Comments | scoradh: medical mayhem

scoradh

medical mayhem

Jan 31, 2010 22:53

Part of being a FINALMEDFINALMED is having to go to lectures on Sunday mornings. They're good, though. It's mainly about practising being able to describe signs of illness for short cases.

One of them was dermatomyositis, which looks like this:

( Read more... )

work is much more fun than fun

Comments 16

lanitha January 31 2010, 23:05:02 UTC

No theories. But we are definitely more kind to our animals than to humans. We can euthanise dogs, but people we have to leave starve to death to 'prevent more suffering'.

Also? Patients tend to talk because they want to be heard. I know this is all meant in good fun, but I've had too many doctors who didn't listen, while I was giving them all the clues they needed. I'm ten times more fucked up because of that. Please/i> don't forget that in your upcoming carreer...

scoradh January 31 2010, 23:11:12 UTC

I am totally pro-euthanasia, I have to say.

Oh, I know! I am very good at listening, actually, which is why I feel I can say things like that. (Good communication is two-sided, after all.) If I didn't want to hear those things I wouldn't ask the important questions and that would be a deficit in my duty of care. But sometimes ... you know ... when you're talking to the seventh 80 year old of the day, who's got so many problems you can't keep them straight, a little succinctness would be nice. ;D

lanitha February 1 2010, 11:57:03 UTC

Well in that case, when they're 80, hopefully the colleagues before you did such a good write-up, that the dossier leads you automatically to the right questions to ask. ;-)

aliciajd January 31 2010, 23:24:00 UTC

On the other hand, my cousin, who is a small animal vet, gets disgusted with a certain percentage of pet owners who will have a pet put to sleep if they have any medical problems at all rather than pay the cost of vet services. Then they show up the next week with another animal to start the cycle all over again. Fortunately, they are a small percentage of her clientele.

scoradh January 31 2010, 23:29:30 UTC

Awwwww!!! D: If they were in pain, yes, but only then. I don't think any doctor would do that. Then again, we'd make terrible pet owners ... although I do want a kitten, very much.

lanitha February 1 2010, 11:55:35 UTC

That's so sad.
It's like people having kids and people getting pets: Anyone can, while it's sometimes such a bad, bad, BAD idea! We still don't have any qualifying test for either to determine capability. :S

chowburger January 31 2010, 23:53:37 UTC

Well, I've heard that dogs/cats/bunnies/whatever inspire parental feelings in people because of their big eyes and cute widdle noses and awwww boo goo dee dah, etc. And that's why we get so googly over them. I'd imagine that feeling immediately more sorry for pictures of them is an extension of that. Although I don't know if I'd go "aww" at a scaly baby... :/

scoradh February 1 2010, 11:22:31 UTC

I saw a baby with such bad eczema his lymph nodes had come up in big lumps all over his head and neck, and I went aww. You do.

The reason people find babies so cute is that their heads are adult-sized but their bodies aren't, so they're hugely disproportionate. Just sayin'. ;D

tieleen February 1 2010, 01:54:53 UTC

I think this might -- might -- actually be a good thing about humanity, that we react that way to animals and kids -- things that are under our protection, basically. With other humans, our first instinct isn't 'protect' but 'this is an equal'; and that can lead to really fucked up things, as far as the will to help, but maybe the initial thing is right.

I'm probably a bit too optimistic about that. But maybe!

extemporally February 1 2010, 02:03:42 UTC

I like this theory!

scoradh February 1 2010, 11:27:24 UTC

I was thinking that myself. A person might be able to pull themselves out of a barbed wire collar, or find someone who would, but could an animal? No.

I hope so too!

serenia February 1 2010, 02:47:24 UTC

I agree with lanitha on the euthanasia comment, although I also dislike the people who do what aliciajd describes - that makes me so mad!
I guess there's no real truth that applies to everyone - some people treat animals better than humans, some people treat animals like dirt (although many of them treat people like dirt, too).

Why can't we all be nice? *pathetic whine*

scoradh February 1 2010, 11:24:56 UTC

I get really het up over animal cruelty. Maybe it's the fact that they can't speak up for themselves or set themselves free, whereas humans do have an ability to do that - however limited.

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE IF EVERYONE WAS NICE? :D?