A(n)nals Of An Idle Mind

The most dynamic person I've known..

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 9 Sep 2011 16:57:00 -0400

My Dada (Grandpa) passed away yesterday.

Even though he had been ill for a while now with cardiac and arthritic issues, and this was expected sooner or later, the fact that he won’t be around anymore brings back a flood of happy memories of times with him.

There have been issues where we have disagreed with him and fought with him- like every other family- but he was definitely the most vibrant and active man I have known even in his old age.

Dada and Dadi would stay in West Bengal most of the year, and come over to our place for a couple of months every year.

Being the elder sibling I would sleep with them in their room. He had the most adorable way of waking me up for school. He would start with his daily chores around 4am, all the while humming shlokas from the Geeta and coming to whisper them in my ear every 10-15 minutes. Though (being a person that shows disinterest in any activity of the religious kind) I hardly ever admitted it, I quite enjoyed being woken up that way.

He would then spoil me by giving me some money (that my parents never allowed!) to spend at the thelas outside school. This was a daily ritual for the months that they were around in Rajasthan.

We would go out to Shastri Circle in the evenings. Him, for his walk and routine of getting the English newspaper (that would arrive in our city in the evening). Me, just for the fact that I could get him to buy me comics (which, again, my parents didn’t show much interest in getting for me! It was a task to convince them to let me get comics!)

So every first and fifteenth of the month we had special walks to the stationary shop at the Shastri Circle to get my fill of Champaks, Balhans, Nandan and Nanhe Samrat. On the other days, it was just for the fun of going out and climbing towards the statue of Shastri ji while listening to stories of freedom fighters and such.

[It sounds cheesy, I know. But I was a greedy kid!]

Those are most of the memories I have of him as a kid.

Then again, one act that I hold him in great regard for, is his kids’ education. Even though they stayed in a small village in West Bengal, and did not have much money, he made sure that his kids- not just the sons, but also the daughter- went to one of the best boarding schools in the country.

Even with our differences, he was definitely the most dynamic person I knew.

I’ll miss him.

[The post was just written as a vent-out for me, since I have no one to talk to right now, and needed closure]

Stranded! - Dwitiya

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 15:34:00 -0400

It all started with the eruption of the Icelandic volcano, Efjya.. Ejffya *googles* Eyjafjallajökull. A lot of European airports were shut down, including Frankfurt, where I was stuck for four days.

Here's my story in pictures. This should hopefully keep it cohesive and concise.

[The backdrop is in the previous post Stranded - Part One, which is a hurriedly scribbled affair]

Day 1:

Frankfurt Airport where I was supposed to stay for six hours but ended up staying for four days.

The Longest Day

Rows of cots for people who had already been stuck there for a day.

Everyone was upset and confused over what was going on. And apprehensive about what was to come next.

Most people staying at the terminal were the ones who did not have a visa for Germany. [Those who did, could go and stay at an airline sponsored hotel]

Day 1: By early evening, it became apparent that this was for real. Nothing flew in. Nothing flew out.

Day 1, Evening: They had to add additional rows of cots to accommodate the large numbers of people.

Day 1, Night: No activity on runways.

My little bed on Day 1. Covers were provided by Fraport authorities/Airlines.

Ended up shifting base to a corner of the main terminal, where most people were staying put.

Day 2:
Did not click many pictures on Day 2 since I was panicking by this point and was hoping to get out of there as soon as possible.

New friends.

"What to do?" Just sitting and waiting.

Day 2: Decent (airline) food. Yes, it was indeed good to get something different and palatable after 3-4 meals of sandwiches and soup.

Day 3:
On coming to terms with the situation, and with some ideas from the family, I decided to click pictures and post on Facebook!

New day. New news. [Although it had no news about any potential changes to our state].

More new friends.

People in queue for clean clothes.

This was because by day 3, everyone had run of clean clothes in their carry- on. We had no access to our checked baggage.

Day 3: Sleeping. Talking. And roaming around clicking pictures.

"Doesn't matter if we can't go out!"- This gentleman decided to do some sight seeing within the airport itself! :o)

Finally took a shower on Day 3. All clean. Yes :) [ Clean clothes were provided by our Airlines!]

Sitting and talking. All from different parts of the world.

FOOD! By Day 3, we got some really good food provided by the Airlines. Available 24*7!

Making the terminal our home.

Food and Drinks..

..And some good coffee and hot chocolate!

All this was enough to keep me happy! :D

Going barefoot, because by day 3, my shoes were stinking! [You don't really think about these little things until you actually go through them]

The crew that fed us! :D

They had chocolates too! :o)

Finally by afternoon Day 3, the Indian Embassy officials decided to pay us a visit. People crowding around them, trying to talk through their problems.

Talking to the embassy officials for basic requirements like clean clothes, shoes and medicines. [We had ample to eat and drink, but clothes were in short supply]

The embassy got us some clothes, but apparently these were from some Flood Relief Fund. Basically they treated us like refugees of some sort. [Shame on them!]

People still tried to get their hands on as many clothes as possible. [And I ended up just clicking these pictures :@] It was chaos! -- As our fifth grade teacher would say, "A fish-market, really!"

Talking to an Embassy official

Telling them our problems, and suggesting solutions.

Doctors in the group making a list of medicines that would be needed. Most of the people with conditions like DM and HTN had run out of their supply of meds by this time.

Listing medicines.

A group of people babysitting for another passenger :o)

Evening of day 3. Still no activity on the runway.

As one of them said, "All in band uniform". All in clothes supplied by the Airlines.

The empty pathway. One random guy in the distance trying to make a call from the very German pay phone.

Day 3, Evening: We had come to terms with the fact that it might not be soon that we would get out of here. So why not make the most of it? So a couple of new friends and I, decided to watch 'The Terminal'. Much fun it was!

There were these TVs that kept on blaring news 24*7. How do we sleep? Well, AN found a way to turn them off at night! :D

Successful in turning the damned TVs off for a good night's sleep.

Day 4:
Most of early Day 4 for me, was spent in a queue and in one of the airport offices, since I decided to have a go at trying to get a German visa.
Rumors were that there was a loooooong queue at the office. This was one of the reasons why I did not go there earlier.
On getting to the office I found it to be true.
But as I waited there for a couple of hours, and was about to give up and go back, I found that they were making special concessions for Indians and giving them a visa out of turn! :)
So I went in and got my visa stamped! (Yayyy!)

As I got to the main Airline counter to get my Hotel vouchers, it turned out they they were now giving vouchers for just one day. There was no guarantee of how long we'd have to stay there though.
So on discussing with some other passengers I decided to stay put at the terminal. The logic being- a) I'd save money b) I'd find out sooner about flight statuses here than at the hotel. c) I had already stayed here three days, and was well acquainted with everything by now.

So I stayed on.

Day 4: Early afternoon, there was some news of some flights being re-started that evening. We weren't sure when our turn would come, but it was a start. :)

Saying Goodbyes: Loved this smiling gentleman. He was the epitome of calmness. Busy with his own work, but always greeting everyone with a smile. [Reminded me of the singing guy from FRIENDS for some reason]

Day 4: There were cheers from everyone as the first flight in four days took off for Chicago!

