The first time I felt like a "doctor" was September of my M1 year when I signed up to help with the Special Olympics. First of all, this was an amazing experience and I plan on joining the Special Olympics medical team every chance I get - highly recommended! Second of all, at the time I signed up, I had only been in medical school for three weeks, and therefore knew absolutely nothing. So, I show up to volunteer, introduce myself as a "medical student," and they hand me a Med Team shirt and point me in the direction of the other health care professionals. I'm feeling pretty badass in my shirt, strolling over towards the make-shift exam rooms. I am told that I will be running exam room 1. It's at this point that I have a minor freakout because WTH DO I DO IN AN EXAM ROOM!? Oh God, oh God, these people think that I know how to do stuff! Crap. Thankfully, quite a few M4s show up, and they ask if anyone would like to partner up. I immediately find myself a partner who is actually qualified to do physical exams. This day turns into a fabulous experience. My M4 teaches me how to test reflexes and how to administer musculoskeletal exams. By our third patient, we develop a routine where the M4 performs the cardiovascular and pulmonary exams and let's me do the neuro and musculoskeletal exams. I hit it off with an athlete who has cerebral palsy and when his mom asks to take a picture of us together, it really hits home for me. After spending only 15 minutes with this family, I helped improve their day and make their experience memorable. Experiences like this are why I entered medicine.
Throughout the school year, I signed up for numerous other volunteer experiences, eager to feel like I was making some kind of difference. Working with real patients is a wonderful reminder of why we kill ourselves during the week studying. Some of my experiences involved teaching physical exam skills to Girl Scouts and high school students interested in health care, speaking to undergrads and high school students about life in medical school, teaching anatomy to elementary school students, and skills clinics on phlebotomy and suturing. Each of these experiences again reminded me why I chose this profession.
Yesterday, I signed up for the medical team at a sprint triathlon. Basically, I will be working with Sports Medicine and Emergency Medicine physicians and other medical students to ensure the safety of the participating athletes. By now, I know how to do a complete physical examination and I won't be so shocked if they give me my own station. This will be a new environment for me, and hopefully a great learning experience. I was pretty excited about it, again thinking of how much I enjoy these experiences and how they always reinforce the fact that I am in the right field.
And then today happened.
Today, a bunch of my classmates and I were celebrating Memorial Day at a local lake. Quite a few of the gentleman in our class are pretty buff, so when they asked me to apply their sun screen, it was not the worst of experiences. It was during this tedious task that I found out, much to my dismay, that I am clearly entering the wrong profession. Apparently, I should not be on the triathlon medical team, as there is another position even more glorious. Apparently, there are people that wait at the end of the swim and their sole job is to rip off the athletes' wet suits and apply sun tan lotion on them as fast as they can. Is it too late to change my mind about med school? Where can I get an application? Profession Sunscreen Applier!? SIGN. ME. UP.
And, since this is a "medical" blog, I suppose I shall leave you with this:
1. Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the US.
2. One in five Americans will develop skin cancer.
3. There are three types of ultraviolet radiation, classified by wavelength. UVA usually makes you tan, especially since many sunscreens don't protect against UVA; UVB usually makes you burn; and UVC usually doesn't have an affect on you, since it is absorbed by the ozone layer.
4. Your skin has molecules called chromophores, which absorb specific wavelengths of UV. When a chromophore absorbs a photon of UV light, it becomes excited and must release its energy. Sometimes it does this through a photochemical reaction.
5. Photochemical reactions lead to visual biologic responses: tan, sunburn, dermatoheliosis (chronic photodamage, skin appears aged and wrinkly), and carcinogenesis (development of skin cancer).
6. Melanin is produced by specialized skin cells (melanocytes) to help protect the body from UV damage.
7. Wear sunscreen, limit time in the sun, and for gosh sakes, stay outta dem cancer coffins!!!!
perfect read
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