MedMonkey, DO

Surviving rotations and squeezing in that OMT

[medmonkey]

Merry Xmas

[medmonkey]

Happy/Merry Xmas Eve

[allthingslinguistic]

Young women’s speech isn’t just acceptable—it’s revolutionary. And if we value disruptors and innovation, we shouldn’t just be tolerating young women’s speech—we should be celebrating it. What does it mean to disrupt language? Let’s start with the great English disruptor: William Shakespeare. Shakespeare is celebrated to this day not just because he wrote a mean soliloquy but because of what he added to our language—he’s said to have brought in over 1,700 words. But recent scholars have called that number of words into question. As Katherine Martin, head of US Dictionaries at Oxford University Press, has pointed out, if Shakespeare was inventing dozens of new words per play, how would his audience have understood him? Rather, it’s likely that Shakespeare had an excellent grasp of the vernacular and was merely writing down words that his audience was already using. So if Shakespeare wasn’t disrupting the English language, who was? And how did we get from Shakespearean English to the version we speak now? That’s right: young women. A pair of linguists, Terttu Nevalainen and Helena Raumolin-Brunberg at the University of Helsinki, conducted a study that combed through 6,000 personal letters written between 1417 and 1681. The pair looked at fourteen language changes that occurred during this period, things like the eradication of “ye,” the switch from “mine eyes” to “my eyes,” and the change from hath, doth, maketh to has, does, makes. In 11 out of the 14 changes, they found that female letter-writers were changing the way they wrote faster than male letter-writers. […] All of this leads us to the biggest question: if women are such natural linguistic innovators, why do they get criticized for the same thing that we praise Shakespeare for? Plain old-fashioned sexism. Our society takes middle-aged men more seriously than young women for a whole host of reasons, so it’s only logical that we have also been conditioned to automatically respect the tone and cadence of the typical male voice, as well as their word choices. Sure, let’s encourage young women to speak with confidence, but not by avoiding vocal fry or “like” or whatever the next linguistic disruption is. Let’s tell them to speak with confidence because they’re participating in a millennia-old cycle of linguistic innovation—and one that generations of powerful men still haven’t figured out how to crack.

Move over Shakespeare, teen girls are the real language disruptors

I’m on quartz! I really want to excerpt the whole thing, so you should just go there and read it. Here’s a bonus paragraph that didn’t end up fitting in the article: 

Criticizing any disadvantaged group for their language is confusing cause and effect – we don’t like the language because we don’t like the people, not vice versa. But if you still don’t believe me, how about an experiment? Try deeply respecting young women for a few generations. Perhaps they’ll start sounding less tentative, or perhaps we’ll all learn to stop conflating the content of what you say with the style of how you say it.

(via calystarose)

All of this. I’m really troubled by how many people I’ve witnessed reflexively reacting against the efforts to draw attention to the phenomenon of policing young women’s voices (on the radio thanks to This American Life and Terry Gross) and then going on to claim there’s no gendered element to it. C’mon, particularly in cases like vocal fry where men are doing the exact same thing with zero complaint. The phenomenon I see at work here: way too many people feel actively discomfitted by the voices of young women. The tenor, the language, the verbal style – and so I don’t think it’s a leap to say seemingly by their existence in the conversation at all. What’s being said is not really “stop talking that way” it’s “I don’t want to listen to what you have to say.” 

And that, friends, makes me want to, like, smash.

(via gwendabond)

[medmonkey]

Survived boards

It was good to push it back, needed the time. Now the wait for scores, and start my first audition tomorrow. Nervous. Excited. Fourth year is now.

[dajo42]

if you dont have me on facebook you are probably not missing out on any posts but the comment section is important too lmao

[fullmetalviolinist]

I went to the Renaissance faire dressed as a warrior.  I had a real sword with me, too.  I was standing (in character) next to a sword-fighting ring, where kids of all ages got the chance to pick up a sword and challenge the champion.  Some woman walks by, with her little girl.  The girl starts walking towards the ring, saying she wants to fight.  But the mom pulled her away hella sharply, and was like, “That’s for boys.”  You don’t want to be a BOY, do you?”    And the girl looked around and saw me.  I think she thought I was a boy; I had my hair in a ponytail, and was wearing a hood.  So she comes up to me and asks me, “Do you think girls can be fighters, too?”  And her mom looks like she’s silently gloating.  Like she thinks I’m going to say no.  So I take off my hood, untie my hair so that it flows freely, and kneel before her.  And I’m like, “Milady, anyone can be a fighter.”  I swear, the look on that mother’s face made my day.

