The more things change, the more they stay the same................

About 8 years ago I had the pleasure of meeting the wife of one of the original Tuskegee Airmen on the metro of all places and it was so much fun to hear history from someone who was actually there! My only regret from that meeting was that I didn't get the woman's contact info as the elderly are my favorite people next to babies. And by now she is likely watching me type this from heaven..................

But this post isn't really about these famous men who were initially denied their right to fly planes during WWII because "negroes have bad night vision" among other stupid claims of the day. This post is about the fact that in 2011, future medical students can't talk about the Tuskegee experiment, health disparities or anything else that requires a discussion relating to race. And for the record, I'm NOT talking about that top premed website either. Nope not this time.........

Anyone who has followed my blog long enough knows that I speak from a place of truth when I write, MY truth, which sometimes has to occasion to offend (and probably the reason I only have a handful of people who don't mind publicly claiming that they follow my blog, LOL!!! Speaking of that, HUGE shout out to my loyal but "silent" visitors, I luv ya'll!!)) And while that's never my intention I do recall the old adage that you attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. But I guess when it comes to health disparities and the role I feel racism plays in why they exist, I don't give a rat's booty about honey, vinegar or anything else when this subject is discussed. And I don't find sticking one's head in the sand about this issue to be particularly useful either.

But in the sand is exactly where a LOT of people, future physicians it seems, want their heads to be and quite frankly that's a dangerous situation IMHO. You see, when a well-to-do Black, highly educated, married couple in their 30's can walk into an ER located in one of the wealthiest counties in the US, with the wife complaining of abdominal pain, and the doctor diagnose her with PID (pelvic inflammatory disease), with out ANY lab results, someone either needs to check their racial prejudices at the ER door, needs a refresher in the basic principles of epidemiology, or both. And if this same woman got "diagnosed" with HPV 10 years earlier, when she was married and highly educated, once again without ANY microbiology to confirm the diagnosis, then it's probably no wonder why said, educated, Black woman has a "problem" with the medical establishment when it comes to racism in healthcare (and for the record, said Black woman is neither HPV positive nor did she suffer from PID as confirmed by her lab results).

So maybe this is a case of people needing to be in your shoes to understand where you're coming from. For example, how would a highly educated, well dressed, well-to-do white married couple feel if they walked into Howard hospital ER after the husband had a tooth knocked out after a fall, and he was subsequently "diagnosed" with being a meth user in the first 5 minutes of the "exam"?? How would they feel????

Clearly I don't have all the solutions, but I think a few things would help. Admitting more URM's would certainly be a good first step and providing full scholarships to these students who agreed to practice in underserved areas for a specified amount of time would make it extra appealing. But I also think full scholarships to non URM students who agree to do the same would be equally as beneficial. Many times people only hear the words that are coming from people who look like them, and if the bottom line is more culturally sensitive, more compassionate Docs, then ultimately it's a win-win for ALL of us!

Another post with no name!

I don't really have much to say these days, just spending a LOT of time thinking about a career in medicine and looking at that schools in my target areas. And trying to make sure I don't have another spike in my blood pressure. One thing that trip to the ER last week did do was put me back on a regular exercising program. QUICK LIKE!!!!

Last week, I also learned that my MCAT score would qualify me to make $50 bucks an hour tutoring, so I signed up with one local company and have spent the past week taking exams in my "key" areas in order to be "certified" to tutor in those areas. And that sounds great! Except, I'd really rather tutor kids who can't afford private tutoring, so I'm going to look into a local program that will allow me to tutor kids at one of the disadvantaged schools in my County. Maybe I can figure out a way to do both?

Other than that, I've done a little shopping on line for Christmas and not much more than that other than thinking about how scared I was last week during my little health crisis. Right after thinking about my family, my IMMEDIATE next thought was about finishing med school. Yeah, it's THAT important to me that in the middle of what felt like a stroke, I was thinking about finishing med school, LOL!! Hilarious!!!

Along those same lines, I'm really starting to have more and more feelings like Pathology may not be for me now that I'll have the freedom of an emply nest come residency time. And this will probably be a recurring theme in my posts, about how a career in a clinical speciality seems like a better fit for me personally. Though I'm still going to have to come up with a way to deal with Attendings and Nurses with attitudes because folks with 'tudes in Path are a rare occurance!

Being broke, ain't no joke!!!!!!

One of the many blessings I enjoy living in metro DC is access to the best medical care in the US. Unfortunately, medicine and I are having some "run ins" which led to my having to visit my neighborhood ER. And as I'm walking in to check in, I notice a sign that reads "We do NOT accept medicaid". Well d@mn, I guess I'm glad I have great medical insurance!!

I hadn't realized that things had gotten this bad in medical care though it's clear I'd better get VERY familiar with what's going in medicine before I start interviewing for med school. And while I'm obviously aware that there are many Docs who either only accept certain private insurance plans or don't take ANY insurance at all, it was still a shock to see a major medical system be so blatant about the types of reinbursement they would accept. I mean really, why not just post a sign that says "we don't want no po' folks here"!!

