Prompt #10 Recognizing Truth

By: Fatamah Esa

Grey’s Anatomy may be a popular show but it is filled with inaccurate representations of the medical field. The show pays more attention to the romantic and personal lives of the characters rather than the work of the hospital, which makes sense since it is a medical drama. However, often times the show will, in the process, exaggerate or oversimplify a medical situation.

The most prominent misrepresentation in Grey’s Anatomy is “glamorizing the role of physicians while downplaying the nursing profession and the important work that nurses do” (Andersson). The series tends to show the doctors doing the nurses work. For example, the doctors are shown distributing the medications, monitoring the patients, drawing blood, and transporting the patients (Andersson). In reality, this is all the works of a nurse and not a doctor. Also, the physicians are seen spending a lot of time at the patient's bedside, which is also incorrect. The nurses care for the patient needs and spend most of their time with patients while physicians figure out a way to get them healthy again.

Another misrepresentation in the show is how the interns are allowed to be in the OR during their first year in residency.  This is usually during their third year in residency. Typically first year interns “draw stat labs, put in orders for nurses, talk to patients’ families, round with social workers to discuss patient placement upon discharge and obtain patients’ signatures on consent-to-surgery forms” (Kirzner). The interns in Grey’s Anatomy are sometimes even allowed to operate on a patient which is completely unrealistic.  In addition, the interns, who are in the general surgery program, are also seen rotating from general surgery to orthopedics to neurosurgery when they are only supposed to be dealing  with general surgery (Kirzner). Despite the misrepresentations of the medical field, Grey's anatomy is still entertaining and widely popular show with twelve seasons to prove it.

Sources:

Andersson, Camilla. "The Nursing Profession: 3 Ways Grey's Anatomy Misrepresents It." Fortis                      

          Blog.Fortis, 19 Feb. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.

Kirzner, Amanda. "'Grey's Anatomy' vs. Real-life Residency: You Already Know How This Turns out - The

            DO." The DO. American Osteopathic Association, 05 Sept. 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2015.

The Dreaded MCAT

By: Dalin C

The Medical College Admissions Test or MCAT for short, is one of the most challenging entrance exams in the world. This exam is the entrance exam for medical school, and it is required in almost all U.S. medical schools and many Canadian medical schools.

The MCAT is a standardized, multiple-choice examination designed to test your problem solving, critical thinking, and knowledge of natural, behavioral, and social science concepts and principles before you study medicine. The exam is a seven and a half hour long, computerized exam that will have you feeling completely drained when you are done.

There are four different categories that are a part of this exam; they are:

• Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems
• Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems
• Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior
• Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills

This is the newest version of the MCAT and it was launched in April 2015.

Studying for this exam is crucial; there is no way someone could just go take it and get a good score. There are many different resources to help you prepare for the exam and also help you study for the exam. There are textbooks, videos, websites, and all sorts of things that will help you prepare; just make sure you give yourself enough time.

The MCAT is scored with individual sections, and then an overall score. The individual sections are scored using a 118 to 132 range, with 125 being the median score. The total score is scored using a 472 to 528 range, with 500 being the median score.

Works Cited

Applying to Medical School. Association of American Medical Colleges. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

About the MCAT. The Princeton Review. Web. 29 Oct 2015. 

A day in the life of a Dentist

Logan W.

Most people only visit the dentist once every six months for a typical cleaning. However, dentists complete many more jobs during the day that many people do not realize. Dentists will complete many different procedures every day ranging from cleanings to root canals. Some examples of procedures that a dentist can complete are shown below;

• Bonding
• Bridges and Implants
• Crowns and Caps
• Dentures
• Extractions
• Fillngs and Repairs
• Gum Surgery
• Oral Cancer Examinations
• Root Canals
• Sealants
• Teeth Whitening
• Veneers

Most people are familiar with the procedures on that list or have herd of them before. One that is talked about very often but most people are not aware of is the root canal; a root canal is when a tooth has infected underlying central tissue.  The dentist job is to drill into the tooth and remove this infected tissue, if not removed it will cause infections and harm the jaw bone, pain, and many other complications.

If you thought the sole purpose of the dentist was to clean teeth, you were mistaken.  Dentists complete a large list of procedures at their practice which is why they must be highly skilled and educated prior to graduating from dental school.

Sources
DiLoreto, David. "Six Most Common Dental Procedures." David DiLoreto. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

"Oral Surgery in Worcester. Arena Family Dental." Oral Surgery in Worcester. Arena Family Dental. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Characteristics of an Ideal Doctor

By: Fatamah Esa

To be a doctor, you of course must possess the skills required for the job. These skills are learned throughout college and medical school. However, there are certain skills or characteristics that are not taught but nevertheless every good doctor must possess.

