Suffering from Kernicterus
Friday, October 21st, 2005 at 12:07 am
Signs you've been studying the GI tract too long:
(Paraphrased) Question from the Pathology review book:
52) A 45-year old chronic alcoholic presents to the ED after an episode of hematemesis (vomiting up blood) that has continued for 3 hours. What would the likely findings be in the liver?
I chose "massive hepatic necrosis." My thought process: Necrosis (a type of cell death) leads to hemorrhage (bleeding) which then would lead to throwing up blood.
Right… Because in my over-tired brain, somehow the liver was connected directly to the lumen of the esophagus… Great, now I am making up anatomy…
(For those of you curious, the correct answer is rupture of esophageal varicies as a result of portal hypertension as a result of alcoholic hepatic cirrhosis. And I knew that, too! 
)
Definitely time to go to bed. Looking forward to Hell-Week, Part II
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You probably posted this before I started reading your journal but I’m curious about what made you choose to go to SGU and what you think of your education there. What made you go to SGU over a U.S. MD or DO school? SGU seems rather expensive, did you have any trouble paying for your education there? I have been considering SABA because it is much cheaper than SGU. If you already posted this somewhere let me know and I’ll look there.
No, I don’t really ever recall discussing it, so here goes:
I chose SGU over US med schools for the same reason as everyone else: SGU accepted me, where no US schools did, and I was unwilling to wait a year to re-apply or do some Master’s program or something. I chose SGU over DO schools (to which I did not even apply) because I did not agree with the philosophy. As far as reputation goes, I think SGU and the DO schools are about even, since they both seem to be primarily populated by qualified students who did not gain acceptance to US med schools’ artificially low class enrollments.
SGU is rather expensive, but I have had no problem financing the education with loans. There seem to be enough people willing to lend money to future MD’s.
I feel I am getting a good education here, and it seems to have worked in the past, as evidenced by first time USMLE pass rates nearly equalling or even surpassing the US med school average. There are some good professors and there are some where it is easier just to go home and read the book yourself, but that’s at any school.
Saba is a good school. I actually applied there as well, but in the end it is still relatively new, and SGU seemed to give me a better chance at residency in the more competitive fields that I am interested in. That and SGU has more greenbook hospital rotations in my area, including “clinical centers” where you can do your all your cores in one hospital. AFAIK, when I was applying, to get greenbook rotations at Saba would mean moving around a bit.
If you haven’t seen it, check out ValueMD, a message board that has lots of pros and cons for each school.
Thanks for taking the time to answer. What specialties are you interested in?
I’ve been thinking about applying to schools in other countries for a different reason than most people do. If I apply to Saba now I can start next semester because they don’t require the MCAT and have rolling admissions. If I stayed here I would have to wait until April to take the MCAT and then wait another year just to see if some school will except me. So Saba would effectively let me start two years earlier. I have heard conflicting reports about two years being worth it. I’m not even sure if I want to practice in the U.S.. I’d really like to practice in Australia or the Netherlands where I would be an IMG even if I went to a U.S. school.
If I do apply to U.S. schools I would be applying for MD/Ph.D. or DO/Ph.D joint degree programs. I don’t mind the DO philosophy and OMM may actually be useful given that I want to specialize in treating pain related disorders (specializing in neurology or rheumatology). The real downside of DO programs for me is that the degree is not recognized in a lot of other countries, although the low/free tuition and stipend for the joint degree program could convince me to stay in the U.S.
Good luck with your exams; I’m sure you’ll do fine.
I’m hoping for EM or Trauma… We’ll see how I like surgery vs. EM in clinicals though.
I am not really sure if the 2 years will be worth it either. In my home state, FMG’s must do 3 years of residency before they can be licensed, thus they can’t moonlight and make extra cash to pay off loans like US grads. Other than that, I don’t know if there is really a difference.
Good luck with your decision, it’s really not an easy one.
I’ll decide for ya - go for neuro and study/practice/live in australia or the netherlands - both very cool places - both much better than the US in general philosophy and lifestyle