Ramblings of a Med Student

Mostly med school, studying, caffeine, and funny things related to life as a med student. You will see a lot of fun stuff here, but sometimes I gotta get a little serious, too.

[medicallybrunette]

Immune to caffeine

I’m at the point where I can drink a Monster Energy drink and still wake up 3 hours later from an accidental nap… 

[huffpost]

This Beautiful Tribute To A Dog And His Man Will Have You In Tears

“When someone you love walks through the door, even if it happens five times a day, you should go totally insane with joy.”

So says photographer Ben Moon (quoting writer David Dudley) in this deeply moving tribute to Denali, his late dog. It suggests we can learn a lot from dogs, including the best way to greet the ones we love.

Watch the full video and try not to cry. 

[sarquena]

I didn’t make it. Within 30 seconds, this beautiful film turned me into a blubbering mess. Also, dogs are the best.

[lockexe]

HELP HE’S SO DANG PRECIOUS

SAVE HIM

[tachycardic-tendencies]

My life is lap choles all day every day and now I’m sad. 

[cranquis]

“Someday after enough DNA tests, they will discover the gene in doctors making you walking hearts, perennial consciences, and empathetic human beings. And when they do, they will look for this gene in all humanity, and we will have found the answer to wars and to peace and to love. Love means reaching towards neighbors and the world with the same care, regard, generosity and empathy we normally reserve for ourselves and those closest to us. This is the gene that a doctor has inherited. You will not have to wait for your reward in heaven. Every day when you see the smiles of the sick, the poor, the look of hope and momentary happiness of that particular unfortunate that you’ve been able to help, that is heaven by itself. That is the magnificent gene that you possess.”

—

Sam Miller, emeritus trustee at Cleveland Clinic, in a speech given at the clinic’s 2012 Professional Excellence Awards.

(The Journal of Family Practice, June 2013, Vol 62, No 6, p.282)

[wordsnquotes]

That was the thing about the world: it wasn’t that things were harder than you thought they were going to be, it was that they were hard in ways that you didn’t expect.

Lev Grossman, The Magician King (via wordsnquotes)

[ahintoflemon]

But first coffee

[sarquena]

Every single morning.

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

Many of the great achievements of this world were accomplished by tired and discouraged people who kept on working.

Unknown (via

onlinecounsellingcollege

)

[realjimmorrison]

When I find myself in times of trouble Gordon Ramsay comes to me Speaking words of wisdom

[sarquena]

Thanks for the pep talk, Chef.

[coffeemuggermd]

Do you have time to hook up with anybody whilst studying medicine?

um. 

I guess you have the time to have any type of relationship if you make time for it. 

[larynx-lover]

I’ll take this one.

The answer is yes.

[pleasedotheneedful]

I literally had the same two-sentence response in my head when I saw this.

[md-admissions]

The stories I could tell about classmate hook-ups and the resulting nightmares for the rest of us who had to see them.

[larynx-lover]

Yeahhh…. Pro-tip: Only hook up with people who aren’t medical students or residents or attendings or other doctors. Go hook up with a musician or an actor or athlete or something.

[sarquena]

Listen to medschool-monarchess, kids. Don't shit where you eat: a good rule for life in general. Also, I don't know about any of the other medblrs out there but, for me, witnessing all the medcest among my colleagues totally ruined the mystique (if there ever was any) of dating someone in medicine... Not to mention, medicine takes up enough of my life as it is that it's actually super refreshing to spend time with people who have something ELSE to talk about.

[dryyoureyes-startbelieving]

Being both soft and strong is a combination very few have mastered.

(via dryyoureyes-startbelieving)

[thetenderpassion]

[sarquena]

🙌🏼👓

I'll gladly take them off just so I can't see you anymore, asshole.

[ithedivine-deactivated20120416]

No, you can’t deny women their basic rights and pretend it’s about your ‘religious freedom.’ If you don’t like birth control, don’t use it. Religious freedom doesn’t mean you can force others to live by your own beliefs.

President Barack Obama

(via barackobama)

RELIGIOUS FREEDOM DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN FORCE OTHERS TO LIVE BY YOUR OWN BELIEFS —THANKYOU: BBams.

(via neutral)

[veryfunnymemes]

[sarquena]

All. The. Time.

[huffpost]

Facebook Adds New Feature For Suicide Prevention

Starting on Wednesday, Facebook is rolling out a new feature for suicide prevention.

[sarquena]

Not sure how I'm just now finding this out, but this is fantastic. I hope this will be (or already has been) helpful for people who find themselves in crisis.

[theyuniversity]

[sarquena]

I can't believe it's so spot on!

This app tells you your personality by looking at your Tumblr account. Find out your personality as well. This is my result: ESFJ PERSONALITY People who share the ESFJ personality type are, for lack of a better word, popular - which makes sense, given that it is also a very common personality type, making up twelve percent of the population. In high school, ESFJs are the cheerleaders and the quarterbacks, setting the tone, taking the spotlight and leading their teams forward to victory and fame. Later in life, ESFJs continue to enjoy supporting their friends and loved ones, organizing social gatherings and doing their best to make sure everyone is happy.

[medicalstate]

Broken

The other day I found myself extremely irritable. For every lab result that I had to follow up, every patient I had to see, I felt a growing sense of frustration. While I could keep up appearances, I felt that delicate facade cracking by day’s end.

My demeanour and attitude were compromised. 

Even the other residents wondered if I needed some time alone. “Are you alright?” they would ask. “You seem different.”

It was true. I was different.

I was burned out.

I wish I knew exactly how I came to be in my broken state. The source of my burn out remain elusive. I cannot fully identify it, which is in itself its own frustration. In retrospect however, I can describe that I have felt unsettled since the very beginning. Perhaps what precipitated this burn out was always there, but I have always ignored the signs. 

But now it has whittled me down, and I feel like my empathic well has run dry. I am forced to confront it.

It is a scary place to be, especially in this line of work.

I have taken the last two nights slowly, hoping to recuperate emotionally and mentally. However, I feel like it may take a bit of time before I can feel like myself again. 

Having said that, only time will tell. I need to think, to reflect, and to find the emotional sparks to allow me connect with my patients once again.

I thank you all for your patience. 

Tom of the Medical State of Mind

[sarquena]

A very real account of what burnout feels like, and a reminder to always take self-care seriously. Burnout is far too common among medical professionals. For a group of people whose job it is to care for the needs of others, we so often forget to take care of ourselves. We are passionate about medicine and we give so much of ourselves to our work, to our patients, and to pursuing this career. Sometimes, when we finally get a second to breathe, we realize we've left nothing for ourselves. There is no way for a shell of a person to be able to care for others. We must always care for ourselves first. I'm in the process of learning this lesson now, and I'm sure it's one I'll have to teach myself again and again. So thank you, Tom, for sharing. I'm sure we can all learn a little bit from one another's experiences.