[maneth985]

[luxgalador]

This post was good but then it got better

[celticshenanigans]

Okay, this is a slight topic diversion, but in response to the above comment. I’ve volunteered at the CT Ren Faire for years now. For the last 5 or so I’ve worked in the game section, and we have a game similar to the above comment called “Smite the Knight”. I’ve been in the ring before, it’s a ton of fun getting to run around with the kids. The main goal is entertainment. Have a good shtick, keep the crowd engaged, and let the kids have a good time.

In both work and observing, I have learned something about kids. A lot of parents try to get their boys to go fight. Of the young ones that do, they tend to be shy. You get the ones who just swing the boffer swords around with no regard for life, but, mostly, they’re reserved. It’s adorable. I mean, they’re kids.

But the girls. THE GIRLS. Holy crap. I swear, the pinker the dress, the more taffeta and glitter…the more intensity. I remember, the first year I worked there, one girl came in, grabbed the biggest sword she could, and WENT TO TOWN on our knight. Lifted it over head, let out this primal scream and mowed him down. Homeboy is 6′2″, she was FIVE. And once he was in the fetal position (He was fine. It was for show.) on the ground, she stopped, put her foot on his chest, and yelled “I AM A FIERCE PRINCESS!!”. Later in the day when she walked by a couple of use yelled “Ah! It’s the fierce princess!” and she stopped and flexed. It was the best, and I will never forget that girl.

[medmonkey]

:)

[protego-et-servio]

Since the U.S. Senate is voting on legislation to defund Planned Parenthood, I am posting this again.

Planned Parenthood does more than abortions and defunding the organization is going to leave millions out of proper care. Yeah, other clinics can do similar stuff, but Planned Parenthood has almost a century of good work behind their name and a reputation that most other clinics don’t have.

[medmonkey]

Info.

[profeminist]

BREAKING: The effort to defund Planned Parenthood has FAILED in the Senate. This is great news!!

Soure: Planned Parenthood Action

WHOOO HOOO!!!! 

More Info: GOP plan to defund Planned Parenthood stalls in the Senate

CURRENT MOOD:

[medmonkey]

Today's phone calls? Effective.

[aspiringdoctors-blog]

I'm in high school right now but I'm really interested in pursuing medicine later on and I'm especially interested in general practice. I've heard that the pay for a general practitioner is considerably lower than other medical careers and while I'm not interested in getting rich I am concerned about paying off med school debt and making enough money to support myself. Is it realistic to expect that I will be able to support myself (and possibly a family) on a general practitioner's salary?

Yes.

We were told this at the beginning of third year: If you are a physician in America you will be able to live comfortably and you will (eventually) pay off your student loans.

You will be ok.

[modernathenamd]

This.

I have had a lot of people ask me what I wanna be when I grow up since I’ve been on surgery rotation (probably because I’m finally interacting with new people as a med student on the reg). While I usually express it as just an interest, my heart is in Family Med and anyone with eyes can see that it’s where I excel. When I excel with a patient, it’s not because I’m good at suturing their fascia closed.

And every time I say it, I get told that I’ll be poor. That I won’t be able to pay off my med school loans. That I’ll struggle financially.

A) Even a family medicine resident’s salary is more money than most people in this country make. B) I don’t know a single family medicine doctor who isn’t living comfortably. Maybe they don’t have three homes and two Lamborghinis, but they have homey homes and their kids go to good schools and are happy. Do I look like I want a Porsche? C) Money doesn’t buy happiness, and I’ll choose joy over cash any day.

[wayfaringmd]

Word. Also, “poor” in doctor lingo is still rich compared to most people. For my first offer out of residency, my salary was over 3 times my salary as a resident, and I lived comfortably even as a resident.

