Yesterday, Oct 31st, was not only Halloween, but also the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Without crossing the line into TMI, I had to have a repeat mammogram done first thing in the morning, and most importantly I will tell you, dear readers, all's clear, no worries.
But the second thing I have to say, just briefly, is, #!!%?#% frickety frackety, that hurt! The first time around, I was all smiles, thinking to myself, What is everyone whining about? That was cake! But this time, the tech whips out the smaller squashing paddles, and, frickety frackety, she really squashed. To her credit, she was nice about it, but "I'm sorry, it's gonna be a little tight," was a grave understatement.
I was still smarting a full hour later.
Anyway, I still do encourage all the ladies who are of a certain age to get their mammograms done. And for all the ladies who are not yet of a certain age, and of a certain age, do your breast self exams every month, preferably after your period ends so as not to provoke premenstrual jibblies tenderness.
In the meantime, I will be taking a sabbatical from blog writing for the month of November, so that I may participate in National Novel Writing Month, nanowrimo.org
If you have ever had the inkling to actually write a novel, check out this website and sign up, and join the rest of us crazies in the push to spit out 50,000 words by Nov 30. Yes, that would be 2012. I'm working on a story that has been in my head since the winter of 2009. And when the film gets made, I want Alan Rickman to play the lead. Just putting that out there. I did have a dream about him yesterday morning, and I'm taking that as a sign. His birthday is also only 6 days before mine (and some years, but who counts the years), so that's also some sort of destiny in my warped internal landscape.
So... I've officially signed up on the nanowrimo website, and I've also officially made this endeavor terribly public. I wrote 1227 words today, and that was in between tweaking the nervous system exam for my Santa Monica College class next week and sending it off to the reprographics office.
I will check in here again for sure by Dec 1 to post my final word count. And to announce that Alan Rickman has, in fact, contacted me directly and bought the rights to the as-yet-unpublished-but-obviously-brilliant novel himself and will star, produce, and direct.
And I may write something here before Dec 1 if I need to procrastinate on the novel.
But in the meantime, I'd like to ask a favor: Please post here some common names for body parts or physiologic processes or diseases, whether you know the proper medical term or not, and I will work from that list to write some posts over the winter.
I will leave you for now with this example, a common name for an area in the perineum, specifically between the anus and the vagina/scrotum: taint. Just giving that as an example because the reproductive system is coming up in my classes, and that's a word that, well, someone always asks about. Plus I wanted to make you laugh. As always...
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Mnemonics: Beyond lol, omg, and wtf
As my students gear up for (read: freak out over) their upcoming first lab practical exam -- an experience in which they must identify labeled bone specimens while I time them -- they are memorizing, memorizing, memorizing. Some use flashcards, some rewrite their notes, some test each other. I think some just sit and cry.
Meanwhile, on my facebook page this week, I had two separate friends who don't know each other post complaints/questions/observations about the abbreviations we all have come to use in our emails, fb posts, tweets, and txts. One friend used an abbreviation -- SMH -- that a whole bunch of people didn't know. I didn't know it either until he wrote it out: Shaking My Head.
The second friend was lamenting the general loss of punctuation that has come along with so many LMAOs CUs and ROFLs.
It has all brought to mind an old trick used in many fields to remember seemingly random collections of terms: the mnemonic device.
Named for the Greek Titan goddess of memory, Mnemosyne, a mnemonic device often takes the first letter of each word that must be memorized and turns that word into another word starting with the same letter. You string the words together in a sentence. Most people try to make the sentence funny; then it's easier to remember. Then, when you remember the sentence, you should, in theory, then recall the original words. Here's an example:
Dr. Coco says, "For the lab practical, you must know the 8 carpal bones (the bones of the wrist). They are arranged in 2 rows of 4 bones each. Their names are, in order, from thumb side to pinky side, and starting with the proximal (closer in to the body) row: Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetrum, Pisiform, Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, Hamate."