The first and foremost characteristic is empathy. A doctor must be empathetic because he/she must be understanding of the patient’s condition in order to be able to care for the patient better. It is also a better experience for the patient when the doctor tries to understand what the patient is feeling/thinking. Studies have even shown that patients with doctors who show an empathetic connection will actually have a reduction in pain. This is because “their body will suppress their awareness of the pain and they will experience a faster recovery” (Top 1).

The second characteristic of being an excellent doctor is having patience. Doctors will have many patients throughout the day to care of but the best doctors take time to ask their patients a few more questions and get a better understanding of their conditions instead of making rushed decisions. I have had experience first hand with a doctor that had little patience. He had taken my temperature, asked me what was wrong, scribbled something on his prescription pad and gave it to me, and like that he was gone. I was completely unsatisfied with the visit.

The last characteristics is to be respectful. Doctors should take patient's input seriously and work alongside them to figure out the diagnosis and the way to cure them. They should also respect the doctor/patient confidentiality and nothing the patient says should ever leave the doctor’s office (Top 1). Being a good doctor is not all about graduating from medical school because the ability to be empathetic, compassionate, patient and respectful are all just as important.

Sources:

"Top 6 Essential Traits of a Good Doctor - I-studentglobal." I-studentglobal. I-studentmedia,

n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

Becoming Board Certified

As one of the final steps to becoming a doctor, you have the ability to become Board Certified. What does being a Board Certified Doctor mean? After obtaining your medical license to practice you have the option to show that you are an expert in your field, instead of just passing the exams and licensing material. This gives a doctor more of a trusted background because of their ability to perform at an expert level and specialize in other categories as well. In regards to becoming board certified, you also have to maintain the certification level, through the ABMS program for Maintenance of Certification (MOC). What the ABMS program does is that it continually challenges physicians to improve and constantly assess their abilities in the medical field, It also develops their skills and develop as well in their respected fields.

Works Cited

"Board Certification and Maintenance of Certification." Board Certification and Maintenance of Certification. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015. <http://www.abms.org/board-certification/>.

"Medscape Log In." Medscape Log In. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015. <http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/839178>.

The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2015. <http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html>.

Financial Costs of Dentistry

Logan W.

Everyone has once heard about the ridiculous cost of completing the pre- professional field, whether it is becoming a doctor or a dentist, the bill you will be stuck with after school is enormous. But when the numbers are examined, it puts the huge cost in perspective. Here is a chart from the University of Michigan's dental school.

IN-STATE (Michigan Residents)

	Tuition & Fees	Books/Lab (other)	Instruments (other)	Living Costs	Total Budget
D1*	$30,774	$4,017	$3,396	$26,170	$64,357
D2**	$36,794	$3,579	$2,996	$31,316	$74,685
D3**	$36,794	$2,216	$2,996	$31,316	$73,322
D4**	$36,794	$4,509	$2,996	$31,316	$75,615

 *10-month budget.

**12-month budget due to revised curriculum. 

                                                          (Fig. 1.)

The living costs are definitely a little bit high, however other than that the costs are laid out very well to be seen. After 4 years, a dental student graduates his/her student debt will be around $200,000. Which is a large amount of money to be in debt of on top of your undergraduate debt. If you feel that this is a worth while investment as a student, then you must be ready to pay a majority of your paychecks back on those college loans.
Sources
Fig. 1. "Office of Financial Aid: Dental (D.D.S.) Students." Office of Financial Aid: Dental (D.D.S.) Students. University of Michigan. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Preparing for Surgery

By: Dalin C.

When preparing for a surgery, there are many different tasks that have to be performed. Surgeons have to put on clean scrubs, clean gloves, a new face mask, and most importantly wash their hands. They do many small tasks like this, but how come they do not "warm-up" before surgery? For example, go through the hand motions or a virtual warm-up. A warm-up could help the surgeons make fewer mistakes and keep their hand motions smooth.

A small experiment was done with surgeons to see if a warm-up session helped and they found that, "adding a 15-20 minute warm-up led to a 33% reduction in errors on a series of exercises that simulated surgical skills." An athlete and a dancer performs warm-ups to perfect their performance so surgeons should too. A small research experiment have proved that this could help. If there are less errors in the surgery rooms, then more lives could be saved and it could make safer surgeries. Nothing bad could come from surgeons doing a warm-up session before a surgery. It will only help the surgeons, just like it helps athletes before a game.

Works Cited
Neale, Todd. "A Brief Preop Warm-Up May Improve Surgical Skills." MedPage Today. MedPage Today. 3 Feb. 2009. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

Prompt #9: Recognizing Significance

By: Patrick Ashcraft


It is no doubt that the medical field is one of the biggest fields of study in our world today. Without the practice of medicine we would encounter many more problems going through every day life.
An example of the medical field doing amazing things, is that now doctors can predict early stages of Alzheimer's in their patients. The way they go about doing this, is using a "virtual reality" maze that tests different sections of their brain and different brain cells.

