My first patient

This week we started a new module, learning about the musculoskeletal system.  The module was introduced by showing a few clips from reality TV shows where contestants supposedly dislocated their shoulders.  A medic on one of the shows said that the contestant "dislocated his shoulder a little bit," to which our professor asked us, "can you dislocate your shoulder a little bit?"  The class stared blankly until he said, "let's put it this way, can you be just a little bit pregnant?  ... No.  Learn the musculoskeletal system so you don't look like a schmo on national TV."

Most of this week has been spent learning dermatology.   Who knew there were so many words to describe rashes?  Why say red when you can say erythematous?  A lot of younger doctors are trying to move away from this secret language, but the old school still dominates.  We were told that a red solo cup is now a cylindrical uniformly erythemetous object with a hypopigmented interior and multiple uniform papules surrounding the superior surface.  Dermatology also brought on a lot of colorful images.  Flesh eating bacteria, chicken pox, warts, fungus, cancer, and no dermatology presentation is complete without some pictures of the nether regions.  Yesterday we had a lecture on clinical cases of dermatology, where one case was a young Navy sailor who came up with a rash after visiting South America.  As we continued with the case and were presented with the symptoms, the lecturer explained that stereotypes exist for a reason and we should consider them in medical practice.  "We're doctors, we're not in the politically correct club."  The patient had syphilis.  Good job, Navy.

We also started dissecting our cadavers this week!  If you haven't read it, I highly recommend the book Stiff by Mary Roach.  I read that book a few years ago and it definitely confirmed that I want my body donated to science when I die.  Cadavers aren't the only use either!  Wherever I end up I just don't want to be wasting space in the ground.  It is really a privilege and I am so thankful to the individuals who chose to donate their bodies to science.  It is really amazing how many people contribute to giving me an outstanding education.  Our professors have told us that our cadavers are our first patients and to respect them as such.  Our fire team is also lucky to have a very thin cadaver.  "Dolores" as we have called her has almost no body fat, making our dissections much easier.  Wednesday we started with the superficial muscles of the back, and today we used our bone saws for the first time to cut away the spine and look at the spinal cord.  Seeing the spinal cord was one of the coolest things I have ever seen!  We were able to see the "horse tail" (secret language: "cauda equina") where the spinal cord terminates in the lower back.  So cool!  I definitely feel like a real med student now!