Week 3 of Fall

Holy cow.  Where does all the time go?  I guess this was a short week, so that accounts for some of it.  But in general, the weeks are just flying by.  It's crazy.

Early  this week, I found out that I only missed 3 questions on my Dermatology exam.  That's a 94.5%!  I studied a ton for that test but still didn't expect to do that well.  So, it was a pleasant surprise.

This week, we've been studying OpHthalmology (one MD made sure that to point out there are 2 Hs) and Dental in our Clinical Medicine course.  The eye is a pretty amazing organ.  Here are a few things I learned:

1. NEVER use topical steroids if you suspect Herpes Simplex Keratitis.  Refer to ophthalmologist.
2. Eyes are not only the window to the soul, but also the window to diseases like diabetes and hypertension.  If you find any hypertensive or diabetic retinopathy, refer to ophthalmologist.
3. The vast majority of pink eye is viral and therefore does not require antibiotics.  However, according to one of our readings, antibiotics are typically prescribed because "in many cases...the patient will not accept a recommendation that no therapy be administered."  No wonder we have drug resistant strains of bacteria!  Shoulda referred to ophthalmologist.
4. If you are an elderly, inactive, obese, African American with a personal history of hypertension and a family history of glaucoma and did a Valsalva maneuver while lying in bed on a cold winter morning, your head is likely to explode...starting with your eyes.
5. Lastly, unless somebody is coming to me because they have an eyelash in their eye, I should just refer the patient to an ophthalmologist.  Heck, I better just refer them to an ophthalmologist for that too.

 This week in Physical Diagnosis, we've been learning the Head, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Throat, and Neck examination.  So, we got to use the otoscope to look in each others' ears and noses.  I'll post a picture here later next week when I can get one off a lab partner's phone.  Pictures = posted.

Things can get awkward kinda fast when you're practicing this stuff.  But, it keeps it entertaining.  There are so many things/techniques we have to remember before our first exam in this class.  Kinda nervous.











We've also been taking Physiology (most of it has been review from undergrad) and Pharmacology.  Pharm is looking like it's going to get difficult here in the next week.  Gotta stay on top of things.

Anywho, that's what's been going on in my world.  Thanks for stopping by.