Everyone was happy now! My main concern was to make sure I got up early enough in the morning to stand in queue for the earliest tickets out.

Day 4, night: With hopes of leaving the next day, it was time to clean up the clothes line in our corner of the terminal.

My home for four days! :')

The boards were almost empty, but some flights had resumed. They had posted details on this sheet of paper.

Day 5:
I forgot to mention, we were issued temporary tickets everyday in the hope that flights might resume that day. But the catch was that there was always a long queue to get those tickets too. So I always chickened out.

This time, it was for real.. Some flights had already taken off!

I set up multiple alarms to make sure that I'd be up early the next morning and not miss out on my chance to get a ticket to Delhi. Who knew how long the airport would stay open.. The volcano was still erupting after all.

Day 5: 6.00 am, Standing in queue to get our tickets.

Lufthansa- Who took good care of us while we were at the airport.

MY AIRPLANE!! I was so excited at the prospect of going back home that I ended up shopping for more chocolates than I had actually brought from the US! Duty free shopping FTW!

We left Frankfurt at noon of day 5. The journey back was uneventful. Full of sleep and watching Tum Mile.

PS: This post in pictures was basically an extension of the Facebook album that I had posted LIVE from Fraankfurt. But I wanted to make sure I chronicled this on the blog, since that Facebook album might very well be deleted.

PPS: The chronology of pictures might be a leeeettle bit skewed, well because it has been an year hasn't it?!

Stranded! - Part One

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 09:04:00 -0400

Now that I am done with all my travels and exams, its time to finish up writing some old stories that I wanted to jot down.
This post is about the mini 'vacation' in Germany last year.

So I was about to end my US trip and head back home, when about a day ahead of my travel I heard this news about some volcano erupting in Iceland. "Whatever..!", I thought. I was just glad that I was flying Lufthansa since they shut down the Heathrow Airport. My connection was in Frankfurt, and that was still working in full swing so I was safe.

I boarded my flight on time and the trip to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful. I had about a 6-7 hour layover there, so I decided to catch up on the book I was reading ('The Longest Day' - A story about D-Day partly based in Germany) and some sleep.

While I was dozing off, a desi Uncleji came up to me to ask which way I was heading. I told him.

He then told me that his flight to Bombay was cancelled. And there were rumors of other flights being cancelled as well. "WTF! Seriously what's going on here!". I decided to got out of my cozy corner and check with the airline people.

By the time I reached the information desk, I was shocked to see long lines of people queued up already. And even more surprising were long rows of cots around the terminal.

Apparently, while I had walked to the terminal, I had conveniently failed to notice these people who were sleeping with makeshift arrangements of cots and blankets. Turned out that these people had their flights to Heathrow cancelled and were forced to make an emergency landing here.

Anyhow, by the time I stood in line for about fifteen minutes, it became clear that all flights in and out of the airport were being cancelled.

"Blow!" I thought. "What do I do next?"

Since there were a lot of desis around, I decided to hang around there and find out what was going on.

Rows of Cots

It turned out that since all flights had been cancelled, the airlines were handing out hotel vouchers to those who had a Germany visa. Since I (and a lot of travelers around me) did not have one, we were eft with two options- a) Stand in line for an emergency short term visa at a distant corner in some faraway terminal. b) Get one of those cots that the airline had provided and make base right at the terminal.

I was traveling alone, so I decided not to take any chances with getting lost by roaming around the huge airport (trust me, Frankfurt airport is HUGE! And its very much possible to get lost, especially when its shutdown). So I stayed with a bunch of Indians stuck in the same situation.

I had assumed this would last a day at the maximum, and we would be able to make our connections.

Bed On Day One

As the day progressed it became clear that no change in status was expected for the next 48 hours at least. Rumors were flying around.

I panicked a little.

Now that I had a place to call home-- a row of benches and some covers, the next task was to get connected to people back home.

Now calling them up was not an option for me. I'd tried that from the same airport about four months back and had failed because everything on the pay phones was in German!
I looked around for the next best thing. Free WiFi? Nope, this airport had none.
Then after wasting some precious Euros on an hour long connection, I decided to cough up for a month long unlimited access pass.

When I purchased it, I did not know that I'd actually have to use it for four days. But as it turned out it was hands down, the best investment I ever made.
As I spoke with the family in both corners of the world and updated Twitter and Facebook ;D, I felt much better.

While I spent most of my awake time on the internet, I also happened to meet some really nice people there.

The Terminal

- There was a group of four people, a doctor, a priest, an IT guy and a business person, who had met at the airport and become good friends! Hung out with them for some time.

- Then there was this elderly couple, who were going to the US for their daughter's graduation who took care of me like their kid!

- This group of people my age who had set up a Facebook group for those 'Ashed@Frankfurt' even before I did! All of us ended up downloading and watching 'The Terminal' together. I was awesome fun to compare and contrast our condition with Tom Hanks! :)

- There was this guy who was going for the Boston Marathon from Bangalore. He decided to return back to Bangalore eventually since he missed the race while stuck at the airport :(

- There was a pregnant lady in the group. Also an Ob/Gyn :)

- A group of Pakistani people who were going to London, and could have taken a bus to get there had they gotten a visa. [Apparently while its hard for Indians- for which I cursed the regulations a zillion times- since they need a visa, its even worse for Pakistanis and people from certain African nations. They were repeatedly being denied a visa, despite having a genuine request!]

- These, and hundreds more people with a thousand different stories.

There's so much more to tell about those four days. I'll continue with my story in another post..
:)

PS: My story might be very fragmented since there are so many things, and I keep jumping from one point to the other. But I hope I can do it justice. I was an adventure of a lifetime.

PPS: 80% of this post was written a couple of months back. So I'm posting the half baked thing just for the heck of it- so that it doesn't stay in my draft folder forever!

Final PPPS: After putting in some pictures, I realized that I would me much easier (and chronologically correct) to tell the story via pictures. So that's what I'l do next.

Kinect-ing the world

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:52:00 -0500

This post is intended solely for people who happen to chance upon the blog looking for a solution to the US vs India XBox adapter solution.

_____________________________________

On my last rip to the US, the only shopping I did was getting a XBox 360 with Kinect bundle. Since this was my first video game purchase since the old Nintendo-consoles-of-the-90s (the kinds that had Tetris and Mario and Contra!), I was pretty excited!
Also, the prospect of being able to control the game without a controller was kind of futuristic!

Now, after I bought the game, I realised a potential problem. The game was bought in US, but was intended for use in India. Since the voltage used in both countries is different, ie: 220 volts in India while 110 in the US; this needed a solution.
One option was a step down transformer. But reading up and researching a bit on the internets, I was pretty sure that a transformer was a bad idea and would blow up pretty soon!

Now during my search for the perfect solution, I came across this blog ! According to this, if you contacted Microsoft and told them your problem, they would send you an adapter free of charge.
Hah! Free adapter! High hopes, I thought!
But then, there was no harm in taking a chance!

So I got my brother to note down the registration number and the invoice number of the Xbox and contact Microsoft support on their toll free India number -- 1-800-102-1100.
And voila! The next day my brother tells me that they have responded to his problem and are sending in an adapter and cord FREE OF CHARGE! This was apparently a 'goodwill gesture' on part of Microsoft.

