pediatrics

The first lecturer started the first lecture by asking "who here has neices or nephews"? I wasn't sure if i should put up my hand, although i did, because i do have 2 nephews, even if i've only ever seen them on a handful of occasions. He told us to "spend time with them" as the best way to learn about pediatrics.

Gack.

The small group leader was a bit better, and we had that brief moment of parent-bonding which ended his surprise at my knowledge of vaccination schedules and the sound of a "barking" cough. It went no farther than that though, and I soon found myself in an awkward situation during the breastfeeding tutorial. "Did you breastfeed"? he asked.

And here my brain starts spinning. Two years of medical school, and i am well trained to answer questions based on the options available. Yes or No? ? ? Yes = blatant lie, I have never breastfed. No = bad mother - or at least a mother who is less of a fanatic breastfeeding advocate than i am.

"Um, no" I stammered. His eyes lowered {bad mother} they said to me. And he talked about how his wife did breastfeed for several years. "My wife did too" I amended. And to his ultra-rapid processing credit he got it quickly and moved on. So much for parent bonding though. At least now i know my retort for next time. But like the bathroom police, they never make the same comment twice, and i am caught defending my role as a parent or my right to wash my hands after i pee like a vacuous fool, instead of the witty person i become after leaving the room. .

And she's *not* my wife, and she's *still* breastfeeding.

Family Medicine

So, 7 weeks is up, and this is the last weekend until St.Johnny B when i don't have to be worrying about school.

I really liked the family med part of these past few weeks.

Although putting judgemental comments here about my experiences is probably stupid, My placement was *fantastic*. This has been the best bit of school so far. I saw lots, i *did* lots, and i came away with a few choice bits of advice:

"growing old is not for wimps"
"growing old is better than the alternatives"
"90% of alcoholics relapse, but that 10% makes it worthwhile"
"Paperwork sucks. So charge for it until you don't mind"
"Asthma can only be disgnosed by PFT's, arterial blood gases, or pulsus paradoxus. Quiet and noisy lungs can be tricky"
"first, warm the speculum"

Speaking of speculums, the other part of family med that rocked was the teaching of pelvic exams.

Contrary to what i had feared, we were *not* taught using unconscious, unconsenting women undergoing surgery. Instead, there is an amazing feminist collective who volunteer to come in and show us how to not be jerks while doing pelvic exams. It was a wonderful upsetting of the dr/patient hierarchy to have the teacher instrucing us from the lithotomy position (aka in the stirrups). Instead of our usual lecture on random rare pathology, we learned about respectful language and patient comfort. I was way more nervous than i thought i would be.

When people ask where i'm going in life i've started to admit that it's family -unless i fall in love somewhere else. I'm just too easily bored to spend all my time on one system. And since i have to go through all of medical school anyways, i'd like to retain this knowledge that i'm paying for.

Neurology

Frankly, i'm just happy it's the weekend.

I think i would really like neurology if i were younger. it's very thinky. Lots of why, how and where. But what i'm really wanting at this point in my life is to be able to DO things. Neurology does help people, but not through many procedures, mostly meds and referrals. I'm determined to learn to use my hands.

I should have learned more neuroanatomy - not that my sense of *where* would be any better in the brain than in, say, Guelph, or Quebec.

I should have learned more about meds used for parkinson's disease.

I did find that my time at camp helped a lot. Which was a bit surprising since camp kids usually fall under psychiatric care instead of neurologist care. However, I knew what a tic was, what PANDAS were, and what Restless legs syndrome is. And i've seen "stuckness" before.

Glad i learned how to do a proper neuological exam though. One less gaping hole in my knowledge. (thousands left to fill.)