A Lot of Heart

The blogging hiatus has ended!  Our exams have been more spread out lately, which brings positives and negatives.  On the bright side, it's nice not having to prepare for one marathon eight-hour exam.  On the other hand, when exams are spread out to once a week or so, it feels like there is always one right around the corner and, although the studying might be slightly less intense, study breaks are essentially eliminated.  That's my excuse for not blogging lately and I'm sticking to it.

As you might have guessed, with so much time passing since my last entry, I sure do have a lot to tell!  A week or so ago marked the end of Histology & Embryology.  The final exam was cumulative and encompassed roughly 1,000 pages of material including class notes, microscope slides and other supplemental information.  It's a nice feeling to get the first class behind me and it seems like I learned equally as much about 'studying in medical school' as I did about Histology.  Overall, I performed very well with my scores improving consistently on each exam.  If the trend continues (along with a lot of hard work) I will remain on pace to "honor" year one.

Earlier today I finished another class: Anatomy.  As far as I can tell, I won't experience another like it in medical school.  The lab component was... unique to say the least.  I am told that it will take a while, but I'll eventually be rid of the perpetual formaldehyde (an embalming preservative) smell from my nostrils.  Well worth it as far as I'm concerned.  Hard to believe I can say that I know virtually all of the muscles (and their insertions and actions), nerves, arteries, veins and organs of the entire human body.  Even more unbelievable is the fact that WSU managed to pack it all into our heads in just a few short months!  The absorptive capacity and rate of the human brain (any, not just mine in particular) never ceases to amaze.

Next on the update list is my recent intramural sporting success!  As you may or may not know, I am quite the dodgeball enthusiast and, as in previous years, I again organized a dodgeball team comprised of my classmates and I.  Playoffs were last Tuesday: a one night double-elimination tournament for the top four teams from the regular season.  My team, of course, took home top honors - the champs!  Check our our victory photo below.

Earlier that day I had the opportunity to view quite an amazing procedure.  A cardio-thoracic surgeon contact of mine invited me to 'scrub in' on an open-heart surgery!  The procedure was an LVAD (left ventricular assist device) implantation, mainly targeted for patients waiting for a heart transplant or deemed poor candidates for heart transplant, but still exhibiting heart failure.  A schematic of the LVAD device and its function is shown below.  I cannot express how absolutely enthralled I was at viewing a beating human heart two feet from my face.  In the near future I plan to shadow a few more surgeons in other specialties such as orthopedic, vascular, colorectal and any others I can get my hands on.

Next week I have a Clinical Medicine final exam, then the beginning of Physiology as well as Biochemistry.  I will be adding to the blog more frequently now that the majority of my exams are over, so keep an eye out!

Thanks for reading.

Medical factoid of the day:  During heart surgeries that require access to the atria or ventricles (pumping chambers), blood is rerouted through a heart-lung bypass machine.  This allows the surgeons to work on the heart without depriving the body and brain of oxygenated blood.  Usually the return flow from the machine is sent through the aorta, which routes blood to the body.  Since the machine does not perfectly simulate native flow, tissue and organ damage can occur over long periods of time while on the machine.  To combat this, surgeons substantially cool the blood, slowing the metabolism of body tissue and reducing the negative effects.  When the surgery is complete, the blood is warmed back up to body temperature and returned to the heart and lungs.