Friday, July 18, 2008
Just because I'm committed to this blog :)I never thought I would see this day coming..but yea! I just finished my attachment at the radiology department in SMC and I lemme tell you this, I can't see myself..ever..being in the radiology department..ever..
Don't get me wrong.. the attachment was great and I did get to learn loads of things not to mention getting my lazy bum to do some work. However, staring at x-rays everyday, and having minimal patient contact weren't exactly what I'd signed up for.
In the past week, I've learned that one needs to have enhanced vision to spot anything wrong at all on an X-ray/CT/MRI/Ultrasound scan, in the order of increasing difficulty. What I'm trying to say is, it's haaarrddd though it's not to be expected since it's a specialist field. Out of the MANY scans I've seen..I got maybe..hmm..
2..5(including the normal ones :) correct. Sad huh?
I choked a laugh when I thought back about it too..I mean.. on my notes, I wrote, "big left hole below the lungs" and when I checked the doctor's report, it was:
Lung fields are normal
Diaphragms on both sides appear normal
Mild cardiomegaly
Unfolded aorta
and many other
gibberish, ahem, terms which I now understand..
So I asked the nurse, what about the big left hole below the lung, and I could just smack myself on the forehead imaginarily(does this adverb exist?) when she said "Oh, that's the gas/air in the stomach..it's normal". Oh, btw, the other terms like cardiomegaly doesn't apply to this picture since I just google imaged this, but it does show the infamous big hole I was talking about :)
Dr. Ravi, the radiologist I was attached to(not affectionately, but professionally mind you) is the only radiologist in SMC, thus having freed some of his time to take care of this nuisance of yours is very much appreciated by yours truly. Heck, he even brought me to have a coffee break in the doctor's lounge where I felt so at a loss of words..literally. The doctors there don't just take a break and talk about CNN or sports, nothing like that, but instead they discuss the cases they've seen, especially the odd and particular ones. I just sat there sipping my milo looking dumb.
Hooray for jargons! Luckily all that studying in my first year in med school didn't go to waste. I understood what they were talking about but couldn't really quite connect the dots as to why. Oh well, I guess that's what the other4 years are for.
So lesson learned:
To be a good radiologist, one needs to have:
- A very good understanding of the human anatomy
- Keen observation skills
- Experience
- Eyeballs trained to withstand long hours of staring into black and white pictures that would normally not appeal to anyone, nor me for that matter.
That's all the highlights of this week folks!
I'm out!
Fight on 9:24 AM
I, as defined by myself..