And We're Off!

School's started back up and we're already in 6th gear.  I read 250 pages of patho, pharmo & Bates' before the first day of lectures which seems to be about par for reading assignments for the rest of the term.  Yay.  Today is the second day and I'm already behind. 

Last year, our doctoring course was a fou fou easy-pass write off. Not so this time around.  I'm nervous about it.  We have our first OSCE- neuro in less than two weeks.

Yesterday during our third class, the lecturer started off with several slides of a Canadian study not related to the material but demonstrating the 'time saved' by 'traditional' clinicians who put their stethoscopes in pockets as opposed to around the neck (the 'cool' clinicians).

Slide 1:  decreased TB transmission
Slide 2: breakdown of Canadian workers (Drs, RNs etc) who wear it around neck and, with an average 0.32sec slower retrieval, totally Canadian economic loss = some 5 million dollars/year.
Slide 3: BIG LETTERS: women 2x more likely to fall into the 'cool' (as opposed to 'traditional') category.
Slide 4: If this lecturer sees anyone wearing their stethoscope around their neck during his rotation: automatic fail.

I was so pissed off by the unabashedly sexist 'mini' lecture, I couldn't pay attention to the real material.  What a jerk- what a way to perpetuate the impression of women doctors (in 3 slides no less!) being less capable, less efficient, more dangerous to their patients, more concerned with image than being a good doc and less deserving of respect! 

1. Ties (that men ubiquitously wear) are much more likely to transmit infections. Stethoscopes can be wiped down after leaving infected rooms. I have yet to see any man change his tie.
2. The 'unisex' lab coats are really mens' coats that women wear. Many of us larger hipped folks have to deal with a tighter fit around the waist making it much easier for things to fall out of pockets. And having big bulky metal things banging against hips is much less comfortable.
3. We tend to be smaller- certainly smaller than this lecturer's 6ft+ height. Smaller coat = smaller, shallower pockets= increased likelihood of things falling out.
4. Nurses, at least at the hospitals that I've worked, don't typically wear coats so the data is completely skewed.
5. There was no cross study of folks switching to the other method to determine if the 'savings' of 0.32 secs/use is accurate. 

Oooh, writing this, my level of 'pissed-offedness' has just skyrocketed.

Here are some photos of the Fields Museum  and the little sushi place where I had dinner in Chicago: