Germy

A couple of months ago I was talking with a professor at school about the pharmaceutical industry, and he mentioned that the Pfizer had recently lost $20 billion in valuation due to a new drug in trial phase III being shut down. This particular drug was going to be a follow up to Lipitor, in that it was a specific cholesterol drug, one that of course, should be taken for life. Here is a great article about not only the failure of the drug, but our misguided relationship of causation and correlation: link to worthwhile article . The author of this article has some very interesting points, and many of them tie in directly to things that I find myself contemplating quite often. The vehicle of reductionism in the realm of science has wrought answers by increasingly breaking down the physical world into smaller and smaller pieces and, admittedly has brought us to amazing places. Think of Star Trek. For the most part, Star Trek is based on a premise that technology will save us, and throu...

The semester is complete. I don't even have to go back to school until 2012! I had a dream last night in which LaMarcus Aldridge, an NBA basketball player for the Portland Trail Blazers passed away. It was nothing against LMA, but more the fact that I was catching up on the NBA news of the past 3 months before going to sleep. However, it wouldn't be all that surprising if something happened that kept Aldridge from playing this year; granted, he doesn't need to die or anything for that to occur. Next semester we jump in to Cardiovascular/Respiration/Renal systems right away. I think I'm gonna start listening to the Goljan lectures a little early. I started listening to them at the end of last semester and not only found them helpful, but they were enjoyable to listen to. I suggest them to anyone who is in or hopes to be in med school. Viewing my peformance last semester, I find it interesting that in the practical side, where the grade is derived from "treatin...

Today was my first exam performed on a stranger. Granted, the "patient" was a paid actor that the school brought in. It was the final practical for our doctoring course (which means 1 out of 4 final exams is out of the way!) and as always, is a timed, monitored exam. I've grown to like these practicals, as I think one of my strengths is being able to communicate and perform under pressure. The "patient" feedback included that I made her feel comfortable and that I seemed calm and confident, which was nice to hear. However, when I asked her what arm she preferred to have her blood pressure taken from, I proceeded to take it on the other arm, oopsy. But, that was the biggest mistake I made. If I do as well on all my other exams this will be a triumphant first semester indeed.