medical school – Page 3

Stress

Stress and Anxiety

August 28, 2011November 16, 2011 Stephen Goldberg

ghost-hammer — "...and if the medication causes any headaches or hallucinations, please call me."

(by guest author John Preston, Psy.D)

Common symptoms of stress include:

Trembling; feeling shaky
Muscle tension
Nervousness; edginess
Sweating; cold hands and feet
Initial insomnia (difficulty falling asleep)

Symptoms associated with moderate to severe anxiety:

Shortness of breath
Tachycardia
Diarrhea ; frequent urination
Panicky feelings; fears of losing control

Symptoms associated with specific anxiety disorders:

Extremely intense, rapidly escalating anxiety generally lasting for 1-10 minutes (Panic disorder)
Recurring, significant worries about: maintaining order in ones environment (accompanied by checking behavior; e.g. checking and rechecking if doors are locked, oven is turned off, etc.); unrealistic fears of dirt, contamination (accompanied by rituals, e.g. hand washing) (obsessive-compulsive disorder)
Recurring nightmares, intrusive memories, anxiety attacks, and times feeling numb (Post-traumatic stress disorder)

Note: these three anxiety disorders have very small rates of spontaneous remission. Without professional treatment they can last for years.

Symptoms that can significantly interfere with functioning at school or work

Impaired concentration and attention
Inability to maintain focus
Memory problems
Very low frustration tolerance
Irritability

The five symptoms listed above can severely interfere with functioning, and failure to succeed academically or occupationally can, in itself, become another source of increased anxiety.

Stress symptoms are often brought about by exposure to either very significant life events (e.g. the death of a loved one; being reprimanded or fired from a job). But also such symptoms often arise not from specific, highly stressful experiences, but from the accumulation of many lower-level stressors (e.g. when people take on too much).

There are four factors that are at the root of many stress symptoms:

Loss of perspective which often leads to a perceived loss of control
Lack of adaptive outlets for reacting to the stressors
Sleep deprivation
The use/overuse of caffeine and/or alcohol, both of which can contribute significantly to stress symptoms.

These are causes, but also each point the way to effective stress management.

Stress management: First it is worth noting that when people are experiencing severe stress reactions it is very common for friends or loved ones to offer useless advice, such as “You just need to relax;” “Don’t take things so seriously;” “You are too sensitive.” You better believe it, everyone who is experiencing severe stress has already done everything they can to turn the volume on stress symptoms. To have someone offer one of these platitudes never helps and often results in the person feeling misunderstood or angry.

Techniques that work: Continue reading “Stress and Anxiety” →

Stress

Depression: Often Obvious, Sometimes Hidden

August 21, 2011January 1, 2012 Stephen Goldberg

psychiatrist---evil — "And how long have you been, in my opinion, evil?"

(by guest author John Preston, Psy.D)

A number of factors can contribute to depression. There are the usual suspects, e.g. loss of a loved one (due to death, separation, or divorce), assaults to one’s self-esteem (e.g. being fired, demoted, failing an exam, or being rejected in a romantic relationship), developing a serious illness. Additionally, a number of situations that contribute to depression are commonly encountered among those in medical school, internship, or residency:

Prolonged exposure to significantly stressful situations.
The perception of powerlessness. For example, the belief that “no matter what I do, I still cannot stay on top of things.” Chronically feeling overwhelmed.
A lack of self-confidence. Developing doubts about one’s self.
Sleep deprivation: This is a very common but often overlooked cause of depression. This can be due to the choice to regularly sleep less (e.g. spending long hours into the night studying or being on call). Also, a loss of restorative (slow wave) sleep can be caused by the overuse of caffeine or other stimulants and by chronic anxiety. Prolonged stress or anxiety disorders result in high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine. These hormones significantly reduce the time spent in slow wave sleep. Stress often results in difficulty falling asleep (initial insomnia) and, in addition, the loss of restorative sleep. The daytime exhaustion that results is often combated with increased caffeine use. Caffeine also interferes with the ability to enter slow wave sleep.
In attempting to overcome initial insomnia, people often turn to the use of alcohol and benzodiazepines, most of which also interfere with restorative sleep. Fatigue and chronic loss of slow wave sleep contribute to cognitive problems (especially the ability to maintain attention and concentration).