Student says, "WTF?"
Dr. Coco says, "The textbook gives this mnemonic: Sally Left The Party To Take Carmen Home."
Student says, "That makes sense."
Dr. Coco says, "But I can never remember the names of these people, so I have a better one: Scared Lovers Try Positions That They Cannot Handle."
Student says, "But that makes no sense. If they're scared, why would they try a new position?"
Dr. Coco says, "Touche. Point well-taken. Maybe they're Super Lovers. Or Sad Lovers. Or maybe they're still Scared, but they Try stuff They Can Handle. Just don't substitute Stuff for Positions That. Get it?"
Student says, "WT... OK, I just made one up, and it's better because it actually has to do with anatomy: Stop Letting Those People Touch The Cadaver's Hand!"
Dr. Coco says, "Wow, that is good. I'm gonna write it down."
I really did have a lab group in my current class at Santa Monica College come up with that last one and present it to the class. Quite clever. I'm adding it to the list for next semester. They had to repeat it a few times for me to write it down, and then I was unable to remember it after class. That's the problem with mnemonics, for me at least. I can never remember the sentence that is supposed to trigger my memory!
Some people do really well with mnemonics, but not me. So... what's a girl to do?
I'll tell you what a former -- and outstanding -- student of mine did. This student, Antranik, already had a blog when he started my class a year ago. He didn't want to stop writing, so he added an anatomy category to the blog, and he basically rewrote his notes on my lectures and posted them. So cool! Several of his classmates found those posts useful for their studying. Then he wrote a separate post all about study skills, and here's the link:
http://antranik.org/10-study-tips-and-skills-thatll-bring-out-the-genius-in-you/
Now, I'm serious, he did really well in my class. Legally, I can't tell you exactly how well. And I do not grade on a curve or any such thing. But it would behoove you to at least take a gander at his study tips and his anatomy notes. BTW he's got Physio, Bio, and Pharm categories under the Sciences tab, so if you need those, check them out.
Ultimately, each person has to figure out how their own brain processes information -- and retains and recalls it. Some people are visual learners, some are auditory. Some need both types of input. I always have a collection of phones on my desk recording my lectures, but at West LA College this semester, one student is actually videotaping the lectures because he needs to see me talking when he listens to the recorded lectures. Some people are kinesthetic learners and do better when they physically rewrite their notes, sometimes over and over, and then see their own handwriting. Whatever it takes.
The bottom line is, PTYS (play to your strengths) DWYGD (do what you gotta do) and DWJD (don't whine, just do). I made those up. But I believe in those things, especially the DWJD one.
And I'm still waiting for the interpretive dance version of those 8 carpal bones.
We can't remember a thing with our heads cut off!
http://www.freeimageslive.com/galleries/buildings/abstract/pics/museumpiece03376.jpg
ADDENDUM TO THIS POST:
A former -- and also successful -- student of mine commented below and included a link to a Berkeley student's blog that had some study tips. Her link didn't hyperlink, so I'm doing that here:
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~calblog/wordpress/2012/08/29/study-tips-from-jade/
Meanwhile, on my facebook page this week, I had two separate friends who don't know each other post complaints/questions/observations about the abbreviations we all have come to use in our emails, fb posts, tweets, and txts. One friend used an abbreviation -- SMH -- that a whole bunch of people didn't know. I didn't know it either until he wrote it out: Shaking My Head.
The second friend was lamenting the general loss of punctuation that has come along with so many LMAOs CUs and ROFLs.
It has all brought to mind an old trick used in many fields to remember seemingly random collections of terms: the mnemonic device.
