Question for my fellow third years: Do you tell your attendings or residents what field you want to go into, even when that’s the rotation you’re currently on?

I’ve heard mixed reviews about telling people the field you want to go into on your rotations. On one hand, it shows them that you’re interested and engaged, but on the other hand I’ve heard that it could burn you if they decide to evaluate and critique you harder because they know you want to go into their field.

Hey nonnie!

Thanks for your ask and sorry for being so late with this!

3 Which specialty do you want to practice? 

I fell in love with anesthesiology & intensive care during a rotation last year again (I kind of forgot during my thesis year how much I liked it even before) so that’s what I’m aiming for.

5 What was your best moment in medicine? 

Probably the day during said rotation where an attending grabbed me, took me to the roof to take over a trauma patient from the heli, and basically walked me through trauma management step-by-step. It was a lot of fun and I learned so much that day - and also by the end of the day the patient was so much better than when we took over, so that was very gratifying.

6 What was your worst moment in medicine? 

I’d say studying for step 1, especially the oral part. I remember the day before the oral exam, I was basically bursting into tears every other 5 minutes. I was not in a good place, and I’m just happy I passed and these days are long gone.

8 Favourite medical fun fact? 

Uhhh this is really hard! What about “Riding a roller coaster may help you pass kidney stones”?

16 Favourite hospital movie/TV show? 

Doctor’s Diary (it’s a german show, it’s trashy, it’s bridget-jonesy, but I love it to pieces and I can probably recite all three seasons...)

Hey, thanks so much for the ask my dear! I’m sorry I’m getting to this so late, somehow it has become a habit that my world starts to crumble a little as soon as I post an ask meme…

3 Which specialty do you want to practice?

Well there are a few I consider. Pediatrics is definitely one, I’d love to work with children, but I also really don’ t want to do general pediatrics/family med. I really liked my first anaesthetics rotation so that’s definitely a possibility. But also I’m really into oncology right now so pediatric oncology would be a thing. :) In every case I want to get my advanced training for emergency medicine (which isn’t its own specialty here).

16 Favourite hospital movie/TV show?

It’s a german show called ‘Doctor’s Diary’. Unfortunately there is no english version and to be honest it’s as full of medical bullshit as any hospital show but it’s funny, the protagonist is a Bridget Jones-turned-intern whose attending happens to be her high school crush, and it still makes me feel good watching it for the 134th time, reciting along all the lines. It’s 100% german trash but I love it. #guilty Also you might guess where my blog title is reminiscent from ;)

Hey Sara, thanks for asking! :*

17 Worst hospital movie/TV Show?

Flatliners, the 2017 remake. Hands down, I’m still a little ashamed for actually watching it, I totally should have seen it coming, but… well… I mean there was LOADS of medical bullshit in there, but I think I absolutely cracked when one of those 4th year medical students was shown pulling an all-nighter  because she couldn’t memorize the 12 cranial nerves! I mean, dafuq? How did she make it into MS4 if she can’t even memorize the freakin’ 12 cranial nerves? 

19 What would you do if you didn’t work in Medicine?

I would have probably studied music and played in an orchestra.

20 What do you like to do when you’re not in school/hospital/studying?

I still do a lot of music, I play the viola and the piano and I like to sing and occasionally compose. I also like to do stuff with my friends and I do run three tumblr blogs - if you’ve seen my main blog you know I’m slightly involved in the Star Wars and Marvel fandoms. Well, I’m a hopeless little nerd, on all levels, I know… 

21 Do you have somebody that inspires you?

Women in science in general: Marie Curie, Iréne Joliot-Curie, Rosalind Franklin, Christiane Nüsslein-Vollhart, but also in particular my two PhD mentors, Felix Klieser (world-renown french horn player and professor at 27 - who was born without arms), aaaand probably a bunch of fictional characters ;)

Hey, thanks so much for asking and sorry it took me so long!

5 What was your best moment in Medicine?

The moment when I passed step 1 of my licensing exam wass pretty great - in Germany that’s the point where people say if you made it this far you will most likely actually make it to be a doctor. Because beforehand a lot of people get kicked out, afterwards not so much. Also after passing you get to do all the clinical stuff, so this was pretty awesome. Also my first time in the OR was pretty impressive. I was with the anaesthetian and we did a spinal block on someone who got a total hip replacement - which I was absolutely unaware was a common thing - and the patient really seemed to enjoy to experience what was going on… 

8 Favourite medical fun fact?

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee. Yep, we used to calculate such stuff in physiology :D

9 Funniest/weirdest thing that happened in one of our classes/rotations?

We had a biochem prof that was pretty funny. He used to throw sweets at people when they answered questions right in his lectures. Unfortunately he was rather bad at aiming, so he constantly hit somebody. He also told us once how he faked a diabetes to get himself discharged from military service. We also had a class on basic physical examination once. It was a very nice and warm day so our teacher decided we could do the class outside in the little park in front of the building. We ended up sitting there half naked palpating each others livers - i guess the poeple coming by were a little disturbed… :P

Get to know the blogger - medical edition: Just put some numbers in my ask box and I’ll answer!

Why did you choose medicine as a profession?

When did you know you wanted to go into medicine?

Which specialty do you want to practice?

Which specialty did you want to practice when you started med school/nursing school?

What was your best moment in medicine?

What was your worst moment in medicine?

How does the medical education system in your country work?

Favourite medical fun fact? 

Funniest/weirdest thing that happened in one of our classes/rotations?

Surgery or internal medicine?

What is your best study advise?

Do you study at home/at the library/elsewhere?

Why and when did you start your medblr?

How do you treat yourself when you achieved a goal?

How do you handle failure/bad critiques/mistakes?

Favourite hospital movie/TV show?

Worst hospital movie/TV show?

Which patient’s/relative’s behaviour annoys you the most?

What would you do if you didn’t work in medicine?

What do you like to do when you’re not in school/hospital/studying?

4) Name some of Favourite specialties (as many as you like).

-Infectious disease medicine

-Pediatric endocrinology

-Emergency medicine

5) What are your favourite aspects of medicine.

Oh gosh, I don’t even know where to begin…

Intellectually, I enjoy the puzzle aspect and detective work involved with ID and peds endo, along with the adrenaline rush of the ER. There’s never a dull moment, and they allow me to use my talents and passions in a way that serves a greater purpose. Medicine has added a great deal of meaning to my life.

Additionally I’m a fairly practical person and derive a great deal of personal satisfaction from mastering new material or tasks. I love having a “skill” or “trade” that I know I can use regularly and that no matter what, I will always have.

Socially, being in medicine puts me in a very stimulating environment where I’m surrounded by (mostly) driven, caring, and intelligent individuals who push me to do better and to be better. 

On a personal level, as often as I claim to “hate people” (and what I really mean is that I hate how people treat each other) it couldn’t be farther from the truth. I love working with patients. I love finally being able to do something when someone is suffering (and even when there’s nothing medicine can do, I can just listen and can be there for them to at least try to ease the process). I love being able to help spare (or at least stave off) families the pain of loss. I love being able to be part of a team effort to grant a patient a new lease on life and then pondering all the wonderful possibilities their future life hopefully has in store for them. I love hearing their fascinating life stories and perspectives, which frequently challenge my own presumptions and beliefs about the world.