The medical research being done is amazing how things can be found out even decades before they could possibly affect someone. This is just one of the ways the medical field is improving with what they are able to do. The field of medicine can only get better and more improved, finding new cures for different diseases and ways that the doctors can help the overall health of the community.


Works Cited:

"Virtual Reality Maze 'predicts Alzheimer's Disease' -BBC News." BBC News. Web. 25 Oct. 2015.

Talk Topic #3

Each respective field of study will establish their own slang or “language”, and it is crucial for studying students to learn the tongue of their field.  In the medical field there are numerous reasons why health care professionals speak in a way that only they can understand.  One reason they speak in their different specialized language is so they can maintain their bedside manor. When talking with their colleagues in the presence of the patients it is crucial to avoid making the sick patient feel uncomfortable or uneasy.  They must be able to keep patients spirits high and not get them down and focusing on recovering. 

Another reason why it is of the upmost importance to talk in their specialized slang is so they can quickly acquire large amounts of information about patients in high stress situations.  When a critical patient enters an ER, the doctors must receive life saving info from colleagues about the condition of the patient and how to treat them.  This may be because the patient is unresponsive or is not sure what is actually going on with their body.  It is absolutely critical for healthcare specialist be able to communicate quickly and effectively to provide the best service for their patients. To be able to be effective in this field I must learn this slang so that my colleagues and I can provide the best care for our patients.

Sources

"Online Doctors Can Be the Only Alternative in Some Cases." Online Doctor. Doctor On Demand, 2014. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Why Choose the Medical Field?

By: Fatamah Esa

There are many benefits connected with being in the medical field; the most important benefit is the ability to make a difference and impact in people’s lives. When working in the medical field, an individual has the opportunity to help care for or even save a life everyday. Knowing that you are an important part of people’s healing process brings great satisfaction and purpose into your life. Plus, the pleasant working environment and the sense of teamwork between many different specialties of nurses, technicians, surgeons and doctors, as they work together to treat a patient, is an extraordinary feeling.

There is a long list of different careers associated with the medical field so almost everyone can find a medical career that suits them. Medical workers are always in high demand. In fact, the medical field is the largest growing sector in our economy because of the increase in life expectancy and a more health conscious society (Rosen). There is always job security and it is also rare to be laid-off or terminated from a job in the medical field. Also, medical workers are well paid and wages are expected to grow at faster rates than those in other industries (Rosen). Many even receive benefits and medical care. People in the medical field are also highly respected in their communities by family, friends and neighbors. If you are a people person, than the medical field maybe right for you because you will be able to interact with different people throughout the day. The medical field is always exciting because there are always sick people to care for, unique cases to treat, and new innovations and breakthroughs being made. That's why I chose the medical field.

Sources:

Rosen, Andrew G. "Why to Choose Careers in the Medical Field." Jobacle. Jobacle, n.d. Web. 18 Oct.

              2015.

What exactly is an RN?

By Patrick Ashcraft

When the topic of Nursing is discussed a term that I used to not be very familiar myself was the term "RN." As many people in the medical field already know what it means, some who are in broader areas of studies may not be exactly sure what it means. The term "RN" stands for Registered Nurse.

To become a registered nurse you only need to go to 3-4 years to get your RN degree. The average salary of an RN is $64,690. Since nursing is such a wide field, nurses can always be needed and used, this makes the job security for being a nurse fairly comfortable. RN's have a wide range of tasks they perform and things they are in charge of within their practice. While typically an RN is just a basic nurse, most people go on to pursue higher education and broaden their nursing ability by specializing to one of the many fields of nursing that were discussed before. 

Works Cited:

"ExploreHealthCareers.org." Registered Nurse (RN). Web. 18. Oct. 2015. 

Pre dental

By Logan W.

When a student decides that they would like to be dentist after college, there are many ways to start that career path but all eventually lead to the same path, which is dental school.  When college is started, these is a wide choice of majors to be chosen from, however it is best to stay in the science field such as human biology, etc.  After undergraduate studies are completed, pre dental students can take the Dental Acceptance Test (DAT) (Boyd, para. 3).  This is the standardized test that must be passed and is part of the Dental school application process.

Once a student completes the DAT and receives their score they may use this score to apply to desired dental schools.  While in dental school students will study a broad range of science related works that will help further their studies.  Among these are Anatomy, Physiology, and Endodontics.  Dental students will complete either a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) or Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD) degree (Boyd, para. 7).  After a student completes their degree, they then have to complete state and national level licensing for the dentists to be able to operate on patients.

Sources

"How to Become a Dentist | Dentist Careers." Learn How to Become. 31 Jan. 2014. Web. 18 Oct. 2015. <http://www.learnhowtobecome.org/dentist/>.

