Vintage Book I Want:

The Cell in Development and Inheritance.

Written by Edmund Beecher Wilson in 1911. He was the first person to recognize and understand that tumor cells have abnormal chromosome divisions by looking at cells under a light microscope. He's really the founder of cellular biology, and we still use his concepts and basic findings ALL the time today. How cool is that? I think this book would be a nice addition to my small but loved collection of old books, including a recent find at the Mt. Zion Medical Library earlier this spring (a copy of William James' seminal work in psychology, "Principes of Psychology").

Insane in the Pericardium

Today I cut out a human heart, and held it in my hands. I've never felt like I was on more hallowed ground. Very few people in the world are granted this opportunity to study true-life forms for the sake of some day hoping to save and improve the lives of others...Most people whose blog posts start with, "today I cut out a human heart" would be marked as serial killer status...Seeing the real deal makes me so motivated to study and make sure I know everything inside and out. It also makes me realize that our bodies are amazing, sophisticated rockstars.

Things I learned about the heart:

• It's big! At least in most people, its bigger than my hands folded together. One cadaver had a super tiny heart
• It can have things in it! Our cadaver had a pacemaker going through the superior vena cava
• Everything that surrounds it (muscle, pericardium) is very strong

I also ran intervals today: 800, 400, and 3 200's. It's a start. I will not divulge my times because they are embarrassing. But on the bright side, the Stanford track is beautiful!

PS. Follow me! I added a "Followers" gadget to the bottom right hand of the screen.

Hearing More than a Hearbeat

Check out this article (I'm quoted in it!) from Stanford School of Medicine about our recent Stethoscope Ceremony. The video is great too, it features Katherine and Duy, who were both on my SWEAT trip.

Update: For those too lazy to click on the link, here's my few sentences of fame:

“It’s a wonderful gift to receive as we’re starting out,” said Julia Pederson, 24, one of the new students who immediately took her stethoscope out of its box to listen to the heart of her 10-year-old sister, Abbey, sitting next to her at the dinner table.

A Harvard biology major, Pederson has spent the past two years working at the UC-San Francisco Breast Care Center helping to facilitate decision-making between breast cancer patients and their physicians. That work set her on the course to becoming a doctor.

“A lot of times I was working with patients when they were first diagnosed with cancer. It’s a time when people are so vulnerable,” Pederson said. “Making them feel like they are getting the best care they can helps with that fear and vulnerability. Being that first line of support is an awesome thing.”

Gross Anatomy

I hate the smell of anatomy lab, but I love anatomy. It is so novel, I do something new and learn so much each time. For example, today I sawed through the ribs, cut through arteries and veins, and held lungs in my hands (my double gloved hands, thanks to Naila's advice).

...Sure I cut off part of the lung that I wasn't supposed to, nicked the outside lining of the heart, and had to re-saw through the bone because I didn't cut it all the first time, and keep calling the internal thoracic artery the internal thoracic nerve, but that's the fun part, and now I know better. I am so thankful for this unique and slightly nauseating experience. The 3-hours in anatomy lab fly by, much faster than any of my other classes (though I'm enjoying them too).

Given my kindergarten-like cutting skills, and lack of knowledge of anatomy, I am even more impressed at the surgical skills of some physicians. How some doctors can do a heart bypass by integrating the internal thoracic artery into the heart is beyond me. Infathomable. Beyond belief. But I will get there. One day.