Medicine, my love! All the way throughout my studies and even now from time to time I wonder if I have made the wrong decision. The decision to go on with mathematics and physics, instead of switching to medicine.
Me and medicine – 2013:
Back in high school I bought a lot of science books through auctions. Mostly related to math topics, but also distant topics were among the books and so also a book about neurology, the branch of medicine studying the human nervous system. I started to read the book and realized that I need more knowledge about the body before I’m able to understand the text, so I ordered an anatomy book and started to study human anatomy and physiology. After one year, I had finished almost the whole body from the neck down. I then started to work my way through the human skull. One year later I started to regularly visit the medicine lectures at the university, more specific the lectures about cell-biology, and learn about general and specific pathology. In this way I have generated some broad knowledge about the body, but the neurology book is still hard to access, so I continue to read up on the heads anatomy, chemistry and more. Reading about the bodies complexity is sort of spiritual. How can something such complex ever have found it’s way through evolution? We are all so amazing!
Because I do not expect that I will ever become I doctor, I have focused my reading on traumatology, which is the branch dealing with life threatening conditions caused by high energy impacts, like a car crash, falling down a stair or being close to an explosion. This is the knowledge that I will most probable ever need, when I should decide to get involved in the Red Cross’ medical activities. I like the feeling of being well prepared if I should ever be in a situation where I can make a big difference for a persons survival and avoiding disabilities. My favourite book on this topic is “the red Traumatologi” .
Practical skills obtained so far:
– First aid (of course!)
– Set up an intravenous therapy (IV)
– Apply sutures (still very slow…)
– Read various health parameters (12-lead ECG, Pleth,…)
Update – 2019:
I just couldn’t let it go. Neither reading of medicine books nor the thought that I should have switched to studying medicine and becoming a doctor. I have continued reading and buying medicine books and used the curriculum of the University of Copenhagen as a guide and have now finished reading the whole curriculum. I also decided to try to become a doctor. I’m also a “samarit” in the Danish Red Cross where I help people with everything from questions about the location of the toilet, to small bruises and life-threatening conditions.
The rules are currently that I can apply for medicine 6 years after I finished my last education. I’m now patiently waiting for this time to go by and will then hopefully be able to start in January 2021.
2021: Intensive Care – Work sheet