A short post on how to apply for electives

This is a very short post.

What is electives?
Electives is hands on clinical experience in the US.

Why do I need it?
To show the residency program you are applying to that you have experienced the US clinical setting and that you are comfortable in it.
To get a letter of recommendation required for the residency application.
It also helps you know a lot of people in your field, that can help you get a research or an interview.

When can I go for electives?
In the final year of your medical school. BEFORE you graduate. Once you graduate, you can't do electives.

Mechanism of pulsus paradoxus in pericardial diseases like constrictive pericarditis and pericardial tamponade

Okay, so let's begin!

Normally, during inspiration, a decrease in intrathoracic pressure is transmitted to the right heart, augmenting venous return.

What happens to the left heart?

During inspiration, expansion of the lungs and pulmonary tissues causes pulmonary blood volume to increase, which transiently decreases the flow of blood from the lungs to the left atrium and therefore, left ventricle.

Understood this? Okay, cool.

Right ventricular volume increases, pushing the interventricular septum towards the left ventricle.

Submissions: Klumpke's paralysis notes

These were submitted by Jinju! It's her day#2 of sending me her notes!

Step 2 CS: Upper limb neurological examination

So I am practicing for my CS exam. I am memorizing what I will tell my patient and writing them down for my reference. Uploading it on the blog for whoever finds it helpful.

I recommend watching videos and making your own "Set of dialogues" and practicing over and over again. Here are mine for upper limb neurological examination:

Submissions: Kawasaki disease mnemonic

Kawasaki disease mnemonic: FEBRILE

F- Fever (for more than 16 days)
E- Enanthem
B- Bulbar conjunctivitis
R- Rash, redness of lip, tongue, finger tips
I- Inflammation of blood vessels (vasculitis)
L- Lymphadenopathy (mostly cervical
E- Extremity affection

One more with same mnemonic

Submissions: Lymphatic drainage of the breast diagrams

These diagrams where drawn by Jinju. She is drawing one anatomy diagram everyday and sending them to me =)

Diseases and their twins.

There a few diseases which quite resemble an other disease in presentation and sometimes pathology.Here's a list I made-

1. Wolf-Parkinson-White and
    Lown-Ganong-Levine syndrome-

    -What's similar?
     The tachycardia, short PR   
      interval, pre- excitation

   -What's different?
     While in WPW syndrome,the
     culprit is a naughty extra pathway,
     the bundle of Kent, in LGL the AV
     node itself is naughty.(The
     hypothesized bundle of James 
     hasn't been discovered yet)
     Conduction through the AV node
     occurs rapidly.
    
     ECG findings- WPW syndrome has
     a short PR interval and a Delta
     wave on the QRS complex. No
     Delta waves occur in the LGL
     syndrome.
    
     Also, the risk of sudden death
     remains lower in LGL syndrome.

Study group discussion: ESR, HbA1c and diabetes

Did you know the ESR in diabetic patient may be elevated in the absence of overt infection?

Don't let the score get you down

"Sometimes, I wonder if I should judge myself by the marks I get at the university exams.

I work hard, sickening hard, but my scores don't give justice. I've never been able to enter in the league of 70+s and Ds.

Does it make me less of a doctor? Or have I chosen a wrong profession? Confused.

I seek some inspiring comments. Thank you in advance."

-Asked on my college group

Studying anatomy again

Hey, I really like your blog a lot. I'm still doing my first year. I failed again. This is my 5th trial over all. I feel pretty lost at the moment, I don't know where I'm going wrong. I really love this field but day by day I'm losing my groove and don't even feel like reading the same stuff again. Please do help me out. I want to come out of this mess, so hard for me to motivate myself. I really feel lost. Thanks for your inspiring messages before. God bless you! :)

-Asked by Anonymous

Hey. I can understand that what you are going through must be really tough. Studying for the same subject again and again is really boring and can be frustrating at times. I am so sorry you have to go through this :(

 Alright! So what can we do?

Tip 1: Fake it till you make it.
Pretend you are a super awesome anatomy professor and teach it to yourself after reading.
Write cool things and fun facts about anatomy. Make colorful notes.
Celebrate after every page you read. Be happy while studying.
You have to fake interest in the subject. Because otherwise you won't be able to study for it.

Tip 2: Figure out what went wrong in the previous attempts.
I think you can tell what went wrong. Was there an easy question in your viva that you did not answer? Was there a question with high weight age that you didn't about? Did you mark more than half MCQ's wrong? Did you fail to draw diagrams? Did you forget the answer or did you not know about it? Are you just studying important questions and not reading everything that is supposed to be read? What are your weak points: Neuroanatomy? Abdominal anatomy? Embryology?

