Cardiology

I went on rounds this afternoon with a cardiologist.

We went around and listened to people's hearts, felt their impulses, percussed and asked questions.

I don't think I want to have such a specific focus in medicine, on one organ, but it was a fascinating window into an interesting profession.

The second exam quickly approaches, and I find myself settling into this ebb and flow of these three week blocks. There is a ton of information, but also enough theory and logic to hold it all together where the data scientific understanding puts its rubber on the life roads of real life patients.

Now I'm calculating everything I can think to calculate regarding cardiac output and oxygen delivery for a case I'm working on in a small group. The case was real, and we're being presented the information piecemeal, just the way it would come into our view in the CCU. Difficult stuff and I'm really not sure we can save her, as she's still bleeding 16 hours after delivering a baby. Ironic that it could be because she didn't breast feed to trigger the natural release of hormones that would have completely tightened up her uterus. The more and more we intervene, the more we learn that nature had it right in the beginning.