kekeringan neurotransmitter

Mak tanya, "macam mana study nak exam ni, okey?"

jawabku, "InsyaAllah boleh, boleh, Tawakal."

namun, inilah situasi sebenar. sejurus selepas study bersama.

Having problems with neurotransmitter lectures?

Here's something to cheer you up!



written and performed by charlie mcdonnell, you can get the full lyrics by visiting his blog.
This may be one of my favorite part of the song;

Dopamine, dopamine

It’s a catecholamine neurotransmitter

Which means it sends a message in your brain

To tell you that you think that girl you’re looking at is fitter

to make offspring with than any other dame

And when she looks at me, yes I can feel it beating

I can tell from the shortness of my breath

That my body has reacted to our wandering eyes meeting

And the high I’m on’s comparable to Meth

But methamphetamine’s a drug of which I’m clean

Though I can’t say the same of dopamine

It's great to take the edge off a bit. It made physiology seems..fun!

I do believe pumping a little entertainment in studying could bring a big effect in the duration or quality of the new informations that we tried to understand or memorize, therefore, here's a simple list that I've gathered on how to make studying more fun!

1. While doing your notes, draw a simple cartoon beside the notes that you're writing. Lets say I'm studying about how parkinson causes parkinsonian gait, I tried to draw a stick-man(the only thing that I can draw) that shows how the postural position looks like and lines to demonstrate dragging gait. (I'll show a picture later). By doing this, we're using different parts of the brain and by that, improving our memory!
2. Make a story! sometimes certain biological processes may be hard, we can do two things by that, either create a story which have plots and endings, or either put it in simple interesting mnemonics. I did it once when I hate the embryological development of the heart so much, so I created a story about snail and a carrot twin! (I'll repost this story). Or, create an interesting mnemonics that brings out a story, like these cranial nerves mnemonics! which, some of them are totally easy to memorize for us who's with testosterone.  
3. Do a sing-along!, I've never tried it though, as my voice didn't actually create a harmony that stimulates the mind. But, some articles did mention putting facts into rhyme and rhythm could boost our memory. If you could do it, scribble some short lyrics about the facts (like the song above) and do a sing it out loud! 

Theres a lot more, but here's 3, which we could try to do. But either way, I do believe serious reading and understanding is the crucial part in studying. Adapt different methods like those above so that we dont get stress out. studying is always fun! even medicine! 

when I grow up, I wanna be famous?

not really actually.

As a medical student, especially during my pre-clinical years right now, which I only spend couple of hours a week at the hospital for a practical session, going from the neurology department, to ophthalmology, to ENT, which only results in me myself remembering the experience of facing death rather than how to treat patients. It made me ponder, which specialty should I go too later on?

It's hard to decide yet, as any decision that I make now will eventually change as I don't really know how each specialty works until my clinical rotation next year (ohhyea!surgery!). But, just to get things spice-up a bit, having a long-term goal do have some motivational advantages, as what Dr. Soheir said while ending her lecture just now. so, which specialty suits you?

This picture chart was taken from Kendra Campbell's blog at Medscape, One of my favorite most easy-going medical student (and now officially a doctor) I've ever known.

Based on the chart, yes, the two specialty that I have in mind is under the crazy label; psychiatry and emergency medicine.  I do thinks it suits me though. Going up on stage singing a medical parody with lyrics that says "what the fuck is public health" in front of Dr. Said and the whole medical community does put me on the crazy side. Now, everyone calls me the 'fucking public health guy'.

But, just to make sure, I did the University of Virginia's Specialty Aptitude Test, and here are the results!

To be frank, It's not what I expect. No, I don't have interest in any of the top three results. Especially radiation oncology. No. But it's interesting to know that my reaction to the test was more common with doctor's in these fields.
                                      

From the top ten, only number 8 excites me more than other specialties, with 3 marks difference from radiation oncology. General surgery would go into consideration.

And there it is, emergency medicine scores at 20, with only 4 points from radiation oncology. with psychiatry at number 34. 

conclusion. I'll wait until I've completed my clinical rotation to decide. But for the time being, handling a trauma patient, fast and relax, is my ultimate goal.

If you're going to do the test after this, do drop by some comments sharing your top three results mmkay!

do your test here!

cairo trip (29/4/2010)

This is some of the few shots that I've edited just in a couple of hours from our Cairo trip last week. Unfortunately, right after we arrive at Ramses station, Cairo, my little cute xacti went out of battery, showing that annoying 'battery depleted' display over and over again. So, this video only shows certain beautiful places in Mansoura as there is not enough shots at cairo to be complied with. There will be a part two of the journey, well, I hope so! as my record of promising new videos had never been fulfilled (yet).

and yeah, I've added up some new photos at my photoblog, you can check it out by clicking on the sidebar link or just click the banner below. It will take you to a cool place!=)

now, lets go to cerebellum.
click the 'quwayyis' box below if you like the ending of the video!

a walk home

Date: 26 April 2010