So the weeks have been blurring together, and I have been studying and learning and yet I still do not feel like I know anything about being a doctor more than I did when I started. I'm sure the change is gradual, but except for knowing anatomy terms and a few facts about congenital heart diseases and diabetes, there hasn't been a big difference. I do have a better understanding of academic medicine, since we get told a lot about how great MD/PhD's fare in university medical centers. This school has more MD/PhD students that take the track this program was designed for than the national average--that is more of the MSTP students actually become medical scientists rather than family practitioners that know way too much about the gene-gene interactions from protein products of locus 12p7 from studying it full time for 3 or 4 years. I am spoiled in the MSTP by getting to hear from the dean or chief of medicine in small group settings (and getting to eat out 3 times a week during interviewing season as a host).
I do have a few more stories though that I should put up. We have a medical interviewing class where actors and actresses come and give us a pitch on how they are sick. The first day of that class, no one knew what to expect. I felt bad for the 1st person to interview, especially because this person wants to do path, which has minimal patient interaction. The fake patient came in acting like they were going to die from back pain unless someone did something fast, and this poor pathologist-to-be was not at all prepared for such an act. He had to call time outs every other question to make sure he wasn't hurting the patient with his words. I hope I don't get that actress when I interview, because she went almost overboard with her back pain.
Sad story--a girl from Nebraska was talking to a fellow student from California, and the Californian was like "Isn't it cold there? " She was like "Nebraska? No, Nebraska isn't much different than here." The Californian, "But isn't it like up there bordering Canada?" She was dumbfounded that a student that people will call doctor in a few short years didn't know a little bit about US geography. Or maybe I should be ashamed to have wanted to live in California. I don't know, but I think if I ever have a chance to interview potential medical students, I'll ask them to point out a state or 2 on a blank map before I give my approval.
