Columnist Emeritus and in-Training Staff Member
Loma Linda University Medical Center
A Taste Of Your Own Medicine is a column that gives you a taste of medicine. It focuses on important and interesting topics relating to medicine and being a medical student.
Valentina is a general surgery resident at Loma Linda University Medical Center. She graduated from University of California, Irvine School of Medicine.
The transition from the second to third year of medical school is like moving from adolescence to adulthood. Your first two years are relatively simple and you have few responsibilities beyond studying. Then, you begin third year and not only do you have to study, but you have to take care of someone else’s health. Most of the transitions only require a minor adjustment to your daily activities. For instance, you’ll finally be able to …
Something had happened. The hospital lies on the main stretch of road before the town of Borgne, right across from the high school, so there is always a lot of activity going on: cars going in and out of the hospital, motorbikes dropping off and picking up students, vendors selling food and cell phone credit. But this was different. The cries were not those typical of school-aged children. Plus, it was already 8 p.m., way …
In the summer vegetables are plentiful, but I find that it’s not always obvious how to get the most out of them. Two summers ago, when I had a community-supported agriculture share and more vegetables than I knew what to do with, I found myself making some pretty inedible vegetable soups and longing for more substance. In previous years, I’ve been enamored with the same corn, tomatoes and salad every night. This summer, I’m in …
On March 25, the satirical news organization The Onion published an op-ed written by the president of Syria: “Hello. My name is Bashar al-Assad. I am the president of Syria, and in the last two years, you–the citizens of the world and their governments–have allowed me to kill 70,000 people … Because I’m able to continue doing this, I can only conclude that killing nearly 100,000 people must be an acceptable thing.” Seventy thousand is the …
So as I wrap up a great weekend with some old friends, I finally have a minute to reflect on my first few days in Haiti, looking at the past and possibilities for the future. Being back in Haiti is always a shock to the senses. The second you leave the airport your senses are put on overdrive: the cacophony of cars and people; the hot, wet air; the smell of dust, trash and cane; …
It was the typical patient. He was in his 50s and suffered from high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He came to the emergency department because he was having a headache and could not think clearly. After checking his vitals and labs, it was clear he was having a hypertensive emergency episode with systolic pressure running to 220 and evidence of papilledema on physical exam. He was admitted to the teaching service. Once admitted, he …
“Integrative Medicine is the practice of medicine that reaffirms the importance of the relationship between practitioner and patient, focuses on the whole person, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches, healthcare professionals and disciplines to achieve optimal health and healing.” —Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine The following is a brief summary of some insights from the path I traveled to come to an understanding of the type …
My latest obsession is “Doc Martin,” which is a British series taking place in a fictional sleepy seaside town in England called Portwenn. The main character is grumpy Dr. Martin Ellingham (played by Martin Clunes), but is known to his disdain as Doc Martin by the villagers. Paradoxically, Martin was a surgeon working in London but had to relocate to the quiet town for one reason: his phobia to blood. Unfortunately, it developed during his …
Once again, it was on day four or five of mapping out microorganisms on a giant flowchart that I was struck by an idea that zoomed me out to the scale of human history. On our bodies live bacteria and viruses that we refer to as “normal flora” and with whom we happily coexist. In an oversimplified model, when humans interact with a new organism for the first time, either our immune systems kill it, …
In case you were wondering: Yes, the title of this column is a shameless display of my love for the television show, “Scrubs”. Multiple real MDs have affirmed that “Scrubs” is more true to life than all the other medical television shows — which I can only take to mean that I won’t be judged too badly if I ever yell “Eagleeee” in the middle of the hospital while running in slow motion toward my best …
In contrast to the idealistic chatter of last weekend, my mind lately has been in a bacteria-laden fog that perks up only in reference to pathogens or vectors. These days it’s fungi and caffeine that make me happiest. There has been a lot of caffeine, and around the house, each of us has just made our favorite lazy, unhealthy comfort food: Hamburger Helper, ramen and Annie’s mac and cheese. We could not have planned it better had …
Let’s face it: practicing medicine overseas is pretty sexy. Whether it’s images of Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen in Cambodia, young French physicians working with Doctors Without Borders, or Paul Farmer in Russian prisons that make you think of international medicine, it all seems pretty cool. Oh yeah, we all have an altruistic motive in trying to help solve the perennial ills of tropical disease, unnecessary trauma and emergency cesarean sections, but there is something …
Columnist Emeritus
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Chris graduated from the Johns Hopkins University in 2008 and received his BA in public health studies. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa and worked with ACTED as a development program manager in Uganda and camp manager in Haiti. He is currently in the Class of 2016 at the University of Rochester School of Medicine.
Haiti Teaches
Haiti Teaches is a column that explores the opportunities, nuances and conflicts associated with time spent as a medical student in a foreign country. It follows a second-year medical student before, during and after his two months with a community development organization in Borgne, Haiti.