Sure enough, they wrote down my home address and sent the cords in! We got it on the 12th day of dispatch!*

We did not have to pay ANYTHING for the whole deal-- neither for the cords nor the shipping charges.

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Overall, I feel the Microsoft support was fantastic in responding to our problems! Even while they had shipped the cord, my brother (like an immature kid) would call them up every other day to find out the whereabouts of the cord. While they could not trace the cord, they were pretty nice, and made all efforts to let us know the exact date by which we would receive it!

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*Also, while we waited ten days for the adapter, we tried all sorts of jugaad measures, but unfortunately none of them worked. We tried a step down transformer, a friend's XBox adapter, a regular power plug without voltage conversion, just looking at the gaming system for hours, making trips to the courier shop! (We just could not buy a new original cord since it was not available in my city)
I do think we blew up the original adapter in the process too!

---------------------------
All said and done, now that I've played it. The Kinect is FANTASTIC! Love the technology! :)

_______________________________________
I've written down this post just to try and make the solution to this issue more visible on the internetz. During my searches for a proper solution, the above-mentioned blog was the only place where I could find this solution.
So now that I have tried and tested the solution, why not share it with more poor souls who might be looking to find a voltage solution for their US-bought-but-to-be-used-in-India XBox 360.

You-Know-What

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 01:46:00 -0500

Okay, the topic of the post might sound misleading to most, but those who are aware of it, might agree.

I am taking about the San Francisco Match (or the SF Match, as we call it affectionately). There seems to be a surprising lack of resources for more information about this match and how it works. I have yet to see another website besides the official site (which is quite informative for a beginner) that has some information on the system.

First things first, this is NOT a match for match in California! In fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with location whatsoever. A lot of people ask about whether you need a SSN or PTAL for this match. And the answer is NO.

This is just the same as the NRMP/ERAS match, except for the fact that its for certain fixed sub-specialties, and takes place earlier in the year.
Now since I matched for Child Neurology, that is what I'll talk about (even though the SF match also caters to other sub-specialties like NDD, Ophthalmology, Plastic Surgery etc)

Three Years of Child Neuro include one year of Adult.

What is Child Neurology and why am I talking about it here?
Well to answer the latter first. I MATCHED! And want to spread the love! (Especially for IMGs who don't have a med school advisor, and rely on seniors and forums for all information!)

To answer the former, read on..

When can you get into it?
WHENEVER YOU WANT! (..Well almost!) There are a couple of separate pathways to get into Pedi Neuro. To make sure I don't give a wrong message, let me quote from the website:

"Prerequisite Training: The training can be initiated following one of three options:
(1) 2 years of residency training in pediatrics in the United States or Canada;

(2) one PG-1 year (as described in the Program Requirements for Residency Education in Neurology**) and 1 year of residency training in pediatrics; or

(3) 1 year of pediatrics plus 1 year of basic neuroscience training.

The program director must review and determine the acceptability of these initial two years of training."

** (Excerpt from the Neurology RRC Program Requirements (ACGME): 'Those that provide 4 years of residency training, the first year of which training (accredited in the United States or Canada) must include a broad clinical experience in general internal medicine. This year must include at least one of the following: (a) 8 months in internal medicine with primary responsibility in patient care or (b) 6 months in internal medicine with primary responsibility in patient care and a period of at least 2 months total time in pediatrics or emergency medicine or both. Residents must spend no more than 2 months in neurology during this year.'

I am taking the first pathway, by entering Child Neurology as PGY-3 in 2013. (Does that clear it up a little?)

So, wait, its a Residency after residency, or a Fellowship ..or what? Huh?

Child Neurology, while technically is a fellowship level thing since you do it after a Peds Residency; it is considered a Residency by the Board. So basically, if you do Peds then Child Neurology-- and end up taking both Boards-- you can be 'Double Board Certified' with 'Certification in Pediatrics' and 'Certification in Neurology with Special interest in Child Neurology'.
The Neurology Certification means you can practice adult neurology too (since you do have to spend one-third of your Child Neurology Residency in the Adult Year)
Then there's the opportunity to pursue a fellowship, in one of the many fields of interest like Epileptology, Neuromuscular disorders, Sleep medicine etc.

The Timeline:
Its an early match.
How early? Well, the process of submission of documents starts in June (as opposed to September, for ERAS).
- You mostly have interviews ranging from late-October and should finish by late-December (though I met someone who was finishing in mid-Jan, so that's how far it can go!)
- Then you submit the rank list by mid-Jan.
- And Match Day is usually in the last week of Jan. (It was January 27th this year!)

How many programs?
There are not as many programs for Child Neurology as are for Pediatrics (doh!!). There are about 70 odd programs (--they give you the comprehensive list once you register for the match) . I applied to twenty five programs, and received interviews from thirteen places.

Most of the programs via the SF Match are for the three year Child Neurology i.e. beginning as a PGY-3. But programs prefer if their residents do both- Peds as well as Peds Neuro-- from their place, so they *usually* try to co-ordinate with the Peds Department. This means while they might try to interview you for Pediatrics as well (if you apply there via ERAS), it is NOT an obligation.
Now some places like Cleveland Clinic, Rainbow Babies etc have a dedicated five year track. Which means, if you get in the Child Neurology part of the track, you mostly get in for Pediatrics as well (again, through NRMP!)

Match Data:
While people might think that the competition is less in Pedi Neuro, let me assure you-- its a MYTH! There are about 1-3 spots per year per program. So the ratio for candidates per spot boils down to the same thing. Here is a link to last year's match data from the SF Match. So last year 69% IMGs matched, which is more than the average NRMP match percent, but definitely involves more of a commitment!

I know some IMGs might be tempted to apply just for the heck of it.

If that is your plan, then DON'T!

Here's a scenario:
Assuming, you apply for about 30 Child Neuro programs and a hundred-ish Peds programs. (I did.. since I wasn't sure I would be able to make it in Pedi Neuro this year). If you end up getting interviews in Pedi Neuro, then quite possibly your credentials are good enough and therefore you will get interviews for 'just-Pediatrics' as well.
Now, if you aren't sure if you want to go for Peds Neuro, then you might be in a fix since the match date is earlier. Your rank list is divided between the programs that invited you for both Peds/CN and the ones that have only Peds!
You might end up going to a specialty you aren't sure about (Pedi/Neuro) without giving a specialty you might love (eg Peds or IM) a chance!
[Basically what I'm trying to say is, applying to Peds Neuro is not like applying to say Family Med or Peds as a back up that I've seen a lot of Internal Medicine people do! Its a different ball game altogether]

Apply to the field only if you LOVE it! Since if more than just five years of your life.

_________________________________
I tried to cover everything that sporadically kept coming up in my head. More questions are welcome. I'll try to write another post if I have some common queries, or answer questions in comments.

Good luck!
_________________________________

PS: Hugs to one absolutely fantastic CN intern I met during my away rotations. She patiently helped me out a lot through the whole process, when I didn't know squat about You-Know-What! Thanks, S. x

The Brain Doctor

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 00:18:00 -0500

Hello people!