Stress may lead to impaired sleep, daytime fatigue, excessive caffeine, alcohol or tranquilizers use, and symptoms of depression. Continue reading “Depression: Often Obvious, Sometimes Hidden” →

eBooks vs Print Books

eBooks Versus Print Books: Pros and Cons

August 14, 2011February 19, 2013 Stephen Goldberg

Too-large-book — “It’s the most complete book for the Medical Boards. Unfortunately, no one can carry it out of the store.”

In addition to classical print books, there now is the growing option of reading eBooks, whether on reading devices (e.g. Kindle, iPad, Nook, Android), on the Internet (e.g. Google Books), or as downloads from the Internet to your computer.

As I see it, the pros and cons of eBooks versus print books in medical education are:

Pros:
• eBooks avoid the space limitations of print books. In small living quarters, it is space-saving to have books in electronic form.

• It is easier to carry books in electronic format than heavy print books.

• eBooks are generally less expensive than print books.

• Ebooks have the potential for interactivity, including searching and hyperlinking to other sources of information, as well as audio and video enhancements.

• Ebooks can be updated more frequently than print books.

Cons:
• While there are provisions in some eBook reading devices and applications to underline, take notes, bookmark, and jump to different areas of the book, some people may find it less awkward to do this in an actual print book.

• If books are read via the Internet, the ability to read would depend on whether or not there is an Internet connection at the time. This problem does not exist in a printed book or when reading eBooks that are already downloaded to a reading device or eReader application on one’s computer.

• Hand-held pocket sized devices may be convenient to carry around, but their small screens make them impractical for certain kinds of books, particularly those that have many illustrations and charts.

• Many medical texts are in color. This would render it impractical to read them on a device that uses electronic ink, such a black and white Kindle.

• It can be fatiguing reading a screen for extended periods.

• If the eReader device only allows reading one book at a time, this may be problematical for those who want to study from more than one book simultaneously.

When I was a medical student, the saying was that the highest grade would go to the student who could write the fastest, in view of the need to write down the lecture notes. Today, students can take classroom notes on a computer. A standard computer keyboard allows more rapid typing than on other devices, such as an iPad or hand-held device. While one can purchase a wireless keyboard to type on an iPad, this is an extra device to carry around.

What is your preference – eBook or print book? Do the needs of medical students differ from those of other readers? What is your opinion about the future use of eBooks versus print books in medical education?

Rapid Learning

Memory Techniques for Med School #11 Hands-On

August 7, 2011January 1, 2012 Stephen Goldberg

HANDS-ON
Despite the value of the 10 memory methods discussed in the preceding posts, perhaps the best teacher of all is the hands-on interaction with the patient. There is great truth to the patient being the best teacher. While we struggle with difficult hours and clinical situations on the wards and clinics during medical school, internship, and residency, it helps to bear in mind that the experience will be very valuable. There arises a solid core of judgment and knowledge, ingrained in memory, from the experience of interacting with patients.

Which memory and learning techniques do you find most valuable in your medical studies?
What do you think of eBooks versus print books?

Rapid Learning

Memory Techniques for Med School #10 Acronyms

July 31, 2011April 11, 2016 Stephen Goldberg

ACRONYMS
With acronyms, the first letters of the items in a list are put together to form a word. For instance, the acronym SCALP is used to remember the layers of the scalp:

S = Skin
C = Connective tissue
A = Aponeurotic layer
L = Loose connective tissue
P = Pericranium

Related to the word-type acronym is one in which you remember a sentence in which the first letter of each word corresponds to an item on the list. For instance, to remember the carpal bones:

“Some Lovers Try Positions That They Cannot Handle”

S = Scaphoid
L = Lunate
T = Triquetrum
P = Pisiform
T = Trapezium
T = Trapezoid
C = Capitate
H = Hamate

These are effective mnemonics, since the letters all are nouns and refer to specific anatomical structures in the region. There is little else that the letters could refer to.

