4 ms·

This May Hurt a Bit: Harvard medical student's blog

91 points by papermashea 12y ago

antidaily 12y ago
Med students don't know shit. And don't do shit. But I suppose it's still an interesting perspective.
- shadowfox 12y ago
  > Med students don't know shit. And don't do shit That seems like a fairly blanket statement? Care to explain?
  - antidaily 12y ago
    I wish I could come up with an appropriate analogy. But basically, as a med student rotating at a hospital, you are simply there. It's beneath an internship, because that's essentially what you do the _next_ year when the real work begins, the long hours, etc. So any insights are going to be about being a med student or bedside manner. Boring. And probably a little pretentious.
- mikeyouse 12y ago
  Shara Yurkiewicz is a fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School. She was an AAAS Mass Media Fellow, and her work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Discover, and The Best Science Writing Online 2012. She is interested in medical ethics and has served as guest editor for the American Medical Association's ethics journal Virtual Mentor. She conducted ethics research at Harvard, Yale, and the Hastings Center and received a B.S. in biology from Yale. 4th year at Harvard Medical School, guest editor for AMA's ethics journal, undergrad at Yale, I think she's qualified to write a reflective / opinion-based blog.
  - antidaily 12y ago
    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/are-med-school-grads-prepared-to-practice-medicine/?_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0 http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/are-med-school-grad...
JeremyMorgan 12y ago
This article puts a human touch on a human situation, from their point of view. As a volunteer firefighter I see more stuff than you normally would on average and it gives you a different perspective. For instance: Before I got into this field, I always thought of firefighters, paramedics and doctors as magical superheroes that can fix anything. As long as you make it to their doorstep you'll be fine. This is not not always the case. the amount of people who are unsaveable would shock you. Even in the very best of care. That's not a slight on firefighters, paramedics or doctors in the least bit, I'm just saying from statistics perspective there are way too many things out there that will kill you no matter what. They really are superheroes in the sense that they do extraordinary things every day and they always bring their A game. They do things you just wouldn't think possible because of how much they push themselves. I've also seen what is described in the top article of this blog. When you see someone pass and you see just how much was done to save them. Even a 90+ year old person who at best would have a good year or two left, and I've seen doctors pull out all the stops and work just as hard as they would anyone else. The only difference is the patient is even more fragile at this stage. Life is life and they get it. I've seen people work and struggle when it was very clear things are over. CPR that goes on long after the patient is past the point of no return. I've never seen anyone "throw in the towel" too early and I've seen people push and fight when everyone in the room knows what the outcome will be. In short, everyone should read things like this and get a glimpse of this perspective. I don't know what you can take from it, but it sure will make you appreciate first responders and ER personnel more. At best it will make you appreciate life more.
- sachingulaya 12y ago
  The odds of resuscitation from ACLS(advanced cardiac life support) if you suffer cardiac arrest in a hospital setting is somewhere between 1-4% IIRC. The chances of a successful revival are already low. Once you pass the 10min mark you are really just hoping for a miracle...but it happens. Rarely, but it does.
  - toomuchtodo 12y ago
    I'm not sure what the exact medical events were that transpired in this case, but the rescue team who found this person performed CPR for 4 hours continuously, and she made a full recovery: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/06/skier-tree-well-miracle-garibaldi_n_5099080.html http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/06/skier-tree-well-mira...
jamesaguilar 12y ago
The first article about the guy who died during a hip replacement surgery (?). It's terribly sad for everyone else, but when I go, that's one of the best ways I can imagine it happening. You go down optimistic for a better future where your hip is working again and just . . . never come back up. Dramatically preferable to years of battling with cancer or a gradual dip into dementia, at least for the victim. Especially if you've led a full life and are only going to be here for a short time more anyway, as is often the case with people who start breaking bones in old age. For the family, my heartfelt condolences.
- JeremyMorgan 12y ago
  I agree, everyone has to go and this way is preferable to suffering. My dad had some health problems, and a few close calls in his last years. In the end he fell asleep in his favorite spot in his chair watching television and didn't come back. While it was one of the most heartbreaking things in our lives, but I'm glad his final departure was peaceful and painless.
johnpt 12y ago
Wow, this is a really moving blog. It shows you their point of view.
Lilme 12y ago
Based on her writing style, it is a good thing she is going into medicine and not journalism.
- sscalia 12y ago
  Are you fucking kidding me? Her writing is outstanding. Sorry it has some emotion, some reflection, some substance. Would you prefer a log file of events? Get real.

