Do Not Pet Me. I am Working.

So that's what they put around my neck at the hospital. Some of the patients can be grabby when they see fine specimens like myself.

Nono, I jest. That was a sign I saw today on a patient's guide dog.

It's kind of a tragic kind of sign, isn't it? Because of all dogs, you'd think guide dogs would deserve a good petting. They're obedient, self-less, loyal and intelligent. Plus, they're usually really beautiful dogs. You'd think that for all they do for people, they'd deserve some pampering.

And yet, people will go so far out of their way to spoil other dogs, who've never done anything for anyone.

There's quite a life lesson to be learned from guide dogs, but darned if I can figure out what it is.

Tonedeaf?

Go do this neat little music test.

What sort of scores are people getting?

Pay it forward. Pay to everybody!

I'm currently in the process of writing essays for my residency application.

The reason I've been traipsing across the country is to check out programs at other schools, and to let schools check me out as well.

In my travels, I've come across quite a few medical students. Many of whom will be applying to the programs I will be applying to. The "competition", if you will.

The number of candidates for certain specialties outnumbers the number of positions by quite a bit. That being said, I have yet to meet a single person who I think would do a bad job as a resident in their chosen specialty. How do programs choose among so many qualified applicants? And how do medical students react to the pressures of selection and competition?

I wish kindness played a bigger role in the answer to both questions. But I don't think it does.

Additional thoughts on excellence

Thought 1: From my Father.

My Dad always said the key to a satisfying career is to be the best at what you do. From my previous post concerning the impossibility of being the best, it would appear that this sort of teaching would be a perfect setup for lifelong disappointment.

Maybe not. The trick is to specialize, subspecialize and then super-subspecialize. This works because:
a) you can spend more time learning about fewer things
b) you shrink the competition
Let's say I were a plumber. It'd be hard to be the best plumber in the world. But say, I were a plumber who specialized in fixing swimming pools. Better yet, I specialize in fixing swimming pools that were manufactured in Thailand between 1976-1985. Suddenly, I might have a fighting chance at being the best at something!


Thought 2: From my Sister.

Justine thought that this spread of excellence was not a good thing.

She argued that thinking you're the best, even if you're not, is preferable to being the best you can be, and knowing that you're not the best. Happiness is relative. It doesn't matter how good you are. It's all in who you compare yourself to. It's better to be sucky, but be better relative to other people, than be good, but have everyone be awesome. She's saying that ignorance is bliss. I'm not saying I disagree.


Thought 3: From me.

I think our perceptions of beauty are an instance where exposure to excellence is not necessarily a good thing. We are exposed to inhumanly beautiful people all the time, and I worry that our expectations are being warped by these images, harming our chances of longterm happiness. Beauty is only skin deep, but we live in shallow times. Ah to return to simpler (more ignorant?) times.

You're really quite good.

The internet and the pervasiveness of modern media is allowing us unparalleled access to human excellence.

Imagine living in a simpler time. Imagine you were the fastest runner in your village of 50 people. Living in such a small world, you might go through your whole life thinking you were the fastest runner there was. Or the best singer, or the best dancer, or the best xylophone player, or the best hockey player. Or maybe you're just amazed with yourself because you can do a round-off when everyone is still doing cartwheels.

We don't have the option of believing we're the greatest at anything nowadays. If you keep your eyes open, and your ears to the ground, you WILL find someone better.

I don't think this is a bad thing. The thing about being all you can be, about fulfilling your potential, is that for the majority of us, this isn't possible without SEEING something better, without KNOWING what IS possible.

I'm not saying I could learn to do this, but before I saw it, I would never even imagine such movements to be possible. And while I might not reach that level of craziness, if I started training today, and practiced really hard, with the image of his flight in my mind, I could achieve something I wouldn't have even thought of previously. The person who was so satisfied with his round off would aspire to greater.

I think the point is that you must surround yourself with excellence to be all you can be. But more than that, I think there exists a population on this planet who MAKE the impossible possible, and raise the collective excellence of our species by showing people that what was previously unimaginable, can be done.

It's a shame that with such unprecedented access to excellence, we ALL know about the limited talents of people like this and this, and hardly anyone has heard of kids like these!

Slowing down

I haven't had to cut my hair nearly as frequently in the past few months.

I wonder if this is a sign of malnourishment.

You are what you eat!

I was telling my friend Robin about my new hardline tactics for eliminating obesity in our country.

It'd go a long way to making people healthier. If nothing else, surgery is easier to perform on skinny people.

Anyways, I think it's become a bit of a taboo topic, since we've come to accept as a society that people can't help but be the size that they are. That in fact, that is part of who they are.

I don't think this is true. I think it has a lot to do with your intake. If nothing else, the laws of physics make anything else impossible. I think all physicians should be asking patients about their weight. We ask about smoking, don't we?

Anyways, Robin brought up the point that I may be ignoring the socioeconomic aspect of things. Could people be eating junk food because that is all they could afford?

At first, I scoffed at this. But then I realized that since embarking on my nomadic lifestyle (I'm in Edmonton now. It's snowy! It reminds me of the Ottawa of my childhood.), my junk food consumption has skyrocketted.

