Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Typical Tuesday

8 a.m.-10 a.m. Histology lab on the thyroid

10 a.m.-12 p.m. Small Group discussion on endocrine disorders

12-1 p.m. Lunch elective ("Introduction to Clinical Research") on clinical studies observing how emergency contraception affects sexual behavior

2-3 p.m. Lecture on how to communicate complex things to patients

3-5 p.m. Problem Based Learning (PBL) session, continuing with the Standardized Patient (paid actress) whom we saw in our practice abdomen clinic a few weeks ago. It was a pretty complex medical case with some comorbidities and I was the lucky student who got to communicate to the patient in a second interview...we had to explain (a) the concept of autoimmunity (b) the physiology of pernicious anemia and primary adrenal insufficiency (c) the lifelong treatment regimen for these diseases...monthly injections, medication schedules, etc. (d) concerns that the patient had about the possibility of pancreatic cancer or being able to take care of her husband (who is suffering from Parkinson's and a recent stroke). Within 20 minutes. Yeah. It was a little challenging.

6-8 p.m. Meeting for the Medical Scholars Program (MSP), a student-run tutoring program for first-year medical students to help them with the material next year.

8 p.m.-now Letting my brain decompress.

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