It is difficult to find good acronymns, however. In many, the letters are not necessarily nouns, and they could refer to so many things that they are hardly worth the effort to memorize, except perhaps for an exam the next day. They are quickly forgotten.

You can find many lists of acronyms by googling “medical mnemonics.”

Which memory and learning techniques do you find most valuable in your medical studies?
What do you think of eBooks versus print books?

Rapid Learning

Memory Techniques for Med School #9 Chunking

July 24, 2011May 22, 2014 Stephen Goldberg

fish-don't-wet — Difficult directions — one of the major causes of poor patient compliance

CHUNKING
In chunking, you try to break up a large list of items into smaller chunks, each of which can be easier to memorize than the whole. A classic example is the phone number, which, rather than a list of 10 successive digits, is broken up into a 3-digit area code, then a 3-digit number followed by a 4-digit number.

In medicine this can be done with lists of words or with pictures. For words, say you want to memorize a large list of antibiotics. They are easier to learn by first grouping them into categories (antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic). Antibacterials can be further reduced to the subchunks of penicillin family, anti-ribosomal, anti-tb and leprosy, and miscellaneous, etc. If you can create subgroups of items in a large list (also aided by placing them in charts for cross-reference comparison), it becomes easier to keep them in mind.

Chunking can also be done with complex pictures. For instance, the metabolic pathways in biochemistry form a large and complex map of associations. Breaking them down into visual chunks eases the learning process:

biochemistryland2 — Expanding on the chunks

biochemistryland3 — Further chunk expansion (from Clinical Biochemistry Made Ridiculously Simple, MedMaster)

Which memory and learning techniques do you find most valuable in your medical studies?

*****
What do you think of eBooks versus print books?

Rapid Learning

Memory Techniques for Med School #8 Memory Palace

July 15, 2011April 6, 2012 Stephen Goldberg

Surgical team and patient with "Hi, I'm...." social name stickers — Adding the human touch to the operating room

THE MEMORY PALACE
The Memory Palace (also called the method of loci, or mental walk) is a terrific memory method that was used as far back as ancient Rome, but has been largely underused since the invention of printed books. Neuropsychologist A.R. Luria, in his book “The Mind of a Mnemonist,” describes an amazing patient he followed for many years, who never forgot anything. The patient used the Memory Palace method, which is also praised highly by Joshua Foer, who won the U.S. memory championship and describes the method in his best-selling book “Moonwalking with Einstein.”

In the Memory Palace you simply visualize a walk through a place that you know well. For instance, it may be your home, in which you first encounter a large tree outside, then the front door, then the foyer, then the den on the right, then the kitchen, the bathroom, the bedroom, etc., in succession. You know this sequential list well, simply by the familiarity that you have with your home.

You use this walking list of places to associate each stop along the walk with an item on the list you wish to memorize.

In the case of the 7 cancer signs:

1. A change in bowel or bladder habits
2. A sore that does not heal
3. Unusual bleeding or discharge from any place
4. A lump in the breast or other parts of the body
5. Chronic indigestion or difficulty in swallowing
6. Obvious changes in a wart or mole
7. Persistent coughing or hoarseness

You might associate a cancerous tree, shaped like a “7,” that had a bowel and bladder exploding from its trunk. Continuing the walk:

The fecal matter would land on the door, causing a large sore on the door.

The sore would erode through the door, causing a massive pool of blood and discharge in the foyer.

The den on the right would be filled to the ceiling with lumps.

etc.

The advantage of the Memory Palace over the Link and Peg methods is that you can have numerous memory palaces. There then is no problem of confusing one item in a list with the same item in another list (such as a list of drug effects or symptoms of a disease). Just use a different memory palace. Trained mnemonists use hundreds of Memory Palaces. Moreover, you don’t have to memorize the number/letter combinations of the Peg method. You already have ready made pegs through the places you have visited and know well.

