The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat

Cheerio,

This is my mid-summer blog. I'll try to stay somewhat consistent in my posts and reflections :). I can't, however, promise that my thoughts won't be everywhere!

I just finished my MCATs Alhamdullilah, and I'm currently at a crossroads in deciding whether to apply late this year or prepare my application early next year. I'll leave this one up to God (I made istikhara so w/e happens will be good). There are few things to talk about for this upcoming year. For one, I have joined a new neuroradiology lab at UCSF, under the mentoriship and guidance of renowned UCSF interventional neuroradiologist ****** (gotta get his permission!). Also, I'm planning to head off to learn arabic in Egypt, tour Morocco, do Umrah, and visit Tarim...not sure if I can do all of those things but definitely Egypt and Umrah. Lastly, I'm reading this fantastic book by Oliver Sacks called The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat; I'll be using this blog extensively to reflect on my readings of this book.

So to start off. I joined a neuro-ir lab at UCSF, moving from the neurosurgery lab I was at last year. The last lab was great, but unfortunately summer interns filled up space when I took time off for my MCATs so I decided to explore other fields of research. Early 2010, during lab I would head off to parnassus to attend a variety of neurosurgical conferences, and it's where I discovered the field of neuro-ir; specifically through the cerebrovascular conference headed by cerebrovascular surgeon M. Lawton. What really attracted me to this field was the use of MRI and endovascular techniques to treat various types of vascular pathologies. What I appreciated most about the conference was the amazing diagnostic insight of neurointerventionalists in classifying, determining treatment, and predicting outcomes based on the location and etiology of arterio-venous malformations, aneurysms, and fistulas. I was intrigued by how radiologists diagnose pathology by using visual acuity, knowledge, and experience. As a spatial learning and thinker I find cerebrovascular neurosurgery and neuro-ir (and probably other diagnostic/surgical fields) as a potential career path in medicine.

Last week, I interviewed with the head of the lab M. Saeed, whose a Ph.D interested in using IR-techniques in treating coronary vascular malfornations. It seems pretty interesting, and I have a few publications to read through before I decide on any project. I think I'm still more interested in vasculature of the brain...but we'll see after I read.

The first day, Dr. *** gave a lesson to me and a medical student on aneurysm classification and how neuro-irs generally treat them. Pretty interesting stuff. Fusiform aneurysms balloon out from all sides of the artery and can be treated with a stent surrounded by coils, or balloon occlusion which utilizes collateral blood flow. Saccular aneurysms which are more prone to rupture are filled with coils. The lesson was interesting, and it was a good introduction to what's going on the field. I have a choice of working with strokes, medical device development, particular embolization glues; I'll probably dabble in both clinical and translational studies. I think it will be a great experience because my Dr. **** loves to teach, which will make it easy for me to obtain a wealth of knowledge and insight.

While working on my research, I plan to concurrently shadow in order to obtain a human perspective to my case studies. I'm particularly curious on the morbidity and reduction in quality of life associated with vascular malformations. I think it varies depending on the region of the brain that's effected. But I would definitely like to interact with families and understand their pain in relation to that of patient. Something I really admire about Oliver Sacks, a neurologist in the east coast, is that he looks at each patient not as a collection of symptoms and deficits, rather he views each person as someone whose struggling to restore their identity and dignity amongst their difficult circumstances. I think viewing patients are people, who are struggling to restore their identity, dignity, and sense of control over lives, a doctor can truly practice the art of medicine. Because I truly believe that medicine is an artform. It isn't just a science because science can be cold facts applied to a textbook problem. Rather medicine is the intersection of science and humanity. It's where one uses both knowledge, empathy, and spirituality to achieve a positive outcome for an individual who has feelings, perceptions, and a sense of self.

In my next post, I'll talk more about what I've learned from Oliver Sacks, and include some observation from shadowing experiences that I've had. Maybe I'll be able to find some insight into a truly effective doctor-patient relationship.