Cardiovascular Chaos

2:59 AM

Author | Hema Datwani

Hello world!

I touched down in Ann Arbor more than a week ago! In my first few days back, I spent time running errands, celebrating happy hours with close friends, exchanging stories and souvenirs from our travels, and NOT unpacking my bags! Yes, one week back in Ann Arbor and I still have not unpacked my bags, oh my. They are taking up more than half the floor space in my room creating a concentrated center of chaos, but if I don't unpack then it means my summer adventures have not yet ended, right?

Wrong. School started last Monday and we began with our M2 cardiovascular sequence and it's 7.5 hours of lecture daily. On the first day of school I immediately had trouble figuring out the new lecture capture system, but I managed to reset my password and start streaming my introduction to M2 year lecture. The lecture system has vastly improved since last year. Previously the image quality was very pixelated and this made reading the slides difficult to impossible. Now you can watch a crisp image of the lecturer on one side of the screen (finally a face and not just a mysterious lecturer voice) and the slides on the other. The slides are also quickly posted after every lecture on a simplified website instead of the previous challenge of us hunting through many computer files in search for the newest lecture. It's amazing how these changes can really improve the quality of the streaming experience for those of us that rely heavily on this learning method.

My first quiz of M2 year is now done! 7.5 hours of lecture per day and 300 pages of material was very tiresome, but I managed to survive as always (love pass-fail). Now we have a quiz free weekend coming up and the new challenge is staying focused and on top of studying without the pressure of an upcoming quiz. I hope I make it! At least the material is incredibly interesting compared to last year. I feel like I am actually learning how to become a doctor and it is exciting! Today we had a lecture on hypertension, which was the main topic of my summer research in Mexico. When people in Real del Monte would ask me why does salt increase blood pressure, I had no foundation of knowledge with which to respond. With this latest lecture, I now know the kidneys sense the salt increase and transiently increase blood pressure to get rid of the salt from the body! I also use to think that the blood pressure readings your doctor takes in his office were very accurate, but I now know continuous at-home blood pressure monitoring is more accurate and predictive of cardiovascular complications. So much knowledge! Amazing!

M2 year will certainly not be easy, but I'm excited to overcome the cognitive and psychological challenges that lie ahead... A new adventure perhaps?

Studying for cardio means lots of highlighting, charts, and a Step 1 book. Med School just got more intense!

Studying for cardio means lots of highlighting, charts, and a Step 1 book. Med School just got more intense!
Media Contact Public Relations

Department of Communication at Michigan Medicine

[email protected]

734-764-2220

Stay Informed

Want top health & research news weekly? Sign up for Health Lab’s newsletters today!

Subscribe
Featured News & Stories stethoscope listening to phone with doctor projected out of it
Health Lab
Could your phone detect hepatic encephalopathy by listening to you read?
Research suggests that one day a phone app could be able to detect the development of hepatic encephalopathy in patients just by listening to them speak.
pill bottle spilling yellow blue
Health Lab
Drug used for alcoholism shows potential for stopping inflammatory disease
A recent study reveals how the drug disulfiram, which blocks the liver’s ability to process alcohol resulting in discomfort and a severe hangover, also shuts down an inflammatory complex known as NLRP3.
girl on left with tan hat beanie and black shirt and green writing and on right with mom smiling same outfit and matching shirts
Health Lab
Teen with bone marrow transplant shares cancer journey online
A teenager shares her rare lymphoma diagnosis and bone marrow transplant story online
little girl smiling on left and on right wearing pink glasses
Health Lab
3-year-old back to cheerful self following complex surgery for rare aggressive chest tumor
A young girl gets back to her childhood after a 3D printed replica of her tumor helps her Michigan Medicine surgical team perform a successful operation.
prescription pad blue yellow sketch
Health Lab
Risk of clots, stroke from incorrect blood thinner dosing reduced using online dashboard
Doctors and pharmacists treating people with blood thinners can now reduce the rate of inappropriate dosing — as well as blood clots and strokes that can result from it — using an electronic patient management system.
parent close up behind head looking in purple coloring outside door seeing four kids playing together or near eachother in yellow on playground
Health Lab
1 in 5 parents worry their child doesn’t have friends
Many parents worry about their children’s friendships, according to a national poll, with one in five saying their child ages six to 12 has no friends or not enough friends.