If you're a person who doesn't know me in real life or on Twitter, then, hey thanks for checking in! A lot has happened since I last wrote.

BRAAAAAIN!

One of the biggest decisions of my professional life has been made. I know where I'll end up for the next five years, and how I'll come out of it. Yes, I now have a Residency position at one of my top choices! And that too, exactly in the specialty that I wanted to go in--- Pediatrics Neurology! :D

This blog played a HUGE part in my choice, since some of my readers here introduced me to the field of Child Neurology in the first place! Then doing an elective in the same furthered hammered the interest in!
In one of those earlier posts I had mentioned how I loved the academic part of Neurology -- the lesions and the localisations *swoon*; but wanted to become a kiddie doctor-- well, safe to say Peds Neuro fulfills both wishes! A dream come true. Yes.

Magical!

Dream, reminds me, I also managed to catch a trip to Disneyworld after the interviews! Had a FANTASTIC time!! All thanks to the family I have here!! :D

Also, I just finished with the USMLE Step3 exam today. And can only hope to pass. (Please pray for me. Thanks.)

As you can see I have loose associations and am in almost a hypomanic state today, I'll end this post here.

Bye bye USMLE! (hopefully!)

But I need to write a couple of pending posts. Those shall happen soon. Just, not right now.
x

PS: Oh, I just realised.. one of my best friends is getting married in a couple of hours! Too bad I can't be there! But I wish K and A the very best for their new life together!! Love you, K! (even though I'm sure neither of them will read the blog in a million years! )

Image Credit for IMG1: Gray's Anatomy for Students: One of the best anatomy books. Ever!

Hiatus

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 00:24:00 -0500

I have been neglecting the blog for quite some while now (umm.. over three months!). While I apologize for it, I would also like to tell y'all the couple of excuses that I have lined up for the neglect :P

1. Microblogging: Twitter has taken over my blogging (for now). Now days, anything remotely interesting that happens in life is reported instantly on Twitter, rather than waiting to write on the blog later. Even things that I am wondering about, missing, enjoying or need to decide on are posted on Twitter for instant decisions.
Must say, I've met quite a few fantastic (and some not-so-fantastic-yet-interesting) people via the microblogging site. :)
I tweet as @drarps by the way.

2. Laziness: Yes, I've admitted to this before and I'll say it again-- I am a lazy blogger. (I still have the Birthday post to finish -- which I can't actually do for another couple of months since I don't have the clues with me as I travel)

Which brings us to point three:
3. Travel: I have been traveling quite a bit in the past two months. If you think it would provide quite some fodder for the blog, you are correct!
I've had my share of mishaps and incidents, (been lost in a strange city, seen some amazing places, spent more than the average person's share at the airport, traveled in a bus where a physical fight broke out at 3 in the night! etc.) but I've seriously been pretty busy planning out the routes and flights, to keep up with the blog.
Again, all these incidents were taken out of my system by ranting on twitter.

4. Exam-lessness: As is natural, the quantity of blogging ideas (and will to publish them), is inversely proportional to the amount of time on hand. Therefore, I blog most often when I am preparing for an exam and am constantly stuck with books.
Technically, I have an exam to prepare for even now, but I haven't been studying for it (why: see point #3). So, I guess for me, no exam= no blogging.

Well, my excuse list ends here. I agree these are pretty lame, but this is all I have for now. Maybe one day I'll become more responsible towards the blog and write more often. Till then I leave you with these pictures that show how I've been the past three months--

(Keep praying for me. Okay?)

And where have I been? Here mostly.

Also, while I end the excuse post, I'll leave you to read the pick of posts on the blog-
Making of a Doctor - First post after the first day of clinical posting.
Best-est teacher in the world - (Clearly it wasn't one of my English teachers! :P)
Test-imony- One of the most hilarious stories I heard in med school! (<--MUST READ!!) Also in line, mono-phonic thinking!

Happy Holidays! :)

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:27:00 -0500

Just dropping in a line to wish y'all a Merry Christmas! :)

Happy Holidays!

Brutal Assault

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Sun, 5 Sep 2010 16:53:00 -0400

A black day was written in the history of Dr. S.N. Medical College last night when scores of students and doctors were brutally assaulted by the police/jawans. These residents of the UG boys hostel were victimized in their own home, as police barged inside the hostel and beat them up.

_________________________________________________________
Penned by Telly, here is a summary of what happened:

Scheme of Events, (4th-5th Sept. 2010)

Trauma Centre – Two injured brought in, Resident Doctor attends. Lots of attendants with the injured, who end up in a verbal tussle with the Doctor. Doctor stops treatment. Returns to treat the injured after talks.

Room broken in

Trauma Centre – The gang which assaulted the injured rushes in. Start violence. Doctor informs the colleagues to swarm in. Policemen come, and start hitting anyone, and everyone with Lathis. Resident Doctors beaten up.

Trauma Centre – In the meanwhile, Interns come for rescue. Police kick start their jeeps, and drive at break-neck speeds at Interns. Interns forced to run to their hostels.

Blood on the Terrace

Boys Hostel – Policemen run and lathi-charge the few students there. Students start pelting stones on them.

Boys Hostel – Huge number of policemen called in. 200 policemen, including RAC jawans stationed outside the Hostel. Students are called for. They are asked to come outside.

Boys Hostel – Policemen and RAC jawans rush in the hostels, indeterminate hitting by Lathis. Innocent students studying quietly in rooms, Sleeping, are hit with lathis. Doors are broken open. Coolers dismantled. Even students cooperating to come out are beaten like criminals.

Each step you take on the staircase, you receive one hit. Hit on head. Run behind a student till the terrace, loses balance, and falls down.

Mass looting by the policemen, money, mobiles. Laptops thrashed on the floor, on purpose.

Meeting for calling a strike

Post-massacre – Immense political pressure to not let the senior doctors go on strike. Threatened in different ways.

The road less taken.. and how much it'll cost

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 3 Sep 2010 05:46:00 -0400

I’m going to make a list of the moolah spent by an IMG (Indian in this case) if they want to do a Residency in the US of A.

The journey from USMLE to MD ( Yeah! Borrowing term from Digital Doc :D) is a long, and, of course, expensive one. A lot of juniors at college have asked me this question time and again - "How much will it cost me if I decide to work for a Residency in the USA?"

Having been through almost 3/4^th of the process, I’m just listing the basic $s that I have spent on the process till now. By the end of this post you should have a gross idea of how much it’ll cost, and thus you can make a realistic decision of what you want to do next – AIPGEE or USMLE.

(I assume that you have basic idea of what the USMLE and the whole process is like on the whole, and are familiar with the terminology.)

-A lot of costs vary by individual choices. So I’m going to list what I spent as an example where this difference arises.

Exams:

There are a lot of exams that you need to take to be fully ECFMG certified.

TOEFL: An optional exam that is steadily converting into almost a mandatory one if you want to have a competitive CV for electives- Fee ~~$130~~ Its $165 now.