So is this the price paid for being seen within 30 secs of my arrival (which is probably typical since I went in complaining of cardiovascular issues), along with an almost deserted and very clean waiting area? Yeah, I live in one of the wealthiest counties is the US, but d@mn is it really like that??? I guess that's the state of medicine these days:


Anyhoo this, along with me "debating" with the doctor about why the blood pressure reading I had is sky high for me(what Doc doesn't know that everyone's "normal" blood pressure can be different?) got me thinking again about clinical medicine. And how much good I could do if I chose a field in medicine where I regularly see patients. Like Hem/Onc. I'm really, really, REALLY thinking about Hem/Onc these days and it doesn't hurt that: 1) the ones I know spend 3-4 days/week doing research and 2) it could be an excellent application of my background in Path. Of course, I'm specifically referring to being in an academic or academic like setting in Hem/Onc.

Speaking of med school, I'm still in due diligence mode as I contemplate not only the cities of the schools contacting me, but the job opportunities I'm getting in some of those same cities too. Luckily my city girl attitude makes some cities better bets for me to consider than others and again, I feel very blessed to have these opportunities. Ultimately, we think we'd like to live in another area of the country since my 11 years here is the longest I've ever lived any place in my entire life! And in the spirit of stepping out on faith, I'm very particular to relocating to a city with numerous medical schools perhaps next summer while also applying to med schools in that city only, for the first year. If I'm not accepted, I'd apply to many more schools the following year.

And in funny as hell news, I was watching a show with female OB/Gyns on the OWN network and one of the featured stories was of a mixed race, bohemian couple having their first baby. Ol' girl decided she was NOT going to receive any pain meds in favor of "natural" birth (as if using meds, makes your birth alien like, roll eyes!!), and spoke adamently in an uppity kinda way against using meds during child birth. I said to myself, "uh huh, you gonna regret that decision REAL quick girlfriend". So lo and behold, she's in the throngs of labor and the entire time, her Doc is suggesting to her that she can take meds to ease her pain. She keeps saying no, until finally after hollering like a banshee for about 30 or so minutes, throws her hand up like a gangster throwing up a gang sign and screams to the doctor, "Just bring the $hit!!!!". I think I laughed for about 20 mins, because while she appeared to be well educated and NOT the type to scream obscenities, she just COMPLETELY lost it when those pains kicked in. Moral of the story, don't turn your nose up at ANYTHING before labor, LOL!!!! And EVERY birth is natural!!!!

Surf or ski?

Now that the emails from med schools are rolling in from schools across the country, I realize that I don't do well with having too many choices. Yeah, I know I haven't applied anywhere formally yet, but I honestly I hope I only get one admit so I'm not forced to make a choice. So far in my focused academic career (to be distinguished from my nonfocused years, LOL), I haven't dealt with much in the form of rejection in the last 15 years, though I'm quite certain med school admissions will be different. Even for a URM like me.

But I'm having fun thinking about what it would be like to live very close to the beach while in med school. OTOH, living in "ski" territory could be cool too, pun intended. So after I get an email from a school, I immediately start looking at the cost of living in that area. Followed closely by the quality of the schools. And with my daughter poised to graduate following 11th grade (I'm still not so sure about that as I need to see some social maturity to go along with the academics), I'm looking at fulfilling my dream a year earlier than I originally planned. And it doesn't hurt that she's perfectly fine with moving in the near future too.

Still, I'm the kinda person that needs a while, 3-6 months, to look into an area before I'm 100% comfortable packing up my life and moving to another city/state/region of the US. But with the way my life had been so far, I'm not holding my breath that I'll actually have that kinda time!

*PS- Can you believe I couldn't find ONE picture of a Black woman skiing to use for this post?!?!?!

And you've won free tickets and a meal to your local movie theater!!!!

So just as I was trying to leave work early this past Friday when everyone INCLUDING their Mama had the day off, my Supv pulls me and Ick into a conference room to have a "talk". Well, given the week I'd had, I was pretty certain I wasn't "in trouble" (which is a pretty big deal if you've been following my work place woes over the past year).

Ick and I sit down next to each other for the very first time since I started working here, and he proceeds to talk about why his Supv is up to his knee caps in HIS arse. Basically, he's REALLY depending on us to have some breakthroughs which I did earlier in the week and which Ick almost hurt herself trying to find fault with. So he's talking about this and that, blah, blah, blah, I won't bore you with the details. Then he gives us two envelops with our names on it for the good work we've done this past week. No problemo, I don't mind if Ick wants/needs to ride my coats tails a bit, ROTFLMBAO!!!

