastic CN intern I met during my away rotations. She patiently helped me out a lot through the whole process, when I didn't know squat about You-Know-What! Thanks, S. x

The Brain Doctor

2011-02-11T00:18:00.003-05:00

Hello people!

If you're a person who doesn't know me in real life or on Twitter, then, hey thanks for checking in! A lot has happened since I last wrote.

BRAAAAAIN!

One of the biggest decisions of my professional life has been made. I know where I'll end up for the next five years, and how I'll come out of it. Yes, I now have a Residency position at one of my top choices! And that too, exactly in the specialty that I wanted to go in--- Pediatrics Neurology! :D

This blog played a HUGE part in my choice, since some of my readers here introduced me to the field of Child Neurology in the first place! Then doing an elective in the same furthered hammered the interest in!
In one of those earlier posts I had mentioned how I loved the academic part of Neurology -- the lesions and the localisations *swoon*; but wanted to become a kiddie doctor-- well, safe to say Peds Neuro fulfills both wishes! A dream come true. Yes.

Magical!

Dream, reminds me, I also managed to catch a trip to Disneyworld after the interviews! Had a FANTASTIC time!! All thanks to the family I have here!! :D

Also, I just finished with the USMLE Step3 exam today. And can only hope to pass. (Please pray for me. Thanks.)

As you can see I have loose associations and am in almost a hypomanic state today, I'll end this post here.

Bye bye USMLE! (hopefully!)

But I need to write a couple of pending posts. Those shall happen soon. Just, not right now.
x

PS: Oh, I just realised.. one of my best friends is getting married in a couple of hours! Too bad I can't be there! But I wish K and A the very best for their new life together!! Love you, K! (even though I'm sure neither of them will read the blog in a million years! )

Image Credit for IMG1: Gray's Anatomy for Students: One of the best anatomy books. Ever!

Hiatus

2010-12-27T00:24:00.001-05:00

I have been neglecting the blog for quite some while now (umm.. over three months!). While I apologize for it, I would also like to tell y'all the couple of excuses that I have lined up for the neglect :P

1. Microblogging: Twitter has taken over my blogging (for now). Now days, anything remotely interesting that happens in life is reported instantly on Twitter, rather than waiting to write on the blog later. Even things that I am wondering about, missing, enjoying or need to decide on are posted on Twitter for instant decisions.
Must say, I've met quite a few fantastic (and some not-so-fantastic-yet-interesting) people via the microblogging site. :)
I tweet as @drarps by the way.

2. Laziness: Yes, I've admitted to this before and I'll say it again-- I am a lazy blogger. (I still have the Birthday post to finish -- which I can't actually do for another couple of months since I don't have the clues with me as I travel)

Which brings us to point three:
3. Travel: I have been traveling quite a bit in the past two months. If you think it would provide quite some fodder for the blog, you are correct!
I've had my share of mishaps and incidents, (been lost in a strange city, seen some amazing places, spent more than the average person's share at the airport, traveled in a bus where a physical fight broke out at 3 in the night! etc.) but I've seriously been pretty busy planning out the routes and flights, to keep up with the blog.
Again, all these incidents were taken out of my system by ranting on twitter.

4. Exam-lessness: As is natural, the quantity of blogging ideas (and will to publish them), is inversely proportional to the amount of time on hand. Therefore, I blog most often when I am preparing for an exam and am constantly stuck with books.
Technically, I have an exam to prepare for even now, but I haven't been studying for it (why: see point #3). So, I guess for me, no exam= no blogging.

Well, my excuse list ends here. I agree these are pretty lame, but this is all I have for now. Maybe one day I'll become more responsible towards the blog and write more often. Till then I leave you with these pictures that show how I've been the past three months--

(Keep praying for me. Okay?)

And where have I been? Here mostly.

Also, while I end the excuse post, I'll leave you to read the pick of posts on the blog-
Making of a Doctor - First post after the first day of clinical posting.
Best-est teacher in the world - (Clearly it wasn't one of my English teachers! :P)
Test-imony- One of the most hilarious stories I heard in med school! (<--MUST READ!!) Also in line, mono-phonic thinking!

Happy Holidays! :)

2010-12-24T00:27:00.001-05:00

Just dropping in a line to wish y'all a Merry Christmas! :)

Happy Holidays!

Brutal Assault

2010-09-05T16:53:00.003-04:00

A black day was written in the history of Dr. S.N. Medical College last night when scores of students and doctors were brutally assaulted by the police/jawans. These residents of the UG boys hostel were victimized in their own home, as police barged inside the hostel and beat them up.

_________________________________________________________
Penned by Telly, here is a summary of what happened:

Scheme of Events, (4th-5th Sept. 2010)

Trauma Centre – Two injured brought in, Resident Doctor attends. Lots of attendants with the injured, who end up in a verbal tussle with the Doctor. Doctor stops treatment. Returns to treat the injured after talks.

Room broken in

Trauma Centre – The gang which assaulted the injured rushes in. Start violence. Doctor informs the colleagues to swarm in. Policemen come, and start hitting anyone, and everyone with Lathis. Resident Doctors beaten up.

Trauma Centre – In the meanwhile, Interns come for rescue. Police kick start their jeeps, and drive at break-neck speeds at Interns. Interns forced to run to their hostels.

Blood on the Terrace

Boys Hostel – Policemen run and lathi-charge the few students there. Students start pelting stones on them.

Boys Hostel – Huge number of policemen called in. 200 policemen, including RAC jawans stationed outside the Hostel. Students are called for. They are asked to come outside.

Boys Hostel – Policemen and RAC jawans rush in the hostels, indeterminate hitting by Lathis. Innocent students studying quietly in rooms, Sleeping, are hit with lathis. Doors are broken open. Coolers dismantled. Even students cooperating to come out are beaten like criminals.

Each step you take on the staircase, you receive one hit. Hit on head. Run behind a student till the terrace, loses balance, and falls down.

Mass looting by the policemen, money, mobiles. Laptops thrashed on the floor, on purpose.

Meeting for calling a strike

Post-massacre – Immense political pressure to not let the senior doctors go on strike. Threatened in different ways.

The road less taken.. and how much it'll cost

2010-09-03T05:46:00.008-04:00

I’m going to make a list of the moolah spent by an IMG (Indian in this case) if they want to do a Residency in the US of A.

The journey from USMLE to MD ( Yeah! Borrowing term from Digital Doc :D) is a long, and, of course, expensive one. A lot of juniors at college have asked me this question time and again - "How much will it cost me if I decide to work for a Residency in the USA?"

Having been through almost 3/4^th of the process, I’m just listing the basic $s that I have spent on the process till now. By the end of this post you should have a gross idea of how much it’ll cost, and thus you can make a realistic decision of what you want to do next – AIPGEE or USMLE.

(I assume that you have basic idea of what the USMLE and the whole process is like on the whole, and are familiar with the terminology.)

-A lot of costs vary by individual choices. So I’m going to list what I spent as an example where this difference arises.

Exams:

There are a lot of exams that you need to take to be fully ECFMG certified.

TOEFL: An optional exam that is steadily converting into almost a mandatory one if you want to have a competitive CV for electives- Fee ~~$130~~ Its $165 now.

USMLE Step 1, 2 (CK & CS): ~~A little over~~ ~~$1400~~ ~~($700*2) for USMLE Step 1 and 2CK, and~~ ~~$1200~~ ~~for CS.~~ EDIT: Exam now costs much more than that. USMLE Step1 $880, Step 2CK $895, CS $1295. Check official website for regular increments!

USMLE World: QBank plus the Self Assessments- They’re worth every penny. For Step 1, a two month UW subscription plus UWSA will cost you $195 ($135 + $30*2). And Step 2, will be $165 ($135+$30)

NBME Self Assessment: To assess your prep, you’ll end up taking online NBME practice tests. Since each test costs $45 to take (and $60 for one “special test’ for each exam), the number of tests you take depends on your preparation. There are some who take none while others end up taking all tests. I spent a total of $375 for NBME SAs for both exams.

Electives:

Application: Most Universities have an application fee of $100 or so. Although there are some that are free too. Umar Tariq’s website has a comprehensive list of all information for electives. (I spent about $500 on applications)

Tuition Fee: This totally varies by University where you end up doing electives. Some like Harvard and Tufts have a fee of $2000-3700, while others like Cleveland Clinic and NIH are free. (I paid about $1400 as tuition)

Malpractice Insurance: This is another thing that is new for us and since there seems to be just one company that provides MI to students on a monthly basis, they have been increasing the premium with every passing year! I ended up spending about $600 for MI.

Travel and Housing: Of course travel to the US will cost another $1000-1500.

Housing will vary from $300 to $500 per month depending on the location. This cost multiplies depending on how long you stay in the US. (I’ll take my expenditure as $500 since I was in luck wrt housing.)

Misc: Add to it other costs like travel insurance, visa fees, immunization titers before going to the US.

Then there’s the whole other set of expenditure on FOOD (major spending if you don’t know how to cook daily meals!), travel within the country and, of course, SHOPPING in the United States. ;-)

Fed Ex:

Giving this a special slot since there is a LOT of paperwork to be sent! There are numerous applications, college documents and Godknowswhat!! Each packet costs about $50, and I’m sure I’ve sent over ten such packets. (= well over $500)

Applying for Residency:

After all this preparation, we come to the main application! It costs a bundle, especially for an IMG!

Registrations: $50 for NRMP and $90 for ERAS token

Application: Come September 1, and a major hole in your pocket is just one click away.

In ERAS, applying to 30 programs in each specialty adds up to $305, and then for each additional program its $25 per program. So, if you are a regular IMG who needs a visa, and is not a big hot shot already in the medical world, you’ll apply to over a hundred programs.

You do the math.

(I ended up spending over $2500, plus another $70 for a USMLE transcript release)

Then there’s more:

Although till now this is the stage I’ve reached in the process, there’s a lot more to come.

Travelling again to the US, expenditure of travel within the US for interviews, USMLE Step 3, living there for about six months… and it goes on.

Bottomline:

Going by this list, USMLEtoMD -till now- has cost about a total of *drumroll* $11,350 *faints*

For those who are planning to start on this journey, this was just a preview for you to have an idea of what the costs are going to be like. Just a thought to keep it realistic.

(And now I won’t have to explain the details individually to anyone who inquires- I can just direct them here! :D)

Note: I’ve tried to keep all figures correct and comprehensive according to my memory. If there is something that you’d like to add or remove, let me know. Hope this post was useful!

:)

Image credit: Google Images

Medic Music- 3

2010-09-02T15:43:00.002-04:00

Here's the next bit in Medic Music.
Sung to the tune of the classic 'The Reason' by Hoobastank, listed some side effects of anti-cancer drugs.
(Apologies in advance for killing the awesome song that The Reason is.)

Here goes:

Lyrics:

Vincristine’s neurotoxic

It causes SIADH too.

Vinblastine blasts the marrow

Hematopoetic cells remain a few.

Cyclo-P is an alkylating agent

That causes cystitis

--Hemorrhagic cystitis—

That needs to be prevented

Acrolein is the culprit.

Mesna prevents it.

Cisplatin harms the kidneys

It causes 8^th nerve toxicity too

Lung fibrosis is bleo--

And doxo is cardiotoxicity

With 5 fluoro uracil is seen

Photosensitivity-- yyy

(That’s *not* reversible with

A dose of leucovorin)

It needs thymidine for rescue

Thymidine rescues (4)

Mtx -- fatty liver

Myelosuppression’s also a taboo

Mucositis is prominent too

All s/e of Mtx

Coz folate is what he lacks

Leucovorin reverses

(It makes the patient the patient all better

And that’s all that matters!)

Original Song:

The Reason

Image from here.

Another thing, if anyone is interested, there's this cool Chemo-man to remember s/e of anti cancer meds:

Chemoman's image from here.

World's Simplest Cake

2010-08-06T12:06:00.003-04:00

I’m not much of a cook.

Doesn't look very tempting in this picture.
But its totally Yummy! ;-)

There are only a couple of things that I can work up in the kitchen- Chai, instant popcorn, Maggi and this surprisingly delicious cake brownie thing which I like to call the “World’s Simplest Cake”

Now this cake is one of the simplest desserts that you can make! Plus most of the ingredients are easily available.

One of my best friends taught me the trick, and since then I’ve taught this cake to lots of people, and believe me they all loved it. Try it out:

[Writing down exactly from the recipe that my friend wrote for me:]

Ingredients:

1 cup Maida (Refined flour)

½ cup cooking oil

1 cup curd (preferably thick in consistency)

1 cup grated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon Baking soda/Eno

½ cup Cocoa powder (the unsweetened Cadbury kind)

¼ teaspoon Coffee ( *very very little*)

Process:

1. Mix all ingredients. It will become a semi solid paste. Add a little milk to make it slightly liquid.

2. Pour into microwave safe container.

3. Microwave for 7 minutes.

4. Remove and let it stay in a cool dark place for about 15-20 minutes.

5. Remove from container. Serve warm, with vanilla ice-cream.

(This post was written basically to keep an online record of the ingredients needed, since I always mess up the proportions. But if you do happen to try it out, leave experience in comments!)

PS: This post reminds me of OB Cookie’s blog. It makes a pretty interesting plus useful read. With every post she manages to write a post, *and* throw in a delicious recipe.

PPS: My third bit for Medic Music is done (..actually, it has been done for a while now) but my microphone’s busted now. So unless everyone likes a drone with their music- it’ll have to wait till I have enough money to get a new mic.