[medmonkey]

Seriously. Residency salary is an average of 50k a year. I've never made that much money in my life. As a practicing FM doctor I would make at least TWICE that, if not more because I love small towns.

Make 100k and love what you do, with time for family and holidays. Or make double or triple, but work through every one of your kids milestones, and be financially loaded but emotionally poor?

[teenbitch-deactivated20151216]

[lickmetilllicecreammmm]

When taking a mug shot, you’re not fully up against the wall, just in front of it. The whole back side of her body is up against this ‘wall’. Her shadow is in the wrong position for her to be standing up. If she were standing, the shadow would be on both sides or completely behind her (because in most jails, your mug shot is taken in a brightly lit area with a light directly above you). Her shadow is mostly isolated to her right side. She’s on the ground; not standing up. I could be mistaken…but I highly doubt it.

[medmonkey]

When are you gonna post again? I miss your blog on my dash 😔

After boards! In August!!!

[medmonkey]

She liiiiiiives!

I'm a done with 3rd year now. Pushed boards back to last week of July. Friends wedding before. Studying all day errrrry day. Miss my Medblrs, back in August! <3

[historieofbeafts]

Honestly, the best thing I know about eels isn’t a biological fact at all, it’s that as a young biology student Sigmund Freud dissected about 400 of them in search of male reproductive organs, before giving up in frustration. This explains so much about Freud.

[houndsoflovemp3-blog1]

#WHERES THE DICKS WHERES THE DICKS WHERES THE DICKS - sigmund freud#sometimes a frenzied quest for eel dicks is just a frenzied quest for eel dicks

[atheologist]

In the end, Freud decided that the entire eel probably just represented a dick.

[medmonkey]

Hey Buddy, don't be an eel.

[medmonkey]

Procrastination

There’s a post I love that keeps popping up on my Medblr dash. It’s about the reality of procrastination. We procrastinate because we fear that if we put time and effort into a thing, and then we fail, it reflects badly on us. I know this feeling so well. It’s deep in my soul, in everything I do. I procrastinate all the time. 

I did not get a great score on boards last year. In fact, I just barely passed. I’ve told no one my score, because NO ONE I know scored as low as me. When they ask I smile and say “Oh, I passed. Good enough for me,” but it’s not. It’s been gnawing at my self confidence all year long... Which is why when patients and preceptors praise me it matters so much. When a little old lady grabs my hand and thanks me for listening, when a doctor says I’m great with my patients, I know that medicine is my field. And on those days, I know a number doesn’t measure my worth, because I will be a great doctor someday. 

But as I think about boards I cringe, knowing that I have to get a certain number to be considered by certain types of residencies. It almost feels as if my score will decide which specialty I “choose...”  And as the weeks pass by and Level 2 approaches that doubt seeps in. And instead of throwing myself into studying I come online and read about studying, about PE nightmares, make elaborate study plans and then go watch some Netflix. It’s the worst kind of self sabotage. So, why am I on Tumblr right now? Because Medblr are my people, y’all get me, and I know there are others feeling the same way right now. And because today I’ve really thought about why my score was so bad last year. And it was this behavior. I had the right setup, and a good study plan. But I didn’t follow it. This year, no more excuses. If I do my best and still fail, so what? AT LEAST I TRIED THIS TIME. That’s what I want to be able to say in June.

So, my queue is empty, and I probably won’t be doing more than liking posts for a few minutes each night before bed, or during some strictly timed study breaks. Because I’m going to do better this year, or I’m not, but it won’t be procrastination and self-sabotage that gets me that score. It will be work.

[randommomentsdevida]

Re-blogging because it’s awesome

Hm, so I debated whether to post this or not.. ehh

So I’m an Asian, but because of the nature of the anonymity of this blog, I will not state which one. 

Growing up, I grew up in a mostly white neighborhood and never fit in. I remember times when the other kids wouldn’t play with me or they would leave when I got close. It slowly got better - mostly because I was blindly persistent and too young to really fathom the concept of racism. The funny thing was, you would think the Asian community would be my safe-ground, but it wasn’t. I grew up on the “wrong” side of town and went to the “wrong” school, so not only did I not fit in with the white neighborhood where I grew up, I didn’t even fit in with the Asian one there. 

