JK Rowlings on the Benefits of Failure

J.K. Rowling Speaks at Harvard Commencement from Harvard Magazine on Vimeo.

Another interesting idea...

I really enjoy running, but tend to get various pains in my shins and my knees. I think I'm going to try this out and see what happens...

Geo - Medicine

an interesting idea...

self portrait series

I've been home sick for several days, and have had just enough energy to try some self portraits out. The mask I bought at a little artist's coop in Cordoba.



















All works copyright 2010, Kent Tisher. All Rights Reserved. These images are NOT in the public domain!

My new favourite blog

The Sartorialist

The archives are really worth looking through!

A bit of singing...a vanity project.

I've made a little movie of photos I've taken this year in Europe, with some of the recording I did last week. The singing is not perfect, but there are a few decent moments.

The Amateur Transplants

Totally NSFW! With a lot of strong language! But some great medical gallows humour.

In which he does two weeks in A&E and discovers that recording opera arias after a day seeing patients isn't that great an idea...

Thank you to those readers who emailed and let me know they were thinking of me after my last rather gloomy post. I'm doing much better thank you. I had a good two weeks in A&E (ER for those of you of a North American persuasion; Accident and Emergency). It was good feeling as if I actually knew something. My IV cannulation got much better, I hit several ABGs without incident, and I am starting to be able to take a history, do an exam, and come up with a differential and a plan with minimal input. I also saw some pretty cool things. I can also say unequivocally that performing CPR while slightly hung over is not a good idea. For those of you who have never done actual chest compressions on a person, it is HARD physical work; and work that I recommend one be in top physical form before attempting. And several of the docs and ENPs I was working with said nice things about me and my skills as a medical student. A little ego stroking praise can go a long way when you're feeling down. Especially if you're a tenor.

And apart from the cowboy stuff, I did get to see some sobering medicine; the young patient who died unexpectedly from an unforseen complication of a totally treatable disease, the cancer patient who came in dying sooner than anticipated from something rather peripheral to their struggle with cancer, the senior citizen who was fine yesterday, but today was aphasic and whose CT shows a tumour in the brain. There's nothing like a little life and death to put some winter blues and homesickness in perspective. And frankly, as sad as these things were, I am actually gladdened that in a few small ways, I was able to acknowledge their humanity, and ease their suffering.

And last week, I did a bit of recording. I got together with a pianist friend with a portable recorder, and sang some Handel and Donezetti (among other things). And while I don't recommend singing difficult repertoire after a day seeing patients at the hospital without doing much warming up, I was generally pleased with how the recording turned out. There were some really nice moments, despite the fatigue, and I have some real ideas of what to work on next in the shower. And I hope to head to Berlin in Feb. for a weekend masterclass with my voice teacher, which should be a welcome break from things medical.

I have now started my last rotation here in the UK, Paediatrics. And in 6 weeks, I will officially be finished my third year of medical school. Ummm...where did that time go? I'm not quite sure. It's a bit scary. But I'm looking forward to being home and one year closer to not knowing what I'm doing with my life.

Be well!

A New Year's Update...I think

I has been a long time since I wrote an update. And, like Disraeli, I am not generally one to embark on explanations or apologies...it's not because I haven't had anything to write about. There have been several incidents that I needed to write about to get out of my system, but which I didn't have the energy or courage, or both. It occurs to me that I might be a bit depressed, or suffering a bit of late culture shock, or maybe I'm just tired...

So on with my generic update. I had a good time in my Obstetrics rotation. Wrote two exams at the beginning of Dec (Surgery and Ob/Gyn), which I passed. Sang two Christmas concerts, one of which I had a couple of nice solo bits. Took two weeks off for Christmas and New Years (hence the pictures from Spain). And despite all of the interesting things I've been doing, and the stuff I've been learning, I'm tired and ready for a break. In fact, I'm feeling a bit burned out. Which is a little alarming, because I still have a long way to go. And while I keep telling myself I need a vacation, I've just come back from a lovely two week one with my parents.

I am a bit lonely. While I have developed a bit of a social network over here, I'm still missing family and friends from home. And I'm getting very tired of the dismal living situation here. What is it about the UK and dire student accommodations? This place would be 100% nicer to live in for a coat of paint. Several years ago, I was in the UK as a member of a Cathedral Choir on tour, and we stayed in student accommodations at a University-that-will-remain-nameless, and I thought I'd never seen such awful living conditions. But there apparently this is not entirely uncommon...

This is from our shower room.


And I'm getting awfully tired of messy flatmates who leave the kitchen an awful mess, steal food, and seem oblivious to the common courtesies inherent in shared living arrangements. Were these kids all raised by wolves? Ok, so I had to walk to school uphill in blizzards both ways, but it still rankles. Although to be fair, they did get me some drugs when I was puking my guts out this week (Norovirus is going around).

