#lettie goes to med school

[ellierberns]

Us doctors, in general, are a skeptical bunch. We have to be. We deal in life and death and statistics and experiments and proof that X will help your patient and Y won't cause more harm than good.

But what I see a lot of in the hospital - and maybe that's a Brasil thing, because religion of all kinds is a very strong feature in our culture - is faith co-existing with medical practice.

There's a lot of doctors in my hospital whose religion is Umbanda. And I mean a lot. There are Kardecists. Catholics. Islamics. And we all follow Cecil and Harrison and WHO and Health Ministry protocols to teach our students and treat our patients. Of course we do. No one is going to tell a patient with pneumonia that lemon and ginger will cure that cough and call it a day.

But shit gets real sometimes, my man. And when that uterus ain't contracting, when that vein won't stop bleeding, when you're 30 minutes into CPR and there's no response, when you get a CT scan and there's white nodules all over both lungs, you bet your ass everyone takes a deep breath and sends out a prayer to whatever god they believe in.

And I'm not saying atheism is not a thing, it is and it's ok. You chooose what to believe in, and if it's nothing it's cool too. You do you. But I find it so interesting to see this medical skepticism and religious belief co-existing in such a fluid way.

We've gotten religious leaders to the hospital to exorcize an evil spirit from a child because it was the only way they'd let us treat her. And it was like "oh yeah call Seu Paulo, the doorman. He's the pai de santo."

We've let a Haitian father perform their Islamic baptism ceremony after their child was born.

Sometimes we walk into the doctor's lounge and the attending shoves a candy in your hand and says "eat it. Iemanjá sent you" and it doesn't matter if you're a Catholic, you fucking eat it, because you're not dumb enough to fuck with Iemanjá.

When my teacher is having a hard time stopping a bleeding in a surgery she mentally calls for her mentor, an old surgeon who has been dead for over ten years, and she says she feels him over her shoulder, telling her what to do. And the bleeding stops.

And isn't that amazing? To think that science and faith can co-exist like this?

Idk my man, I just find small aspects on everyday life in this hospital really interesting.

#lettie goes to med school #med school #med student #religion #coexisting with science #beliefs #doctors #skepticism #but only just #idk man #it's interesting to me #hospital life #in case yall were curious #not lol

[percabethfiles]

Oi, presto medicina ! onde vocÊ faz ?? como estudar melhor ?? parece que não absorvo mais nada -.- Beijos

Olá, pessoa conterrânea e colega! Eu estudo no rio grande do sul, na minha cidade natal. Onde você estuda?

Sobre conselhos pra estudar… Em que ano você está? Ou semestre. A nossa faculdade é anual. Eu estou no segundo ano recém, então talvez o que eu disser seja chover no molhado pra ti. E pra ser sincera, eu não sou a melhor aluna da minha turma, eu fico só respeitavelmente acima da média. mas eu vou tentar.

Parece óbvio, mas uma coisa que funciona pra mim é fazer anotações durante a aula, senão eu pego no sono. E outra coisa, se os professores usam slides e enviam os slides pra sua turma, anote SÓ o que eles falam que não estava nos slides, que eles comentam mas que não estava escrito. Porque senão depois em casa, quando você estiver revisando a aula, pode passar batido o que não estava escrito e eles pode cobrar porque falaram em aula. Meus professores adoram fazer isso. Isso é uma boa pra mim porque eu não consigo copiar rapidamente o suficiente pra copiar o slide e o que eles dizem, é muito rápido, quando vejo já passou o slide e eu acabo deixando de copiar coisas importantes.

Outra coisa é: não adianta resumir o livro inteiro se você não ler o seu resumo. Eu fiz muito isso no primeiro ano. Levava uma semana fazendo um resumo e no dia antes da prova estava de saco cheio, cansada, não queria olhar mais pras folhas de papel e quando chegava na prova não lembrava o que eu tinha lido. Às vezes a gente acha que sabe, mas na real não sabe. O que funciona MUITO pra mim é responder perguntas mesmo. Chamo uma amiga ou peço pra minha mãe e irmã perguntarem o que está no meu resumo pra mim. Não precisa ser colega. Se no seu resumo tem “O tipo de carcinoma mais prevalente em mulheres no Brasil é o CA de mama” a pessoa pode tranquilamente fazer o caminho inverso e te perguntar “Qual é o CA mais prevalente em mulheres no Brasil?” mesmo que não seja da área da saúde. Se ninguém puder te ajudar, você pode transformar seu resumo em questionário e responder você mesma, mas sem olhar as respostas. E responde mesmo! Não faz tipo “ah, essa eu sei”, porque aí você não revisa e esquece. Não é que eu esteja dizendo pra você decorar tudo, mas algumas coisas são complexas mesmo e não tem jeito de aprender a não ser ler mil vezes. Especialmente fisiopatologia, você só sabe que conseguiu entender quando consegue explicar pra alguém sem se perder hahaha

Ah, e para aulas práticas, de histologia e patologia, eu faço um simulado de prova prática. O nosso monitor de histologia tinha um pdf com as lâminas e um arquivo separado com todas as explicações, tipo, que órgão é esse? O que está circulado? Que célula é essa? Que epitélio é esse? etc. E eu estudava as lâminas. Minha amiga escolhia uma lâmina aleatória de todas as que tínhamos que saber (enquanto eu olhava pra outro lado) e me fazia perguntas sobre a lâmina, depois eu escolhia uma pra ela e assim nós íamos. Em patologia, nossos professores tem o atlas de todas as peças que temos no laboratório, então eu fiz basicamente a mesma coisa, olho as peças no atlas e falo pra mim mesma “que órgão é esse? Qual a descrição da peça? Qual a patologia presente?” Isso é o que funciona pra mim.