Named for the Greek Titan goddess of memory, Mnemosyne, a mnemonic device often takes the first letter of each word that must be memorized and turns that word into another word starting with the same letter. You string the words together in a sentence. Most people try to make the sentence funny; then it's easier to remember. Then, when you remember the sentence, you should, in theory, then recall the original words. Here's an example:
Dr. Coco says, "For the lab practical, you must know the 8 carpal bones (the bones of the wrist). They are arranged in 2 rows of 4 bones each. Their names are, in order, from thumb side to pinky side, and starting with the proximal (closer in to the body) row: Scaphoid, Lunate, Triquetrum, Pisiform, Trapezium, Trapezoid, Capitate, Hamate."
Student says, "WTF?"
Dr. Coco says, "The textbook gives this mnemonic: Sally Left The Party To Take Carmen Home."
Student says, "That makes sense."
Dr. Coco says, "But I can never remember the names of these people, so I have a better one: Scared Lovers Try Positions That They Cannot Handle."
Student says, "But that makes no sense. If they're scared, why would they try a new position?"
Dr. Coco says, "Touche. Point well-taken. Maybe they're Super Lovers. Or Sad Lovers. Or maybe they're still Scared, but they Try stuff They Can Handle. Just don't substitute Stuff for Positions That. Get it?"
Student says, "WT... OK, I just made one up, and it's better because it actually has to do with anatomy: Stop Letting Those People Touch The Cadaver's Hand!"
Dr. Coco says, "Wow, that is good. I'm gonna write it down."
I really did have a lab group in my current class at Santa Monica College come up with that last one and present it to the class. Quite clever. I'm adding it to the list for next semester. They had to repeat it a few times for me to write it down, and then I was unable to remember it after class. That's the problem with mnemonics, for me at least. I can never remember the sentence that is supposed to trigger my memory!
Some people do really well with mnemonics, but not me. So... what's a girl to do?
I'll tell you what a former -- and outstanding -- student of mine did. This student, Antranik, already had a blog when he started my class a year ago. He didn't want to stop writing, so he added an anatomy category to the blog, and he basically rewrote his notes on my lectures and posted them. So cool! Several of his classmates found those posts useful for their studying. Then he wrote a separate post all about study skills, and here's the link:
http://antranik.org/10-study-tips-and-skills-thatll-bring-out-the-genius-in-you/
Now, I'm serious, he did really well in my class. Legally, I can't tell you exactly how well. And I do not grade on a curve or any such thing. But it would behoove you to at least take a gander at his study tips and his anatomy notes. BTW he's got Physio, Bio, and Pharm categories under the Sciences tab, so if you need those, check them out.
Ultimately, each person has to figure out how their own brain processes information -- and retains and recalls it. Some people are visual learners, some are auditory. Some need both types of input. I always have a collection of phones on my desk recording my lectures, but at West LA College this semester, one student is actually videotaping the lectures because he needs to see me talking when he listens to the recorded lectures. Some people are kinesthetic learners and do better when they physically rewrite their notes, sometimes over and over, and then see their own handwriting. Whatever it takes.
The bottom line is, PTYS (play to your strengths) DWYGD (do what you gotta do) and DWJD (don't whine, just do). I made those up. But I believe in those things, especially the DWJD one.
And I'm still waiting for the interpretive dance version of those 8 carpal bones.
http://www.freeimageslive.com/galleries/buildings/abstract/pics/museumpiece03376.jpg
ADDENDUM TO THIS POST:
A former -- and also successful -- student of mine commented below and included a link to a Berkeley student's blog that had some study tips. Her link didn't hyperlink, so I'm doing that here:
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~calblog/wordpress/2012/08/29/study-tips-from-jade/
Monday, September 24, 2012
Do's and Don'ts in the Healthcare Professions
I get a lot of students in my classes who are gunning to go into one of the healthcare professions -- pre-med, pre-dental, pre-nursing, pre-physical therapy, pre-physician's assistant, pre-chiropractic... a lot of "pre's." Particularly on the first day of class, everyone is very nervous but also so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, as my mom, herself a pediatrician, used to say. But it's a long road from my class to hanging a shingle...