USMLE Step 1, 2 (CK & CS): ~~A little over~~ ~~$1400~~ ~~($700*2) for USMLE Step 1 and 2CK, and~~ ~~$1200~~ ~~for CS.~~ EDIT: Exam now costs much more than that. USMLE Step1 $880, Step 2CK $895, CS $1295. Check official website for regular increments!

USMLE World: QBank plus the Self Assessments- They’re worth every penny. For Step 1, a two month UW subscription plus UWSA will cost you $195 ($135 + $30*2). And Step 2, will be $165 ($135+$30)

NBME Self Assessment: To assess your prep, you’ll end up taking online NBME practice tests. Since each test costs $45 to take (and $60 for one “special test’ for each exam), the number of tests you take depends on your preparation. There are some who take none while others end up taking all tests. I spent a total of $375 for NBME SAs for both exams.

Electives:

Application: Most Universities have an application fee of $100 or so. Although there are some that are free too. Umar Tariq’s website has a comprehensive list of all information for electives. (I spent about $500 on applications)

Tuition Fee: This totally varies by University where you end up doing electives. Some like Harvard and Tufts have a fee of $2000-3700, while others like Cleveland Clinic and NIH are free. (I paid about $1400 as tuition)

Malpractice Insurance: This is another thing that is new for us and since there seems to be just one company that provides MI to students on a monthly basis, they have been increasing the premium with every passing year! I ended up spending about $600 for MI.

Travel and Housing: Of course travel to the US will cost another $1000-1500.

Housing will vary from $300 to $500 per month depending on the location. This cost multiplies depending on how long you stay in the US. (I’ll take my expenditure as $500 since I was in luck wrt housing.)

Misc: Add to it other costs like travel insurance, visa fees, immunization titers before going to the US.

Then there’s the whole other set of expenditure on FOOD (major spending if you don’t know how to cook daily meals!), travel within the country and, of course, SHOPPING in the United States. ;-)

Fed Ex:

Giving this a special slot since there is a LOT of paperwork to be sent! There are numerous applications, college documents and Godknowswhat!! Each packet costs about $50, and I’m sure I’ve sent over ten such packets. (= well over $500)

Applying for Residency:

After all this preparation, we come to the main application! It costs a bundle, especially for an IMG!

Registrations: $50 for NRMP and $90 for ERAS token

Application: Come September 1, and a major hole in your pocket is just one click away.

In ERAS, applying to 30 programs in each specialty adds up to $305, and then for each additional program its $25 per program. So, if you are a regular IMG who needs a visa, and is not a big hot shot already in the medical world, you’ll apply to over a hundred programs.

You do the math.

(I ended up spending over $2500, plus another $70 for a USMLE transcript release)

Then there’s more:

Although till now this is the stage I’ve reached in the process, there’s a lot more to come.

Travelling again to the US, expenditure of travel within the US for interviews, USMLE Step 3, living there for about six months… and it goes on.

Bottomline:

Going by this list, USMLEtoMD -till now- has cost about a total of *drumroll* $11,350 *faints*

For those who are planning to start on this journey, this was just a preview for you to have an idea of what the costs are going to be like. Just a thought to keep it realistic.

(And now I won’t have to explain the details individually to anyone who inquires- I can just direct them here! :D)

Note: I’ve tried to keep all figures correct and comprehensive according to my memory. If there is something that you’d like to add or remove, let me know. Hope this post was useful!

:)

Image credit: Google Images

Medic Music- 3

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Thu, 2 Sep 2010 15:43:00 -0400

Here's the next bit in Medic Music.
Sung to the tune of the classic 'The Reason' by Hoobastank, listed some side effects of anti-cancer drugs.
(Apologies in advance for killing the awesome song that The Reason is.)

Here goes:

Lyrics:

Vincristine’s neurotoxic

It causes SIADH too.

Vinblastine blasts the marrow

Hematopoetic cells remain a few.

Cyclo-P is an alkylating agent

That causes cystitis

--Hemorrhagic cystitis—

That needs to be prevented

Acrolein is the culprit.

Mesna prevents it.

Cisplatin harms the kidneys

It causes 8^th nerve toxicity too

Lung fibrosis is bleo--

And doxo is cardiotoxicity

With 5 fluoro uracil is seen

Photosensitivity-- yyy

(That’s *not* reversible with

A dose of leucovorin)

It needs thymidine for rescue

Thymidine rescues (4)

Mtx -- fatty liver

Myelosuppression’s also a taboo

Mucositis is prominent too

All s/e of Mtx

Coz folate is what he lacks

Leucovorin reverses

(It makes the patient the patient all better

And that’s all that matters!)

Original Song:

The Reason

Image from here.

Another thing, if anyone is interested, there's this cool Chemo-man to remember s/e of anti cancer meds:

Chemoman's image from here.

World's Simplest Cake

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 6 Aug 2010 12:06:00 -0400

I’m not much of a cook.

Doesn't look very tempting in this picture.
But its totally Yummy! ;-)

There are only a couple of things that I can work up in the kitchen- Chai, instant popcorn, Maggi and this surprisingly delicious cake brownie thing which I like to call the “World’s Simplest Cake”

Now this cake is one of the simplest desserts that you can make! Plus most of the ingredients are easily available.

One of my best friends taught me the trick, and since then I’ve taught this cake to lots of people, and believe me they all loved it. Try it out:

[Writing down exactly from the recipe that my friend wrote for me:]

Ingredients:

1 cup Maida (Refined flour)

½ cup cooking oil

1 cup curd (preferably thick in consistency)

1 cup grated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon Baking soda/Eno

½ cup Cocoa powder (the unsweetened Cadbury kind)

¼ teaspoon Coffee ( *very very little*)

Process:

1. Mix all ingredients. It will become a semi solid paste. Add a little milk to make it slightly liquid.

2. Pour into microwave safe container.

3. Microwave for 7 minutes.

4. Remove and let it stay in a cool dark place for about 15-20 minutes.

5. Remove from container. Serve warm, with vanilla ice-cream.

(This post was written basically to keep an online record of the ingredients needed, since I always mess up the proportions. But if you do happen to try it out, leave experience in comments!)

PS: This post reminds me of OB Cookie’s blog. It makes a pretty interesting plus useful read. With every post she manages to write a post, *and* throw in a delicious recipe.

PPS: My third bit for Medic Music is done (..actually, it has been done for a while now) but my microphone’s busted now. So unless everyone likes a drone with their music- it’ll have to wait till I have enough money to get a new mic.

Medic Music -2

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:54:00 -0400

I'm back with the second song for Medic Music.
This time its in a much more listener friendly setting- you don't have to navigate away or download it. :D

The song is sung to the tune of Lollipop by Mika. Of course, even after all my efforts, I could not get a karaoke generator, but Pranab's advice was useful- made the clip with Audacity (unlike the generic Windows sound recorder used last time). Thanks Pranab! :)

The song isn't all that good ( I like DJS more) but had to get it out of my system before I could move on to something better. Made it up somewhere during the exam prep, when I was trying to remember various drugs for Parkinson's disease and what each of the drug's role is in treatment.