Então, isso é o que eu consigo pensar pra te falar, não sei se ajudei, mas é assim que eu faço. E não fique achando que você não é inteligente se levar tempo pra pegar uns conceitos ou não conseguir reter informação. É MUITA informação muito complexa que enfiam na nossa cabeça quase à força todo dia. Eu sei que a gente se sente burra e parece que não sabe nada, mas isso leva um pouco de tempo mesmo. Se você está no início do curso que nem eu, vai começar a se dar conta que as coisas estão passando a fazer sentido, e você começa a ligar os pontos. Algum dia você vai estar conversando com um paciente e ele te fala uma coisa e dispara uma sirene na sua cabeça “ISSO EU SEI!” e você se sente o máximo hahahahaha Faz a tua parte, estuda, pratica, vai nas aulas, presta atenção, que o resto vem com o tempo.

Se tiver alguma outra pergunta, comentário, reclamação, declarações de afeto, ou quiser conversar, sinta-se à vontade pra se manifestar.

Beijos, boa sorte e aguenta firme! Vai dar tudo certo!

#lettie goes to med school #never mind the long post #not fanfic #sorry #just answering

[ellierberns]

Pathology teacher: How does a liver with steatosis feel to the touch?

Me: What is the technical term for squishy?

#pathology #med school #lettie goes to med school #medblr #med student #also #steatosis #lol

[ellierberns]

What I should be doing: studying for a microbiology test on thursday What I'm doing: discoursing out loud to myself very passionately about the unfair and reductionist portrayal of slytherin students during the Battle of Hogwarts

#about me #lettie goes to med school #should be studying #hogwarts #slytherin #harry potter #ambition is not a bad thing #rant

[ellierberns]

From a med student who just started second year to all of you even smaller baby doctors in first year who are disheartened with all the boring subjects you’re being forced to study:

Hold on, cause it’s worth it. Don’t believe the annoying teachers who go “if you don’t like anatomy you don’t like medicine” that’s bullshit. The basics ARE fundamental, and you need to learn them but they aren’t the entire course. Next year you’ll learn what you were memorizing all that boring crap for. It gets so much better.

Last year when people asked me if I liked med school I went “uuuuuuh… yeah, I guess I do” because it had its moments but I was generally not enjoying it.

This year I am terrified but so excited and so in love with med school because this feels like it’s finally medicine.

So hang in there because it gets SO MUCH BETTER.

#lettie goes to med school #med school #med students #medblr #medicine #medicina #doctor #college

[ellierberns]

Med school has provided me with a lot of new experiences. Some are very serious, you see people in pain, in several states of vulnerability, you learn to bear with the sights and sounds and smells that make a big portion of the population queasy. But med school also provides you with some really funny sights. Like sharing a bedroom with classmates, interns, attending doctors. You get to see people who are not at all close to you snore away in scrubs and mismatched socks. You see people that usually look all put together and on point be disheveled and bleary eyed because it's 4:43 am and someone's called them down to the ER. You see your solemn serious teacher turn into a grumpy sleepy child when you try to wake them. And maybe I'm just immature but that's a hilariously bizarre experience.

#med school #med student #hospital shifts #night shifts #medblr #lettie goes to med school #nurse school #medical school #sleeping on the hospital #first time on the night shift #i can't sleep #but I'm cool

[ellierberns]

The first time I sleep away from home in ten years and it’s in the hospital.

Oh, medical school.

#med school #med student #medical school #medblr #hospital #lettie goes to med school

[ellierberns]

I feel like my college friends are the friends where I never have to fake anything, or hide what I'm thinking even when it's weird or terrible. They also know I'm hella fucking grumpy. The other day I was telling someone "I have a tendency to immediately dislike everyone I meet" and my best friend went "she really does y'all are lucky" and I was like... Yes, yes I do. I am the fucking grinch, thank you for not waving me off saying "naw you're just saying that you cutie grumpy cat". My college friends are like "yes you're grumpy yes you don't leave the house unless forced yes you collect trash in the name of crafting DIY shit, we love you like that chill" I love my friends

#lettie has friends #and I love them #college friends #college friends are the realest friends tbh #lettie goes to med school

[ellierberns]

Me DIYing clipboard with friend, cutting around difficult corners with an x-acto knife *honing surgeon skills*

#lettie goes to med school #today I'm going to teach you how to customize your liver #you're going to need a new liver #you can probably find one online #that was an awful joke and I'm going to hell #med school

[ellierberns]

Me: ok brain! We need to cram before this test tomorrow morning! Let's make sure to wake up on time!

