USMLE

there is much aflutter about town as *everyone* seems to be writing the US board exams this summer.

"it will keep options open"
"it's a good review of basic sciences before the wards"
"You'll never be this close to that material again"
"There may be a fellowship/residency/elective in the US that you really want"

Okay. But.

it costs a lot of money
it's a really hard test
it is only necessary if i want to work in the US

And that means crossing the big friendly border . . . and i'm too gay to bring MamaM and LittleE along.

So i'm not writing it. If i had any discipline, i'd study anyway.

But i don't, so i'll go home and play with the kid instead.

dermatology

Okay, so it was only two short clinics. Please don't take this as indicative of anything.

1. Lots of small cosmetic procedures. (yawn)
2. Lots of very different things that look very similar (puzzled look)
3. small clinic-friendly things that make people very distressed and can be easily fixed (why refer?)
4. attention to detail. (what shelf did you say the leftovers were on?)

So not my thing.

Next is another two week rotation, but i'll leave you in suspense about which one. I'm going to try to read in advance though, because at this point it would be a disaster.

Dermatology break

this week is supposed to be derm and psych together. It is actually 2 short clinics, and what amounts to spring break!

MamaM and LittleE went to Toronto for Denise's seder supper, and to visit uncle j, the grandparents and friends. I took the plane by myself to meet up with them out west.

So we went to San Francisco to visit MamaM's brother and his partner in their west coast world. We met some of their family, upended their house, and woke up really early. We ate yummy yummy food, walked up many hills, and got to spend more time with them than . . . ever.

The rest of the time, we did lots of gay stuff. We went to a big gay church, we went to a big gay choir concert, and saw the gay museum. All of which assuaged our cultural insecurities by exposing us (and our mostly sleeping kid) to queer culture (in a strange impulse to learn enough to teach him about his cultural heritage), and also to assure ourselves that we are hopefully not as straight as we feel when spending time with all those queer urban hipsters.

I came back today on the overnight flight, and started looking at people's skin. MamaM and LittleE are there until next week.

Nice city. I get why people like to live there.

Radiology

This week has been. . . short. Here's my take on the specialty anyway.
1. I haven't had to dress up.
2. Radiologists get to sit down.
3. You get to figure things out.

However,

4. it's been nice outside, and i've been sitting in the dark
5. i don't even notice leftovers in my own refrigerator. Fractured what?

And i did learn a few things:

How to look at pictures to maximise the chance of seeing. Abdominal air, large tumors, gross dislocations, compound fractures, medical hardware, and foreign bodies are likely to be detected by yours truly.

And on the topic of foreign bodies: when it comes to anal play the FLARED BASE is key. Ignoring this wisdom risks you being the object of mockery by radiologists and their students until time immemorial. They will save your x-rays, collect them, and bring them out for entertainment during long days in the dark.

they especially do this if you lie about how "that thing" got "up there".

sugar shack

I was actually in the picture with an acquaintance who i think is not advertising her LMA membership. So, weird shot. And we didn't get any other pictures. Weird us.

I wanted to get something written about my first actual cabane a sucre this past weekend. The lesbian moms go every year, but we have never gone along until this one. I always figured that it'd be ham and pork and dead pig with syrup, and it was silly to go to a meal i'd never eat. I assumed that we'd have the girls this year, and so badgered MamaM into getting us tickets.

What was super about it though, was that there were over 100 people who were there with the LMA and the papadaddy groups. So this goes onto the list of other things that make it increasingly impossible to leave montreal. Having a community that big, that diverse, is such a strength for all of us, and especially for the kids. Even if neighbours, teachers, and bio-family continue to trip on their own queer-phobia -- there are hundreds of people who can normalize lots of queer family structures, and give us a place to just have fun. What is more normal than kids high on sugar and parents sharing details of their reproductive and parenting trials and tricks. I'm still amazed at how many ways there are to get sperm.

I really hope that this sort of thing can continue to expand. It's nice that men - donors, partners, dads, and people of lots of genders are finally allowed to come along. Queer doesn't need stringent entrance criteria.

Cancer

So, this was a two week rotation. And, as always, diffferent than i thought it was going to be.
1. If/when i get breast cancer I am going to opt for the mastectomy. Radiation just ups the risk for more cancers, and breasts are not terribly useful for breastfeeding after lumpectomy anyway.
2. Everyone feels sorry for kids with cancer. In a stark contrast to public response to kids with behavioural disabilities, ladies knit finger cots, and people donate electronic toys to the department for kids to enjoy while they sit through their chemo.

I mean, it's sad. Parents break up, have to quit their jobs, and have to deal with the possbility of losing their children. Siblings have it hard, and kids are in a lot of pain. I did come a bit close to tears when a kid a month older than LittleE came in for one of the first treatments with a full head of hair, and both parents - who both still had colour in their cheeks.

Radiation oncology is a nice mix of math activities on a computer, and talking to patients. I didn't get to see any physicians actually doing any procedures, but it seemed like a nice mix of brain-part usage.