Fun With Anatomy!

Why anatomy (and medicine in general) is hard to follow: because you need to know if you're talking to a neurosurgeon or ob/gyn in order to know what they mean by "cervical".

No, but seriously... Why does the head have so many terms in common with female reproductive organs? I fail to see the similarities.

How to Spell 'Defecate"

I have NEVER been able to spell “defecate.”  I always want to write “defacate,” because that’s phonetic: de-fuh-cate. Why isn’t it an “a”?

While spell-checking, I looked at "defecate" and... OOOOOOOH! It’s de-fecate—like getting rid of fecal matter! Wow. Duh.

It’s really strange how the brain works. Sometimes I make these connections instantly, and sometimes it takes me a ridiculously long time.

I’m a big reader, and I always have been. I used to read books that were way beyond my comprehension level, so I think I ended up memorizing the meaning of a lot of words through context. When you learn a word before you can really understand it, it’s like it’s stored in an area of the brain that is removed from connection-making.

Now the next point of interest: exactly which book in The Baby Sitters Club series included the word “defecate”? Maybe Kristy Goes to Medical School?

Image soure: someecards.com

Hand Hygiene Shaming

As a solution to my last post, I designed this fantasy bathroom, which enforces hand-washing compliance via shaming.

Who wants to make it happen?

Potty Talk: Cell Phones in Public Bathrooms

I just used the restroom at work—great start to a blog post, right?—and a coworker, who I don’t know well, walked in before me, talking on her cell phone. She stayed on the call throughout the entire process, including the flush (ew—fecal spray!) and “hand-washing.” I use scare quotes because she stuck the non-phone hand under the water and grabbed a paper towel.

Image source: www.myfoxaustin.com

This happens quite a lot in public bathrooms and it keeps getting more bewildering to me. It brings a lot of questions to mind:

1)      Just… why?

2)      Do you actually enjoy talking on the phone in these circumstances?

3)      Who are you talking to? And why don’t they mind hearing your body functions and the toilet flushing?

4)      Doesn’t this ever create uncomfortable situations? You know… sound-wise?

5)      Aren’t you embarrassed to do this in front of other people? I mean, obviously not, but why not?

6)      Why do you think it’s a good idea to flush a toilet near your phone (which I’m guessing you never sterilize)?

7)      Why wouldn’t you wash the hand that’s holding the phone? That’s the one right next to your mouth!

8)      No, seriously: WHY???

…I’m just at a total loss. I don’t get it at all. In any way. On any level. But the International Center for Bathroom Etiquette (ha!) agrees with me.


Update 7/6/13: Apparently Corning is coming out with an antimicrobial phone display. Cool! ...But what about the buttons & case? Check it out.

Please comment if you can enlighten me on this strange phenomenon. Is this actually normal?

Bad Handwriting

We all know doctors are notorious for bad handwriting, but check this out:

NEWSFLASH: This is NOT the handiwork of a doctor! My other boss, who was in insurance forever, wrote this.

Spoiler: that word is supposed to be "positioning." Impressive, huh?

Grammar Rant

Image link: http://www.laughload.com/i-see-what-you-did-there-rjp8i9zs.html

Okay. One of my syllabi contains this sentence:

"The efficiency of this cooling conductive response (immediate- minutes, highlights the danger of cold water emersion."

(This is the exact grammar and spelling, without any alterations.)

I honestly do not understand how a medical school professor could write that sentence. I would actually have to turn off spell-check and grammar-check AND forget the definitions of “emerge” and “immerse” in order to write that sentence. It's barely decipherable (if it’s decipherable at all).

A different lecture contains this statement: “50% of the human population experiences changes in temperature due to the menstrual cycle.” Okay… is that 50% of the total population, as stated, or is it 50% of the eligible population, meaning menstruating women? Or is it 50% of women, including women that haven't reached menarche and women that have reached menopause? What a fantastically useless sentence.  (And this isn't a direct jab at the author of either lecture, because every syllabus for every subject is FULL of errors and obscurities like this.)

Maybe this is my literary/philosophical side bubbling to the surface, but I sometimes get angry when I find bad syntax, poor grammar and blatant errors in my syllabi... What is the point of being intelligent if you can't communicate what you think? It's like a genius having locked-in syndrome. What is the value of a person's knowledge when he or she can't construct a sentence?

Maybe I’ll just slam them on my course review later this month with this scathing quote:

“The scholar always needs skills of communication, since he does not possess his knowledge for himself, but rather for society.”

- Johann Gottlieb Fichte, “Fourth Lecture: Concerning the Scholar’s Vocation” 

Please feel free to comment and share your grammar horror stories, medical or otherwise.

Scary Picture of the Day

I have no idea how to interpret this image.

Photo by Dalya Munves

I especially like the open, tube-like "heart." Very easy to understand.

Happy nerding, everyone!