Last week I found myself at a new dentist's office for a check-up and x-rays. Now, I'll be the first to admit I'm not much of a dentist person. I think most people aren't. But I have had some very excellent -- and very personable, kind, even witty -- dentists, and I will say that I genuinely liked them and my drill time spent with them.
Not so, New Dentist.
Based on this visit, and on experiences I've had with all sorts of healthcare professionals as a doc, a patient, and a mom, I thought I'd compile a list of Do's and Don'ts for anyone who makes it beyond my class:
1. If you are a dentist, DON'T sigh heavily, make any sort of "tsk-tsk" type sounds, or shake your head disapprovingly while you count out to your assistant the numbers of the patient's teeth. Those of us who go in to the dentist begrudgingly and not on the recommended every-six-month schedule pretty much know that we're gonna need some "extra work" done. We know we screwed up. But we also have our reasons, some of them silly (e.g., fear/paranoia), some of them legit (e.g., lack of insurance/funds). We're in the chair because we have finally sucked it up and decided to allow you to fix our disaster. It does not make us more compliant if you make us feel bad about ourselves. So don't.
2. If you are a pharmacist or pharmacist's assistant -- but especially a pharmacist because you are supposed to be in charge of your staff -- DO read every prescription and patient profile carefully. Yes, I've already heard the excuse that your pharmacy is so busy, blah, blah, well, we're all busy, that is not an excuse, you have a job that you are paid to do behind that counter. The next pharmacist who hands my husband a bottle of Amoxicillin for our son who is allergic to penicillin and who has that fact plastered all over his charts -- I will cut your head off. And DON'T argue with me that Amoxicillin is different from penicillin, "so, ma'am, it's OK." First of all, it's, "so, Doctor, it's OK," and you know what, it's not OK. I have consulted directly with USC Pharmacy School, and, guess what? It counts!
2A. If you are an M.D., DO double and triple check the patient's chart for drug allergies! Refer to #2 above. The pharmacist cannot necessarily be depended upon to catch your egregious error! If you are an intern or a resident and I catch your egregious error, I have already called your attending doc directly in the middle of the night and you are going to catch the worst hell of your career any moment now. Is that your pager beeping? Yeah.
3. If you are a school nurse, DON'T "reassure" parents that "we all just have to make it to May 31st." When it's mid-August, that's a whole school year away, and if you're already miserable, maybe you should consider a career change.
4. If you are a Certified Diabetes Educator, DON'T enter the hospital room of a newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic child, hand him or her a teddy bear with a medical alert bracelet on it, and start singing some ridiculous song that goes something like, "Hi, I'm Sticky the Teddy Bear, and I have diabetes, la-la-la" with some big idiotic smile on your face. It's not fun. It's not funny. It's not cute. It does not cheer anyone up. The child and the family have just been hit with a giant brick in their collective face. No. Songs.
OK, that's enough advice/ranting for one day. More Do's and Don'ts in a future post. For now, get back to studying ;) !!!
Last week I found myself at a new dentist's office for a check-up and x-rays. Now, I'll be the first to admit I'm not much of a dentist person. I think most people aren't. But I have had some very excellent -- and very personable, kind, even witty -- dentists, and I will say that I genuinely liked them and my drill time spent with them.
Not so, New Dentist.
Based on this visit, and on experiences I've had with all sorts of healthcare professionals as a doc, a patient, and a mom, I thought I'd compile a list of Do's and Don'ts for anyone who makes it beyond my class:
1. If you are a dentist, DON'T sigh heavily, make any sort of "tsk-tsk" type sounds, or shake your head disapprovingly while you count out to your assistant the numbers of the patient's teeth. Those of us who go in to the dentist begrudgingly and not on the recommended every-six-month schedule pretty much know that we're gonna need some "extra work" done. We know we screwed up. But we also have our reasons, some of them silly (e.g., fear/paranoia), some of them legit (e.g., lack of insurance/funds). We're in the chair because we have finally sucked it up and decided to allow you to fix our disaster. It does not make us more compliant if you make us feel bad about ourselves. So don't.
