Budapest Is The Capital of Which Eurpean Country?

If you think that was a fix up, please watch this:

How intelligent?!!

Staphylococcus aureus and Food Poisoning

What is staphylococcal food poisoning?


Staphylococcal food poisoning is a gastrointestinal illness. It is caused by eating foods contaminated with toxins produced by Staphylococcus aureus. The most common way for food to be contaminated with Staphylococcus is through contact with food workers who carry the bacteria or through contaminated milk and cheeses. Staphylococcus is salt tolerant and can grow in salty foods like ham. As the germ multiplies in food, it produces toxins that can cause illness. Staphylococcal toxins are resistant to heat and cannot be destroyed by cooking. Foods at highest risk of contamination with Staphylococcus aureus and subsequent toxin production are those that are made by hand and require no cooking. Some examples of foods that have caused staphylococcal food poisoning are sliced meat, puddings, some pastries and sandwiches.


What are the symptoms of staphylococcal food poisoning?

Staphylococcal toxins are fast acting, sometimes causing illness in as little as 30 minutes. Symptoms usually develop within one to six hours after eating contaminated food. Patients typically experience several of the following: nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. The illness is usually mild and most patients recover after one to three days. In a small minority of patients the illness may be more severe.

How should a patient with suspected staphylococcal food poisoning be treated?

For most patients, staphylococcal food poisoning will cause a brief illness. The best treatments for these patients are rest, plenty of fluids, and medicines to calm their stomachs. Highly susceptible patients, such as the young and the elderly, are more likely to have severe illness requiring intravenous therapy and care in a hospital.

Antibiotics are not useful in treating this illness. The toxin is not affected by antibiotics.

How can staphylococcal food poisoning be prevented?

Wash hands and under fingernails vigorously with soap and water before handling and preparing food.

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• Photo description: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, commonly referred to by the acronym, MRSA
• Article Source: cdc.gov
• Photo credit: Janice Carr 2005

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A Day Off --- Food Poisoning

Caution: this is not a nice post.

Yesterday after having dinner I felt a little yucky in my stomach. I tried to ignore it because I had a little more Anatomy reading to do for the night. After that I went to sleep. I woke up a couple of hours later feeling a bit sick and my stomach rambling. I knew It was time to rush to the bathroom unless I wanted a disaster to happen. I threw up. I felt a little bit better. Went back to bed. Only to rush back to the bathroom in about half an hour to throw up once again. I threw up like 5 times last night. After that it was time for diarrhea to takes its toll. I barely had a chance to sleep, so today I was tired and feeling a bit down. I just ate plane macaroni and drank water and a bit of seven up.


What bothers me from all of this is that we ordered last night's dinner from the best and most expensive restaurant around here. What am I supposed to do? Where am I supposed to eat now? I have no clue.


I know how to cook. In fact I am really good at it but the problem is that it consumes a lot of time not mentioning the huge amount of dishes that I will have to clean afterwards!


Any suggestions are welcomed.

Image credit: Wazari

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Medical Student Carnival 4th Edition

Welcome to the 4th edition of the Medical Students Carnival. Here are this edition's posts:




Posts by Medical Students:

• Dr. Haisook from Medicopedia wrote a Summery of Antibiotics for USMLE Step 2 and at Brain Grooves he wrote: We're Playing Doctors! discussing painful facts about medical training in Egypt.
  

• Clinton from Not My Second Opinion wrote Top Ten Tips for USMLE Step 1
  

• Lonely Coyote from Medical Student Musings wrote: USMLE Step 1 Revisited and Was Medical School Worth It? ... Part two
  

• The Dude from Medical School and Beyond wrote: Interview Basics

• Kendra from Island Med Student wrote about Life Before Med School

• Danielle from 6yearmed is documenting her experience during her first days of residency as you can read here ... here and here.

• jadsea514 from Michelle vs. The Med Student wrote: My Boards Experience
  

Posts by Non Medical Students:

• Karen Little from Just Above The Dose worte: The Big Oops of Medical Practice

• Askdoc from Askdoc-USMLE wrote: Kaplan Q bank vs. UW: Which one?