Medic Music -2

2010-07-21T16:54:00.005-04:00

I'm back with the second song for Medic Music.
This time its in a much more listener friendly setting- you don't have to navigate away or download it. :D

The song is sung to the tune of Lollipop by Mika. Of course, even after all my efforts, I could not get a karaoke generator, but Pranab's advice was useful- made the clip with Audacity (unlike the generic Windows sound recorder used last time). Thanks Pranab! :)

The song isn't all that good ( I like DJS more) but had to get it out of my system before I could move on to something better. Made it up somewhere during the exam prep, when I was trying to remember various drugs for Parkinson's disease and what each of the drug's role is in treatment.

Here goes- for *both* of my listeners! ;)

Lyrics:
So you dx'ed Parkinson, eh?
What you gonna do about
x2

For young- with mild
Anti cholinergics do the trick
x2

For oldies with mild disease
No anti cholinergics please.
For mild ones, give 'em amantadine
No side effects in seeing or peeing.
x2

Severe severe
Rx'ing it now m'dear
x2

Young get agonists of dopamine
Much less side effects are they seen.
Levodopa is for older men,
Add carbidopa then!
x2

Original song:

Image from here.
Shobit: Still waiting for some tricks.

Aazaadiyaan!

2010-07-17T03:28:00.003-04:00

This song from the movie Udaan (2010) has some of the best lyrics I have heard in a long time.

Pairon Ki Bediaan Khwabon Ko Baandhe Nahi Re, Kabhi Nahi Re
Mitti Ki Parton Ko Nanhe Se Ankur Bhi Cheere, Dheere Dheere
Iraade Hare, Bhare, Jinke Seeno Mei Ghar Karein
Woh Dil Ki Sune, Kare, Na Dare Naa Dare

Subah Ki Kirnon Ko Roke Jo, Salhake Hain Kahan
Jo Khayalon Pe Pehre Daale, Woh Aankhein Hai Kahan
Par Khulne Ki Deri Hai Parinde Udke Chumenge
Aasma Aasma Aasmaaaa
(x2)

Aazaadiyan Aazaadiyan
Maange Na Kabhi,
Mile Mile Mile
Aazadiyan Aazadiyan
Jo Jeele Wahi Jeele Jeele Jeele

Subah Ki Kirnon Ko Roke Jo, Salhake Hain Kahan
Jo Khayalon Pe Pehre Daale, Woh Aankhein Hai Kahan
Par Khulne Ki Deri Hai Parinde Udke Chumenge
Aasma Aasma Aasmaaaa
(x2)

Chorus:
Kahani Khatam Hai, Ya Shuruwat Hone Ko Hai
Subah Nayi Hai Yeh, Ya Phir Raat Hone Ko Hai
(x2)

Aane Wala Waqt Dega Panahein
Ya Phir Se Milenge Do Raahein
Khabar Kyaa.. Kya Pata..

(Lyrics from here )

:)

The Ballad Of Sigmund Freud

2010-07-03T14:10:00.003-04:00

This hilarious song has been stuck in my head for two days now-

Well, it started in Vienna not so many years ago
When not enough folks were getting sick
A starving young physician tried to better his position
By discovering what made his patients tick
He forgot about sterosis and invented the psychosis
And a hundred ways that sex could be enjoyed
He adopted as his credo "down repression of libido!"
And that was the start of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Well, he analyzed the dreams of the teens and libertines
Substituted monologue for pills
He drew crowds just like Will Sadler
When along came Jung and Adler
And they said by God, there's gold in them there ills!
They encountered no resistance
When they served as Freud's assistants
As with ego and with id they deftly toyed
But instead of toting bedpans
They wore analytic deadpans
Those ambitious doctors Adler, Jung and Freud!

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Now the big three have departed
But not so the code the started
No, it's being carried on by a goodly band
And to trauma shock and force us
Someone's gone and added Rorschach
And the whole thing's got completely out of hand!
So old boys with double chinsies
And a thousand would-be Kinseys
They discuss it at the drop of a repression
And I wouldn't be complaining
But for all the loot I'm paying
Just to lie on someone's couch and say confession!

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud

:D :D
PS: Avina.. dedicated to you! XD

Medic Music

2010-06-28T16:43:00.014-04:00

** Scroll downnnnn for embedded video**

Hey all,

This is my first effort at recording and podcasting.

I'm one of those people who can remember and recall lyrics to songs very easily. So, I always wanted to write some medical knowledge into popular sounds and hum it along.

Today was the day when I finally did it.

The song used is "Love Song" by Right Said Fred, and has been used since it was the song playing while I started doing this.

So basically what we have here is something that might sound like a hybrid between music bySubstance P (-I am a huge fan of his) and those roadside bhajans that you hear to the sound of popular Bollywood numbers (Yes, I do find them hilarious and easy to remember!).

There's no music in the background, because, well I don't play any instrument that well. And the vocals.. ermmm... lets just say we're here for learning. okay? ;)

I know there's a lot to improve on, but like I said in my previous posts, I'm running short on time these days. This is just a beginning and I was excited to share.

Criticism, suggestions and feedback would be appreciated.

PS: Remember it is very very amateurish and has been done in about an hour! Next time the song will be more carefully chosen and more research will go into the topic.

______________________________________________________

Post completion update: So, I could not figure out how to podcast. So just embedding it. Also, heard it for the first time and okay, sounds crappy. So if you want, you can just learn the lyrics instead of listening to the audio. I won't mind.

Post post completion update: The song's link is actually embedded into the title of the post. Or here . Next time I'll try to get it to stream somehow. (Tips on how to do this would also be appreciated)

**Scrap the post post completion update. Here's the latest. Embedded it! :D **

Image from here.

:X

2010-06-27T13:24:00.010-04:00

[Wow.. look at me I'm on a roll here. Second post in one week!]

I was just writing some notes and noticed that I have a short-hand lingo of my own that just a few can understand (heck.. sometimes even I can't understand it! ) and I tend to shorten things by suffixing them with the letter "x" a lot!

The theme started off with the obvious "Rx" - which actually doesn't even have an 'x'. It is supposed to be a diagonal line cutting through the 'R'. Rx in modern day means prescription. It comes from the Latin verb recipe or recipere, which means 'to take'.

So, well, using Rx for Treatment was given. But thus originated a spew of other short forms, which if taken into the English Dictionary would bring down the score for the 'X' tile in scrabble to a mere two or three points!

Here goes the list in alphabetical order:

Bx - Biopsy

Cx- Complication(s)

Dx- Diagnosis

DDx- Differential Diagnosis

Ex- Exercise (Yes, I still use Eg. for example)

F(x)- Function (This has been used for 'function' ever since we were taught functions in Maths)

Hx- History/ History of

Ix- Investigation

Mx- Management

Ox- For oximetry in Pulse ox

Rx- ...well...

Sx- Symptom

Tx-(sometimes treatment)

Well, that's the list for now.. Thirteen out of twenty six. Not bad. But not as many as I thought either. (Mental note- suffix more letters with an 'x')

Feel free to add more if you have any.

______________________________

I know this was kind of pointless, but the thought amused me (Yes, it takes very little to amuse me these days. Blame it on the alleged 24*7 studying!)

And while I have to prepare for this exam, I absolutely *had* to scribble my thoughts before I could move on to anything else more productive!

_______________________________

PS: iPhone wali post- Part two should come up next (Hopefully after the exam)

Apps For The iPhone -My Recs

2010-06-26T14:41:00.005-04:00

- This post is meant only for iPhone/iTouch users. You have been warned.

- Also, if you expect to see some extensive reviews and discussions, then this is not the place. I'm just writing this post to list some of my fav apps, and my opinion.

I am fifteen days away from another dreaded exam, but am sitting here writing a blogpost. Why? Because try as I might, I 'm unable to concentrate on studying right now. Might as well use this time to write this post that I intended to write ever since iOS4 was launched.

Now that we have the options for folders on the iPhone, I've downloaded a bunch of apps that I did not have earlier and am thoroughly enjoying them.

So in this post, I'll just list some of my fav apps and you can try them out (if ye haven't already) Most of these are free! :D

Here goes:

SOCIAL:

Twitter for iPhone: If you're a

Twitter buff like I am, then this is the *ultimate* application. Beats others like Tweetdeck, Echofon, Twitterific hands down! Supports multiple accounts, is iOS4 compatible (which basically means you can mutitask on it-- yay!) and has a cool interface. The only thing it probably lacks is push notifications.

Facebook and Skype: Well, if you use these two on the computer, then what's stopping you from using them on the iPhone? Skype makes it really easy to make PC-PC calls over wi-fi, which is one thing I love about it.

The best thing I like about the facebook app is its push notifications.

Y!Messenger: I'm a major Y! lover, so this app has been pretty handy for staying connected. Again, this one has push notifications too :D

In The Mood: A random app to broadcast your current song to Twitter or Blip fm. I like it for its simplicity.

Nimbuzz: Has a bunch of social sites in one, but I mainly use it to access GTalk. (Also on the same lines is, Fring )

FourSquare: Well if you *have* to broadcast where you are, go ahead download this too. (I can't use this right now, since my phone refuses to locate me without a sim! :P)

MEDICINE:

Medscape: Have a couple of medical apps on the phone, but I love this one right now.

Let me take a moment to explain why:

I'm using my phone without a sim these days. So the only internet access I can get is over wifi. Now most of the places like the library or my college don't have internet access.

Here's where Medscape has become a saviour. It has an option where you can download and get offline access to all articles. So, thanks to this app, I have a personal reference guide wherever I am- internet or no internet! :)

Epocrates: The holy grail of medical reference, this! Right now I have only the free version, but will purchase the full version later when I actually use my phone with its sim and over *3G*. Till then the free version stays, which again is pretty useful at times.

MedCalc: My personal favourite med app this is! It is a must must have! Download it and you'll see. If you're in practice, you'll feeling like giving your phone a big hug when you use this app. Trust me.

NEJM App: Released just a short while ago, this app has the best interface one could ask for! And its free (for the timebeing atleast) I love doing the image quizzes on this one. Go ahead enjoy NEJM on your phone while its still there.

Eye handbook: While we are on the topic of med apps, let me just fill you in with this one. This is essentially meant for ophthalmologists, but has a couple of nifty uses. The 'cartoon movie' option has helped me a couple of times in engaging kids and assessing their neurological status. Pretty useful that way :)

Other med apps: DxSaurus, Eponyms, Growth Charts, QxCalculate

PRODUCTIVITY:

UYH Gold: This is one of the very few apps that I purchased from the app store. I love this one since it allows you to actually write with your finger. This makes making lists much simpler than typing it out in notes. So all my random lists go in this one :) It also has a free version that you can check out. Its called UYH To Do, I think.

Dropbox: If you use it on the computer, then get it for your iPhone too! If you don't use it on the computer, get it! It basically provides virtual space to you where you can drop files, and later access them from anywhere. Simple 'nuff?

Team Viewer: Again would say the same thing as for Dropbox, get it! Get it on the computer as well as iPhone, and get remote access to your desktop! I love to reboot my computer from the iPhone (even though I'm sitting in the same room :P)

Converter+ : This app it the *ultimate* conversion app! Has everything from mass to currency to even mortgage value. Another cool thing is the 'tip calculator' :D Plus, the icon looks similar to the new Calculator app, so that adds some face value.

Moment Diary: I'm just sad that I didn't have the iPhone and this app when I started college. I could have recorded all the hilarity and fun times in this single app!

This is like a personal diary where you can put text snippets (140 character limit), photos, videos.. and it'll save it with date and time. Go ahead, make your own media diary. (I've already started! :D)

Evernote: Oops, how did I forget Evernote! The baap of all productivity apps this is!

Stick it notes: This is another one where you can make To Do notes and stick them as your lock screen wallpaper. I don't like the interface much, since it takes a lot of time to make notes and stick them as wallpapers, but its useful when you have a zillion important things to do and a short time to do them!

UTILITY:

Accuweather: The best app for weather updates! This one was a huge friend when I had to walk to the hospital earlier this year! (Dear Ritu, Remember the chattris :D)

Dictionary: An *offline* dictionary. That's the best part! :D

On this day: Heh! It just shows the events that marked the date in history. I happen to enjoy random stuff like this. I'm just weird like that :D

Dishant Radio: The ultimate Bollywood radio! It streams all the new songs and you can search for the randomest old ones. Of course, I haven't been able to stream it on the slow internet connection that I have (.. Yes its broadband :/)

Hutke Radio: Another bollywood radio that is hutke. It streams songs by your mood.

Doodle Buddy: One of my personal favs. Just go along and doodle :) (iDoodle2lite is another one)

FingerCut: Only for the creepiness my friend, only for the creepiness! It has a saw that *cuts* your finger. :/

Virtuoso: A virtual piano :)

Sleep Cycle: Oops! Almost forgot this one! This is one of those alarm clock apps that wake you up in the REM phase of sleep based on your body activity. I think it works, but haven't had a chance to use it much yet. It has beautiful sounds though, that you'd love to wake up to. Oh and also, it's a paid app.

Okay, that's it for now.

I'll continue in the next post with Photography and Games apps that I like. That will be another long post!

Rihints

2010-06-13T09:40:00.004-04:00

Do you have any of those little quirks that you never seem to get rid of?

One of mine is 'Rihints'

As a kid, once I was down with a nasty cold.

[If you've ever had a really bad cold (-which you probably have-duh!), then you might remember that one of the most infuriating things about this common-cold, is that constant lacrimation occurring unilaterally.]

So then, I asked my dad for some medicine for those tears. He being doctor, gave me a cold medicine that was meant to 'Combat Rhinitis'.

