Radiology for the Lazy?

Radiology is one of those rare branches you take up, if your rank in the PG Entrance exam is in the top 10. It is a branch that boasts of seats filling up before you manage to complete 'Radio' out of the whole word.
Right now, when I write this entry, I only do so out of pure exasperation. I am hunting down the net for a site that will help ease my tension related to ENT X-Rays; a site out of my dreams which will appear in front of my eyes like Fairy Godmother did before Cinderella (I hope I'm right....medicine really pushes fairytales out of your mind) and say to me, "Here I am...and I shall take care of you, my dear." - basically a site that tells me the basics of all those stupid views listed in that horrid chapter "Radiology in ENT", in Dhingra.
Considering that I am writing this entry, obviously, I haven't been able to find any such Godmother site. It has just been a picture here and a picture there. The worst feeling of this desperation erupts when there's a Radiology site and they have no pictures!! Just paragraphs of information, information, information!
For dumbos (in interpreting xrays and stuff) like me, I need pictures. Pictures that describe every single detail of what is to be seen. It is a well-known phenomenon in our life, as students of medicine, that teachers take patients' xrays out of our hands and say, " Know what is normal first, then we'll discuss the abnormality here."
I am moving away from my topic of interest here. Yes, what I was saying is, Radiology is taken by the intelligent, because they manage to get those top-10 ranks. And they sure must be a little lazy, because life in Radiology is quite good...no emergencies, no lives to save by on-the-spot-decisions, no 2 am calls...and a decent pay...
Why in the world can they not make sites to help people like me then?? We literally rub our noses to those sheets of plastic throughout our lives as students, to identify those weird structures shown. It would really make life a little more interesting and fun, if I knew there was a site that was helping me do that.
It is a pain in the ass, these x-rays. You either know or you don't know. There isn't any real brain involved. But, god, to reach the stage where there is no brain involved, you need to use your brain to find a path.
Help!!! Hope I find a site. It'll give me a good night sleep, knowing at least I can identify the normal structures.   

The Vacation Approaching

The two term-ends did end up happening. I should say that Anaesthesia was much much better than Radiology. Firstly, because we got new questions and I knew quite a lot of them. And secondly, because an MCQ test doesn't end up making the Examiner tired of looking at Students' faces as they come in and go out. We even discussed the answers after the test was over. I got around 20 of them. So that means I am safe and will not get a re-term on the basis of my marks. Getting a re-term on the basis of attendance is another issue.
Radiology was long, tiring and, in the end, very boring. There was just one teacher taking the term-end for 50 students..And I wasn't even from the current batch. So I had to wait even longer to get it done with. Finally, when my turn came, the only question asked to me was "What abnormality do you see in the X-Ray in front of you?" I replied, "Cardiomegaly" "How do you assess cardiomegaly?" "By measuring the Cardio-Thorasic ratio (CTR)." She then explained how to measure the ratio. We then talked about Echocardiography and that's that. She gave me 25. That hurt a bit. I wish I could have gotten a chance to tell her more about what all I knew. I definitely deserved more than 25. But the fact is that I finished off with both my term-ends. The headache and continued nagging inside of me has been trampled upon, even if that means that the numbers aren't very heavy. 
We now have Ohpthalmology. Three of us went to the OT today, but it is shut for some maintenance till Wednesday. I really wanted to go have a look today. Very disappointing not to be able to do it. I don't think I am going to have any enthusiasm left till Wednesday, so I'm going to turn my attention to what I had planned to do in the pre-vacation. I have to finish big chunks of my Pathology and Pharmacology portion till Sunday. I am trying my level best to get that done.

Two term-ends coming up!!....I hope...

I finally finished with all my Anaesthesia cases. Wow! A relief! I couldn't get sleep on Monday night thinking about how many of them I had left!! I kept telling myself that I should be able top complete three cases the next day so that I'd have a shot at finishing them all, well in time. The sleepless night paid its results, and today I stand (rather, sit) in front of the computer proud to have taken all 10 cases complete with the signatures and everything.
My Anaesthesia term-end is on Saturday only. We tried to make the lecturer take it tomorrow, but the attempt was pretty futile. I don't know how it is going to be possible to give two term-ends on one day. But, I want to finish off with both then. I don't want that Radiology term-end to get postponed to 30th May!!
I've started studying for the Terminal exams coming in the last week of June. I do hope I will be able to do just fine, and not disappoint myself once for a change.
That is actually it. Nothing else going on in college right now. The atmosphere is one of gloom, tension and exams...

On the Other Side of a Break

Radiology turns out to be a strange subject. The aura around it is amazing. It is one of those ungettable things, you only study for and wish to do your post-graduation in. It is a branch that has money, doesn't have a lot of odd working hours, and also makes you an integral part of the patient's treatment, but at the same time, you have to study beyond limit for the same. And, as we learnt from our posting of 15 days, it isn't a very interesting subject to listen to.

I guess, teachers do decide the love you tend to feel for anything. And, as good doctors as they may be, the people in the Radiology department did not turn out to be great teachers. We learnt something, but had it not been for my prior decision to include the subject on my "I'd-like -to-do-my-PG-in-this" list, I'd have hated it.

