It's beautiful!

Last week, I took the Anatomy Practical on the thorax and abdomen, a test for which we had to identify marked structures on the cadavers, and one which induced much stress.

However, during the practical, I was particularly struck by one display. I had seen the inferior epigastric artery before, but it had always been severed from its source. During the test, however, one cadaver displayed a beautiful dissection of the artery--I was delighted to see, for the first time, the artery clearly branching from the external iliac artery, then running between the rectus abdominis muscle and rectus sheath to nestle neatly within the lateral umbilical fold. Several other dissections were also very notable--such as the greater splanchnic nerve connecting to the celiac ganglion, the cystic duct running from the gallbladder.... The clarity of the dissections made the bodies beautiful, and was a testament to both God's awesome creativity and our professors' dissecting skills.

I found moments of delight amidst an intense exam. I know my classmates felt the same--I heard some discussing the beautifully dissected splanchnic nerve after the test. Even though we study laboriously in the cadaver lab, sometimes the beauty of the dissections does strike us, and we pause from our mad studies to praise it.

To me, such moments are like a welcome gulp of fresh air, before we are plunged again deep into the swirling torrents of material that is Anatomy class. I may miss Anatomy after all.


Edit: So that you guys don't think I am a super sappy nerd: There was another display on the Practical for which I could not make out the structure at all. I was plagued throughout half the test with the thought, "Just what the hell was that?" (It turned out to be an artery the professor said we normally would not see in dissections due to its smallness. In that cadaver, however, it was abnormally large. The prof's statement threw me off.)

a legitimate reason for marriage...

Jean: I would like to marry a Chinese girl so she can cook me Chinese food.
John: That's what [our professor] did. He married a Chinese.
Jean: For the food??

sacrilegeous

Right before entering anatomy lab:

Me: I really wanted to dissect today, but I realized what the topic is; and decided maybe I'll hold off [the topic was the male reproductive system].
Gretel, a classmate: Well, we all have been holding human hearts in our hands for a week now. I don't think we can violate people any more than that.

Incidentally, the two other girls in my anatomy group dissected the scrotum today--one testis for each girl. One of the guys was wincing the whole time. Hmm.

oh you potential med students

Me: Have you seen the people in suits that are interviewing here for next year?
Gretel (a classmate): No, I have been avoiding them.
Me: Why?
Gretel: I don't want to pretend to be positive.

diagnosing passersby

While walking outside, I noticed another pedestrian with a particular gait walking in the opposite direction. I turned around to observe her from behind and saw my classmate Andrew.

me: I think the person who just passed by us has drop foot.
Andrew: Wow, I did not notice at all.
me: Yea, she lifted one foot really high while walking and did not dorsiflex [bend the foot upward].
Andrew: So she has damage to the deep peroneal nerve. That is funny--you are diagnosing people already.

In Final Exam, Dr. Pauline Chen wrote that while in public, she could not help but mentally deconstruct strangers' health based on their appearance. Today I did a little of that. It made me happy, actually--I guess I am learning a little something after all.

Crossover with CMDA round 2

Yesterday I volunteered again at Crossover free clinic. While in the back room waiting for the clinic to start, I looked at the front counter, and whom did I see but the patient from last time! This was the first patient to whom I gave a flu shot, and also one of the first I interviewed, when he visited Crossover last month.

My reaction: momentary terror. I went back to the back room really quickly because I did not want him to see me, and I told the doctor, "Shoot, it's the patient I saw from last time!" (Actually, I may have said "Crap" instead of "Shoot." There goes professionalism). Why was I so afraid? Probably because I remembered how diffident I was when examining him last time, and he knows I am just a novice with minimal skills.

Then the clinic started and someone handed me a patient's file. Of all the files I could have received, I just had to have that very same patient. Fortunately, I really did not have to do much--just take vitals, conduct a brief interview, and summarize the findings to the attending, and she did the rest (explanation, treatment, and paperwork).

At this stage, volunteering at clinics benefits me educationally far more than it benefits anyone else. The second-year medical students who were also at the clinic conducted the interview and the physical exam all by themselves before presenting to the attending, while I did not know anything about the physical exam. I yearn to be useful like them, instead of merely tagging along and observing them. I hope that when (and if) I become a second-year medical student, I will be as good as they are.

anatomy inside jokes

During discussion group meeting in Anatomy class:

Billy: I think I will go to Starbucks today and order a tensor fasciae latte.

Andrew: Oh, speaking of that, Starbucks is offering free drinks this week because they are doing bursitis training. Argh, I said bursitis. I meant barista training.

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Anatomy is seriously consuming our lives.


For you non-anatomy people:
tensor fasciae latae--a muscle on your thigh
bursitis--inflammation of bursae, which are sacs of fluid between bone and bone or tendon that reduce friction