Here goes- for *both* of my listeners! ;)

Lyrics:
So you dx'ed Parkinson, eh?
What you gonna do about
x2

For young- with mild
Anti cholinergics do the trick
x2

For oldies with mild disease
No anti cholinergics please.
For mild ones, give 'em amantadine
No side effects in seeing or peeing.
x2

Severe severe
Rx'ing it now m'dear
x2

Young get agonists of dopamine
Much less side effects are they seen.
Levodopa is for older men,
Add carbidopa then!
x2

Original song:

Image from here.
Shobit: Still waiting for some tricks.

Aazaadiyaan!

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:28:00 -0400

This song from the movie Udaan (2010) has some of the best lyrics I have heard in a long time.

Pairon Ki Bediaan Khwabon Ko Baandhe Nahi Re, Kabhi Nahi Re
Mitti Ki Parton Ko Nanhe Se Ankur Bhi Cheere, Dheere Dheere
Iraade Hare, Bhare, Jinke Seeno Mei Ghar Karein
Woh Dil Ki Sune, Kare, Na Dare Naa Dare

Subah Ki Kirnon Ko Roke Jo, Salhake Hain Kahan
Jo Khayalon Pe Pehre Daale, Woh Aankhein Hai Kahan
Par Khulne Ki Deri Hai Parinde Udke Chumenge
Aasma Aasma Aasmaaaa
(x2)

Aazaadiyan Aazaadiyan
Maange Na Kabhi,
Mile Mile Mile
Aazadiyan Aazadiyan
Jo Jeele Wahi Jeele Jeele Jeele

Subah Ki Kirnon Ko Roke Jo, Salhake Hain Kahan
Jo Khayalon Pe Pehre Daale, Woh Aankhein Hai Kahan
Par Khulne Ki Deri Hai Parinde Udke Chumenge
Aasma Aasma Aasmaaaa
(x2)

Chorus:
Kahani Khatam Hai, Ya Shuruwat Hone Ko Hai
Subah Nayi Hai Yeh, Ya Phir Raat Hone Ko Hai
(x2)

Aane Wala Waqt Dega Panahein
Ya Phir Se Milenge Do Raahein
Khabar Kyaa.. Kya Pata..

(Lyrics from here )

:)

The Ballad Of Sigmund Freud

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Sat, 3 Jul 2010 14:10:00 -0400

This hilarious song has been stuck in my head for two days now-

Well, it started in Vienna not so many years ago
When not enough folks were getting sick
A starving young physician tried to better his position
By discovering what made his patients tick
He forgot about sterosis and invented the psychosis
And a hundred ways that sex could be enjoyed
He adopted as his credo "down repression of libido!"
And that was the start of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Well, he analyzed the dreams of the teens and libertines
Substituted monologue for pills
He drew crowds just like Will Sadler
When along came Jung and Adler
And they said by God, there's gold in them there ills!
They encountered no resistance
When they served as Freud's assistants
As with ego and with id they deftly toyed
But instead of toting bedpans
They wore analytic deadpans
Those ambitious doctors Adler, Jung and Freud!

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud

Now the big three have departed
But not so the code the started
No, it's being carried on by a goodly band
And to trauma shock and force us
Someone's gone and added Rorschach
And the whole thing's got completely out of hand!
So old boys with double chinsies
And a thousand would-be Kinseys
They discuss it at the drop of a repression
And I wouldn't be complaining
But for all the loot I'm paying
Just to lie on someone's couch and say confession!

Well, Doctor Freud, oh Doctor Freud
How we wish you had been differently employed
But the set of circumstances
Still enhances the finances
of the followers of Doctor Sigmund Freud

:D :D
PS: Avina.. dedicated to you! XD

Medic Music

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 16:43:00 -0400

** Scroll downnnnn for embedded video**

Hey all,

This is my first effort at recording and podcasting.

I'm one of those people who can remember and recall lyrics to songs very easily. So, I always wanted to write some medical knowledge into popular sounds and hum it along.

Today was the day when I finally did it.

The song used is "Love Song" by Right Said Fred, and has been used since it was the song playing while I started doing this.

So basically what we have here is something that might sound like a hybrid between music bySubstance P (-I am a huge fan of his) and those roadside bhajans that you hear to the sound of popular Bollywood numbers (Yes, I do find them hilarious and easy to remember!).

There's no music in the background, because, well I don't play any instrument that well. And the vocals.. ermmm... lets just say we're here for learning. okay? ;)

I know there's a lot to improve on, but like I said in my previous posts, I'm running short on time these days. This is just a beginning and I was excited to share.

Criticism, suggestions and feedback would be appreciated.

PS: Remember it is very very amateurish and has been done in about an hour! Next time the song will be more carefully chosen and more research will go into the topic.

______________________________________________________

Post completion update: So, I could not figure out how to podcast. So just embedding it. Also, heard it for the first time and okay, sounds crappy. So if you want, you can just learn the lyrics instead of listening to the audio. I won't mind.

Post post completion update: The song's link is actually embedded into the title of the post. Or here . Next time I'll try to get it to stream somehow. (Tips on how to do this would also be appreciated)

**Scrap the post post completion update. Here's the latest. Embedded it! :D **

Image from here.

:X

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 13:24:00 -0400

[Wow.. look at me I'm on a roll here. Second post in one week!]

I was just writing some notes and noticed that I have a short-hand lingo of my own that just a few can understand (heck.. sometimes even I can't understand it! ) and I tend to shorten things by suffixing them with the letter "x" a lot!

The theme started off with the obvious "Rx" - which actually doesn't even have an 'x'. It is supposed to be a diagonal line cutting through the 'R'. Rx in modern day means prescription. It comes from the Latin verb recipe or recipere, which means 'to take'.

So, well, using Rx for Treatment was given. But thus originated a spew of other short forms, which if taken into the English Dictionary would bring down the score for the 'X' tile in scrabble to a mere two or three points!

Here goes the list in alphabetical order:

Bx - Biopsy

Cx- Complication(s)

Dx- Diagnosis

DDx- Differential Diagnosis

Ex- Exercise (Yes, I still use Eg. for example)

F(x)- Function (This has been used for 'function' ever since we were taught functions in Maths)

Hx- History/ History of

Ix- Investigation

Mx- Management

Ox- For oximetry in Pulse ox

Rx- ...well...

Sx- Symptom

Tx-(sometimes treatment)

Well, that's the list for now.. Thirteen out of twenty six. Not bad. But not as many as I thought either. (Mental note- suffix more letters with an 'x')

Feel free to add more if you have any.

______________________________

I know this was kind of pointless, but the thought amused me (Yes, it takes very little to amuse me these days. Blame it on the alleged 24*7 studying!)

And while I have to prepare for this exam, I absolutely *had* to scribble my thoughts before I could move on to anything else more productive!

_______________________________

PS: iPhone wali post- Part two should come up next (Hopefully after the exam)

Apps For The iPhone -My Recs

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 14:41:00 -0400

- This post is meant only for iPhone/iTouch users. You have been warned.

- Also, if you expect to see some extensive reviews and discussions, then this is not the place. I'm just writing this post to list some of my fav apps, and my opinion.

I am fifteen days away from another dreaded exam, but am sitting here writing a blogpost. Why? Because try as I might, I 'm unable to concentrate on studying right now. Might as well use this time to write this post that I intended to write ever since iOS4 was launched.