Work on it.

Tip 3: Get another book or resource
Maybe your textbook isn't good enough for you any more. Stick to you but get new books just to have a read in other words.
Google for diagrams.
Make mnemonics.
YouTube songs on anatomy. Play them and sing them!
There is a lot of help available, just look for it.

Tip 4: Visualize it
Palpate your brachial artery and tendons while studying. Imagine the muscles in your feet. Visualize how your skull looks like on the inside. Look at diagrams, cadavers and notice the origin and insertion of various muscles. If you can't see it, you won't be able to answer questions related to it.

Tip 5: Live in anatomy
So here's a fun thing you can do. Talk to yourself in anatomy.

Today, when I didn't know the answer to the question, I used my trapezius with my 11th cranial nerve to shrug my shoulders.
To tease my friend, I used Genioglossus to protrude my tongue :P
I used my facial nerve and orbicularis oculi to wink at my girl friend ;)
I am glad I have strong pelvic muscles iliococcygeus and my internal organs aren't prolapsing.

Maybe you could write a "Life in anatomy" diary! xD

Make stupid anatomy jokes. (Soleus has a soul and heart?) Play anatomy games and quizzes.

Have fun with studying, please. But please, study everyday. Make a study plan and study a lil bit of everything. An hour everyday of: Head and neck, limbs, neuroanatomy, embryology, etc. Revise. Revise. Revise. Anatomy is all about memorization and you are likely to forget if you don't revise. Have someone keep a track of your progress. If you can't, email me. I would love to help you out and see you kick anatomy's gluteus maximus this year :D

-IkaN

On 23rd Aug 2016 the person who asked this question messaged me:

Ikaannn... I passsedd! Thank you so much for everything. Really, you helped me so much, IkaN, you have no ideaa. I was so down. You lifted me up and helped me through it. I owe you <3

Sending you big teddy bear hugs :*

Thank you for keeping me in your prayers!

 

Related posts:
Giving the exam you failed in
When you get tired of studying

Did you know soleus is known as the second heart?

Hello!

The heart is not the only pump in the body.  While the heart pumps blood out towards the extremities, deep muscles assist in pumping blood back towards the heart.  One of the most important muscles for assisting blood flow back to the heart is the soleus muscle!

Cocaine and beta blockers

Hello! Let's talk about cocaine and beta blockers! :)

But just to cover the basics:

Cocaine blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine and dopamine at the presynaptic adrenergic terminals, causing an accumulation of catecholamines at the postsynaptic receptor (Mnemonic). That makes it a powerful sympathomimetic agent. Cocaine causes increased heart rate and blood pressure.

Study tips on preparing for PG CET

Hey everyone!

So many of you have been asking me how to prepare for the Indian PG exams. As you all know, I am preparing for studies abroad and I don't find myself competent to answer the question. But, we convinced Dr. Prateek Charuchandra Joshi to share his study tips with us.. And he agreed! How cool is this guy! Thanks, Prateek! ^__^

I asked him a few questions focusing on the strategy of studying and irrelevant questions like - how many months/attempts did you take, what were your MBBS scores, how was internship, etc. were not asked simply because these are variable for all of you and you can't do anything about it. What you can do is get a general idea from this post, and make your personalized study schedule :)

Cocaine blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine mnemonic

Hello! Short post for the day!

Cocaine blocks the reuptake of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin.

How do you remember this?

Lipoprotein A and Thrombosis

It is a well known fact that Lipoprotein A is a cardiovascular risk factor.

Increased levels of Lipoprotein A causes Thrombotic events.

But why does this happen?

Random mnemonic on multiple sclerosis

I sometimes get blank as to what happens in multiple sclerosis.

Drugs causing SIADH mnemonic

Hello!

Because ADH makes you retain water, the mnemonic goes: "SIADH Causes Poor Voiding"

S: SSRIs (Sertaline)
I: Indomethacin (Analgesics)
A: Antidepressants (Tricyclics)
D: Diuretics (Thiazides)
Desmopressin
H: Hello :D

Study group discussion: GI hemorrhage and urea

Why does GI haemorrhage increase serum urea?

Any patient with GI bleeding will have an increased serum urea.

Urea is an end product of protein metabolism. Digested blood contains loads of proteins so it's as good as having a meal rich in proteins. Blood proteins include hemoglobin, Immunoglobulins, etc.

Glucose in pleural fluid analysis

Hi :)

A low pleural fluid glucose concentration (less than 60 mg/dL, or a pleural fluid/serum glucose ratio less than 0.5) narrows the differential diagnosis of the exudate.

Causes of low glucose in pleural fluid include:

Symptoms of Legionella pneumonia mnemonic

Happy weekend everyone!