Oh well, this too shall pass. I'm only here another few weeks, and then it's back home to study for more big exams.

Other than the desire to be back home and my dealing with some stupid personal crap, I'm not sure why I'm feeling so blah. I feel like I've lost much of my confidence, and every time I walk into the hospital, I feel like I know less than I did the day before. And while this is quite possibly true, it isn't terribly comforting.

I shall keep plugging away. And I'll be home at the beginning of March, so if you're around, let me know. Be well!

More photos from Spain...

Christmas in Spain

I had a good time with my parents in Spain this Christmas. Here are a few photos...

The joys of live performance.

This is why I love live performance, anything can happen. This has never happened to me, though.

Engage with Grace

Last year, I posted a series of questions designed to help readers think about what sort of medical care they wanted during the last moments of their lives. The med blogging community is reprising last year's effort, and I thought I'd participate again. I have reproduced below a blog post from Engage with Grace. While it's not necessarily the most enjoyable subject, it's a worthwhile one to contemplate.

-BB

We're continuing a tradition at THCB started last year. Asking you to take a moment this weekend to discuss your desires for how to live the end of your life as meaningfully as possible--If you want to reproduce this post on your blog (or anywhere) you can download a ready-made html version hereMatthew Holt

Last Thanksgiving weekend, many of us bloggers participated in the first documented blog rally to promote Engage With Grace, a movement aimed at having all of us understand and communicate our end-of-life wishes.

It was a great success, with over 100 bloggers in the healthcare space and beyond participating and spreading the word. Plus, it was timed to coincide with a weekend when most of us are with the very people with whom we should be having these tough conversations, our closest friends and family.

Our original mission, to get more and more people talking about their end of life wishes, hasn't changed. But it's been quite a year, so we thought this holiday, we'd try something different.

A bit of levity.

At the heart of Engage With Grace are five questions designed to get the conversation started. We've included them at the end of this post. They're not easy questions, but they are important.

To help ease us into these tough questions, and in the spirit of the season, we thought we'd start with five parallel questions that ARE pretty easy to answer: 

Silly? Maybe. But it underscores how having a template like this, just five questions in plain, simple language, can deflate some of the complexity, formality and even misnomers that have sometimes surrounded the end-of-life discussion.

So with that, we've included the five questions from Engage With Grace below. Think about them, document them, share them.




Over the past year there's been a lot of discussion around end of life. And we've been fortunate to hear a lot of the more uplifting stories, as folks have used these five questions to initiate the conversation.




One man shared how surprised he was to learn that his wife's preferences were not what he expected. Befitting this holiday, The One Slide now stands sentry on their fridge.




Wishing you and yours a holiday that's fulfilling in all the right ways.

(To learn more please go to www.engagewithgrace.org. This post was written by Alexandra Drane and the Engage With Grace team. )

Criminal Behaviour

A brief update...

I've just started my Obstetrics/Gynae rotation. I must admit, I am VERY glad to be finished with surgery (although Obs/Gyn has a fair bit of theatre time as well). I had a wonderful two weeks off with my sister in France, and got back ready to start up again.

And it's been a wonderful week! The Obs/Gyn team here are really pleasant to work with, from the midwives, to the junior docs, to the consultants! I have spent time in clinic with docs, midives, and hung out in the labour ward. I've seen two c-sections, and one normal delivery (which is pretty good for my first week; it's hard as a male medical student to get consent to observe a delivery).

The first section I saw was an emergency, and was one of the most harrowing surgeries I have ever seen. And this wasn't because of it being my first one, everyone involved (from the consultant to the midwives, to the peadiatrics team) talked about how this was possibly the worst they'd ever been a part of. But in the end, the baby was born and after a bit of work, started breathing. It was pretty intense, and I'm not sure I've really come to terms with what just happened.

The next section I saw was also an emergency, but not nearly as panicked as the first. And when the baby was born, in excellent condition, as the young father came over to greet his child I must admit I had tears in my eyes. I am really liking this delivering babies thing! And the vaginal delivery was pretty cool!

Today was a slightly lazy day. I was at the hospital until after 1am last night, so I slept in this morning. I'm afraid my internal clock is getting a little bit turned around. Oh well.

Tomorrow, I'll have to really hit the studying. I have a surgery exam coming up in a few weeks, and it's hard studying for something I really have very little interest in, while in the middle of something I am really enjoying! Oh well, it has to be done.

So it'll be a busy couple of weeks. Add to that the two choir concerts I have agreed to sing in Dec, and I'll probably be really needing my vacation.