• Radiology Picture of the Day blog presented A Case of Diastematomyelia

• Harvard Medicine said: Smoking Is Addictive but Quiting Is Contagious

• Brittany Warrick from SDN wrote: Keep Your On-line Persona Clean

Thanks for reading this edition. You can always find previous and future editions at Medical Students Carnival Blog. Till next time, take care :)

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Poll Results and Miscellaneous Issues

Here are the results to the polls that I put up a couple of weeks ago:



Q- Should I Continue blogging anonymously?

• Yes ... 17 votes
• No ... 11 votes

Q- Dear reader, are you a medical student?

• Yes ... 17
• No ... 6

Q- Do you like the new blog design?

• Yes ... 2
• It is OK ... 4
• No ... nil

Conclusions:

Based on the results and personal preferences it seems that I will continue blogging anonymously for several reasons. Most importantly, i do not want to put any constraints on my freedom of speech. I often talk negatively about my school and bad things I see here and there. And I do not want that to cause me any problems.

Why do I do it in the first place? I feel it is my responsibility to point out some things that I do not hear others talking about. I'm not sure how much difference a 100-view-per-day-blog can do but I hope I am stepping in the right direction.

Though I did not talk about this here before, I have been criticized and you can say attacked for some of the things that I have said on line or in real life. For example, when I pointed out the articles about the flaws in the Egyptian Health Care and Education Systems I received a "good" amount of unhappy comments and messages. My response has always been: to solve a problem, first you need to point the problem out, you need to acknowledge that there is a problem. Then, and only then, you can work on solving it.

Some criticize me and say that I do not present a solution to the problems that I am pointing out. For God's sake, what is a 3rd year medical student in his early 20s supposed to do about a broken medical education system, University management stupidity, obesity, children smoking, garbage crisis, child abuse, careless parenting, ... ?

The best I can do is to speak up, write, and point out this kind of stuff hoping my words would reach an open ear, or a soul with some hope left for a better tomorrow.


For that and a couple other reasons, I will continue blogging as YS.
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Regarding the second poll, 17 medical students read this blog, wow! But how come not all of you have introduced your selves? One of the causes of this blog is to try and get medical students from all over the world closer together to share thoughts and experiences, so please do not take this opportunity from us.

I would like to add one more thing here, dear friends and colleagues (from real life) I know you often read my blog (out of curiosity and other stuff) why don't you ever leave a comment? nor do you indulge in the conversations that I am sure do fall in your fields of interest?!! I wish I knew what is wrong with you guys.
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OK, the new blog design, Ill be honest and confess that most reviews I got were disappointing at best. I don't know, probably I have a bad taste. I know there are a million free amazing blogger templates that I can upload but I choose to stick to this layout because it is w---------i--------de. Why squeeze posts in a narrow column and leave the rest of the page blank? plus most screens these days are 1200 x something! I prefer to use all the space available : )
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Happy blogging, studying, (or in my case) vacation.


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My USMLE Step 1 Daily Plan

Here is my daily prep plan for USMLE Step 1:


1- Read the pages from the review book set for the day.

• Example: 50 pages of pathology.
  

2- Solve 50 Questions.

• From the Q-banks that I have chosen.
  

3- Read Question Explanations.

• This takes a considerable amount of time. As a beginning I am planning on reading all the explanations.
  

4- Read the corresponding part of First Aid for the subject that I am reading.

• Example: when I am done reading Microbiology, I'll try to read it from First Aid for USMLE Step 1, so I concentrate on the important stuff and make sure I did not miss anything.
  

5- Read 10 Cases.

• I am planning on reading several cases each day. From books like Under Ground Clinical Vignettes or First Aid Cases for USMLE Step 1. I plan on doing this so I get a sense for the clinical presentation of cases because my school courses were anything but Clinically oriented!

If you have any suggestions or objections, please let me know. :)


Related posts:

• prep4md: My USMLE Step 1 Materials
• prep4md: How to get 99 on USMLE Step 1
• prep4md: How to Get a 99 on USMLE Step 1 Using Question Banks and FA only?

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Update June 13 2008

OK, I just finished my third year (out of six years) final exams. I only have a couple of oral exam to go. I took Thursday and Friday off. I will probably take a couple more days off too ;) I watched TV. 2-3 movies. Went out for dinner at a very fancy (one of the fanciest here) Chinese restaurant. I ordered every thing I felt like. Meat, chicken, fish, shrimp, tum yum soup, you name it. It was wonderful. It costed about $120!!!! But man it was worth it. Too bad I did not take any pictures to show you because unfortunately my cellphone camera sucks :(

Anyhow, after this few days break hopefully I will start preparing for USMLE Step 1. Good luck to everyone else in their exams.