Now as a kid of about ten years, I read it as 'rihints' ...(Note: R-I-H-I-N-T-S) and decided that it was a term used for those tears running down my face. (Maybe it was because of the blurry vision due to the "rihints"??)

..And rihints they have been ever since.

One good thing happened because of my silly error of reading. I got a term to describe that incessant lacrimation when you have a common-cold.

___________

Okay that was essentially the most useless story ever.

But what the heck, I wanted to post a new story for the pretty green template, and just decided to go on with whatever sprung to mind.

Hopefully some better stuff to come in the near future.

10 things that show that I've gone into pre-exam mode

2010-05-01T03:36:00.016-04:00

10. Sleeping > 15 hours per day. With mornings that happen around noon, and pulling late nighters-- which include lots of random googling, surfing and browsing the web (and no studying, of course!).

9. Watching re-runs of FRIENDS, Full House or even Sarabhai/Sarabhai every chance I get.

8. Then again, going into anxiety mode over time that was wasted watching shows or sleeping!

7. Twitter stream filled with study facts (which ARE sometimes useful btw!) and rants about How I Slept For Another (Hour) (<-apologise for the extremely poor attempt at rhyming with HIMYM!)

6. Breakfast> Brunch>Lunch>Mid-day snack after nap> Pre-dinner>Dinner>Late night coffee. Repeat.

5. Ten different alarms on the phone for waking me up. To be repeated everyday! (First alarm starts at 6.30am. I duly wake up anytime after 10am)

4. Googling up any bit-of-information-about-any-obscure-person-or-thing that I come across. (Ritz pointed this out to me yesterday)

3. Being perpetually online, and knowing about every little update on Facebook/Orkut/Twitter. (Notice how, even at this stage of boredom, I did not resort to extreme measures like taking quizzes or playing farmville or deciding who my 'friend/enemy/lover of the day' was!)

2. Cribbing to anyone who will listen about the upcoming exam and how its making my life miserable.

1. Writing blog posts, like this one.

Mono-phonic Thinking

2010-01-22T07:46:00.005-05:00

Another one from Dr. N. [This is the first one. And its hilarious!]

After examining a case of suspected infectious mononucleosis, Dr. N and the student on call were discussing the diagnosis and management.

Dr.N: "The heterophile test might not always be positive in the early course of the disease.. So, what other test can you use for diagnosis?"

Student: "Give the patient amoxicillin. And watch if he develops a rash.."

(This one cracked me up. Believe me, it might sound like me, but I wasn't the student here!)

Test-imony

2010-01-15T15:14:00.006-05:00

Here's a true story I heard the other day from Dr. N while I was ordering labs for what looked like a girl with a sexually transmitted disease.

Dr. N is a Pediatrician, practicing in a small town in USA.

[Writing the anecdote in her words.]

I was working in the clinic one day, when I saw a 8 year old girl with urinary problems. I ordered labs on her. When her labs came back, I was shocked to see Trichomonas in he urine. Now, with a STD in such a young child, it automatically becomes a case of child-abuse. I had to call the Child Protection Services. But before I did that, I had to inform the mother, and try to find out the culprit. This woman was a single mom.

Dr. N: "Mrs. So&So, does the child go to stay with her father sometimes?"

Mrs. So&So: "She's doesn't stay with him. Why she hasn't met him in a while"

Dr. N: "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Mrs. So&So: "Not really, why?"

Dr. N: "Well we did some tests on her, and her lab results show that she has trichomoniasis, a STD. We suspect that your child is being sexually abused, and so I'm going to call the CPS."

Mrs. So&So: " No it can't be.. "

Dr. N: "Well, her urine culture results are right there.."

Mrs. So&So: "Ohh.. then she doesn't have the disease.."

*goes crimson red*

Dr. N: "Wha..??"

Mrs. So&So: "Well, yesterday when I took her for giving the specimen, I took her to the restroom. I waited and waited and waited... but she wouldn't pee. So I just took some of my own pee, and sent it.."

Dr. N: "Well in that case, I suggest you set up an appointment with *your* doctor as soon as possible! You have a STD!"

Image: http://www.pasozyty.net.pl/rzesistek-pochwowy/

This Is Going To Hurt Just A Little Bit

2009-12-13T04:12:00.008-05:00

Have not been in a very blogging mood for the past few weeks.

Today I somehow came across this poem that I had in class 7th English by Ogden Nash. It brought back memories of a lot of favorite poems and stories that we had in school.

So I have decided to write a series of posts with those select favorites.

Starting with the poem I came across today. "This is going to hurt just a littile bit".

The poem very humorously describes a guy sitting in the dentist's chair, and the agony he has to endure.

One thing I like less than most things is sitting in a dentist chair with my mouth wide open.
And that I will never have to do it again is a hope that I am against hope hopen.

Because some tortures are physical and some are mental,
But the one that is both is dental.
It is hard to be self-possessed
With your jaw digging into your chest.

So hard to retain your calm
When your fingernails are making serious alterations in your life line or love line or some other important line in your palm;

So hard to give your usual effect of cheery benignity
When you know your position is one of the two or three in life most lacking in dignity.

And your mouth is like a section of road that is being worked on.
And it is all cluttered up with stone crushers and concrete mixers and drills and steam rollers and there isn’t a nerve in your head that you aren’t being irked on.

Oh, some people are unfortunate enough to be strung up by thumbs.
And others have things done to their gums,
And your teeth are supposed to be being polished,
But you have reason to believe they are being demolished.

And the circumstance that adds most to your terror
Is that it’s all done with a mirror,
Because the dentist may be a bear, or as the Romans used to say, only they were referring to a feminine bear when they said it, an ursa,
But all the same how can you be sure when he takes his crowbar in one hand and mirror in the other he won’t get mixed up, the way you do when you try to tie a bow tie with the aid of a mirror, and forget that left is right and vice versa?

And then at last he says That will be all; but it isn’t because he then coats your mouth from cellar to roof
With something that I suspect is generally used to put a shine on a horse’s hoof.

And you totter to your feet and think. Well it’s all over now and afterall it was only this once.
And he says come back in three monce.

And this, O Fate, is I think the most vicious circle that thou ever sentest,
That Man has to go continually to the dentist to keep his teeth in good condition
when the chief reason he wants his teeth in good condition
is so that he won’t have to go to the dentist.

PS: I have copied the poem from someone else's blog in good faith. Let me know if there are any copyright issues.

Comics!!

2009-11-13T07:45:00.003-05:00

Two web comics that I'm following these days.

#1. My Cardboard Life: Amazingly cute and innovative idea this! Read the adventures of Colin (the cardboard guy) and Pauline (the paper girl).

I just love the expressions on them!!

#2. Agent- X comics: Created by Agent-X (doh!).. you can enjoy these comics only if you are into social media.

If you use twitter and facebook and the internet in general, then you'll love this series too.

Thank you internet for access to such lovely stuff.

Cheers!!

PS: Also reading the good ol' regular stuff like C&H and Animal Crackers, at GoComics. They have a huge collection!! =)

Annd score!!

2009-10-28T13:49:00.003-04:00

Yes. Its been twenty one days since that fateful day in October.
Had been waiting anxiously for my score sice the past two weeks, and it arrived fifteen minutes before the scheduled time.

I got that elusive 99.

Happiness.

Yay! Yay!

The past three weeks have been hell emotionally.

I've cried over wrong answers.

Brooded over the difficuilt questions.

Rationalised some ethics questions.

Decided on alternate career options.

And what not!*

I wish the NBME people would post the scores earlier. Whoever heard of the scores of an online exam delayed by atleast three weeks. (Even the state Pre-PG exams results are faster!- However crappy the quality of questions might be! :p) But seriously, some of the questions were maddening. Have never come across such questions, ever!

And even more frustrating was that I remembered a lot of them post-exam!

And now after the results, I feel I could've done a tad better had I not taken the exam as the 'most-important-exam-of-my-life'.

The exam period was spent in extremes. At one hand I was anxious during the early blocks. Lost confidence in the middle. And became complacent in the end-- just wanted to get over with it.

Anyway,

All that is past now.

With a good score, I can hapily leave Step1 behind and move on.

Bring on the next step!!

*All my apologies to Papa, Ritz, D, Kau, Navy, Avi, AnkC, Dibs and others who have had to deal with my depressed mood the past three weeks. I still blame the NBME for the tough test!

PTSD

2009-10-11T01:08:00.006-04:00

The exam I'd been dreading the past few months is over!

Yes. Done with it.

And now I'm scared shit about the results.

So we won't talk about that anymore.

As for my life, well, I've been just relaxing since the past few days. Of course, its difficuilt to have too much fun when all of your friends are studying for one exam or the other. So its been mostly me, watching a lot of movies and just surfing the net. Haven't even started on the TV binge yet.

Which reminds me, why is it that when you have an exam coming up, you make lists of all these wonderful things you'll do once it is over, but as soon as, the beast has passed, you just lose interest!

Before the exam, I had to restrain myself from spending hours reading blogs and articles, but post-exam... ehh...nothing! (In fact today is the first time I returned to even my blog, after four full days of doing nothing. So have a lot of catching up to do here.. esp in terms of reading.)

I had this whole list of things I wanted to watch/read/do planned out, but ...nah..not anymore!

So maybe the things-to-do-post-exam are actually just defence mechanisms to distract me from the scary reality of the upcoming exam and loads of syllabus.

And another thing that I've noticed is that medical students are born to take exams.

We are programmed this way.

We crib, and we crib... starting months before the exam, but the when on the other side, there this feeling of actually being 'too free'. Every now and then I get this jolt in my tummy, reminding me that I've got to study.. and when I realise the fact that no, I really don't have to study at this point of time, I get a weird sense of apprehensiveness over the sheer unnaturality (if that's actually a word!) of the situation.

Ah well, I guess that's what Medicine is all about.

PS: Writing this post, has brought back those shivers over the thoughts of all the questions I got wrong. Sigh. *Do not in any way ask/tell/talk/mention my past exam. You are welcome to talk about yours*

PPS: Apparently I am incapable of writing about anything besides padhai (and cribbing about it!) these days. I'd started off with something else in mind (writing some sort of list maybe), but landed up ranting about the exam. Oh well.

Enough about me.

How have you been the past two months?

Cheers!

Arps

Happy Independence Day :)

2009-08-15T07:17:00.008-04:00

A very Happy Independence Day to all!! :)

Today my favourite country in the whole wide world completes 62 years of Independence! Yay!!

On a more specific note, what I want to post today is one thing that has been bugging me a lot for the past few days...... actually ever since I came across the news of an increasing %age of seats reserved for a certain caste in the Rajasthan Pre-PG exam!

As if more than 50% reservation was not enough, they (read: the fools who run the Government and make decisions based solely on their vote banks!) decided to add another percentage for a 'backward' caste, and even for the economically backward 'sawarnas'!

That is what I call trying to appease EVERYONE!

When there was that countrywide cry over the caste-based reservation of seats in higher education, some intellectual people suggested that we sould do away with caste0based reservation, and have just seat reservation based on economial backwardness.

Okay, good idea.

But the whole idea was to do away with caste based reservation, and not add the economical clause to the ever increasing list of reserved categories!!!

While what our dear decision makers did was to add that clause to the reservation list too!

Bravo!

Speaking of Higher Education, here's a bit about the Pre-PG exam, from my PoV:

One major point that seems to have passed the notice of the Govt is, that the people who get the benefits of reservation in higher ed (eg: Pre PG exam, in our case) are actually the ones who have come in through a reserved seat already!!

So, technically they are at par with all other students, without any discrimination! They have the same teachers, same books , same lectures as the unreserved.

Then why the upperhand in further competitive exams? Aren't they able enough to compete on their own now?
This policy is just plain (for a lack of a better, more abusive word..) STUPID!!

What all this reservation has done is, bring about more and more discrimination amongst students..and a creation of groups based on caste. (seen it happen in my college atleast!)

What this is doing is making sure that more and more people who all their lives did not bother about the caste of a fellow, know what-surname-fits-what-group!

A person who uptil school did not know what the value of a surname is aside from being a means of identification of a person, now sees the surname first and then based on it, makes an opinion of the person.

And even if he doesn't, the results of competitive exams like Pre-PG sure work to create a rift!

This kind of discrimination and step-motherly treatment for the 'general castes' breeds frustration (Sure hurts when you see a person with much lower marks, get in through a position that you rightly deserved--just because they belong to a certain caste).

Personally speaking its definitely helping to promote brain-drain!!

XXX

In today's day and age, what we really need is freedom from this kind of policies!!

Happy Independence Day.

Do something good today.

Blawgs!

2009-08-11T11:07:00.008-04:00

Since I really don't have much to write just now, except for the fact that life's a mess with a load of studying and a should-be-there-but-is-still-non-existent-tension about the upcoming exam!!

(...err, I still get panic attacks and guilt trips from time to time! So I'll take these as good signs, and conclude that my conscience is not dead yet!)

Okay, not going to deviate from what I wanted to put in, in the post in the first place.

Here's the thing.

Decided to make a 'Blogs I Like' Hall of Fame sorta list, since I've come across some really good writings in the past few days.

Would definitely recommend them for a good read.

1. Dr. Grumpy's Blog: Friggin' hilarious!! Love the snippets form the neurologist's life. Hands down, the funniest blog I've come across!

2. Crowsciousness: Great read. This blogger has the ability to put into writing all that you think and feel.. and well, paints a picture with words.

3. (Shruti's new blog would go here-but since I don't rember the link..let's just leave it blank!): Well, she's my absolute favourite writer (.. after JKR!!)..and she knows it!