91 points by papermashea 12y ago

antidaily 12y ago

Med students don't know shit. And don't do shit. But I suppose it's still an interesting perspective.

shadowfox 12y ago
> Med students don't know shit. And don't do shit That seems like a fairly blanket statement? Care to explain?
- antidaily 12y ago
  I wish I could come up with an appropriate analogy. But basically, as a med student rotating at a hospital, you are simply there. It's beneath an internship, because that's essentially what you do the _next_ year when the real work begins, the long hours, etc. So any insights are going to be about being a med student or bedside manner. Boring. And probably a little pretentious.
mikeyouse 12y ago
Shara Yurkiewicz is a fourth-year student at Harvard Medical School. She was an AAAS Mass Media Fellow, and her work has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Discover, and The Best Science Writing Online 2012. She is interested in medical ethics and has served as guest editor for the American Medical Association's ethics journal Virtual Mentor. She conducted ethics research at Harvard, Yale, and the Hastings Center and received a B.S. in biology from Yale. 4th year at Harvard Medical School, guest editor for AMA's ethics journal, undergrad at Yale, I think she's qualified to write a reflective / opinion-based blog.
- antidaily 12y ago
  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/are-med-school-grads-prepared-to-practice-medicine/?_php=true&_type=blogs&smid=tw-nytimes&_r=0 http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/are-med-school-grad...

JeremyMorgan 12y ago

This article puts a human touch on a human situation, from their point of view. As a volunteer firefighter I see more stuff than you normally would on average and it gives you a different perspective. For instance: Before I got into this field, I always thought of firefighters, paramedics and doctors as magical superheroes that can fix anything. As long as you make it to their doorstep you'll be fine. This is not not always the case. the amount of people who are unsaveable would shock you. Even in the very best of care. That's not a slight on firefighters, paramedics or doctors in the least bit, I'm just saying from statistics perspective there are way too many things out there that will kill you no matter what. They really are superheroes in the sense that they do extraordinary things every day and they always bring their A game. They do things you just wouldn't think possible because of how much they push themselves. I've also seen what is described in the top article of this blog. When you see someone pass and you see just how much was done to save them. Even a 90+ year old person who at best would have a good year or two left, and I've seen doctors pull out all the stops and work just as hard as they would anyone else. The only difference is the patient is even more fragile at this stage. Life is life and they get it. I've seen people work and struggle when it was very clear things are over. CPR that goes on long after the patient is past the point of no return. I've never seen anyone "throw in the towel" too early and I've seen people push and fight when everyone in the room knows what the outcome will be. In short, everyone should read things like this and get a glimpse of this perspective. I don't know what you can take from it, but it sure will make you appreciate first responders and ER personnel more. At best it will make you appreciate life more.

sachingulaya 12y ago
The odds of resuscitation from ACLS(advanced cardiac life support) if you suffer cardiac arrest in a hospital setting is somewhere between 1-4% IIRC. The chances of a successful revival are already low. Once you pass the 10min mark you are really just hoping for a miracle...but it happens. Rarely, but it does.
- toomuchtodo 12y ago
  I'm not sure what the exact medical events were that transpired in this case, but the rescue team who found this person performed CPR for 4 hours continuously, and she made a full recovery: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/06/skier-tree-well-miracle-garibaldi_n_5099080.html http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/06/skier-tree-well-mira...

jamesaguilar 12y ago

The first article about the guy who died during a hip replacement surgery (?). It's terribly sad for everyone else, but when I go, that's one of the best ways I can imagine it happening. You go down optimistic for a better future where your hip is working again and just . . . never come back up. Dramatically preferable to years of battling with cancer or a gradual dip into dementia, at least for the victim. Especially if you've led a full life and are only going to be here for a short time more anyway, as is often the case with people who start breaking bones in old age. For the family, my heartfelt condolences.

JeremyMorgan 12y ago
I agree, everyone has to go and this way is preferable to suffering. My dad had some health problems, and a few close calls in his last years. In the end he fell asleep in his favorite spot in his chair watching television and didn't come back. While it was one of the most heartbreaking things in our lives, but I'm glad his final departure was peaceful and painless.

johnpt 12y ago

Wow, this is a really moving blog. It shows you their point of view.

Lilme 12y ago

Based on her writing style, it is a good thing she is going into medicine and not journalism.

sscalia 12y ago
Are you fucking kidding me? Her writing is outstanding. Sorry it has some emotion, some reflection, some substance. Would you prefer a log file of events? Get real.