I think this is because there are a lot of hidden costs to eating healthy. Let's say I want junk food. It's very simple. I give my money. I get my food. I eat it.
Healthy food is more complicated. You have to cook and clean and refrigerate a lot of the foods we consider "healthy". In order to have a healthy meal, you have to have a location to store the food, a location to clean the food and a location to prepare the food. As well as the time to do all this.

What we need is more healthy fast food. Like Pho!

Soap will wash you clean

Dove has started a self-esteem campaign. This is a version of their commercial that ran in Hong Kong.

Remembrance day

I sewed up the leg of a veteran this morning. He flew bombers in WWII.

I used half a dozen sutures to close two gashes alongside his knee. Maybe a similar procedure had been done for him half a century ago. It may have been a medical student just like myself doing it too. Instead of the peace and quiet of the OR, it would have been done in the dirt and cacaphony of the battlefield.

We take a lot for granted.

I opened an abdomen for the first time yesterday. From skin to bowels. It was spectacular.

If you don't move with purpose, it's better not to move at all.

Artificial Sweetening

This is cool and not cool, all at the same time.

Simmer down!

As I was writing in a patient's chart this morning, I heard someone huff angrily behind me.

I turned around, to be confronted by the angry looking desk clerk.

"What's your problem?," she asked me, "you bumped me over by the phone, and here, you reach for the chart and bump me again, and you don't even say boo. I'm starting to get a little pissed off here." (Try and picture this in ebonics.)

It's not every day I get confronted like this. Luckily for me, I have extensive experience dealing with angry people from my time working at the Copy Centre at Queen's. (Ok, I lie. There weren't any angry people at the Copy Centre. My service was way to spectacular for that. My experience with angry people is likely from my success in making people angry.)

Hmm.. what to do next? Cry? Confront? Retreat?

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I was bumping you. I'll be more careful in the future." I then turned my back on her and continued writing. (What's cooler than bein' cool? Ice cold!)

But as I continued with my work, I couldn't help but think about what happened.

First of all, I had to convince myself that I wasn't bothered by this event. Check.

Second of all, I had to convince myself that I handled it alright. Check.

Thid of all, it occurred to me that maybe subconsciously, I had a crush on her and I was subliminally bumping into her in the vain hopes of getting noticed. I decided that this was unlikely. (I try not to fall for women who could take me in an arm wrestle. note to self: get gym membership. note to self: the subliminal bump method appears to be effective.)

My fourth thought was that maybe this lady had a reason to be irate. I could have been more polite when reaching for things etc...
I think the important realization was that not everyone responds to the Simon in the same way. And I suppose I could have been oblivious to that.

My fifth and final thought was that perhaps SHE had a crush on me, and was angry that I'd be leaving Winnipeg in just a few days.
Which is too bad for her, since I don't date girls who could take me in an arm wrestle. (note to self: cancel gym membership)

Thoughts while waiting in a loooooong line at KFC:

How should we address our nation's obesity problem?

Moments so dear.

It's common to attach significance to certain dates. It is obvious why we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and new years. In addition to commemorating a memorable or significant event, I notice that we use these dates as "reset" buttons of sorts.

We make resolutions and promises. This is the year I'll get in shape! This is the year I'll learn German!

Largely, I think this is because the occurence of these 'significant' dates makes us aware of the passing of time. And it makes us pause a moment, to reflect on life. I know that in the past, when my birthday has rolled around, I get a bit reflective.

I'm not convinced that birthdays deserve the extra attention.
You may think that I'm saying that birthdays aren't special.
I'm not saying that at all.
I'm saying that the REST of our days, the non-birthdays, aren't being given ENOUGH attention.

Are any of us suitably grateful for the myriad of possibilities that await us every morning of every day?

So I suppose I do have a resolution to make this birthday. I resolve to give each day of my life the respect it deserves. The respect it demands.

I'll take you to the candy shop

The hospital has become a hotspot of sugary delight.

Most reception desks, nursing stations and lounges have baskets of candy somewhere waiting to be found.

I go to the OR recovery room for chocolate bars. The CT department has little bags of chips. The ward had a good selection of lollipops. The xray department has a big box of those eyeball chewing gums. Those eyeball gums lose all taste within 20 chews. But the first 5 or 6 chews are totally candylicious. I've taken to grabbing 3 or 4, then I can spit one out as soon as it loses it's taste and pop in a fresh one. Decandent, I know.

The trick is not to overly stress any given candy source. You don't want to upset the delicate balance of the candy ecology. With care and conscientious management, I'll have delightful treats for weeks to come.

Did you realize...

that the days of our lives can be measured by the thousands?

Let's say you live to be 85.

85 x 365 = 31 025. Tens of thousands of days. That's it.

You know those crazy teenage years? Those years of turmoil, and change, and pimples and rebellion?

19 - 12 = 7
7 x 365 = 2555.

Would you believe me if I told you that you were a teenager less than three thousand days?

So if there's stuff you don't like, or things you'd rather be doing, or things you'd like to change, I say DO it. There are only so many days. And so much living to cram into them!

October 2006- Toronto and Vancouver

They always say pictures are worth a thousand words. I've debated for awhile about posting pictures online. If you have any thoughts, please share! If you see yourself in these pictures (and you'd rather not), let me know! If you don't see yourself in these pictures (and you rather would), let me know!

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