4. Twenty something going on Five: I actually just came across this one yesterday, and really liked it. Noting extraordinary, but me liked it a lot. So here goes. *BTW: just noticed that the blog name has 'quibbler' in it. Now I'm sure I've done good in putting it up! :D :D *

That's it for now.

Can't recall the others. Maybe link 'em up later.

Have fun reading.

-Arps

...And Then There Was Computer...

2009-07-20T18:54:00.002-04:00

Cheers,

-Arps

Occupational Exposure

2009-07-16T20:40:00.007-04:00

Once again one of Pi's posts got me recollecting another one of my stories.

(This may not be exactly the same thing- themewise. But the context is the same--Med Students.)

------
A couple of days ago an intern (let's call him S) was assisting in a laceration repair in the Surgery Mini-Op Theatre (MOT, for us)
He was standing there, helping out the resident working on the wound. When all of a sudden there was a gush of blood and he felt a searing pain.
The resident had placed a scalpel cut on one of his fingers.
There was severe bleeding.

The scalpel had punctured through the gloves and cut over the PIP joint of one of his fingers.
While everyne rushed to help him out and bandage the wound, the bleeding continued for a whole fifteen minutes.
It stopped eventually.
He came back to the hostel.

After he was back and settled for once, did it dawn on him that he had been in contact with potentially contagious fluid.

He called up some friends to check-on what to do. He talked to some doctors.

He visited the hospital again to get details of the patient. But to his horror-it being a OPD patient, just the mention of the name and colony was found in the records.

Apparently, the patient was supposed to return three days later to get the stitches off.

He visited the ART incharge next.He was counselled and given a box of post-exposure prophylaxis, to be taken for about a month.
He starteed the meds, hoping that the patient would come back three days later for removal of stitches.

Three days later:
No sign of the patient. Apparently she decided to get the stitches removed someplace else!

Seven days later:
S stopped taking the meds coz of the horrible horrible side effects! Fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting!
Twelve days later:
(ie today.)
S's absolutely fine just now. And I'm sincerely hoping it stays that way till an antibody test is done six months from now.

Things that I realised:
1. This entire episode, occured at a hospital full of doctors, residents and nurses. no one realised that it was a contact with potentially infectious fluid, and an assay of the patient was required.

(This was one case where the student at least bothered to go the ART centre and find out about the pros and cons of meds. There are hundreds of instances where the ever busy residents come in contact, and don't even bother to get the patient tested even though he's right there!!)

2. The concept of universal precautions- is not something that is very much followed here.

Heck, in the labour room, the residents have just one plastic apron to protect them from any kind of fluid. I've heard of instances where the resident came in contact with the patient's fluid in the form of spurts hitting the face and eyes!
(And oh, PPTCT is optional for the women!!)

3. Doctors in general, tend to consider such a contact as a minor thing, and therefore tend to give you an option to take meds or not.

(Maybe its because they've been in contact with blood and all kinds of fluids since eons, and nothing's ever happened to them!)

4. Being a medico/doctor does nothing to improve your compliance for meds.

Its always the side-effects that win in the end.

On a lighter note:

*Thanks to CartoonStock!

That's Me :)

2009-07-16T18:42:00.001-04:00

I'll Be There For You!

2009-07-12T11:53:00.006-04:00

I was just checking out the sidebar, when I realised how long its been since I saw a F.R.I.E.N.D.S. episode.

(One of those OMG moments! ;D)

So, I decided to watch some on youtube. (Yes! I'm a net addict these days. Everything I do, is pretty much online!)

I came across this, and man, I was so happy watching the ol' Rembrandts singing with the cast! One of my favorite ever- both the song and the video!

So Says The Wise Owl

2009-07-10T02:29:00.011-04:00

I came across this article about sleep-wake cycles yesterday.

According to this article some people function best in the mornings, while others do so at night. It is biologically set into their bodies.

Excerpts:

"If you have a hard time crawling out of bed in the morning, it could be that your body is biologically programmed to start the day later.
Experts say a spectrum of natural sleeping and waking rhythms exists, ranging from extreme morning people to extreme night owls."

"That may be because evening people show increased motor cortex and spinal cord excitability in the evening, about 9 p.m., meaning they had maximal central nervous system drive at that time, Lagerquist said.

Although night owls may maximize their strength in the evening, they are at a serious disadvantage if they have to compete in the morning."

This news could not have come at a better time for me.

Since the past 3 days, I've been trying to work my body clock into going 'early to bed and early to rise', but have been failing miserably!

Here's my story:

You see up until last week, I had gotten into this habit of going to sleep in the early hours of the morning and then waking up past noon. So, as everyone says that you're supposed to wake up early, I started feeling guilty about it all.

Then I decided, that if I've got to study, the circadian rhythm must be changed. Hence, the effort.

But then, the day I started to work on my new schedule, I ceremoniously closed down all my books before 0200. Now, since I had nothing to do, with not a wink of sleep in sight, I started browsing the net, visiting blogs and random sites and what not! And lo behold, before I knew it, it was already past 0500!!

What a sheer waste of what could've been a productive night! (well, it was intended for a good cause! :D)

Then came the waking up part!

The next day, to make sure I stuck to schedule, I woke up at 1000 (an early morning for me!) But by 1200, I was already snoozing over books and before I knew it, there I was cozy in bed sleeping for a full 3hrs!

This was not right! Frigging-not-it-was!!!

Well, continued on the same lines, hoping in vain, that one of these days, I'd sleep early, and then have a full day ahead of me the next morning... Trying. Trying. Trying some more. (Wasted three whole nights for the cause!)

But this person I was trying to turn into was not me.

I'm an owl-person and function best at night. (I used to think this 'being a night/morning person' was bull crap- but by personal experience I'd say, its true.) Everyone has his own productive hours-and mine happen to be into the night.

My cognition abilities are at their lowest in the morning hours, with a lot of time going into doing even the easiest of topics. (This is especially true, if I don't get those eight hours of sleep :D) The body has a way of telling me when am up too early (without enough sleep)- it hurts, I yawn, mind buzzes, myalgias- its like a withdrawl syndrome even without doing drugs!*

Thenforth, for my own good, I've gone back on my decision, and will now be seen up and studying at night. ( Although, just kick my ass if you see me wandering aroung on the net, will ya!)

PS: All this time browsing for the past days, I've added a new tweak to the sidebar. Check out the 'Label Cloud' :) Had to do some HTML editing, which was a first for me, so I'm really proud of my work here.

*This withdrawl holds true only for mundane things like sitting down to study! Not so-much-so apparent for other activities.

Ra- Ra- Rasputin

2009-07-09T16:24:00.006-04:00

Ma! look what I found!!

:D What treasures you find when you browse through youtube!

[Crazy video, but I just love the song!]

-One of my all time favourite songs! A lot of memories attached to this one.

-Been listening to Boney M. since I-don't-even-remember when! Mum used to listen to them, and I became a fan by default.

-When I was in 6th Std, it was a really pleasant surprise to know that, at least one person besides me listened to BM! "..the land of Rasputins.." was a line suggesed by Ma'am K. for introducing a Russian Dance at a Folk Dance Competition at school. The sad part was that none of the other teachers had heard the song. (And I was too shy to admit that I knew what Ma'am K. was talking about! :D)

-Then back in 10th, we had that silly Rasputin dance for our personal farewell to Ma'am U. (rememer Shruti!?) It was actually the craziest dance ever- with us kind of just miming the words... and going round and round during the music :)

And, oh, just if you are wondering what its all about, here's a link to wikipedia, that's about Grigori Rasputin -

Street Smart

2009-07-04T17:00:00.021-04:00

While I was reading a post -"Think about it- HARD" on Gupta's blog, I remembered this experience I was meaning to post about since a long time. Now seems like a good time to do it.

:::::::

Well, there's this 10-11 yr old boy in our neighbourhood who cleans bikes and scooters for a living. He used to do it around the area where we used to hang out (AFJ... remember.. ;)).

So we'd often seen him around, and even talked to him. Apparently he went to a school, and used to work in the evenings. We were mighty impressed by this (..us being much older and still whining about mere schooling!). To help him out, we used to give him 10-20 bucks each time, just for wiping a bit of out activas.. and rather talked to him listened to his stories.

One such day while wiping the activa, he asked us for some money so he could buy some drugs for an infection.

Now, this was our turn to help him out. We offered to take him with us to the Govt hospital, where he'd be consulted for free; and even offered to get him free medicines. At this he panicked, and started making excuses. At first we thought he was just shy, so we tried to convince him for some time. But he wouldn't listen and tried to back off, so we let him go..

It was then, that the shop-wale bhaiya told us that he used to make up such stories to anyone who'd listen, just to con money out of them.

[And must say he did it pretty convincingly too!]

Later, while we talked about it to other friends, it turned out, that he'd told one of my friends that he'd stood first in the class, while around the same time he had filled me up with the story of standing second in class and ". . just missing out by a margin. .which I'll cover up the next time.."

--He didn't even go to school!

Cell-ing Through The Ages

2009-07-04T14:00:00.019-04:00

I just realised, I need a new phone. But no one's ready to buy me one. And with my...littli-ish stipend, I don't think I can afford one in the near future.

So right now just reminising on the all the mobile phones I've had till date.

2002: Grade 10: My first mobile. Well, actually it was pa's, but I got to keep it, since he never used it, and I went alone to the tution class :)

It was some ancient Siemens model. Had a display screen with some 2-3 lines and a crass sounding ringtone. It was never really a favorite with me.

Well, the charges of mobile services were sky-high back then. Forget about the 'free SMSes' that we have today. I think even incoming was charged! Haw. Lived in the stone age, didn't we, back then.

2003: Grade 11: My first 'official' mobile. Oh! It was heaven!

[I actually conned me dad into buying it. The old cell kinda broke down. Now, although I had no real need for a cell,I talked to dad over the phone and made a huge deal out of it. Ha! got permission to buy a new one, then and there. *I'm rotten to the core, I know :D*]

It was a beautiful Nokia. It had a blue body and hold-your-breath....a color screen. The best part were the polyphonic ringtones. Can you believe it *polyphonic*! Wow! So, now I did not have to listen to those crass mono-tones. It even had GPRS! (of course I could use it only after changing services to Hutch..)

[And with Hutch came the everfamous 'FnF' service that has survived all changes, and stands tall till today :)]

So with GPRS in hand, there I was downloading zillions of ringtones (polyphonic, yes) and some games (ermm..they cost like 50 bucks each, so didn't spend as much on them!)

I remember I even downloaded that FRIENDS theme song ringtone, that people refused to recognise instantly!

Also, this mobile was the central subject of the legendary 'mobile-episode' at Neeta's place (Shw, Shilps and Neeta have it etched in their memories. Oh yes they do!! :D :D)

But this cell lasted a year or so, until I got selected into Med School! Ha! Another excuse for upgrading.

2004: May: Got the new Nokia 3660. It was a beautiful thing with a 1.3 Mpx camera. Oye. This was the cell that got me nice and hooked to GPRS. Browsed the net like there was no tomorrow. There was unlimited browsing at just 100bucks a month.

Around this time, the HPmania was at its peak. Made a number of hardcore HP pals and WAP pages (yes, there's no typo here-for the uninitiated, WAP is the mobile version of a webpage). There was 'Firebolt' (yours truly's page), 'The Three Broomsticks' and more! It was HP heaven for lil ol me :) My mobile became my best pal, and I churned out hours ans hours worth of stuff on the phone.

And then there was MMS. The phase reached its hilt somewhere in the middle of first year. What fun we had with that!! Sending each other random pics a nd lon---ng notes, in those dreary summers of the First yr exams. (those epic notes from SARS! :) and those crazy pics in the middle of the night-that were meant to scare me, but landed up making me laugh no end!) Oh! MMS was undoubtedly the ultimate source of timepass in those days.

Well, GPRS was also the coolest thing, since hey, I did not need a medical dictionary ever in my med school life. The cell was there, net was there, and, voila!

2006: Jan: Got me a new N-70. Okay. It was for Pa. But then....

Anyways, like I was saying, my new cell was the high end gadget in those days. It was soo much better than the ancient 3660. Had all the cool features with an awesome camera.

Annnd it came at about the nest time. When clicking pics was the new fad, with zillions of pix being taken each semester. Every activity was clicked.

Then, Hutch decided to bestow upton us the magic of free SMSes. Hah! Every little thing was messaged. Forwards came down from e-mails to mobile. (oaky, i admit it was fun initially, but now its just repetition people!!)

2008: But then came Final, and everyone forgot about pics and fun. Though the same cell was still in use for the GPRS (the best thing since sliced bread)...to browse social networks and medical resources.

The charisma of a high end mobile was absent last year, since I had no need for it. That might've been coz I was too busy studying (?). I evidently had no major use of cell besides browsing the net and SMSing (..and sometimes talking) back then. But people, now is a different story.

(PS: Statistically speaking, this was the year for me to get a new mobile anyway! ;D)

2009: Come 2009, and I've been craving for a new mobile. There's just one glitch. Ermm, no one's willing to buy me one.

PS:If any kind soul wants to buy me an iPhone, I got just two words for you -Do It!!

Long Time No Blog

2009-06-14T15:09:00.010-04:00

Haven't written on the blog for a long time since I really did not have much to put out. With college over, drag PSM postings- that we don't even have to go to most of the time, and dredgeries of trying to study for the USMLE, my life's been more of a series of merely surfing the net and sleeping.

