Your brain is bloody awesome

Pin It Proving that not only zombies get excited about brains, the Welllcome Collection in London, England is showcasing a beautiful exhibition on the human brain. Among many other things brain-related, visitors can see inside Albert Einstein's mind by viewing several slices of his brain as well as partake in tons of other gorgeous artwork on the subject.

The brain is the one thing that even the most brilliant minds in the world fail to fully comprehend so it is pretty exciting that museum visitors can have the opportunity to view the complexity and miracle of the human mind.

A corrosion cast of blood vessels in the brain made from resin

Sculpture entitled 'My Soul' by Katharine Dawson, which consists of a laser etched lead chrystal glass formation in the shape of a brain, and was created using the artists own MRI Scan

The happiest man in the world

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Who knew that the road to achieving eternal happiness would be hip surgery. It makes me feel silly that after years of trying to find joy by making money or spending time with my family, I could have found it by just going under the knife.

Apparently this was exactly the case for Huug Bosse, a Dutch native who is unable to stop laughing since he underwent hip surgery a few years ago. He believes that it is a result of the general anesthetic but my guess is that when you are smiling and laughing that much, you don't really give a damn how it started.

Unfortunately as a result of his constant giggling and merry-making, several of his friends and family members refuse to come visit him. And how does he respond to this neglect? By laughing in their faces. And he does it like a Huug Bosse. If I had a name like that, I wouldn't stop smiling either.

Check out the joy-inducing video below. Laughter is infective after all:

A novel that might inspire you to be a GREAT doctor

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"The key to your happiness is to own your slippers, own who you are, own how you look, own your family, own the talents you have, and own the ones you don't. If you keep saying your slippers aren't yours, then you'll die searching, you'll die bitter, always feeling you were promised more. Not only our actions, but also our omissions, become our destiny." 

~ Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese

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Like many others, I wanted to be a doctor from the first time I watched Doogie Howser, M.D. on TV years ago. I think almost all of us went into the medical field with romantic dreams of saving lives and changing the world one surgery at a time.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the line medical school hit and all of the glamour and romanticism of our profession was thrown aside with thoughts of passing board exams, malpractice, and the myriad of other horrors that we are slapped in the face with in our quest to be the greatest doctor in the world. We are passed through the fraternal hazings of residency which essentially include being treated like crap for 3-5 years by the very people we fantasized about being one day.

What we are and what we wanted to be when we were little is so drastically different, despite the fact that we became doctors or nurses or whatever, just as we planned. Sure, some of us love our jobs and put our passion into what we do, but I'm convinced that most of us have completely forgotten to be the doctors we dreamt about.

 A few months ago I picked up the novel 'Cutting for Stone' by Abraham Verghese looking for a simple reading break. What I found was something I needed much more - a reminder of who I want to be as a doctor.

Although Cutting for Stone was a work of fiction, Verghese described the human body and the practice of medicine so beautifully that I could feel myself participating in every surgery and could see myself as covered in the same blood that flooded the floors of the operating stage while Thomas Stones or Marion worked.

 I won't attempt to summarize the book because my words won't do it justice but it reminded me of why I want to be a doctor and put the dreams back in my mind of changing the world with the life-saving service I provide whether I'm on the floor of a busy operating room or the quiet office of a private practice.

 I highly recommend Cutting for Stone to anyone who needs a quiet reminder of why we do what we do.

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"Don't leave the instrument sitting in its case, my son. Play! Leave no part of your instrument unexplored. Why settle for 'Three Blind Mice' when you can play the 'Gloria'?" 

~ Cutting for Stone, Abraham Verghese

Medical Illustrations by Marcin Oleksak

Pin It It's unfortunate to me that more medical school textbooks and training tools don't utilize newer medical illustration such as these brilliant images by Marcin Oleksak. Check out his portfolio here.

 

Medical diagnosis

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The amazing human brain

Pin It It's not too often that those of us who study the human body get to see it's magic happen from the inside out - in our own body.

 Jill Bolte Taylor is one of those lucky (or perhaps unlucky, depending on your perspective) people who experienced the very thing she was studying. She is a neuroanatomist affiliated with the Indiana University School of Medicine and the author of the book My Stroke of Insight. During her study of the way the brain processes information she experienced a stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain. This is a mind-blowing talk she gave at TED which is inspirational to me no matter how many times I watch it:

The human body is a work of art

Pin It Medical artists produce some of the most amazing, under-appreciated art I have ever seen. Those of us in the medical profession have seen thousands of images penciled by Frank Netter or Henry Vandyke Carter (the illustrator of Gray's) but rarely do we see good modern examples of illustration or fine art in the name of medical science.

For those of us who think that the human body is a work of art, this is a huge disservice. Juan Gatti is an artist from Buenos Aires who has reignited the tradition of fine medical art. While not everyone would jump at the opportunity to hang one of his paintings on their family room wall next to the picture of their family, I personally think his work is genius. If you want to see more of his stuff, check him out.