Brain: got u girl

ENDLESS STREAM OF NIGHTMARES ABOUT YOUR DEEPEST DARKEST FEARS

Me: that's NOT what I fUcking meant omg

#about me #nightmares #my brain is such a dickhead #omg #lettie goes to med school

[ellierberns]

I'm not bad at losing. Do I like to lose? Of course not. No one does. But I don't really mind it all that much, will hardly throw a fit and flip a table over monopoly, or hope that one classmate who did best in a test fall face first on a concrete floor. I kind of shrug and go "there's always next time" But I don't do well with humiliation. Losing is one thing but losing so badly it's embarrassing fills me with an acute sense of anxiety and this crippling mortification that consumes me. I don't feel too bad flunking a test, but getting a really horrific grade like 10%? I will sit down with my head between my hands and hyperventilate.

#about me #lettie goes to med school #anxiety #failing #losing #embarrassing

[ellierberns]

One thing patients do that annoys me to death

Me: so what happened? Patient: someone tripped me up in soccer and I fell and my foot really hurt and I think I broke it. Me: When did this happen? Patient: Aaaah. A month ago I think. Me: You waited a month to come see us with a broken foot? Patient: -awfully proud of himself- you know how it is doc I'm a fighter I can handle lots of pain Me: -internally screaming- For the love of all that's sacred DON'T WAIT TO SEEK MEDICAL HELP for some dumb reason like this. I understand not everyone has the means to do so sometimes, or has some kind of chronic pain condition which means they have to put up with pain that will not go away. But willingly forgoing medical treatment when you have the means and a necessity of it doesn't make you strong. You're going to be in unnecessary pain and whatever is wrong with you might get worse. Sorry for the rant, it just annoys me so bad.

#lettie goes to med school #med school #medblr #patients #pet peeve

[ellierberns]

Revising for my last anatomy test and just ready to quit when I find in my notes "the cerebellum has fissures but like fuck it" Past Lettie was done too.

#lettie goes to med school #anatomy #med school #med student #medblr #medone #finals #so tired

[ellierberns]

I do not suffer from Bell's palsy but my corneas too are lubed with tears.

#lettie goes to med school #dumb joke #sorry #studying neuro when suddenly #yeah #not really funny

[ellierberns]

About being a med student

I don’t know what it’s like in other countries, not even all that well in the US, but here where I’m from there’s no letter of recommendation, no interviews, no previous major needed to get in. You do a national college entrance exam, and you apply. If you manage to get a better score than the couple hundred people running for a spot in your university of choice you’re in. It’s all maths, you’re a number on a sheet of paper trying to be better than another number on another sheet of paper. And it’s… Hard. It’s quite hard. Because there are a lot of numbers on a lot of sheets of paper and the scores are very high and very close.

It took me three years sitting in cram schools, listening to the same high school material over and over again, studying and doing tests and applying and getting rejected and starting again the next time. And all this coming from someone who’d spent her entire life being a teacher’s favorite and getting the best grades and having everyone around her tell her (or mock her) how smart she was and how brilliant she was and how she was headed for success... Growing up to find out you’re utterly average is not a fun process.

But the thing is, I got it. It took me three years, but I got in. And being a doctor has been my dream for a long time now, I don’t even know how long. It’s just always been a certainty, like my friend would say, it feels like I was born with a stethoscope around my neck. But the strangest thing is, ever since my sister got in med school six years ago, I didn’t dream about being a doctor, I dreamed about being a med student.

I don’t know if it was a ‘first things first’ way of thinking, or whatever, but I wanted to be a med student, I wanted to roam the halls in a white coat and carry Guyton everywhere and play with the skeleton and take selfies with a heart in my hand. Most of my classmates complain about how they would like to push a button and wake up with their diplomas six years later, but I don’t want that. Not even joking. I want college, I want to enjoy these six years of learning, and having all these new experiences and finding my best friends and future colleagues and finally, finally, finding a place I fit in. I’ve put all my hope and faith in these six years.

And I am a med student, finally, after three years trying and after a lifetime of waiting, I am here. And it just kind of hits me sometimes. I kind of just sit in a corner with my head in my hands and going “How did I get here, how the hell did I get here, I am so lucky, what the FUCK”

This has been a train wreck of a rant, but I’m just so happy. It’s finals week and I’m fighting to save the semester, and I’m sure I fucked up my test yesterday, and I have so many more terrible, complicated tests ahead that I need to ace, and I am struggling but even then, even in the middle of this hell week... I got hit with the ‘med student’ vibe again and it reminded me why I’m doing this.

I like it.

I am where I wanted to be this whole time.

#lettie goes to med school #med school #med student #medblr #why i am a med student #college #finals #semester #rant #kind of

[ellierberns]

End of semester panic like “JUST LET ME DO THIS FUCKING TEST SO I CAN GO HOME AND STUDY FOR THE NEXT”

#college #finals #end of semester #lettie goes to med school #med school #med student #i'm going crazy #@god why #university