Still, all these days have not gone wasted. I got a lot of paperwork done from the college and teachers. Heck! It really sweats you out going time and again for the same kinda stuff over n over again. (And its more of mental exhaustion, where I get an excuse to not study, and sleep away :P)

Then again, another thing I did was, finish watching Grey's anatomy (Season-5) -thanks to Shilpi for unintentionally sending me the online link to the show- I went on to waste almost one precious week waiting for the episodes to buffer and watching them, back to back!! I can really get addicted to a thing, and then its impossible to let go of it till I finish it off (... mind you, it has NEVER been this way for studies!!-its really amazing how my mind can siphon out only those things that are bound to waste time and make me feel guily later on!) But, now that I'm done with the show, I'm a happy person. No more Grey's anatomy as-a-distraction for me :D

Then the last two days have been heavy on the immunity. Had acute urticaria the other day, followed by a bout of rhinitis (..or 'rihintz' for some ;) ) with the eyes and nose running a constant drip. Feeling a lot better health wise now.

Although a mar has been put on the feel-good by the sudden realisation of how little I've studied in the past 10days!! :(

My prep..ermmm..it has been a slow and shoddy affair till now! With just about 3months left to the exam, I still haven't done my first read! Was supposed to finish it by 15th June (ie today!!!), and still have massive amounts of course left!!

*hyperventilates*

Just got a bit serious towards studies 2 days back. Have been doing Physio (one of my least fav subjects!), and realised that they've actually taught zilch at college in the general phys area of the subject. (It might be coz of my sucky memory, but I have a feeling that whatever I studied these days in general physio, sounded completely new!!)

CVS was on shaky lands.

Respi...ermm.. although haven't done it yet, I sure that what I have left of from my first yr knowledge, there'll be massive gaps to fill in there too!

Acid-base give me the shudders!

Only endocrinolgy seems to be good enough with the first yr stuff!

Its a good thing I got around to finally doing the subject, rather than leaving it out of the curriculum.

As for the other subs: If Physio doesn't do it, Biochem is definitely gonna kill me.

Anatomy and BS, not sure how much I know of it, till I do some Qbanks.

Micro...need revision revision..!!

Path..not too shaky, just need to adjust the loose ends a bit.

Hah! Forgot Pharma there.. Goes to show how much I've studied the damn subject! X(

Anyway, my rants about the prep end here. And, I finally got a new post on the blog (however uninteresting it might be!)

PS: Please pray for me!! Pray that I study!

Coo-oooookie !!! :D

2009-05-15T17:28:00.002-04:00

RPFMS: Pic#3

2009-05-11T10:05:00.007-04:00

One thing that I noticed while looking through pics from med school is that there are a LOT of pictures of us sleeping in the LTs. I guess that was the thing we most often did! As though the lectures weren't sporofic enough, the early morning timings were icing on the cake!!!

Awright, I ain't gonna put in more pics of us snoozing! That'd take a LOT of time!!!

Still, one thing that we did best was sit around and talk!!! All that was needed, was a group of friends and a place to hang out (-- An empty LT was the best!!)

:D :D

Miss those days.

RPFMS: Pic #2

2009-05-11T09:50:00.006-04:00

There were days like these (read: EXAMS!!) when someone could be seen studying in every random corner of the college. There's Sat, sitting on the balcony of the first floor, studying hard!

Yeah! There were a lot of such times, when we had to sit down to study. That's what med school is all about!!

Random Pictures From Med School: Pic #1

2009-05-03T05:09:00.008-04:00

Right! Since I have nothing better to do, I'm starting a series of putting up random pictures clicked during College. These get me nostalgic & are a reminder of those fun times.

This first one was clicked in one of the Lecture Theatres after a lecture.

While me and KK are jus' lying down to rest our backs, notice that AJ, at the back, has actually gone off to sleep!!! :D :D

Yeah! It doesn't take much to put us down for a nap. All we need is a place to rest our heads.

Oh! and talking about sleeping, let me also put up this classic one, clicked after a Pharma lecture (you can see the KDTs!). We're definitely not posing in this one!

D, KK and me had very well dozed off.... Some of the pharma lectures were really really sedative!! ( I guesss they wanted to give a practical example of how a sedative-hypnotic drug works!!)

Pharma Lecture ke S/E

Of course then there's this third one that's my favourite, just because of its sheer natural-ness. I mean, we were all so tired, that we went off to REM sleep within 2 minutes!! It took a while to get us back up... :D :D Of course all this was Second year-the best time of College!!

Wake Me Up When...

Ah! Cold-Coffee!!

2009-05-03T04:20:00.011-04:00

Everyone has that special hang-out at college. The place where you can sit and unwind, talk for hours or just plain go-and-meet up. For me that special place was AFJ.

It was not the serenity or calmness of the place that drew me to it (in fact, AFJ was the exact opposite of those things, being situated right on the side of a busy road!!). It was not even the seating space it provided (There were random chairs put about a footpath!). It was the heavenly cold-coffee.

AFJ... or 'All Fruit Juice' (for the uninitiated) had the absolutely the BEST cold-coffee that I've ever tasted! (It was way better than the cold-coffee at CCD, which was just 10 steps down from it!) And me, being a major cold-coffee addict, the place acted like a magnet. I would stop there on my way back from the hospital. I'd stop on my way to the library. Or sometimes, just come all the way from the hostel for a nice glass of coffee!!

Whenever we had time left after postings,it was a routine for us to collect there. SMSes were sent, phones rung: and the message was passed on, so that whenever whichever batch got free, they'd start coming over. And after an ice-cold drink and sharing the 'happenings' at the postings, we'd move for further classes. It was a well deserved break.

Then there were evenings, when there was the matter of a 'treat'.. for parents' anniversary, siblings' pass in exam, new bike, newborn cousin, winning a bet, getting a new goldfish, random meet up...and what not!!

Seasons were not a issue! The coffee was always ice-cold and refreshing. It was a retreat in summers and a time-out in exam-filled winters!

Then we all had our own specifications for the coffee. I'm sure bhaiya knew them by heart by our fourth visit there. ( Heck! at the volume we shouted, I bet even the pados-wala panwalla knew them too!). But then, the ritual was never complete without each one ahouting out his own type. It was always a chilled, kam meethi, ekdum strong coffee for me :)

Why am I getting all senti and writing a post about it?? Well coz, the shop got shut down about a year back. The bhaiya there moved to Jaipur, in search of greener pastures, to open another shop (not a juice shop this time--infact he's opened a toy showroom there). Well good for him. But I'm left here all sad & whining everytime I have craving for a cold-coffee (which is atleast twice a day!!). Though I found a minor substitute for it, but still

nothing has been able to replace that special chilled, kam mithi cold coffee at AFJ!!!

McNaughten's Rule Anyone??

2009-04-28T15:07:00.007-04:00

I just happened to come across this interesting quote through the Cheeky Quote application on my side panel:

"It's good to know that if I behave strangely enough, society will take full responsibility for me."

-Ashleigh Brilliant

PS: I noticed that a lot of people land up on this post while googling up "McNaughten Rule".

One, I just found out that the spelling slightly different. Its McNaughton Rule (or M'Naughten Rule).

Two, here's the actual rule, "...it must be clearly proved that, at the time of committing the act, the party accused was labouring under such a defect of reason, from disease of the mind, as not to know the nature and quality of the act he was doing, or, if he did know it, that he did not know he was doing what was wrong."

More info on the rule at Wikipedia.

Ciao.

I got a Prize....!!!

2009-04-26T01:21:00.011-04:00

Yes! I got a Certificate!!!! From Shruti, who I can't thank enough for this special Prize!!

(& who I also want to kill for not giving this Certi on time!!).

Even though we'd been a pair of sulking kids after coming in Second that day (ermm...the day WAS unfair to us!!! Those who were present can testify for that!!).

Even though we kept kicking ourselves of not keeping track of one simple question- Name the only vertebrate reservoir for Polio.

[ The thing was that, it was a direct question to another team. All the other teams were supposed to write down the answer & pass them on. The

answers were to be considered only if the direct team did not answer correctly. Now I had read the question as *ahem* 'vertebrae' and decided to venture a guess as 'lumbar'..*wtf!!* & Avina didn't even bother discussing the answer, coz she thought that with such a simple question, the team to which the question was directed initially, was bound to answer!! Butttt, these guys obviously blurted the answer as 'monkey'!! Errmm.. I fumbled... what were these guys talking about.. I read the question again..and realised the blunder I'd made!! In all the hurry all that I could think after 'monkey' was...'apes'!!! *I actually wrote that answer and passed it on*. All this while Avina was looking- first at those guys for getting it wrong...and then at me for getting it wrong AGAIN!! She looked at me with disbelief when I blatantly passed on my answer.]

Even though we kept trying to go back into time to say that 'sickle cell' [For a picture of a sowllen hand & the question: The paient keeps coming back to the ED with swollen hands & fingers. What would you see on his PBF]... or 'John F Kennedy' on time [For a question that went something like this: A famous couple had a baby who died of RDS.... Name the couple. Now I had actually guessed the answer as JFK *deserve a pat on the back for that*, but ran out of time while writing it down on paper! * deserve a kick on the shin for this*].

Even though we realised later on that the quizmaster had NOT given us credit for two of the first three tie-breaker questions! Our answers were correct!! (We checked up on the internet later) [Heck! I think he'd not even read our or the other team's answers!!]

...Ermm.. these were some of the memories of the quiz I

meant to post about. I guess the Certi & Shruti's blog brought them back and made me finally do it. And it feels gooood to have it out!!!*

As for now... I'm really really happy with this Certificate!!!

I'd like to thank Shruti for the special prize!! (Biased as she was towards us :P )

:D :D

PS: I've just penned down the our mishaps of the quiz. There were a lot more highs too.

Like the first question of the day : The Father of Neonatology was not a neonatologist. He was not even a pediatrician. What was he? We were the only team to get a correct answer in that round. It was a calculated guess: Obstetrician. :).....

And there were others that I can't recall now.

Ahem.. The same bit again! :D

2009-04-24T05:10:00.006-04:00

Awwright...!! My last take on choices!!

The final draft is ready (for now atleast :P )

After my month long posting in Peds, I'm actually in love with the branch!!

I just love the little patients, their smiles, the way the parents dote over them, how they start recognising you after 2-3 days into the inpatient wards.. its all so sweet.

Then to see a kid get better by the day-- lose that wheeze in his breathing, start gaining weight again after a protracted diarrhoea, begin feeding properly, lose all that puffiness he got from nephrotic syndrome, get rid of the chest tube that had been inserted for more than 15 days. All these little bits, and the kids' reaction to them.. their parents' happiness over all of it--make my day.

Now, I've had such fun in Peds, that I can't picture my self with adults! Kids actually end up making work fun with them!

To Peds or Not To Peds...

2009-04-18T11:09:00.006-04:00

As a reply to my previous post, I got this list from Dr.Parang Mehta (who is an aluminus from MY college!! Woo)

Posting it here..

*According to this list, I am definitely NOT made for Peds!! Lol!!*

Five reasons to choose Pediatrics:

1. You like to cure patients. The child with severe pneumonia you admit in the ICU today will be sitting up and trying to pull his IV line out. On Day 2 he'll be running around the ward, destroying everything he can reach.
2. You like challenges. The challenge of diagnosing uncommunicative patients, the challenge of treating reluctant medicine-takers,the challenge of examining a patient in the cacophony created by a child crying and the parents trying to make him stop...
3. You like honest patients. When they say their tummy hurts, it's because their tummy hurts. It's not because of college exams, a tough boss at work, a difficult mother-in-law at home.
4. You like to see the gratitude in parents' eyes when their child gets well. Even if it is ephemeral.

5. You like kids.

Five reasons to not choose Pediatrics:

1. You like money. Pediatrics is the least lucrative of the specialties.
2. You like peaceful nights and undisturbed weekends.
3. You like respectful, cooperative patients.
4. You like patients that keep coming back to you. Forever.
5. You do not like kids.

What next??!!??

2009-03-11T16:30:00.005-04:00

Ah well... here I am again. And with nothing better to do than sit at home, watch TV & sleep (as though there could be anything better than this!), I decided to think over my specialization choices once again.

The list definitely needs to be refreshed.

One thing's for sure, it'll have to be a medical branch & not a surgical one.

-With my clumsy fingers, I'll manage to cut the appendix in a cholecystectomy operation.

-Then, I don't really like to care about the minor precise details. So what if I cut an artery or a nerve.

-All the blood & smell turns me off.

So for the branches:

Paediatrics: Yay for the IAP Paediatrics Quiz! I got my interest into this branch after I'd studied loads of syndromes for the quiz. & I even enjoyed it! Now that is not something that happens everyday!

I like to study about these congenital defects & all these Pediatric situations more than any other subject.

I like the small instruments thwy have for the neonates. & the li'l X-rays are nice too :)

Genetic diseases have always been in my area of interest even since the pre-med days.

Then these cute li'l kid patients tend to attract me to the field.

*Although my experiences with them in the past two exams have been slightly less than good. In the Pre-Univ prac, the kid, 3y/o male, was a happy little fellow while I got history from his mom. He had the chocolates I'd got him, played around with my steth, decided to bang around with the hammer. But the moment I touched him for examination, he decided that I was not a nice person anymore & started to cry! He wailed pretty much throughout the exam & did not allow me to examine anything more than two lung areas.

Pretty much a similar story followed in the Univ Pracs too! The kid, 2y/o male, was fine till the inspection part, but started crying the moment I touched him. Then there was no stopping him! He cried everytime I got near him or his Grandma. This one even had temper tantrums & rolled on the floor!!! Boy, I couldn't even do the anthropometry right!

So basically these two incidents have me doubting my ability of dealing with the young lot. I guess they're put off by my presence!! :( *

But still, peds is on the list. I'll finally decide on it after my intern posting in Peds.