Boyd, Doug. "First Day of Classes Arrives for Dental Students." ECUNewsletter RSS. ECU News, 24 Aug. 2011. Web. 18 Oct. 2015. <http://blog.ecu.edu/sites/newblog/blog/2011/08/24/first-day-of-classes-arrives-for-dental-students/>.

Prompt #8: Practicing Your Knowledge

By: Dalin C.

The learning difference between a hands-on experience and learning from a written source is tremendous. I job shadowed a nurse anesthetist in the surgery room for a day, and I learned many things from it. Also, I was surprised by many things from following the nurse anesthetist around for a day.

Learning from a written source can be difficult at times; it is easy to get side tracked, there is the chance of not comprehending what I read, and it can make me very tired. A hands-on experience is completely different because I was right there watching what was happening, listening to the surgeons talk, and experiencing it all. 

On paper, the surgery room sounds like a very intense, high-stake place. However, that is not true in all of the surgery rooms. When I job shadowed, I watched as the surgeons talked freely about whatever was happening in their lives. They spoke as if they were not at work, and they were so relaxed, I was astonished. One of the surgeons was even playing music off of her iPhone while she performed the surgery. I always thought that the surgery rooms were very strict about the way the surgeons acted, but I was proved wrong.

A written source is not going to show someone how surgeons act and perform in the surgery rooms. They will only learn that from a hands-on experience like I did. They will not find out the real truth about working in the surgical field until they experience it for themselves. Also, they are not going to see the steady technique the surgeons use from book; things like that can only come from witnessing, or doing it themselves.

Post Residency: Obtaining a License

After you have finally completed roughly three to eight years of residency, you are finally able to get your own practicing license. You are required by law in all states to become licensed in order to practice medicine on your own. In order to get your license you would have to graduate from medical school, complete a residency program, and also must pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination
(USMLE) for M.D.s. or the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Exam(COMLEX-USA) for D.O.s.

This seems like its pretty simple, get into medical school, pass all your exams, go to residency and pass either the USMLE or COMLEX-USA exam as well depending on whether you are an M.D. or D.O., but your not done just yet.

When applying to get your license to practice, its an overall three to 6 month process. The reason behind this time is because sure you must be academically fit for helping people with medical problems, but also have to make sure the patients are safe. Therefore extensive background checks are done, educational checks, and more training are needed to obtain a license.

Works Cited:

"Steps to Become a Doctor." Study. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2015

              <http://study.com/steps_to_become_a_doctor.html>.

Different Fields of Nursing

By: Patrick Ashcraft

As a Pre-Nursing major you constantly have to keep thinking about your future and what you want to do with it. Nursing is just a small part of what it leads up to be, when you're a nurse it can lead into many different types of nursing fields. There are 104 Nursing Specialty fields today, some of the more popular ones are: Ambulatory Nurse, Clinical Nurse, Doctor of Nursing Practice, Emergency or ER Nurse, Hospice Nurse, Nurse Anesthetist, Nurse Practitioner, and many more.

You may be confused on what you would possibly want to do with that many opportunities for your future, but you are for sure bound to find something you are interested within that field. The good thing about nursing is that it can lead into a lot of different things, and you can for sure find your passion within one of them.


Works Cited:
"Explore Specialties." Explore Specialties. Web. 11 Oct. 2015.

Women in Medicine

By Fatamah Esa

Patient consulting with her doctor

Patient consulting with her doctor

Over the last century, there has been progress for women in medicine. In the 1930s, only 4.4% of all medical students were women compared to today’s 47%. However, the increase in the number of students is practically the only gains that women are experiencing.The gender pay gap is a problem in many careers but I was shocked to learn that this was also a major issue for women in the medical field. According to the Center for Research on Gender in the Professions, there continues to exist a fairly big gender pay gap and women are paid 79% of what their male counterparts earn.

Another problem is that women continue to be underrepresented in medicine and only 34% of physicians are women. Even among those female physicians, most are in the four lowest-paid specialties which include family practice, pediatrics, psychiatry, and internal medicine (Empowering). These specialties account for over 70% of all female physicians. Even in medical organizations there is a gender imbalance; in fact, the AMA, one of the largest and most powerful medical organization in the country, didn’t have a woman on their board until 1989. There is a clear and apparent male domination in medicine which is unjust but hopefully in upcoming years there will be equal opportunities and pay without gender discrimination.

Sources:

"Empowering Women in Medicine - Introduction - Feminist Majority Foundation." Empowering

Women in Medicine - Introduction - Feminist Majority Foundation. Feminist Majority Foundation, n.d.

Web. 09 Oct. 2015.

Williams, Stacy J. "Medical Professions: The Status of Women and Men." (n.d.): n. pag.

Center for Research on Gender in the Professions, 2013. Web. 8 Oct. 2015