That sucks

Ok, I know everyone has their story about the patient with the torch stuck up his arse or whatever, but I actually saw what I am about to describe.

I was on surgical take, and the Surgical Reg took me to one side to tell me about the next patient. It turned out the guy had given himself a paraphimosis (foreskin stuck retracted back) while pleasuring himself with a vacuum cleaner. So we go in to see the patient, and the first thing the Reg asks is "How did this happen?"
"Well, you see Doctor, I was doing some vacuuming in my boxers and it got in the way..."
"You're a very unlucky man!" Completely straight face. The SHO creases with laughter. I manage to stay composed.
The Reg puts on some gloves, applies some KY jelly, and says "Right, now I need to give it a slight tug"
"Wait, Doctor, will it hurt?"
"A little"
He yanks it. The scream echoes round the entire A&E.

House

What a genius show! Apart from the uninitiated assuming it is some sort of DIY show (full name should be House, MD), it's the surgical sieve turned into a tv programme. And best of all there's enough detailed medical content that you can call watching it revision.
I also particularly like the fact that House seems to be a specialist in everything, and that his "Diagnostic Medicine" residents are not only incredibly knowledgeable, but also do all the surgery themselves.

But seriously (geeky comment coming), it's the detective novel come full circle. The archetypal detective, Sherlock Holmes, was based on Conan Doyle's Medical Professor at Edinburgh Medical School. Now the medical drama has become a detective story. Just remember to watch it with your medical dictionary to hand.

Blogs I like

Dr Crippen: http://nhsblogdoc.blogspot.com/
A very funny and pissed off GP, particularly scathing on the subject of specialist nurses and the state of the NHS generally

Malo: http://www.thealo.com/maloblog/index.asp
An American med student. He sounds so cheery, I imagine he makes his patients feel 100 times better just by talking to them.

Amusing observation of the day #1

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons is called BAAPS (baps) for short. Surely they realised this when they chose the name of their organisation?

On a related note, Peninsula Medical School is called PMS (premenstrual stress).

Of course, it's not as good as the Cambridge University Neoclassical Theatre Society (you get the idea)...

Two weeks to go till my Obs and Gynae exams, so obviously the best time to start a blog. Well, I thought this would be a good forum for sharing some of the more interesting/bizarre things I see, or just generally having a bit of a bitch about things.

Currently doing my GUM (Genitourinary Medicine) Rotation. Did a male sexual health clinic, where I had to do the history, from a proforma. One of the standard questions is "Have you had sex with any one you know to be HIV +ve?" I asked the patient, expecting a "no". Yes, he replied, my boyfriend. And did he use a condom? Well, not at first, but at the end if he was going to come. Oh god, oh god, so much for sex education. We need some more of those hard hitting AIDS adverts (remember the "Don't die of ignorance" campaign?)

Welcome

Welcome to my blog, the inane ramblings of a 4th year medical student in London.