Modern Cave paintings

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 Take that, liberal arts.

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passed

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Word came down at the end of last week that I passed the 1st of many board exams and that I could officially pass go and collect $200, meaning that I could continue playing doctor at the local county health clinic. It has nearly been 3 full weeks since I took that board exam, and in some ways I still feel a little traumatized by the whole thing -- not so much from the actual 8 hours of answering the questions, but more-so the run up; the anticipation, the fear, the adrenalin, the realization that one specific slice of 8 hours sitting in a testing center has significant implications and influence in what the rest of my life will be. Its not the end-all-be-all by any means, but it is a number (meaning the exam score) that will follow my name for the next 20 months, until the day in early 2016 when I find out what kind of medical residency I match into. And, when I say traumatized, I think it really boils down to not getting any time to grieve the process -- and process my body's ...
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By The Stroke Of God's Hand

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I never gave much thought to the root of the term "stroke" but a recent lecture given by a neurologist enlightened me. It stems from the 1500's when "The stroke of God's hand" referred to what we now call just "stroke." I’ll also refer to it as a CVA, short for "CerebroVascular Accident,” in this article. With continued workup of a stroke, we will then diagnosis either a hemorrhage or infarction. Infarction refers to the process which begins when a blockage in blood flow occurs. The tissue that is fed by the blood will die, provided there are no other routes for the blood -- no other corollaries. Sometimes, like in the heart we can have new blood vessels grow over time in response to decreased rate of flow, due to the growing partial blockage. More specifics diagnosis are made based on the what the blockage is made of; we'll get into that, too. At most 18% of strokes are hemorrhagic. A blood vessel, often an artery in the Circle of...
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Oppenheimer's Legacy Endures and His Fears Proved Founded

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Here is another story written 5 or 6 years ago -- dusted off and thrust into the harsh light of self-criticism of a mind not yet broken and rebuilt for practicing medicine. I vaguely remember writing it -- I really remember that the story was inspired by one of the best classes I've ever taken. It was basically a semester of studying nuclear weapons, atomic energy and the geo-politics that surrounded (and stills does) the nifty little trick of splitting an atom. The instructor was a biochemist by trade but had a passion that he turned into an elective course. I also have a feeling that this may have been my first attempt to follow in the footsteps of the late great David Foster Wallace and his obsession with footnotes in works of fiction. At the time I thought I should start doing the same -- and its a credit to my writing instructors that they were patient enough to let me work through that foolishness on my own.  To be sure there are some cringe-worthy aspects of this specif...
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