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Originally posted by Chimney Passed my internal medicine exam today with a 9 (out of 10), hardest of the entire year. Feels so good to put it behind me.

Dude congrats

Congrats! What was the exam like? You had to go through several scenarios I'm guessing?

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Originally posted by Silky Johnson Congrats! What was the exam like? You had to go through several scenarios I'm guessing?

Thanks. Was actually three parts in one exam: Cardiology, pneumonology and nutrition. Nutrition was mostly focused on diabetes type 1/2 and treatment as well as some other stuff such as obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, spondylitis, lupus, scleroderma as well as general knowledge of nutrition, calories, some formulas and so forth.

Pneumonology was basically every pathology except tuberculosis which will be covered next year, hence: different clinic evaluation methods, hidatid cysts, abscesses, sarcoidosis, fibrosis, pneumonia (including different pathological agents and their respective treatment) but mostly focused on asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, differential diagnosis, stages and exacerbation treatment.

Cardiology was the hard part...basically everything from anamnesis to paraclinic, clinic, treatment. The professor which was a tight-ass wanted us to learn the physics behind the machines, diving into how the EKG works, ecography (all forms, visualizations etc) and of course, all the pathologies: cardiac insufficiency, infarction, hypertrophy, hypertension (including pulmonary hypertension), cardiac arrest, cardiomyopahty, endocarditis, coronary diseases, arrhythmia, DVT and EKG derivations including a shitload of obscure stuff like Brugada syndrome/Takotsubo. What was the hardest part was that he insisted on treatment, including dosages. It wasn't enough studying by heart ~5+ classes of anti-arrhythmic medicine and how they function as well as a shitload of heparines names and their contra-indications, but we had to know the exact mg dosage as well - and of course, the mechanism behind all of the above.

In order to enter the written exam we had to pass the practical exam (of all three subjects) which was done earlier during the year, which included examination of the patients and one-on-one with the professor. And to enter the practical exam you need ~90% presence on classes/hospital duty.

Anyway, I study daily so it wasn't such a big deal. Went through each of the books three times cover to cover.

Fuck man this is why I have such a high respect for doctors.

I'd be STUPID to even try to attempt this lol

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Originally posted by chris1011 Fuck man this is why I have such a high respect for doctors. I'd be STUPID to even try to attempt this lol

Because they have to learn extremely complex systems? There are tons of professions like that, ones far more complicated too.

Only thing doctors really have is the fact that if they fuck up the connection between a humans well being is immediate (plenty of other professions where fucking up means people die too).

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Originally posted by Joss Weatherby Because they have to learn extremely complex systems? There are tons of professions like that, ones far more complicated too. Only thing doctors really have is the fact that if they fuck up the connection between a humans well being is immediate (plenty of other professions where fucking up means people die too).

Except, as you pointed out, we entrust our lives with doctors alot more than any other profession imo. At least it's a conscience trust. Whereas driving over a bridge, I don't really think about whoever built it. Or using a computer system. Etc.

Can you name the professions which deal with things as complicated or more than a human body? A human body, I thought, is the most complicated thing on the planet.

For most of the people it's an emotional factor involved. I've seen plenty of people, young ones at that, die in front of me. Some of my colleagues were moved by it. Each day, in and out, you're burdened by other people's trouble while having to maintain optimism for their sake.

The thing about the biological system is that they're not set in stone. How patient A reacts to a certain thing is totally different than how patient B reacts to it.

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Originally posted by chris1011 Except, as you pointed out, we entrust our lives with doctors alot more than any other profession imo. At least it's a conscience trust. Whereas driving over a bridge, I don't really think about whoever built it. Or using a computer system. Etc.

Airline pilot. Has to know extremely complex systems and procedures and react in seconds in an emergency or risk killing themselves and hundreds of other people very quickly. They also have this pressure every single time they step into a cockpit. A GP or other non-surgery related doctor is going to rarely have immediate life or death situations on their hands, and they aren't risking their own life in the process.

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Originally posted by chris1011 Can you name the professions which deal with things as complicated or more than a human body? A human body, I thought, is the most complicated thing on the planet.

There are tons of things far more complicated than the human body if you get into systems organization, such as infrastructure, military operations, etc. Hell, I'd even argue some species of ants have colonies far more complex than a human body in terms of operations and balance.

Last edited by Joss Weatherby on Jun-11-2013 at 20:18

I don't think there is anything more complex than the human mind and body.

And a lot of the things you claim to be more complex are mere consequences of the human mind and body, so in turn, however indirect, it's all connected and comes back to it being about the human mind and body.

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Originally posted by Chimney For most of the people it's an emotional factor involved. I've seen plenty of people, young ones at that, die in front of me. Some of my colleagues were moved by it. Each day, in and out, you're burdened by other people's trouble while having to maintain optimism for their sake. The thing about the biological system is that they're not set in stone. How patient A reacts to a certain thing is totally different than how patient B reacts to it.

I agree... I think there is a lot more emotion involved being a Dr.

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Originally posted by OrangestO I don't think there is anything more complex than the human mind and body.

Then you are an idiot and probably one of the least complex humans.