NRMP Results and Data --- 2008 Main Residency Match

Here are this years FULL matching results:

• Results and Data 2008 Main Residency Match (PDF)

• Results and Data Specialties Matching Service 2008 Appointment Year (PDF)

If the links don't work, let me know.


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My USMLE Step 1 Materials

Here are the materials I'll be using for USMLE Step 1





USMLE Step 1 Review Books:

• First Aid for USMLE Step 1 --- Buy Here
• First Aid Cases for USMLE Step 1 --- Buy Here
• Microbiology MRS
• Physiology BRS
• Pathology BRS
• Behavioral Science HY
• Gross Anatomy, Histo, and Neuro Kaplan LN
• Biochem, Molecular Bio, and Genetics Kaplan LN
• Immunology Jawetz -80 pages-
• Pharmacology Kaplan LN

USMLE Step 1 Question Banks

• Kaplan Q Book
• Kaplan Q Bank (2,350 exam-style questions) --- Home Page
• USMLE World (2000 and counting classic USMLE Step 1 questions) --- Home Page

(BRS: Board Review Series, MRS: Made Ridiculously Simple, HY: High Yield, LN: Lecture Notes)

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NEJM --- Image of The Week --- Severe Kyphosis

This week's NEJM Image of The Week is an Xray of a case with severe Kyphosis.

Kyphosis, in general terms, is a curvature of the upper spine. It can be either the result of bad posture or a structural anomaly in the spine. In the sense of a deformity, it is the pathological curving of the spine, where parts of the spinal column lose some or all of their lordotic profile.

This causes a bowing of the back, seen as a slouching posture. Symptoms of kyphosis, that may be present or not, depending on the type and extent of the deformity, include mild back pain, fatigue, appearance of round back and breathing difficulties. Severe cases can cause great discomfort and even lead to death.

This was the case presented:

"An 89-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with hypercapnic respiratory failure. She had a long history of osteoporosis. Bone densitometry revealed a T score for the lumbar spine of –4.8. She was taking subtherapeutic vitamin D and calcium supplements and had declined treatment with bisphosphonates. Over a period of 4 years, her T score declined further, to –5.0. A radiographic study showed multiple vertebral compression fractures that resulted in serious kyphosis... READ MORE"

Web 2.0 in just under 5 minutes --- Video

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

Medical Student Carnival --- Submit Your Post

I am working on a new Medical Student Carnival edition. If you would like to include one of your posts, please send me its Link by Email.

prep4md at gmail dot com

Thanks.

I am back! But Sleeeepyyyy

At last, I am back home. Safe and sound. The exam went OK.

The exam was supposed to start at 1 pm. But because of their disorganization, we did not actually start till 1,20 pm!

At the beginning we had to solve 30 MCQs (multiple choice questions). Nothing clinical. Just basic facts. I did pretty well one these. Then, we were given a three-page note book on which we had to answer 12 short essay questions and about 10 complete questions. To my astonishment, we were not asked any typical pharmacology questions (indications, uses, contraindication, nor adverse effects)!

Instead, we had like seven questions of this type: Why does a good physician prescribe the following drugs together? bla bla bla ... Some where easy and straight forward but there were others, where I was like: Daaa! I had absolutely no idea about them. Actually I did not even recognize a couple of drugs!

All in all, I think I did fine. And that is what matters. Next is Parasitology, Yuck!


What are exams like at your school?

You know that yucky feeling?

My pharmacology Final Exam is in Exactly 3 hours. I read the entire thing about 30 times. I am fed up with it. I know what I know but what I do not know is just not sticking in there!! There is just no more use of reading anymore. I feel at the point where If I memorize anything else, old info will fall out of my hippocampus! What should I do? I have three hours to waste. I am having that empty vacuum hopeless yucky feeling right now. :(

Do you feel that your brain has limits to?

Abulcasis-The Father Of Modern Surgery

Abu al-Qasim Khalaf ibn al-Abbas Al-Zahrawi (936 - 1013), also known in the West as Abulcasis, was an Andalusian-Arab physician, surgeon, chemist, cosmetologist, and scientist.