For awhile, I toed the line, then I got into shit, then I stopped caring what others thought and hung out with whoever I felt like, regardless of cliques (because I’d had enough of that from the Asian community), and because there wasn’t much for me to do, I studied and read. A lot. Obsessively.

Undergrad was great in a way, even though I hated it. My school was extremely diverse, and I met many amazing people there. It’s sad that it’s that diversity that I miss most about being in medical school. Once again, I’m trapped in a mostly white community, and boy oh boy does it show. I’ve had friends/classmates tell me, “You drive like an Asian!” Excuse me? How about I drive like a tired medical student who hasn’t slept in x hours. ”Oh, I only said that [racist thing] because random was here”. And that makes it better/different how?

Anyway, the thing that I’ve been thinking about lately, since I’m coming toward the end of my second year (and boards.. ugh) is - what do I want to do with my life? What kind of doctor do I want to be? Initially, I thought that I would be maybe a hospitalist or perhaps an ER doc as I hate the idea of having to run a practice, but lately I’ve been thinking… 

My mom is a family practice doctor, and for whatever reason, she’s the only one of our ethnicity (who’s primary care) in the area. Literally, patients will drive an hour to an hour and half to see her because it makes them more at ease and they are unable to see another doctor because of the language barrier (or they feel uncomfortable because of the language barrier. Well, whatever the reason…). When she retires, where will these patients go? Who will take her place (who would take her place with the amount the medical education costs?)? Should I go back to take care of those patients or do I go a completely different route? 

Anyway, just the ramblings of a med student who doesn’t feel like studying for boards. 

And no, no selfie. 

[mymedlife]

My school is so weird. They want to help people by putting together a document with contact information for those of us graduating so other students can get advice. However, the misguided person who created this document feels that in addition to our contact info we should all give out our GPAs and board scores. 

I’m conflicted, because on the one hand I’d like to show everyone you don’t have to have perfect scores to get into a residency. However, I don’t want a bunch of strangers and all of my classmates looking at my scores. Maybe I’ll just have to stick to my anonymous internet posting. 

[medmonkey]

My school did something similar for new first years coming in. I did NOT put any of my GPA info, just typed “N/A” in the MCAT/undergrad GPA boxes. They left me in the list, but took out my “N/A”s. :P

[medmonkey]

Pro Tip

If your squeaky bedroom ceiling fan wakes you up in the middle of the night DO NOT try to “fix” it with WD40 in your sleepy state. You will have to sleep on the couch because duh your bed is under the fan and now the sheets smell like WD40.

I probably should have turned the fan off before spraying stuff at it. I was not awake, not really.

[andidoesmedicine-deactivated201]

Our school makes us take a COMSAE

And we have to score at least a 475 on it in order to take boards. I did well enough. My score wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but it was sufficient so I at least don’t have to waste money on a different COMSAE.

I just wanted to hang out with friends after, and I hung out with the wrong friend. It was like talking to a self absorbed piece of shit. I literally just wanted human freaking contact. I hate not being in Indianapolis. I miss my friends. I miss my family. I miss having people I could rely on. I love Chicago itself, but I have no one here who I can actually talk to about life (outside of beyondtheoath but his phone sucks, and I could hardly hear him.) 

I think it’s time for my weekly dose of being an emotionally needy little shit that means I need to take some time off.

[agreekdoctor]

Wow, they’re making you take and pass a “Pre-board board exam” before you take the actual board exam?

That’s a little ridiculous.

Back when I took them there were COMLEX steps 1-3. Step 2 didn’t even have an OSCE yet.

[pleasedotheneedful]

I was curious about whether the pre-boards were a newer phenomenon. They do the same thing at our school, we’re required to pass COMSAE C with a 450.

Of course, they only proctor part A.

Gotta beef up those pass rate stats, amirite guyz

[medmonkey]

We are only required to pass the COMSAE D (or whichever version students can’t buy for themselves) so we only need 400. Last year, those that didn’t pass had to keep paying for subsequent COMSAE’s to get the score to be allowed to take boards. But yes, only the first time was proctored. It was a dark time, and the library felt like a revolution might happen at any moment for an entire month.