It turns out that the meeting I had earlier in the week where I was the ONLY one in the room without Dr in front of my name (Yeah, I'm getting really tired of this 'ish), was a LOT "heavier" than I originally thought. Of course, if my Supv could'a just avoided throwing my black arse under the bus during the meeting(in an effort to be seen as on his Supv's side?), I may have been more willing to put my head on the chopping block so to speak, to back him up when his Supv went on the war path. But nah, me and his Supv have a pretty good relationship as he's one of those "academic" types I've become accustomed to in the 100 years I've spent in school. That, and he's already sang my praises a couple times, so I'm trying to stay real chill with him and not just because he was the co-inventor on a drug currently in the market. I guess you can say that I'm FINALLY learning to play the game so to speak (about time), a skill which will obviously be useful where?? IN MEDICAL SCHOOL!!!!

Speaking of med school, I did go ahead and email that med school Dean on Friday and Imma tell ya', if I can get this med school thing to work out next year, I'M OUTTA HERE!! Or as Chris Brown would say, DUECES!!!!!

The overweight lover is in heavens' hiz-ouse!

After recently learning of the death of Heavy D AKA "The overweight lover", I decided to take a trip down memory lane, looking at youtube videos from back in the day when music was music!

One of my favorite ones was the hook he rapped on Janet Jackson's hit "Alright", the video which also featured other greats including Cab Calloway and the Nicholas brothers. Check it out here:



Other news, I had a MAJOR research breakthrough at work which couldn't have come at a better time because my supervisors' supervisor was on the preverbal warpath at a meeting we all had earlier in the week. Fact is my boss doesn't seem to be very highly regarded by his boss which is unfortunate given he has to supervise a woman who rides the "short bus" when it comes to histology, LOL!!! OTOH, I think there comes a point on every job when you just have to stand up for your ideas and let the chips fall where they may. For example, me and Supvs', Supv disagreed on how to do some calculations for my IHC. Now I've learned the hard way over the past few years how to identify a battle I can't win and also how to say what I have to say then let it go, which was VERY hard because this guy doesn't like being told he's wrong about ANYTHING (humph, PhD's!). So at some another point in our meeting I wanted to say "yeah sure, go ahead, rush this thing to clinical trials and if the patients end up with an HIV like syndrome because we knocked out all their damn T-cells trying to treat something else, that'll be all right! Two words, MD, PhD!!!

Speaking of that, I got an email today from a med school encouraging me to apply and this is a school where I'd in years past, communicated with one of the Deans. I could in theory still apply to this school especially since they have my future app on their "radar", and I can't describe how hard it is NOT to when I'm so ready to go! So I'll respond to the email over the weekend and see what happens!

RIP Heavy "D"!

It's official, I'm now a permanent member of Pharma Psi Pharma, LOL!!!

So I'm now a permanent employee in "Big Pharma" and I must say it feels darn good to be official! I thought I'd be navigating my way through "banana peels" during this last week, but it went well and without a hitch to boot! My 90 day eval was above average too!

In other work place news, I've now been put in charge of ALL our divisions' histology projects, I'll call it "A", with the interview killer now assigned to histology projects for another division, "B", of the company. What does that mean given the fact that we're both employees of division "A"? I'm thinking it means they're eventually gonna move her big, evil, arse to division "B", which I've heard is the most difficult of all the divisions to work for at our company. Oh well I really don't care, that may happen loooonnnnggg after I'm in med school anyway.

In bad news, we were unable to locate the dog/owner that bit my daughter, so we're off to the ER shortly to sit for the next 6 hours. What fun! Unfortunately, neither our local health department nor docs office keeps the first dose, so we have to get it at the ER. And did I mention we'll have to sit in the ER for the next 6 hours?

Have great weekend everyone!

"Going over" in less than 24 hours

Man, where do I begin!!

Well given that I now have more projects on my plate than ICK, I think it's safe to say that my job will officially be made permanent tomorrow. And let me be real here, I wasn't 100% sure I was gonna make it to this point just a few months ago. But having folks at my job who could relate to me and what I was going through and were more than willing to give a sista' a little advice, made ALL the difference in the world! Praying hard didn't hurt either!

In more "mama is gonna kick someones a$$" news, my daughter was bitten by a dog last Friday, and we haven't yet identified either the owner OR the dog. Woman walking 3 dogs on those extend a leash things, one bites my daughter, woman says she's sorry, woman walks off! And I can't tell you just how mad I am at this situation!!!! Unfortunately, we thought we had ID'ed the dog earlier today and two women with dogs matching the description of the one that bit her, had their pics taken along with their dogs (I can't tell you how angry one of the women was about having to do it). But personally I don't give a rat's a$$ how mad she was, rabies shots are VERY painful and I'd rather avoid having my child get those shots! And why one of the women raised so much hell about it is beyond me! Anyway, we're running out of time to ID the dog/owner before she'll have to get the first set of shots so I'm really, really, hoping we find out info on the dog real soon!

Finally, the thing I've most dragged my feet about is contacting med schools about my impending app. In one way, I'm taking my time because I don't want to hear another school tell me I had a legitimate shot at an acceptance this year. And I think I'd really like to get my kid closer to starting school before I matriculate. But I'm also kinda enjoying not having anything stressing me the heck out these days besides the normal stuff like family and job.

Well, I think I'm going to pass on dinner, opting for soup and a cup of camomile tea instead!

Have a great weekend!