Now that we have the options for folders on the iPhone, I've downloaded a bunch of apps that I did not have earlier and am thoroughly enjoying them.

So in this post, I'll just list some of my fav apps and you can try them out (if ye haven't already) Most of these are free! :D

Here goes:

SOCIAL:

Twitter for iPhone: If you're a

Twitter buff like I am, then this is the *ultimate* application. Beats others like Tweetdeck, Echofon, Twitterific hands down! Supports multiple accounts, is iOS4 compatible (which basically means you can mutitask on it-- yay!) and has a cool interface. The only thing it probably lacks is push notifications.

Facebook and Skype: Well, if you use these two on the computer, then what's stopping you from using them on the iPhone? Skype makes it really easy to make PC-PC calls over wi-fi, which is one thing I love about it.

The best thing I like about the facebook app is its push notifications.

Y!Messenger: I'm a major Y! lover, so this app has been pretty handy for staying connected. Again, this one has push notifications too :D

In The Mood: A random app to broadcast your current song to Twitter or Blip fm. I like it for its simplicity.

Nimbuzz: Has a bunch of social sites in one, but I mainly use it to access GTalk. (Also on the same lines is, Fring )

FourSquare: Well if you *have* to broadcast where you are, go ahead download this too. (I can't use this right now, since my phone refuses to locate me without a sim! :P)

MEDICINE:

Medscape: Have a couple of medical apps on the phone, but I love this one right now.

Let me take a moment to explain why:

I'm using my phone without a sim these days. So the only internet access I can get is over wifi. Now most of the places like the library or my college don't have internet access.

Here's where Medscape has become a saviour. It has an option where you can download and get offline access to all articles. So, thanks to this app, I have a personal reference guide wherever I am- internet or no internet! :)

Epocrates: The holy grail of medical reference, this! Right now I have only the free version, but will purchase the full version later when I actually use my phone with its sim and over *3G*. Till then the free version stays, which again is pretty useful at times.

MedCalc: My personal favourite med app this is! It is a must must have! Download it and you'll see. If you're in practice, you'll feeling like giving your phone a big hug when you use this app. Trust me.

NEJM App: Released just a short while ago, this app has the best interface one could ask for! And its free (for the timebeing atleast) I love doing the image quizzes on this one. Go ahead enjoy NEJM on your phone while its still there.

Eye handbook: While we are on the topic of med apps, let me just fill you in with this one. This is essentially meant for ophthalmologists, but has a couple of nifty uses. The 'cartoon movie' option has helped me a couple of times in engaging kids and assessing their neurological status. Pretty useful that way :)

Other med apps: DxSaurus, Eponyms, Growth Charts, QxCalculate

PRODUCTIVITY:

UYH Gold: This is one of the very few apps that I purchased from the app store. I love this one since it allows you to actually write with your finger. This makes making lists much simpler than typing it out in notes. So all my random lists go in this one :) It also has a free version that you can check out. Its called UYH To Do, I think.

Dropbox: If you use it on the computer, then get it for your iPhone too! If you don't use it on the computer, get it! It basically provides virtual space to you where you can drop files, and later access them from anywhere. Simple 'nuff?

Team Viewer: Again would say the same thing as for Dropbox, get it! Get it on the computer as well as iPhone, and get remote access to your desktop! I love to reboot my computer from the iPhone (even though I'm sitting in the same room :P)

Converter+ : This app it the *ultimate* conversion app! Has everything from mass to currency to even mortgage value. Another cool thing is the 'tip calculator' :D Plus, the icon looks similar to the new Calculator app, so that adds some face value.

Moment Diary: I'm just sad that I didn't have the iPhone and this app when I started college. I could have recorded all the hilarity and fun times in this single app!

This is like a personal diary where you can put text snippets (140 character limit), photos, videos.. and it'll save it with date and time. Go ahead, make your own media diary. (I've already started! :D)

Evernote: Oops, how did I forget Evernote! The baap of all productivity apps this is!

Stick it notes: This is another one where you can make To Do notes and stick them as your lock screen wallpaper. I don't like the interface much, since it takes a lot of time to make notes and stick them as wallpapers, but its useful when you have a zillion important things to do and a short time to do them!

UTILITY:

Accuweather: The best app for weather updates! This one was a huge friend when I had to walk to the hospital earlier this year! (Dear Ritu, Remember the chattris :D)

Dictionary: An *offline* dictionary. That's the best part! :D

On this day: Heh! It just shows the events that marked the date in history. I happen to enjoy random stuff like this. I'm just weird like that :D

Dishant Radio: The ultimate Bollywood radio! It streams all the new songs and you can search for the randomest old ones. Of course, I haven't been able to stream it on the slow internet connection that I have (.. Yes its broadband :/)

Hutke Radio: Another bollywood radio that is hutke. It streams songs by your mood.

Doodle Buddy: One of my personal favs. Just go along and doodle :) (iDoodle2lite is another one)

FingerCut: Only for the creepiness my friend, only for the creepiness! It has a saw that *cuts* your finger. :/

Virtuoso: A virtual piano :)

Sleep Cycle: Oops! Almost forgot this one! This is one of those alarm clock apps that wake you up in the REM phase of sleep based on your body activity. I think it works, but haven't had a chance to use it much yet. It has beautiful sounds though, that you'd love to wake up to. Oh and also, it's a paid app.

Okay, that's it for now.

I'll continue in the next post with Photography and Games apps that I like. That will be another long post!

Rihints

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 09:40:00 -0400

Do you have any of those little quirks that you never seem to get rid of?

One of mine is 'Rihints'

As a kid, once I was down with a nasty cold.

[If you've ever had a really bad cold (-which you probably have-duh!), then you might remember that one of the most infuriating things about this common-cold, is that constant lacrimation occurring unilaterally.]

So then, I asked my dad for some medicine for those tears. He being doctor, gave me a cold medicine that was meant to 'Combat Rhinitis'.

Now as a kid of about ten years, I read it as 'rihints' ...(Note: R-I-H-I-N-T-S) and decided that it was a term used for those tears running down my face. (Maybe it was because of the blurry vision due to the "rihints"??)

..And rihints they have been ever since.

One good thing happened because of my silly error of reading. I got a term to describe that incessant lacrimation when you have a common-cold.

___________

Okay that was essentially the most useless story ever.

But what the heck, I wanted to post a new story for the pretty green template, and just decided to go on with whatever sprung to mind.

Hopefully some better stuff to come in the near future.

10 things that show that I've gone into pre-exam mode

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Sat, 1 May 2010 03:36:00 -0400

10. Sleeping > 15 hours per day. With mornings that happen around noon, and pulling late nighters-- which include lots of random googling, surfing and browsing the web (and no studying, of course!).

9. Watching re-runs of FRIENDS, Full House or even Sarabhai/Sarabhai every chance I get.

8. Then again, going into anxiety mode over time that was wasted watching shows or sleeping!

7. Twitter stream filled with study facts (which ARE sometimes useful btw!) and rants about How I Slept For Another (Hour) (<-apologise for the extremely poor attempt at rhyming with HIMYM!)