Obs/Gyn: Since the last list, where O&G topped with a hu-uge margin, its gone down so deep, that it'll be tough to get it back on the charts.

This is all thanks to the fetal pelvis and maternal skull (..or whatever!!). I mean, it seems stupid to me to make this whole hue & cry over li'l centimetre or two. And with stubby fingers like mine (yeah! the endomorph..i knoww), it'll be hard reaching the sacral promontery in any damn pelvis! So then, all maternal pelvis-es (is that correct??) will be nice and adequate if the doctor is yours truly.

And my experiances with Obs says that however much I try learning, I'll never get my cms right. Even if I do, the I, ermm, am not that good at assessing measurements. (Those who really know me can testify for that.. :/)

Managing malpresentations & malpostions is not my cup 'f tea. Add to it, those manouvers & protocols, & hey, you lost me.

Most imprtantly, I am not made to manage emergencies. Hell, you might need a bed for me by the patient's side, if I'm asked to singularly control a haemorrhaging third trimester bleed!

Then there's this thing about Gynae. I mean after reading it all, I still think that the Gyanecs give OCPs & progesterone for any damn disease! The entire list is like 10 drugs & they keep shuffling b/w those for all pathologies. C'mon, I need more variety than that! (I know this is a stupid reason to write down, but hey, it was bothering me!)

Neurology: Ahem, its very quickly climbing up to the top of my list. The only hurdle is that I'll have to do a PG in Med to do Neuro... & that means studying Cardio!! Now those who aren't aware of my realtionship with everyone's-favourite-oh-so-good Cardio....Well... I HATE IT!!! Those tiny ECG scrawls, the similar murmurs, the lub-dub of the heart...& everyone's infatuation with cardiology, makes me dislike it even more.

Anyways, back to Neuro.

I like doing a neurological examination.

I like how precise everything is. I mean a UMN lesion...exaggerated jerks & extensor plantar. LMN....absent reflexes with flexor plantar. Add a UMN & LMN as in SACD, & u get extensor plantar with absent jerks. How calculated is that!! :) :D Its like organised clockwork.

Btw, even as I'm writing this, my interest in Neuro is increasing.

Then, those problem solving classes in Neuro were fun. I like that kind of a thing. U get facts, and u deduce an answer. No messing around with the type of sound, its pitch & quality!

I'll end halfway thru coz now I'm bored of typing.

Will write more if & when I decide to think further.

Freedom!!

2009-03-09T11:24:00.003-04:00

Ah! So I finally finished Final Yr y'day.. & can assure you - I don't care how bad they were- I'm just glad that the exams are over!!

I've been giving exams on & off since last November!! First the medicine tutorials, then PUCs (which lasted for almost a month!!), then the whole set of Univs & finally the University decided that we did NOT deserve a break...so they lined up the practicals..!!!

Actually I've so gotten into this habit of giving an exam, enjoying for a day or two, & then getting back to the next subject; that its hard for me to believe that I don't have to study anymore!!

Anyhow.. all that's past now!!

Altho I want to give a blow by blow account of the Universities, I won't do it coz it brings back scary memories. Lets just say that, Surgery-1 was the biggest nightmare of my life *goosebumps*. If I pass that one, I'm sure I'll do well in the others.

Will just leave it at this now.

The other happy news is that I got broadband back. Must admit, it'll take time for me to adjust to this computer screen now. My eyes & hand have well become adept at typing on the miniscule mobile screen.
Still, now that I have a full Qwerty board & a speed net connection, I'll try put up lots of posts... :)

2008-11-07T11:42:00.001-05:00

The latest from AMUL...

2008-10-25T16:28:00.006-04:00

Warning:

Dates in the calendar are closer than they appear!

*This is just to remind me to not while around, & get back to books!

4 & A Half Years... Still A Novice!

2008-10-25T15:35:00.009-04:00

Okay! So I'm getting into that chilly zone of exams again. With Pre-Univs round the corner & Univs lined up as a Happy 2009 gift in early Jan, its high time that I start studying seriously.

But the so-called 'Final Year' that was supposed to be the toughest (yeah!I know it IS!!!) & the most exhaustive period of Med College, somehow flew by! I wonder if I actually got to learn anything new this year!

I still cannot differentiate between a bronchial & vesicular breath sound.

I still get my vertex & breeches mixed up!

I still see a nothing more than a tiny scrawl while reading an ECG. (Okay, maybe I can tell you where a ST elevation is, but that's only when I'm told beforehand that its a MI ECG)

I still don't know the the Glasgow coma scale.

I still can't get an IV line in!

I still can't auscultate & recognise a heart murmur on my own!

Although there are some things that I can do, too (tho they're really numbered):

I can tell you what a 'strawberry tongue' is.

I know a lot of things eponymous with 'Charcot' in medicine :)

I know the triad of congenital rubella syndrome.

I know what 'Battle's sign' stands for.

I might not know the exact components of Brown-Sequard syndrome, but I do know how it was discovered :P

I know what Pickwickian syndrome is.

I know the story behind Ondine's curse.

I know what a Keel operation is for. (It may be obselete, but who cares. The examiner will pop the question anyway!)

[One thing that I realised this year is that somehow, I'm good at just one thing. Eponymous syndromes & signs!! & the rarer the better. :) Of course, these aren't gonna come in use in any time during my medicine career. But then, these are about the only things I can learn with low input. Wonder if someonw would hire me where I just have to tell the components of named syndromes. Man, I would love that job! :D ]

I know for sure that however much may I love Med College, I ain't no match for "FINAL YEAR"! It calls for continuous studying, with lo-ooong hours of cramming & rote. Well, my butts aren't prepared for that kind of sitting! So then, I might face a tough time just trying to pass some of the subjects. * Do pray for me!!*

& know the final year's almost ended, with me just worrying about finishing the syllabus. With the exams at a really scary distance, I'm still not one with even the first read of books! Haven't even purchased Psychiatry & Anesthesia ki books! :(

Well at this point of time, it seems kinda stupid for me to be still sitting here moping about the epic-course & my tiny pool of knowledge, when I should be studying surgery. But hey, this was a great way to let off steam.

Right, I might as well get back to reading how to amputate a limb now. :/

*Plus one more thing on my mind right now: I HATE OBS!!!!!

The Best-est Teacher In The World!

2008-09-05T09:50:00.012-04:00

(I’m writing this while I’m sitting in the car, on my way back home.. So got an excuse for doing this instead of studying. :))

This post is for my absolute favourite teacher in the world- My Dad!

Umm..not citing his name as the best teacher for general things you learn from parents like how to live, love & care (Yes! He’s taught all that too!) but for literally being the best teacher through the years.

My Dad’s been teaching me since I-can’t-even-remember-when. Every year as my syllabus changed, he had to (read: was forced to) read it too, coz being the lazy bum that I am, I used to do just one casual reading & consider it done (..& obviously I didn’t remember any of it an hour later!). He used to sit with me before every test & exam, & do it with me.

There’s this one incident that I remember vividly. (Shruti, you might’ve even heard this one from me before). I had my Sanskrit half-yearly exam the next day & midway through noon I was busy playing with my cousins who had come over. When my dad came back home from work, he asked about what my scenario with the preparation was, I was quick to reply with a “Papa, wo to ho gaya..”.Then when he decided to quiz me with some questions; within 5 minutes I had tears running down my face & a blank look with no answers. He then took me up to the terrace & instead of scolding, sat down with me & got me started with balak ke shabd roop (ermm..its the basic grammar in Sanskrit. I had not bothered to learn ANYTHING!). This was quite some work for him too, coz he knows zilch in Sanskrit! I can still picture us sitting there-me on a ragged old dari & him, in front of me with the book, sitting on an old piece of bedding, & both of us reciting “Balakah, Baalakau, Baalaka”!
But then, by the end of the day, I had done enough to last me that exam (& quite a few exams in the coming years too!)
....That’s the kind of teacher my Dad is. :-)

And now, that I’m in his field, I get to know more & more about his knowledge n teaching skills each day. Believe it or not, questions that he says are important have a habit of turning up on the exam the next day.
There’s this other incident that is my favourite. (You might’ve heard about this one too, Shruti)
It was right before my AIIMS pre-med entrance exam. We were standing outside the centre & I was busy doing some last moment cramming. Out of nowhere, he told me that Thalidomide, was a drug that had re-entered the market recently as it had found new use in Multiple Myeloma.
**What was a drug that had re-entered the market recently as it had found use in what!!**Seeing the blank look on my face, he said, “Just remember that the drug caused Phocomelia i.e. seal like limbs,in the fetus… So it was withdrawn from the market earlier. & is now used for MM”. Now being the stubborn ass I am, do you even think I bothered with all these new names!
But then, there I was in the Exam hall & Ha! It was right there, “Thalidomide in utero causes:..” My heart skipped a beat! I knew this! I tried to recollect, but it wouldn’t come to me…(You see, I hadn’t made any effort to learn it!) Couldn’t make out what the answer was. But in the excitement, that I at least knew the name of the drug, I marked an answer (which turned out to be wrong!!)

And then in my First year Per-Univs, one night before the Anat exam, I was studying at Ritu’s place. As I talked to Pa, he said that they had a full question on ‘Arches of the foot’ in their Pre-Univs. So that was an important topic, I ought to study it too.
I didn’t. Ritu did.
Voila. The first question, carrying 10 marks was… [No prize for guessing what that was!]

He somehow has this knack of knowing what might be there in the next day’s paper! (Last year, he even got Bhavesh a 4 mark question in the Boards!! He’d just told him the thing before leaving for the exam centre!)

Okay, not only this, he’s also an amazing teacher otherwise. Never knew about his knowledge till I started with Medicine. Clinics with him are awesome. Ask him anything off-hand & he’ll explain it to you really well. (Once taught a topic in Gynae too.. :)). Even at classes, he’s one of the good teachers. Plus, he’s always there to clear my concepts of the tracts in the spinal cord and diabetes insipidus!

He loves teaching. Even if its dud students like yours truly.
In fact, he’s the one I hold responsible for me-making-it-through into Medical! He did more Zoology than me in my pre-med days. There are some things that he told me back then (like all about Adrenals on a trip back home from Jaipur), that have been helping me till this day!

Not many can boast of a combo of an amazing dad & an awesome teacher!
Am really really lucky to have him!! I’d be screwed otherwise! Bigtime!

Learn To Live

2008-09-02T16:20:00.002-04:00

Rock On!!

2008-08-31T12:36:00.010-04:00

One word for the movie: Rocks!!!!!
Man!! I had been waiting for the movie long enough...& now that I've seen it, all I can say is that, is was WORTH the wait!! Farhan Akhtar rocks as the actor & more so, as the SINGER!! Has a different *in a good way* voice that blends really well with Shankar-Ehasaan-Loy's music! The music trio have put together an awesome bollywood-rock score. 'Socha Hai' & 'Pichle Saat Dino' are my absolute favourites!!
The actors were great. All four gel as a group. *gives a DCH like feeling at times* Get Purab's boyish charm, Luke's seriousness & Joe's solidarity. .& you can't help but feel good!
The direction-WOW. The song 'Sindbad the sailor' was the high point for me. It feels as if you're actually in a concert!!

Why am I doing a (something that cannot be even called a )movie review here? Coz I LOVED the movie *& Farhan in particular ;)* & wanted to pen down something abt it, just to get it out of my system :)
Go watch the movie. Live your dream.

Rock on!!

Part 2- My Verry Happy Birthday

2008-08-02T17:57:00.018-04:00

. . . Finally Part-2 of ‘My Verry Happy Birthday’. . .

A bit of jolting from a stranger on the blogging world, an unexpected stretch of peace (thanks to the awesome mausam) & ‘Friendship Day’- a day when I’m really happy & thankful for the best-est friends I could’ve asked for in College - All these have gotten me back in the mood for finishing the long forgotten post abt my birthday.

Lets see.. I’d left off at the point where I found these two "blank" scrolls of papers at AFJ.

Now this was the kaminiyat part… that these guys had planned. On those two scrolls, I was supposed to write a “thank you” note to ANY TWO of the pple. Now of course, it was hard to choose from 10!! & whichever two I chose, the other 8 were bound to kill me with senti-dialogues & what not about how I love those two more than the others! & the worst part was , that I had to do it BEFORE I got my next clue…. :(
So, back at the hostel, I wrote down two names (don’t remember which ones I decided to oblige..) & had to hear a lot of “Oh..you like her more than us!!” & “Ahh… So I’m not a favourite!Sigh!” . It was fultoo melodrama plus meri taang kheechna!

Now, after this, I was given the next Clue. Clue #4.
Here it is:
“Gehra pyaar hai issse
Utpatang hain kaam hamare
Din mein do baar
Saptah mein saat baar
Karta hai CARRY throughout YEAR”
Now this riddle was one of the toughest ones. Took me a looong time to figure it out. I finally got CARRY-YEAR…. CARRIER by myself… But something was missing… I kept lookin & BANG! It hit me:
It was : “GUDS CARRIER”… that’s what they call my Activa sometimes… (Guds is my nickname, for the uninitiated)
I ran to the Activa… But there was nothing there.. Ran back to my room to get the keys.. But of course, I couldn’t find them. That was the hardest part. Again got some help from Anks, while the others were having a good time teasing me! After looking EVERYWHERE, I finally found the keys in Navy’s room (who was either pretending to, or had very conveniently gone to sleep in there!!)…
Getting to the Activa I found my next gift..but no clue..