The mnemonic for Legionella is in the word itself - LEGIONella.

L: Lungs - Atypical pneumonia.
Relatively nonproductive cough
Dyspnea
Pleuritic or non pleuritic chest pain
Confluent or patchy infiltrates on x-ray
Random fact: Interstitial infiltrates aren't seen often like in other atypical pneumonias.

COPD: Tips for step 2 CK and rounds

Hello! I have a pulmonary rotation going on and I thought I'd shed light on management of COPD :D

During rotations, you may be asked what you want to do for the patient. I have written "Plan" for what you might want to answer to impress your attending. I've included a few common brand names too :)

Inhalers: Remember inhalers only improve symptoms and have no mortality benefit and do not affect the progression of the disease.

Submissions: Crohn's disease mnemonic

This was submitted to us by Subbiah. Thanks!

Submissions: Anastomosis around the Scapula

This was submitted to us by Aparna. Thanks, girl!

Submissions: Anticoagulants mnemonic

This awesome mnemonic on Anticoagulants was submitted by Dr Vinayak Hiremath.

Hidden bleeds

So this is what my fellow asked me today: Say, there is a patient whose hemoglobin is dropping, dropping, dropping and he has barely any significant signs or symptoms.. Besides the GI tract, where else can you have a significant bleed which can be hidden? There are three such places.

Guess before you read the answer! :D

In my words: Diagnosing a PE

I was reading about Pulmonary Embolism for USMLE Step 2 CK and started typing notes for myself to refer. I thought I'd upload it for you guys to read as well.

Disclaimer: I am talking to myself in the blog. I hope it makes sense.

I'll be talking about two scenarios -
High pretest probability scenario: Dude who sat in a 24 hour flight, smokes a lot, is taking OCP's, got his hip replaced and can't move at all.
Low pretest probability scenario: Dude who is dyspneic, hypoxic and has a normal chest x-ray.

Let's start with scenario #1 - The high pretest probability:

If there's a high index of suspicion and a treatment option is given in the options, choose the treatment one because you don't want to waste time in imaging.

If there's a high index of suspicion and a treatment option is not given in the options, they want you to choose a diagnostic modality. The "next best step" in the diagnosis. What do you choose?

Why does oxygen cause hypercapnia in COPD?

In medical school, we learnt that oxygen administration in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) induces hypercapnia through the 'hypoxic drive' mechanism. I had talked about this in my previous blog here.

Today, I found out that it is a myth. Well, sort of. It has a minor role. At least, in COPD.

Studies found out that the minute ventilation had a limited effect on PaCO2 :/

So... What caused the CO2 increase then?

How would you look upside down?

Hey everyone!

I attended a conference of aging of the face two weeks back. Did you know that aging of the face can be related to gravity? Yep it is.

Well, here's what's REALLY interesting: To reinforce this theory, they found out that inversion photographs of aging patients (either in a supine or Trendelenburg position) demonstrate an appearance consistent with that of photographs taken approximately 10–15 years prior.

Here's a picture:

Antipseudomonal antibiotics mnemonic

Hope you're having a good day!

"CP cover Crazy Pseudomonas."

Cephalosporins (Like Ceftazidime, cefepime, cefoperazone, cefpirome)
Ciprofloxacin (Fluoroquinolones)
Carbapenems (Meropenem, Doripenem)
Colistin
Polymyxin B
Piperacillin tazobactam (Anti pseudomonal penicillins)

I also remember that antibiotics that have the letters "AZ" cover Pseudomonas.

Organisms covered by Azithromycin mnemonic

Hey!

Today, during rounds, I was asked which organisms does Azithromycin cover that ceftriaxone doesn't and I kinda blanked out :(

PS: They were talking in context to community acquired pneumonia (CAP) and so does this post.

So.. Mnemonic!

Phagocytes, Monocytes, Macrophages, Histiocytes?! What's the difference between them?

Hey guys!

If you've always found it difficult to make a distinction between those terms about wha they mean then this post is for you. Let's  just settle it once and for all.

Study group discussion: Lipid Metabolism Deficiency Enzymes

Hey guys, this is a minor post about Lipid Metabolism Deficiency enzymes we talked about in Medicowesome Whatsapp Group. (If you want to join our group, please email us!)

DNA viruses mnemonic

DNA is the blueprint of biological life as we know. 

Viruses contain either DNA or RNA, they NEVER contain both. Now whether viruses containing DNA makes them superior to there only-RNA containing counterparts..that is debatable.

Medical humour: Face-lift

"Face-lift is like a prolapse repair of the face."

- Sim, my medical friend rotating in urology talking about plastics.