He is considered the father of modern surgery, and as Islam's greatest medieval surgeon, whose comprehensive medical texts shaped both Islamic and European surgical procedures up until the Renaissance. His greatest contribution to history is the Kitab al-Tasrif, a thirty-volume encyclopedia of medical practices.

Abu al-Qasim was born in the city of El Zahra, six miles northwest of Córdoba, Spain. He was descended from the Ansar Arab tribe who settled earlier in Spain.





Abu al-Qasim was a court physician to the Andalusian caliph Al-Hakam II. He devoted his entire life and genius to the advancement of medicine as a whole and surgery in particular. His best work was the Kitab al-Tasrif. It is a medical encyclopaedia spanning 30 volumes which included sections on surgery, medicine, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, pharmacology, nutrition etc.

In the 14th century, French surgeon Guy de Chauliac quoted al-Tasrif over 200 times. Pietro Argallata (d. 1453) described Abu al-Qasim as "without doubt the chief of all surgeons".

In an earlier work, he is credited to be the first to describe ectopic pregnancy in 963, in those days a fatal affliction. Abu Al-Qasim's influence continued for at least five centuries, extending into the Renaissance, evidenced by al-Tasrif's frequent reference by French surgeon Jaques Delechamps (1513-1588).

In his Al-Tasrif (The Method of Medicine), he introduced his famous collection of over 200 surgical instruments. Many of these instruments were never used before by any previous surgeons.

Read more

My 1st Adsense $100!!! :D

At last, tonight, my total earnings at Google Adsense have reached $100! I am on my way to becoming a millionaire! lol

Street Children

One million kids estimated to be living rough in Russia

• Numbers

Estimating numbers of ‘street children’ is fraught with difficulties. In 1989, UNICEF estimated 100 million children were growing up on urban streets around the world. 14 years later UNICEF reported: ‘The latest estimates put the numbers of these children as high as 100 million’ (UNICEF, 2002: 37). And even more recently: ‘The exact number of street children is impossible to quantify, but the figure almost certainly runs into tens of millions across the world.

It is likely that the numbers are increasing’ (UNICEF, 2005: 40-41). The 100 million figure is still commonly cited, but has no basis in fact. Similarly, it is debatable whether numbers of street children are growing globally or whether it is the awareness of street children within societies which has grown.

• Causes:

Children may end up on the streets for several basic reasons: They may have no choice – they are abandoned, orphaned, or thrown out of their homes. Secondly, they may choose to live in the streets because of mistreatment or neglect or because their homes do not or cannot provide them with basic necessities.

Many children also work in the streets because their earnings are needed by their families. But homes and families are part of the larger society and the underlying reasons for the poverty or breakdown of homes and families may be social, economic, political or environmental or any combination of these.

In a 1993 report, offered the following list of causes for the phenomenon:

• family breakdown
• armed conflict
• poverty
• natural and man-made disasters
• famine
• physical and sexual abuse
• exploitation by adults
• dislocation through migration
• urbanization and overcrowding
• acculturation

The orphaning of children as a result of HIV/AIDS is another cause that might be added to this list.

For more:
Wikipedia Street Children

NEJM --- Image of The Week --- Giant Ovarian Cyst

"A 24-year-old woman (gravida 0, para 0) presented with a history of progressive abdominal distention during the previous year, accompanied by early satiety and constipation. There was no history of menstrual abnormality, pelvic pain, or urinary frequency. She had had poliomyelitis approximately 18 years earlier and still used crutches for walking. Computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a large, well-encapsulated mass that filled the entire abdominal cavity (Panel A); the scan also showed posterior compression of the bowel (arrow) and of the left kidney (arrowhead) ... mass measuring 37 by 22 by 27 cm ... The patient recovered completely and was discharged within a week after surgery ..."... Read More


Source: NEJM

Amazing Molecular Biology Animation Video

Video info:

"Amazing CGI visualization of molecular biology's central dogma. It shows animations of DNA coiling, replication, transcription and translation. It was created by Drew Berry of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research."




Drew Berry has been developing innovative techniques for representing the science of bio-medical discovery since 1995.

"His specialisation in science is founded upon post-graduate honours (BSc Hons) and Masters of Science (MSc) degrees in cell biology from the University of Melbourne, where he conducted research on the structure and behaviour of living cells. His science background is instrumental for his interaction with scientists and his grasp of the complex bio-medical subjects he portrays...." Read more here