2. If you are a pharmacist or pharmacist's assistant -- but especially a pharmacist because you are supposed to be in charge of your staff -- DO read every prescription and patient profile carefully. Yes, I've already heard the excuse that your pharmacy is so busy, blah, blah, well, we're all busy, that is not an excuse, you have a job that you are paid to do behind that counter. The next pharmacist who hands my husband a bottle of Amoxicillin for our son who is allergic to penicillin and who has that fact plastered all over his charts -- I will cut your head off. And DON'T argue with me that Amoxicillin is different from penicillin, "so, ma'am, it's OK." First of all, it's, "so, Doctor, it's OK," and you know what, it's not OK. I have consulted directly with USC Pharmacy School, and, guess what? It counts!
2A. If you are an M.D., DO double and triple check the patient's chart for drug allergies! Refer to #2 above. The pharmacist cannot necessarily be depended upon to catch your egregious error! If you are an intern or a resident and I catch your egregious error, I have already called your attending doc directly in the middle of the night and you are going to catch the worst hell of your career any moment now. Is that your pager beeping? Yeah.
3. If you are a school nurse, DON'T "reassure" parents that "we all just have to make it to May 31st." When it's mid-August, that's a whole school year away, and if you're already miserable, maybe you should consider a career change.
4. If you are a Certified Diabetes Educator, DON'T enter the hospital room of a newly diagnosed Type 1 Diabetic child, hand him or her a teddy bear with a medical alert bracelet on it, and start singing some ridiculous song that goes something like, "Hi, I'm Sticky the Teddy Bear, and I have diabetes, la-la-la" with some big idiotic smile on your face. It's not fun. It's not funny. It's not cute. It does not cheer anyone up. The child and the family have just been hit with a giant brick in their collective face. No. Songs.
OK, that's enough advice/ranting for one day. More Do's and Don'ts in a future post. For now, get back to studying ;) !!!
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Sharpey's Restaurant in the Haversian Inn
Anyone who has taken my anatomy class in the last couple of years knows that I complain about the renaming of anatomical structures that has been taking place over the past 10 years or so. Every semester I joke about the all-new, improved anatomy textbook WE are going to write -- but until then, we are stuck with these boring and unacceptable new names for things. The joking is over! I've got a blog now, so I'm gonna write something!
Alright then, let us begin, calmly, with a brief introduction of a few of the Old World names for body parts, and compare them with the new nomenclature:
OLD WORLD NAME ---------------------- NEW
NOMENCLATURE
Islets of Langerhans Pancreatic islets
This is by far the source of my greatest sadness. "Islets of Langerhans" rrrrrolllls off the tongue so nicely, especially if you have a German, Dutch, or Swedish accent. I always imagine Julie Andrews singing the intro to "The Sound of Music" when I say the name "Langerhans." Yes, I know the von Trapps were in Austria, and I don't think any of the actors in that movie were actually Austrian. No matter. A German anatomist named Paul Langerhans discovered these collections of cells in the pancreas in 1869, and his name has been printed in medical texts ever since. Until 1998, that is, with the publication of that year's "Terminologia Anatomica," developed by the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists and the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (a mouthful, I know). Apparently, there has been a lot of politics between the two groups, and I'm not into politics, but in the end, everyone seemed to have decided that practical names that spoke to location or function or origin would make more sense than names of long-dead scientists. And, so, we continue...
Merkel cell Tactile epithelial cell
Oh, come on, people! Is this seriously an argument? "Tactile epithelial cell" is about as dry as it gets, while "Merkel cell," ah, "Merkel cell" -- I can hear the ripples of laughter from my 4-year-old's entire being as I tickle him and trigger those little touch receptors located in the stratum basale of the epidermis, discovered in 1875 by Friedrich Sigmund Merkel. Moving on...