6. Breakfast> Brunch>Lunch>Mid-day snack after nap> Pre-dinner>Dinner>Late night coffee. Repeat.

5. Ten different alarms on the phone for waking me up. To be repeated everyday! (First alarm starts at 6.30am. I duly wake up anytime after 10am)

4. Googling up any bit-of-information-about-any-obscure-person-or-thing that I come across. (Ritz pointed this out to me yesterday)

3. Being perpetually online, and knowing about every little update on Facebook/Orkut/Twitter. (Notice how, even at this stage of boredom, I did not resort to extreme measures like taking quizzes or playing farmville or deciding who my 'friend/enemy/lover of the day' was!)

2. Cribbing to anyone who will listen about the upcoming exam and how its making my life miserable.

1. Writing blog posts, like this one.

Mono-phonic Thinking

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:46:00 -0500

Another one from Dr. N. [This is the first one. And its hilarious!]

After examining a case of suspected infectious mononucleosis, Dr. N and the student on call were discussing the diagnosis and management.

Dr.N: "The heterophile test might not always be positive in the early course of the disease.. So, what other test can you use for diagnosis?"

Student: "Give the patient amoxicillin. And watch if he develops a rash.."

(This one cracked me up. Believe me, it might sound like me, but I wasn't the student here!)

Test-imony

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 15:14:00 -0500

Here's a true story I heard the other day from Dr. N while I was ordering labs for what looked like a girl with a sexually transmitted disease.

Dr. N is a Pediatrician, practicing in a small town in USA.

[Writing the anecdote in her words.]

I was working in the clinic one day, when I saw a 8 year old girl with urinary problems. I ordered labs on her. When her labs came back, I was shocked to see Trichomonas in he urine. Now, with a STD in such a young child, it automatically becomes a case of child-abuse. I had to call the Child Protection Services. But before I did that, I had to inform the mother, and try to find out the culprit. This woman was a single mom.

Dr. N: "Mrs. So&So, does the child go to stay with her father sometimes?"

Mrs. So&So: "She's doesn't stay with him. Why she hasn't met him in a while"

Dr. N: "Do you have a boyfriend?"

Mrs. So&So: "Not really, why?"

Dr. N: "Well we did some tests on her, and her lab results show that she has trichomoniasis, a STD. We suspect that your child is being sexually abused, and so I'm going to call the CPS."

Mrs. So&So: " No it can't be.. "

Dr. N: "Well, her urine culture results are right there.."

Mrs. So&So: "Ohh.. then she doesn't have the disease.."

*goes crimson red*

Dr. N: "Wha..??"

Mrs. So&So: "Well, yesterday when I took her for giving the specimen, I took her to the restroom. I waited and waited and waited... but she wouldn't pee. So I just took some of my own pee, and sent it.."

Dr. N: "Well in that case, I suggest you set up an appointment with *your* doctor as soon as possible! You have a STD!"

Image: http://www.pasozyty.net.pl/rzesistek-pochwowy/

This Is Going To Hurt Just A Little Bit

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 04:12:00 -0500

Have not been in a very blogging mood for the past few weeks.

Today I somehow came across this poem that I had in class 7th English by Ogden Nash. It brought back memories of a lot of favorite poems and stories that we had in school.

So I have decided to write a series of posts with those select favorites.

Starting with the poem I came across today. "This is going to hurt just a littile bit".

The poem very humorously describes a guy sitting in the dentist's chair, and the agony he has to endure.

One thing I like less than most things is sitting in a dentist chair with my mouth wide open.
And that I will never have to do it again is a hope that I am against hope hopen.

Because some tortures are physical and some are mental,
But the one that is both is dental.
It is hard to be self-possessed
With your jaw digging into your chest.

So hard to retain your calm
When your fingernails are making serious alterations in your life line or love line or some other important line in your palm;

So hard to give your usual effect of cheery benignity
When you know your position is one of the two or three in life most lacking in dignity.

And your mouth is like a section of road that is being worked on.
And it is all cluttered up with stone crushers and concrete mixers and drills and steam rollers and there isn’t a nerve in your head that you aren’t being irked on.

Oh, some people are unfortunate enough to be strung up by thumbs.
And others have things done to their gums,
And your teeth are supposed to be being polished,
But you have reason to believe they are being demolished.

And the circumstance that adds most to your terror
Is that it’s all done with a mirror,
Because the dentist may be a bear, or as the Romans used to say, only they were referring to a feminine bear when they said it, an ursa,
But all the same how can you be sure when he takes his crowbar in one hand and mirror in the other he won’t get mixed up, the way you do when you try to tie a bow tie with the aid of a mirror, and forget that left is right and vice versa?

And then at last he says That will be all; but it isn’t because he then coats your mouth from cellar to roof
With something that I suspect is generally used to put a shine on a horse’s hoof.

And you totter to your feet and think. Well it’s all over now and afterall it was only this once.
And he says come back in three monce.

And this, O Fate, is I think the most vicious circle that thou ever sentest,
That Man has to go continually to the dentist to keep his teeth in good condition
when the chief reason he wants his teeth in good condition
is so that he won’t have to go to the dentist.

PS: I have copied the poem from someone else's blog in good faith. Let me know if there are any copyright issues.

Comics!!

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:45:00 -0500

Two web comics that I'm following these days.

#1. My Cardboard Life: Amazingly cute and innovative idea this! Read the adventures of Colin (the cardboard guy) and Pauline (the paper girl).

I just love the expressions on them!!

#2. Agent- X comics: Created by Agent-X (doh!).. you can enjoy these comics only if you are into social media.

If you use twitter and facebook and the internet in general, then you'll love this series too.

Thank you internet for access to such lovely stuff.

Cheers!!

PS: Also reading the good ol' regular stuff like C&H and Animal Crackers, at GoComics. They have a huge collection!! =)

Annd score!!

arpita1586@yahoo.com (Lakhotia) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:49:00 -0400

Yes. Its been twenty one days since that fateful day in October.
Had been waiting anxiously for my score sice the past two weeks, and it arrived fifteen minutes before the scheduled time.

I got that elusive 99.

Happiness.

Yay! Yay!

The past three weeks have been hell emotionally.

I've cried over wrong answers.

Brooded over the difficuilt questions.

Rationalised some ethics questions.

Decided on alternate career options.

And what not!*

I wish the NBME people would post the scores earlier. Whoever heard of the scores of an online exam delayed by atleast three weeks. (Even the state Pre-PG exams results are faster!- However crappy the quality of questions might be! :p) But seriously, some of the questions were maddening. Have never come across such questions, ever!

And even more frustrating was that I remembered a lot of them post-exam!

And now after the results, I feel I could've done a tad better had I not taken the exam as the 'most-important-exam-of-my-life'.

The exam period was spent in extremes. At one hand I was anxious during the early blocks. Lost confidence in the middle. And became complacent in the end-- just wanted to get over with it.

Anyway,

All that is past now.

With a good score, I can hapily leave Step1 behind and move on.

Bring on the next step!!

*All my apologies to Papa, Ritz, D, Kau, Navy, Avi, AnkC, Dibs and others who have had to deal with my depressed mood the past three weeks. I still blame the NBME for the tough test!