Which memory and learning techniques do you find most valuable in your medical studies?
What do you think of eBooks versus print books?

THE PEG METHOD
The Peg method is used to remember the specific numbered items in a list. Thus, if someone were to give you a list of 100 words or ideas to remember and then asked you “What was number 37?” you would be able to recall this immediately. There are different variations on the Peg method. Here’s one that I like: You must remember in advance the following consonants that correspond with the numbers 0-9:

0. S or Z
1. T (or D) (has 1 vertical line). Think of the word “Tea”
2. N (has 2 vertical lines) Think of the word “Noah”
3. M (touches the base in 3 spots) Think of the word “May” or “Ma”
4. R (last letter in fouR) Think of the word “Ray” or “Rye”
5. L (Roman numeral for 50) Think of the word “Law”
6. J (or SH, CH, or soft G) (J looks like a backwards 6) Think of the word “Jay” or “Shoe”
7. K (or hard C, hard G) (two sevens together can make a “K”) Think of the word “Key” or “Cow”
8. F (or V or PH) (a handwritten “F” has two loops, like an “8”) “Think of the word “Fee”
9. P (B) (P looks like a backwards 9) Think of the word “Pea” or “Bee”

Numbers beyond 9 are simply the combination of the single digit numbers and letters. Thus:

10. TS would be Toes
11. TT could be “Tot”
12. TN could be “Tin”

You can add any vowel sounds you want to the letters. It takes a little effort to learn the letters corresponding to 0-9, but with this knowledge, you can remember large lists and numbers. For instance to remember the 12 cranial nerves (1 = olfactory, 2 = optic, 3 = oculomotor, 4 = trochlear, 5 = trigeminal, 6 = abducens, 7 = facial, 8 = vestibulocochlear/auditory, 9 = glossopharyngeal, 10 = vagus, 11 = spinal accessory, 12 = hypoglossal):

1. T (tea): Imagine a tea cup in which is an old factory (olfactory)
2. N (Noah): Imagine Noah in the ark with giant 30 foot binoculars (optic) looking for land
3. M (May): Imagine a Maypole piercing a car’s motor that looks like an eyeball (oculomotor)
4. R (Ray): Imagine a ray of light so strong that it melts a toy “truck” (trochlear)
5. L (Law): Imagine a law book that is kept open with 3 gems (trigeminal)
6. J (Jay): Imagine a blue jay abducting (abducens) an elephant
7. K (Key): Image a key twisting itself through someone’s face
8. F (Fee): Imagine a fee being charged to sew on an extra 12 foot ear (vestibulocochlear/auditory)
9. P (Pea): Imagine a pea flying through the air and smashing a one hundred foot high glass (glossopharyngeal)
10. TS (Toes): Imagine a set of toes being used in the roulette wheel at Las Vegas (vagus)
11. TT (Tot): Imagine a tot being an accessory (accessory) to mass murder
12. TN (Tin): Imagine a tin piercing a hypodermic (hypoglossal) needle

Now if someone were to ask, what was number 5, you would recall trigeminal, because 5 is the law book being held open by 3 gems. These particular examples are rather far-fetched. Personally, I don’t think this method is that valuable for memorizing lists in medicine. There are too many lists; words in one list could be confused with those in another; it may be more effort than it’s worth to create the mnemonic. It’s a good parlor trick for recalling 100 numbered items, but probably not that helpful clinically. It’s not that good for long term retention.

The Peg technique, however, can help recall numbers. Thus, to remember a drug dosage of 20mg for Lexapro, you might remember a Lexus with a big nose (20 = NS = nose) for a front hood.

The number/letter combinations are like “pegs” on which you hang the words or ideas you want to remember as a list.

Apart from the linking and peg methods, there are two others, the Memory Palace (outstanding) and Acronyms for remembering lists. These will be discussed in the next two blogs.