Mnemonics - Dermatomal distribution easiest way to remember

Hey people,

I don't know if you struggled remembering the dermatomal distribution but I always had a tough time with it. 

Starting off: The sensory distributions always overlap with the adjacent ones. So there is no hard and fast rule. The zones that have sole supply from one nerve are known as Autonomous Sensory zones. Which are helpful in identifying the nerve lesion. C1 segment has no sensory supply, only motor supply.

Mnemonic for the layers of the skin (Epidermis)

Hey guys! 

Here's an easy mnemonic to remember the layers of the epidermis and some other fun facts.

The Epidermis consists of 5 layers (From base to top)

- Stratum basale
- Stratum spinosum
- Stratum granulosum
- Stratum lucidum
- Stratum corneum

Mnemonics

Top to Bottom:

Come Lets Get Sun Burnt                                            
Bottom to Top:

Britney Spears Glows Like Candy (If  you like her!)

Britney Spears Grows Like Cancer (If you don't like her :P )

Stratum Basale (as it is the basal layer) :

Columnar epithelial cells. 
These cells multiply and produce the keratinocytes which move up the layers. 
Melanocytes are present in this layer which produce melanosome (melanin packed in granules) and ship them to the keratinocytes in other layers  through their dendrites. 

Stratum Spinosum / prickle cell layer (contains desmosomal bridges which look like spines.) :
Polygonal cells.
Connected to each other by the aforementioned desmosomal bridges.

Stratum Granulosum (contain keratohyaline granules) :
Diamond shaped cells. 
Granules contain protein filaggrin (filament aggregation) which is responsible for the aggregation of keratin filaments. 

Stratum Lucidum:
Flat cells. 
Present only in palms and soles.

Epidermis in rest of the body has only 4 layers.

Stratum Corneum (horny layer) :
Most superficial layer. 
Cells are fully keratinised and end up as anucleate dead cells which later desquamate. 

Basale, spinosum and granulosum together are called as the living layer. 
Corneum is called as the dead layer. 

Dermis consists of the superficial papillary dermis and the deep reticular dermis.

Fun facts:
Skin is the largest organ in the body.
Keratin is synthesised in the Spinosum layers but accumulates in the granulosum layer.
The migration of cells from basal layer to desquamation is known as the Turn over Time which is normally 4-5 weeks.
Merkel cells(sensory end organ) present in the basal layer are responsible for the touch sensation.

P.S. The image has been taken from another site.

- Ved

Signs seen in Aortic regurgitation mnemonic

Hello! In this post, I talk about the signs seen in Aortic regurgitation and share a few mnemonics with you. I also inserted some gif images to make it fun.

I recommend using mnemonics for the signs you can't remember after learning them thoroughly than trying to memorize the mnemonics first :)

Let's get started :D

de Musset's sign: Rhythmic nodding or bobbing of the head in synchrony with the beating of the heart.

Mnemonic: Imagine a musketeer, raising his hat and then bowing his head stylishly.

Quincke's sign: Regurgitant blood flow into a dilated left ventricle during diastole leads to a decrease in diastolic pressure and a consequent increase in stroke volume, resulting in blanching and flushing, respectively, of the nail bed.

PS: They are pulsations which are SEEN, they are NOT FELT.

Quincke's pulse is the capillary pulsations and any thing that demonstrates these pulsations may be known as Quincke's sign. (I don't know for sure though.)

Other ways to see Quincke's pulse:

- While drawing the thumb nail sharply across the forehead, one can cause a red mark, which can be seen paling and flushing with each beat of the heart.

- When pressing a glass slide on the inner part of the lower lip, the same capillary pulsation will be seen. 

So these two can also be called Quincke's signs! :)

Mnemonic: I honestly don't have a mnemonic for this one. Uhh.. How about.. "Quickly keep Quiet with Quincke's finger on your lips?" The Q's to remind you of Quincke. Finger for nail bed. Lips for the glass slide thingy.

Causes of inverted T waves

Causes of inverted T waves :

1. Normal in lead V1 , V2 and V3 ( V3 only in blacks )  , normal in avR too

2. Ventricular hypertrophy

3 . ischemia / infarction

4. Digoxin toxicity

5. Bundle branch block

Written by Huzaifa Bhopalwala (Previously known as mist amidst)

ST elevation other than MI

Causes of ST elevation other than MI:

1. Prinzmetal angina
2. Hyperkalemia
3. Acute pericarditis and myocarditis
4. Brugada syndrome
5. Arrhythmogenic RV cardiomyopathy
6. PE (Pulmonary embolism )
7. LBBB
8. And Normal variants ( high Take off and early repolarization )

Written by Huzaifa Bhopalwala (Previously known as mist amidst)