Reproductive Biology

This week we started reproductive medicine. Our PBL case is about another couple that is trying to get pregnant--this time, the woman is HIV-positive and the man is HIV-negative. The woman also has genital warts. These viral infections certainly add to the complexity of the case. The seminars are about all of the things that can go wrong with pregnancy. All I can say is that no sane woman should go to medical school until AFTER she has her kids. There is definitely such a thing as having too much information! Yesterday we talked about some of the infections that pregnant women can get, and today we learned about fetal genetic defects and placental problems. I have a much better appreciation now about why pregnancy is so dangerous for women. Throw in all of the genetic defects that the fetus can have, and it's amazing any pregnancy ever comes out right at all.

Our FCM seminar today was about alternative and complementary medicine. My group's preceptor didn't show up, so after twenty minutes I went to the library to read. That was an extra hour of reading time that I hadn't expected, but it was greatly appreciated. I'm actually going to be completely prepared for tomorrow's seminar.

We were really busy in clinic today. My preceptor and I used to only see six people on my clinic days, but now we're seeing seven patients each day due to a new departmental policy. You wouldn't think that adding one more patient to the schedule would be that big of a deal, but they are adding the last patient in the 4:00 time slot. So now the two of us really have to push to get everything done at the end. I saw five patients instead of my usual four. There was one diabetic, one with migraine headaches, one with a cold, one with moles that "looked funny," and one who just needed a checkup. It was a busy day, but I suppose I should be grateful that there wasn't anyone who was trying to get pregnant!