Haversian system Osteon
Not as bad as the other two changes, but still. "Osteon" is very practical, while "Haversian system," named after the physician who first described them, Clopton Havers, in 1957... to be honest, that makes me think of opening a quaint inn on a lake in Wisconsin and calling it the Haversian Inn. When I mentioned this on a whim to my Santa Monica College class recently, we decided that there would be a restaurant in the inn called Sharpey's. Which is a nice segue (not Segway) to...
Sharpey's fibers Perforating fibers
Sharpey's fibers anchor the periosteal covering of bone to the bone tissue itself. OK, sure, they perforate the bone tissue and that's how the periosteum stays on, like Velcro. But why not give William Sharpey credit for the work he did in 1846?
This is only the tip of the iceberg. This list will continue! The Old World names will live on! And we will open Sharpey's Restaurant inside the Haversian Inn on the shore of an idyllic lake in the fingertip part of the glove shape of Wisconsin.
In the meantime, for your perusal, listed from cheapest to priciest. I haven't looked through these, but they probably use them newfangled terms, though the Netter book has the best chance of still using traditional terminology because Frank Netter, M.D. created all of his amazing paintings in the mid-1900s.
Alright then, let us begin, calmly, with a brief introduction of a few of the Old World names for body parts, and compare them with the new nomenclature:
OLD WORLD NAME ---------------------- NEW
NOMENCLATURE
Islets of Langerhans Pancreatic islets
This is by far the source of my greatest sadness. "Islets of Langerhans" rrrrrolllls off the tongue so nicely, especially if you have a German, Dutch, or Swedish accent. I always imagine Julie Andrews singing the intro to "The Sound of Music" when I say the name "Langerhans." Yes, I know the von Trapps were in Austria, and I don't think any of the actors in that movie were actually Austrian. No matter. A German anatomist named Paul Langerhans discovered these collections of cells in the pancreas in 1869, and his name has been printed in medical texts ever since. Until 1998, that is, with the publication of that year's "Terminologia Anatomica," developed by the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists and the Federative Committee on Anatomical Terminology (a mouthful, I know). Apparently, there has been a lot of politics between the two groups, and I'm not into politics, but in the end, everyone seemed to have decided that practical names that spoke to location or function or origin would make more sense than names of long-dead scientists. And, so, we continue...
Merkel cell Tactile epithelial cell
Oh, come on, people! Is this seriously an argument? "Tactile epithelial cell" is about as dry as it gets, while "Merkel cell," ah, "Merkel cell" -- I can hear the ripples of laughter from my 4-year-old's entire being as I tickle him and trigger those little touch receptors located in the stratum basale of the epidermis, discovered in 1875 by Friedrich Sigmund Merkel. Moving on...
Haversian system Osteon
Not as bad as the other two changes, but still. "Osteon" is very practical, while "Haversian system," named after the physician who first described them, Clopton Havers, in 1957... to be honest, that makes me think of opening a quaint inn on a lake in Wisconsin and calling it the Haversian Inn. When I mentioned this on a whim to my Santa Monica College class recently, we decided that there would be a restaurant in the inn called Sharpey's. Which is a nice segue (not Segway) to...
Sharpey's fibers Perforating fibers
Sharpey's fibers anchor the periosteal covering of bone to the bone tissue itself. OK, sure, they perforate the bone tissue and that's how the periosteum stays on, like Velcro. But why not give William Sharpey credit for the work he did in 1846?
This is only the tip of the iceberg. This list will continue! The Old World names will live on! And we will open Sharpey's Restaurant inside the Haversian Inn on the shore of an idyllic lake in the fingertip part of the glove shape of Wisconsin.
In the meantime, for your perusal, listed from cheapest to priciest. I haven't looked through these, but they probably use them newfangled terms, though the Netter book has the best chance of still using traditional terminology because Frank Netter, M.D. created all of his amazing paintings in the mid-1900s.
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