As I ran back up, got my next Clue in there. Clue #5 was another music clue. As Ritu played the song “Hips Don’t Lie” on her cell, I guessed it was something to do with MG Hospital. As it was almost 11.00, we had to go to the Medicine posting at the hosp. I was told to leave the clue at the moment.
When we got to the Hospital, I saw Navy & Aditi already there. They were waiting at the parking lot for us & grinning. I looked around for a clue or gift- But nopes, nothing in there. Rushed to MM I- nothing in there too! Went to the Medicine office- nothing in there!! Then I decided to go on with the proceedings of the posting, & look for the gift later. Ab finally, when we were winding up with things at the posting, we decided to look for the clue again. Aha.. Hinting time again. I was asked to go & look in the Seminar room once again. I went in there &, Voila! There were two scrolls (once again) near the Podium. And sitting innocently, right next to the sheets was my next clue!

Here it is:
Clue #6:
“Sum of today’s date _____
Arps comes in class ______
Our grp is number _______
Govinda is Hero No. ______
The time you’ll get your next gift _____”
‘Aha! Pretty simple this time’, I thought. Of course, it was all ‘ONE’…
But waitaminnit, as I had calculated, the sum of today’s date was NOT ‘one’!! (1+5+0+3+2+0+0+8 =19; 1+9=10) It was ‘TEN’! & as I pointed this out to the others, *smug at the thought that I’d found an error in their riddle*, I was hit in the head & asked what the sum of 1+0 was…
Oops, I’d been an ass!!! It WAS ‘one’ alright!!! (They were all lauging at my well known maths skills by now!!) ;)

Next was the Paeds Tutorial at Ummed Hosp. We reached there, at about 12.30. Waiting for the tut to start, it was already ‘one’ o clock! I was handed my next gift. These were strips of really cute stickers! Wow! Plus of course, there was the next clue!

This clue #7 was a ‘maths test’! This one might be hard for you to understand, but I figured it out pretty soon (faster than all of these guys had expected! ;))
Here goes:
“Location of ur gift = Your score in exam/ Total amount we’re spending on your gifts”
This one actually is a brilliant puzzle!!! Lemme explain. My overall score in 2nd year exams was 420 marks. Everyone remembers this coz of the sheer interesting-ness of the number ‘chaar sau bees’.
For the next bit: Since 3-4 days before my b’day Navy had been bugging me with her PJs about getting me gifts worth Rs.10… She had decided that they would get me 5 gifts of 2 rupees each… It was supposed to be a shampoo sachet, some toffees, a 2 rupee pen etc. So basically, she had been working to get me ready for this clue.
Now basic maths, 420/10=42. So there it was Room No.42!!!!! Yay!! Although, at that point I was confused whose room it is, but later, it turned out to be Avina’s!!
When we got to the hostel, (after the sad tutorial,) I went to Avina’s room. But there, I was told to wait. Coz the hunt had been put on hold till evening, when Ritz would come to the dorm! So then, I was assured that my guess was correct & my next gift would be in Avi’s room.

So after a fun-lunch, I went to sleep. Shit! I was so exhausted that I woke up right at 5 in the evening. As I went to find the others, I found everyone, including Ritz waiting in Avi’s room. & there were these really pretty balloons all over the place!!! :) :)
To burst my balloon of happiness, there I saw 2 more blank sheets!
It was then that I remembered that I had two more unfilled sheets lying around. Hmmm..This looked like a good prospect. I could fill in all the 4 gals’ names in those. (coz there were none of the guys around!). I was about to start filling in, when I was told that the sheets were to be filled in preference order in front of everyone!! Damn!!
So then again, I was verbally assaulted for thanking pple!

Okay that done with..It was time for the next clue. It was another musical clue.
Clue #8:
“Gudiya humse roothi rohogi,
kab tak na hasogi
Dekho ji kiran si lehar aayi
Aayi re aayi re hansi aayi…”
Instant answer! It had to be with my mom!
You see, this is one song that my Mum used to sing whenever I was mad at her. This would make me smile at once!!

These guys had done ALL their homework. The clues had been spread out all over the place!!!

So post-conformation, I went home.
There on the dining table was the ‘gift’- A pepsi bottle filled with water, with a shampoo sachet & 2 rupee pen floating in it! See, Navy had been true to her promise. I did get my 10 rupee gifts!!! I laughed heartily at it!!
As I went back to the hostel, there was my next riddle.

Clue #9:
“ They all point to one place:
1. Page no.616
2. Your hangout place
3. @^!’s louuu-uuuu”

Okay, I had to LOL at this!!! U won’t really understand it, but it’s an amazing riddle. Page 616 of Park’s PSM book is “Sulabh Shauchalaya”, which had been a butt of a lot of jokes during our stint of studying PSM. (Yes Shruti, we even have to study the sewage system & toilets!! One more point to my course! ;)). My ‘hangout place’: well, I love to spend a lot of time in the bathroom.
I ran to the bathroom & there they were (you guessed it), two more blank sheets & my next riddle.

Clue #10 is my favourite of the lot!!! It actually shows what brilliant brains these guys are. Here’s how it goes:
“You have ‘peritonitis’,
On your tummy, doctor gave a sign;
With ‘Hagrid’ lies your Rx (read:Treatment),
Can’t think of the last line.”

I had to think for a really long time to get this! But amazingly I managed to find the ans all by myself!
The answer was ‘Bhaiya’ ie the guard outside the hostel.
See, ‘the sign of peritonitis on tummy’ is guarding. The ‘Hagrid’ IS a guard. So my next gift was with Bhaiya downstairs. It was another really cute strip of stickers..!!

By the time I was done with it, it was already time for the party. So we got dressed & headed-off. I thought the clues were over, but nahi, there was more to come. . .
There were more clues at the party too!!!

..To be contd..

( Am getting sleepy now. It’s a really long typing session for a notebook-pen kinda person like me!*Yawn!*)

PS: A biiii-iiiiig HUG to all u guys for the awesome budday! Btw come to think of it, all my birthdays at college have been different (in a great way!!). All thanks to you guys!

"I Wish I Was A Fetus"

2008-07-19T17:33:00.013-04:00

Here's an interesting poem that I came across:

I wish I was a fetus
I never would be bored,
Sitting in my uterus
Swingin' on my cord.

To worry the obstreticians
I'd be a proper beast,
I'd change position on the hour
-Transverse, oblique, then breech!

To student midwives, I'd present
A mystifying case
I'd hide myself in the os
& leave an empty space.

I'd tie my cord into a knot
& wave it through the cervix
I'd give the mid-wives such a shock
-& laugh off all my vernix!

And when my membranes rupture
I'd be a right ol' pest
Presenting large diameters
I'd transeversely arrest.

I'd tell my pal placenta
To get himself detached.
To theatre then the lot of us,
would pronto be despatched!

And when they start to Caesar
I'd laugh & think "Ti-Hi"
When no one else is looking,
I'd come vaginally!!

:) :)
-Unknown

PS: If you liked this, check out "Fetus-The Wonder Baby" . Its weird, but different. :)

Take Me To Your Heart : MLTR

2008-06-12T08:58:00.005-04:00

Beautiful song by MLTR...
:) :)

Hiding from the rain and snow
Trying to forget but I won't let go
Looking at a crowded street
Listening to my own heart beat

So many people all around the world
Tell me where do I find someone like you girl

(Chorus)

Take me to your heart take me to your soul
Give me your hand before I'm old
Show me what love is - haven't got a clue
Show me that wonders can be true

They say nothing lasts forever
We're only here today
Love is now or never
Bring me far away

Take me to your heart take me to your soul
Give me your hand and hold me
Show me what love is - be my guiding star
It's easy take me to your heart

Standing on a mountain high
Looking at the moon through a clear blue sky
I should go and see some friends
But they don't really comprehend

Don't need too much talking without saying anything
All I need is someone who makes me wanna sing

(Chorus)

M is for Medicine :D

2008-03-22T13:38:00.008-04:00

Some interesting Med-Quotes, that I came across. *Tho most of them are 'doc-bashers', take 'em with a pinch of salt...*

Enjoy!! :D :D

Don't think of organ donations as giving up part of yourself to keep a total stranger alive. It's really a total stranger giving up almost all of themselves to keep part of you alive. ~Author Unknown

Our profession is the only one which works unceasingly to annihilate itself. ~Martin H. Fischer

Men are not going to embrace eugenics. They are going to embrace the first likely, trim-figured girl with limpid eyes and flashing teeth who comes along, in spite of the fact that her germ plasm is probably reeking with hypertension, cancer, haemophilia, colour blindness, hay fever, epilepsy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ~Logan Clendening

The only weapon with which the unconscious patient can immediately retaliate upon the incompetent surgeon is hemorrhage. ~William Stewart Halsted

The public blabbers about preventative medicine, but will neither appreciate nor pay for it. You get paid for what you cure. ~Martin H. Fischer

Doctors are just the same as lawyers; the only difference is that lawyers merely rob you, whereas doctors rob you and kill you, too. ~Anton Chekhov, Ivanov

The fact that your patient gets well does not prove that your diagnosis was correct. ~Samuel J. Meltzer

Patients may recover in spite of drugs or because of them. ~J.H. GaddumHe's the best physician that knows the worthlessness of the most medicines. ~Benjamin Franklin

A drug is that substance which, when injected into a rat, will produce a scientific report. ~Author Unknown

The doctor is often more to be feared than the disease. ~French Proverb

You may know the intractability of a disease by its long list of remedies. ~Alonzo Clark

When you no longer know what headache, heartache, or stomachache means without cistern punctures, electrocardiograms and six x-ray plates, you are slipping. ~Martin H. Fischer

It is easy to get a thousand prescriptions but hard to get one single remedy. ~Chinese Proverb

Never forget that it is not a pneumonia, but a pneumonic man who is your patient. ~William Withey Gull

The patient does not care about your science; what he wants to know is, can you cure him? ~Martin H. Fischer

Medicine is the only profession that labours incessantly to destroy the reason for its own existence. ~James Bryce, 1914

Medicines heals doubts as well as diseases. ~Karl Marx

****************

Btw: I've now become an ardent fan of Martin H. Fischer !! :D

Have-A-Happy-Period. ;D ;D

2008-03-22T11:48:00.010-04:00

This is an actual letter from an Austin woman sent to American company Proctor and Gamble regarding their feminine products. She really gets rolling after the first paragraph. It's PC Magazine's 2007 editors' choice for best webmail-award-winning letter.

**IT HAS BEEN COPY-PASTED WORD BY WORD **

Dear Mr. Thatcher,

I have been a loyal user of your 'Always' maxi pads for
over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the
LeakGuard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback
riding or salsa dancing, and I 'd certainly steer clear of running up
and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your
revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company
smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? Ever suffered from the curse'? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body. Just a few minutes from now,
my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.' Isn't the human body amazing?

As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customers monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying, jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize
it's a tough time for most women. In fact, only last week, my friend Jennifer fought the violent urge to shove her boyfriend's testicles into a George Foreman Grill just because he told her he thought Grey's Anatomy was written by drunken chimps.
Crazy!

The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive
backing, were these words: 'Have a Happy Period.'

Are you fu*ing kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James?
FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak, there will never be anything 'happy' about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Asprin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.

For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you just have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong', or are you just picking on us?

Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending
bullsh*t.

And that's a promise I will keep. Always.

Best,

Wendi Aarons

Austin , TX

**********************

PS:This applies to the context of another company marketing sanitary pads in India, with the same tag-line *ring a bell, yet??* :D :D

BTW: Here's the link to the blog:

http://allscrubbedup.blogspot.com/2008/03/have-happy-period.html

Cheers!

My Verry Happy Birthday.... :)

2008-03-21T02:28:00.010-04:00

My birthday this year was something special &kind of a brain racking experience… with a whole trail of clues laid down for me to crack, to find my gifts of course!! These guys.. (ref: D,Ank,Avi,Atul,Navy,Ravi,Kaushik,Ritz,Sattu & Saurabh…).. had a full day treasure hunt planned out for me!
Well, I’d been itching to narrate the story to Shruti or one of the others, when y’day Shruti pointed out that I could put it up on the blog. Bright idea!! & here I am writing an account of the day…

So, after the midnight party on the terrace, we all were in my room, when my series of surprises began! There was this ABSOLUTELY YUMMY pudding, thanks to chef Divya et al.

Then there was also this nice card with my Piscean qualities.. :) While we were talking and all, Ritz asked me to turn on bluetooth on my cell. I complied, thinking she must be sending in some sort of birthday graphic. As the message transfer ended, Ritu announced that the job was done, & if anyone wanted to give any instructions, they could do so. Okay. Now I was confused.. what was going on?? As, I saw the message, I realized it was some sort of a riddle that I had to solve, coz it was a music clip titled

"Clue 1":
As I listened to the song, I was told that this was a clue to find my first gift.. & I had to find it before the song ended!!! It took me some time to grasp what was going on, but as I listened to the song, it dawned on me! I ran to %@^$#!% ‘s room..!! & voila, there it was a b’ful rose lying on the bed!! But there was a catch… the next clue was lying next to it!

Clue #2:

This one was a riddle (ala HP).. Here’s how it went :
“Arjun ne dekhi the macchli ki aankh,
Tujhe dekhna hai mendak ka dil..”