I still have to give my term-end. The break ate up 30th April, when I should have given it. But, since it was amazing, I don't care much. I'm hoping to give the term-end on 15ht May.

Moving onto Anaesthesia, man! it is one BORING subject!!! We just seem to be running around doing clerical work, copying cases down, and then having to listen to one lecturer screaming her head off at us, as if we were posted in the Department for that very purpose. I still have 7 more cases left, and I hope to finish them off in 2 days. Frankly, I'm not very interested in the subject. And, also I'm hoping ardently that Anaesthesia takes the term-end one day before the term ends (i.e., on Friday), so that I can be free to give the Radiology term-end on Saturday.

SO, the other side of the break doesn't have very exciting things coming up. It is gut-wrenching to have nothing to look forward to. But, I think the break came at a vert apt time, so I can't be complaining much, can I?

Psychiatry gives me a surprise!!

The 15 day posting ended on 15th April. Haven't exactly been the mood to write since then. Today, I am.

So Psychiatry. Wow! There is something, an inherent, ever-present sentiment.....a disbelief of sorts, that these clinicians can remain Doctors, sane-headed Doctors. It is interesting to listen to the calm and off-hand manner in which the patients speak. Stories seeming to be absolutely impossible, are said with such belief, it is SCARY. These people have a weird expressionless look in their eyes. Apart from that, extremely normal. And, of course, in our posting, we learnt about :

1. Schizophrenia

2. Bipolar Affective Disorder with Psychotic signs

3. Manic Episodes

Almost every second patient seemed to suffer from some kind of auditory and visual hallucinations.

That way, a very easy case to diagnose.

The Mental Retardation cases were heart-wrenching. We had a case of two 27 yr old brothers, who were mentally reatarded in the severest way. They couldn't utter a word , only identified individuals. Their father looked so old and worn-out and tired, I couldn't get his image out of my head for a very long time (stilll can't). The world is such an unfair place. Firstly, people are financially unequal, and to top that, the lowest class of people have to suffer from such disasters. Disasters that need the financial help to run a decent course, a course that is manageable. A mentally-retarded child is loved despite everything by his parentsm probably, even more because of his condition. It is killing to imagine, being in that 60 yr old father's shoes, wondering about the future of his two children, after he may be well beyond the capacity to provide for them....to imagine how he has spent all these years having to look after two children, he could never expect himself to hate or be taken away from him, and yet at times, wish for the same. It aches so much, and I felt relief, and still do, when he mentioned that he also has another son and daughter.

This is the only part of being a doctor that I don't like. Some patients, with the baggage they bring along, touch the most sensitive part of my soul, and almost always, I wish I could run away from it all, and never feel all this stuff.

Any way, I topped in Psychiatry. 37/50!!! It a second. After having got our Gynaec journals checked, the CR told me I did amazingly well in the term-end, and that our HOU was very happy with me. Now this. I feel previleged and lucky. I'm finally making some headway, and it feels like it. So satisfying, and a confirmation that I have chosen the right field.

Our current posting is Radiology. Very interesting. The best part of it is, the posting gets over by 11 30 am. So I easily get about an hour and a half in the library. Plus, I really like it, and the branch is one of my choices for a PG in.

My ICMR project didn't get selected. Only three out of like an easy 15, got selected. I'll still be doing it. The news was saddening, but I don't want my research being wasted, and I intend to see this project through.

Thats about it. We're going to Mauritius next week. I am SO excited!!! Can't wait! And I will write before we leave... I promise myself that.

Gynae, SOS!!!!

My Gynae term has almost come to an end, and I don't feel like I've anything new. Yeah, actually, it's wrong to say that. I have learnt something. But, there's no feeling of achievement, of having learnt something that can make me want to do Gynae. In fact, the feelings are the exact opposite.

Having watched children being born, I am not exactly awed by the procedure. Contrary to that, I'm grossed out by it all. And I have huge respect for any woman who has gone through it all. Man, we have a tough life, don't we?

Our term-end was divided into 4 parts:

1. Complete Journal - 5 marks

2. A short viva by our HOU - 5 marks

3. Case Presentation - 15 marks

4. Table Viva - 15 marks

Points 2. and 3. are over, and they were good. I got a Previous Lower Segment Caesarean Section case, and I enjoyed answering the questions. Trust me, the only enjoyable experience this whole term has been this part of the term-end. The journal completion was hell, and I still have to get it signed.

The last part of the term-end will be held on Monday. I am sort of dreading that, because this is the real test. Of knowledge, application, understanding and of course, the pre-requisite of Medicine - memory. I hope I do well.

The next terms we will have are 15-day terms - Radiology, Anaesthesia, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry. I'm excited about them.

College has been full of interesting academic activities, the latest being the Dr. V.S. Prayag Memorial Oration by Dr. Velu Nair, on Stem Cell Therapy and its future. It was a very interesting take.

Last weekend, we also attended our first Clinico-Pathological Correlation Seminar, popularly termed as CPC. It was a typhoid case. Every department involved presents their viewpoint, and then everyone has a take on the final diagnosis. Lastly, like the magic box, the pathologist has a final say and gives what the actual diagnosis was. Since it was a first, we didn't understand much. But it was an interesting 2 hours to spend.

So, life is abound with lots of sources of knowledge, and I'll make the best I can out of it all.