Well, sounds tacky…doesn’t it?? But it’s a very well framed riddle…. There were a million things that I could think of, which were frog shaped… a key chain, a soft toy… But then, it struk me… OUR COLLEGE!!! Of course, our colg is shaped like a frog ("mendhak ka dil", indeed)!!! I put up the suggestion to the others, but then..no one was in the mood to help me out!! They were enjoying this! Navy even tried to confuse me with her stupid ideas! But then Ank helped out by telling me to go to sleep & think abt it the next morning…
So the next day, we had to run to class..coz we were very late! So I had no time to think over the clue. But when the class ended, I found a gift in the college corridor!! Yay!! I was right!! But the next clue was missing…

As we went outside, Ritz again started sending something in… This time it was damn simple!!!!!!!

Clue#3: was the song, “tere sang, ek simple si coffee bhi…” This was something I could solve in my sleep! I picked up my activa & rushed off to AFJ…. The shop was closed, but there it was.. I could see two scrolls of paper wrapped in ribbons… :)….. Butt… these turned out to be blank sheets!!

Contd:

The APGAR Score

2008-02-03T01:20:00.004-05:00

Well, the origin of "Apgar" in Apgar Score had been bugging me for quite some time now.
The ENT book mentions its origin from the name of the doctor who devised it, Dr.Virginia Apgar. While, I somehow had the idea of it being a mnemonic to remember the five components...
So finally I decided to check the net today to find the correct origin... & here's an excerpt from Wikipedia:

"The Apgar score was devised in 1952 by Dr. Virginia Apgar as a simple and repeatable method to quickly and summarily assess the health of newborn children immediately after childbirth.Virginia Apgar was a pediatrician and anesthesiologist who developed the score to ascertain the effects of anaesthetic agents on neonates.
The Apgar score is determined by evaluating the newborn baby on five simple criteria on a scale from zero to two and summing up the five values thus obtained. The resulting Apgar score ranges from zero to 10. The five criteria were used as a mnemonic learning aid."

The Acronym:
Some ten years after the initial publication, the acronym APGAR was coined in the US as a mnemonic learning aid: Appearance (skin color), Pulse (heart rate), Grimace (reflex irritability), Activity (muscle tone), and Respiration. The mnemonic was introduced in 1963 by the pediatrician Dr. Joseph Butterfield.
Another such backformation attempting to make Apgar an acronym is American Pediatric Gross Assessment Record.

The test, however, is named for Dr. Apgar, making Apgar an eponymous backronym. End of discussion!!

Cheers!

The Cookie Thief

2008-01-27T04:41:00.003-05:00

This poem by Valerie Cox, is one of my all-time-favourite bits. Read it in "Chicken Soup For The Soul"....
The idea of "Perspective" has been so simply & easily conveyed here, that it manages to make me smile each time I read it.
_______________

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shops.
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,
That the man sitting beside her, as bold as could be.
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between,
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

So she munched the cookies and watched the clock,
As the gutsy cookie thief diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated as the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice, I would blacken his eye."

With each cookie she took, he took one too,
When only one was left, she wondered what he would do.
With a smile on his face, and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half, as he ate the other,
She snatched it from him and thought... oooh, brother.
This guy has some nerve and he's also rude,
Why he didn't even show any gratitude!

She had never known when she had been so galled,
And sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back at the thieving ingrate.

She boarded the plane, and sank in her seat,
Then she sought her book, which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage, she gasped with surprise,
There was her bag of cookies, in front of her eyes.

If mine are here, she moaned in despair,
The others were his, and he tried to share.
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That she was the rude one, the ingrate, the thief.

________________________________:) :)

Confessions Of A Raconteur

2008-01-27T03:42:00.001-05:00

Okay... Shruti made a new blog... "A proper one this time.."

Well, this one deserves a special mention in a totally new post:

http://ronspeaketh.blogspot.com/

& somehow, the story which i personally do NOT like so much, turned out to be her first post!!!
Anyhooo... even reading that was so much fun!!!

Am damn sure, even the rest of her posts will be a reader's delight!!

Keep a track of 'em
Cheers!

Whose Blog Is It Anyway

2008-01-25T03:44:00.001-05:00

Links to some of blogs that I frequent:

Shruti's "about me's":
http://straight4mthehorsesmouth.blogspot.com/

Shashi's bolg:
http://www.drshashikant.blogspot.com/

Ritz' Blog:
http://thehealershelpmate.blogspot.com/

Saran's Blog:
http://nineteentillidie.blogspot.com/

Medical reviews:
http://mymedicalreviews.co.nr/

Check them out!!

Amul Hits

2008-01-23T17:47:00.001-05:00

The ads of the Amul Campaign have been my latest craze, all thanks to this hoarding put-up outside the College. :D

:D :D

Here's the link to the entire series:

http://www.amul.com/hits.html

It has the entire lot, starting from 1976!!!

Kudos to the creative team!!! They're aewsome!!!

Cheers!

So done with the OnG posting..

2007-10-28T17:07:00.003-04:00

We-eh-ell..
Finished up with the 7th sem Gynae posting...and yes! like I've said before, this was the first time I actually went for the damn thing!!
Amazingly, I actually enjoyed the posting this time on... Maybe it was because I was posted with a really good Unit in the Dept... but whatever.. made the most of it and basically liked it all!! :)

Here are some things I learnt during the month:
1. Donning gloves is not all that tough :P
2. How to identify a full bladder and catheterize a female.
3. The boys in our Unit don't care a shit to come and attend the classes.
4. Some male gynecologists are actually good at teaching! (hats off to CP Sir)
5. AJ's long locks are noticable to all. ;)
6. You can never find the teacher if u're late on 'free days'!!
7. If u go into the OT, when some resident has done their first op, you get to eat sweets! :)
8. AIDS counselling for pregnant ladies is NOT compulsory!!! So... beware, when u're taking those deliveries in the labour room.
9. Giving birth to a baby is TOUGH on the mom... more so for a primipara!!
10. A woman CAN have a 10 month old baby and *still* be 7 months pregnant.
11. Gynaecologists in general... love eating! [prem-vilas ke samose] ;)
12. You must get your attendance registered on the same day...or they'll mark you absent.
13. While doing the 2nd Pelvic Grip, the ulnar border of the hand should rest on the pubic symphysis of the patient.
14. There's a room next to the PV room, that is exclusively meant for students to study!!
15. Most couples don't believe in birth control!
16. There's a LOT to learn.
17. Fourth Unit rocks!!

*Next Surgery*

- AL (VII Semester)

:) :D One Liners :D

2007-10-27T17:11:00.001-04:00

Some One-Liners That Always Manage To Crack Me Up!!! (& some make me "think" too...) ;D

* A clean desk is a sign of a cluttered desk drawer.
*A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
*A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
*A diplomat is someone who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that you will look forward to the trip.
*Borrow money from a pessimist, they don't expect it back.
*Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs.
*Hard work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off now.
*He who laughs last--- probably didn't get the joke.
* Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.

Annnndd.......

*Warning: Dates in calendar are closer than they appear.

My First Time At Labour Room

2007-10-17T17:09:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was the first time I set foot into the Ummed Hospital labour room, which by the way caters to the huge population of the entire Jodhpur district & more for conducting deliveries...(:see the PSM works here!!!)

First of all, let me clear up one thing for fellow medics who’ve actually bothered to linger around for so long at the blog (this is barring aside ritz, of course!).

You must be wondering WHY did I have to wait till the 7th sem to go to the labour room for the first time..!!??!! Well, the fact here is that I was seriously apprehensive of what was there to see in there. The thought of seeing even a “normal delivery” was kind of scary & I kept putting it off……..

& vaise we haven’t been posted as much in the O&G dept as such (the 3rd sem posting, well we kindof bunked; & the 5th sem posting, was missed coz of the univ exams!!!)…

So there I was at the Labour room yesterday…standing with D & Urmila (who had been to the area previously & seen deliveries!!).

Well.. while standing there, the first thing I got to see was the removal of the placenta…. Frankly, the sight was pretty nauseating at first—seeing all the blood... but made through that & while I was revelling in the feat--- that was seeing the process,---- a lady was brought in wherein the crowning had already occurred & was abt to deliver!! Boss, gave a quick episiotomy incision, & what started to come out was a dirty, black thingie…I thought for a moment that the baby was dead & macerated….

But the “black thingie” turned out to be the baby’s head & as boss externally rotated & pulled on the trunk, I wondered if she was trying to decapitate the kid. But then, out came the trunk & the legs… & a li’l boy was born!!! He cried at once to announce his safe arrival!

He was gross!!!! Covered in fluids & blood… Not a pretty sight… But as the nurse took him to the incubator & cleaned him up, he started gaining a bit of colour. As he was weighed, he got active & started moving out hands & feet. Looked amazing now!!!

It took hardly two minutes for him to come out of the womb, all filthy & transform into this b’ful little human being!!!

Now, I realize why its called “the miracle of birth”…..

As we were watching this baby, another one was born…. It was a if it was raining kids that day!!!

This one was a girl & had her cord tied round her ankle…It was cyanosed… As boss untangled the cord, the foot became normal & we heard her first cry!!

Another one was a breech presentation…

There was one who refused to cry & had to have the paeditrician come & do a check up!!

Now then, amidst all the deliveries, we also got to see some sutures done & got to administer oxygen to this girl who was cyanosed, & administer methergine injection to the iv line…

Basically, after seeing all these deliveries, I’ve found the Labour Room a pretty interesting place to be…& maybe you’re reading the blog of a “future Obstetrician” right now… :) (vaise lemme clear up one thing here…that my future plans change with every other posting…… so it might not be long before you get to hear from a “future Surgeon” too!!!) ;)

Anyways, I just need to write this down coz my fellow “A-batchmates” (except D, who was with me all the time) would’nt even listen to my labour room stories…… So I decided to drop the bomb on YOU!!!!

Cheers!

I'll Be There For Youuu....

2007-10-15T17:04:00.003-04:00

The pulling each others' legs o'er each small thing,

The lifting up spirits when one is down,

The going together for a shake or a coffee,

& trying to wipe off each others' frown.

The begging for treats on every occasion,

The planning to go on morning walks.

The "detailed discussions" of the future,

All the while sitting around in .....................!!

The notions to do something different,

The writing applications to the Dean.

The decisions to watch a movie,

Over the long list of movies already seen!!

The unlimited hours of gossip,

The kind words of encouragement.

The long talks over the phone,

& ALL the messages that are sent...!!

All these things--& more,

May seem to last just a while.

But the moments are PRICELESS,

& that's bein' FRIENDS FOR LIFE..!!!!

fOR.... adi,avi,ankita,navy,kaushik & ritz!!!!!

Missing RKK!!!!

2007-10-14T17:02:00.001-04:00

Okay..... This is all Shruti's work... But man! Its soo good!!!
Uska dimag in cheezon mein 'computer se bhi tez chalta hai'!!!
Just copy-pasting the stuff:

*the best one:
"Gass.. gass... Keep Gassing.."- Mr. M (playing Mr.Mysterious in the comp lab)

Annd others at the comp lab:
" Kintu, Parantu, But aur Lekin...."- Moonface(this was his takiyakalam)
"I will not repeat this again...and ..again and again..."-Moonface again,defiling the sanctity of the word "repeat"

Now others:
"Arrrreey Betaaa...aap ke liye toh main stage laga deta hoon--jake naach lo. AB padhai karke kya teer maar loge.."- Prof Snape (king of sarcasm to me, wen i ws cribbing abt Exam Syllabus)

" Omg! I Kent beleevit" -(don't frown Arps) --u no who...-Prof. Vector ;)

"Awlraaaeeet...*as nasal as nasal can get*...question KAHming to youuuu...get crackkingg"...
-----no guesses *solemn look*

"Plss understand S$#%@, you are always in MY EYES " ;)-- Phy teacher No. #$% wen asked by the girl "Sir, why are you always aftr my life- of all ppl!!"

"I throws the ball...the ball going....going...GONE!!"...- SAME GUY...teaching Projectile motion

"arrre betaaaa....Dash laga ke likho...."
"fine betaa if thts what u wish. I'll tell u only one thing :Goto hell betaaa!!" (can u beat that!! Neha got this..)- Snape again..

"Kapteeen , Vice Kapteeen saawdhan"*dil dehla dene wali whistle*- PowerHorn Sir..(Oooh temme u got that)...

:Lab Asst. : C'mon class 9, P Sir is waiting for u in the class *class moving reluctantly*
S$%^#: thank u sir..aaj aapne humko uthaya hai, kal bhagwaan aapko uthayega.."

I'm also REALLY missing Patrick's at this point of time....But don't have/remember any such instances to write!!!!

But yeah! School was FUN!!! :)
Missing the good ol' times!!!

*PS:Shruti, next time lets have one on Brills & other tutions!!!! Pleezzzz!!!!!! *begging*

Save The Last Dance For Me

2007-10-10T17:20:00.003-04:00

You can dance-every dance with the guy
Who gives you the eye, let him hold you tight
You can smile-every smile for the man
Who held your hand 'neath the pale moon light

But don’t forget who’s takin’ you home
And in whose arms you’re gonna be
So darlin’ save the last dance for me

Oh I know that the music’s fine
Like sparklin’ wine, go and have your fun
Laugh and sing, but while we’re apart
Don’t give your heart to anyone

But don’t forget who’s takin’ you home
And in whose arms you’re gonna be
So darlin’ save the last dance for me

Baby don’t you know I love you so
Can’t you feel it when we touch
I will never never let you go
I love you oh so much

You can dance, go and carry on
Till the night is gone
And it’s time to go
If he asks if you’re all alone
Can he walk you home, you must tell him no

‘Cause don’t forget who’s taking you home
And in whose arms you’re gonna be
Save the last dance for me

‘Cause don’t forget who’s taking you home
And in whose arms you’re gonna be
So darling, save the last dance for me
Save the last dance for me
Save the last dance for me.

-Michael Buble