Tr-Hip Replacement

It's ok, it's me.  Don't feel like you are cheating on me, it's just like I dyed my hair, or got a little cosmetic surgery.  It's still me on the inside, and that's what counts, right?  For all of you who didn't know what the picture was on the last post, it was a perforated tympanic membrane, aka ruptured eardrum (at least, that's what google promised).  Frequently happens to me when I fly with slight congestion.  See the airlines like to keep the cabin pressurized at a high altitude, approx 8000 feet, something about saving money on gas....penny pinchers if you ask me.  That makes for a terrible descent.  Once the drums blew, it was smooth sailing.  I relate it to finals week.  It's not the taking the test/rupturing eardrum that is bad, that is actually the relieving part.  It is all the pressure leading up to finals week, and you just want it to be over with.  Anyways, enough about me.  

Well this part is about me also, but it is MY blog and MY life and I will do what I want.  (The I's are capitalized too, you just can't tell.  I did press the keys extra hard when I typed them though).  So I have decided to get my MBA while in medical school.  Actually, I am trying out the program right now as my payment isn't due until June.  They have to make sure we pass our classes and all.  We have only had one class so far, but we had a very good discussion about the slight trend in medical tourism.  Our teacher brought up a good question that I would like to share with you.

This can also be asked for standard insurance agencies....

Let's say you worked for a company that is self insured or you had a run of the mill insurance.  You find out you need a hip replacement.  Since your company pays for all your medical expenses, they contact you and ask the following question.  "Mr/Mrs X, your procedure is going to cost $11,000 for us here in the US.  However, it will cost us significantly less in India.  Would you be willing to have your surgery in India if we payed for you and your significant other's flight over there, paid for all the expenses and recovery time, AND gave you $2,000?  Don't worry about the recovery time, we will make sure you get on the plane to come home only when it is safe.  Don't need you getting a DVT on the way back.  Now before you say anything, the hospital you would be sent to has been accredited by the Joint Commission International, which is a branch of a US non-profit agency that has strict requirements for accreditation.  In fact, some would say they are right on par with the US!  We will also pay for any complications, should they arise, once you are back in the states."  They might even follow it up with something cheesy like "Bone Voyage!!!"

Would YOU go to India?  How about for more?  Less????  How about if they gave you your choice of countries, like Costa Rica, Thailand, or Singapore??  Shoot, I would break my OWN femoral neck just to go to some of those places.  Want a vacation?  Just feed your husband McDonald's for a few years and he will need that CABG in that country you always wanted to go to...

Bioethics Part Deux

Check it.  So the above picture has nothing to do with the case I am about to present to you, but it is something I am fortunate of having two of at the moment.  I am so lucky, I know.  I am contemplating changing my color scheme a little bit, so if one morning you come to my web page and have a seizure from the colors, be warned now.

This one is a doozy.  You are a pathologist for the next five minutes.  So, to get in character, hike up your pants, put on white socks under your dress clothes, and only tuck the front of your shirt in.  You are sitting at home one night in your footy pajamas when your phone rings.  It is a friend/colleague of yours who lives in another state.  He says he says he has been asked to be an expert on dog attacks on a legal case and he would like you to take a look at the autopsy photos as a courtesy.  He explains that a man is suing his neighbor.  Apparently the man's 18 month old son got into his neighbor's back yard where the dog attacked and killed him.  His 6 year old brother found him with the boys body in the dogs mouth.  You agree to take a look at some pictures, even though you are eating because as a pathologist, you have a cement stomach.  So you take a look and see deep wounds on the boys neck as well as scratch marks on his forehead.  You, being the awesome pathologist you are, realize that those are not puncture wounds from teeth, but rather from a knife....hmmmmmm.  You seem to be the only one who has caught and has the professional credibility to change this egregious error made by the medical examiner.  Who do you call first and what do you tell them and why?  Answer to be revealed shortly.

And we're back in three, two...

And so we're back.  My prediction was right, there are a few empty seats in the auditorium this time around.  No surprise there, I just hope that one day people aren't asking where I am.  I can honestly say that I had some of the best days of my life while on break (spent time on the beaches of mexico, got engaged, etc.), and I felt horribly when I landed back here, in school world.  I felt like I had just been called into the principal's office after peeking into the girls' locker room.  It was awesome a minute ago, but now it's back to reality.  Opened my apartment door and realized that yes, I am still in medical school, and yes, I have 3.5 more years of this.  I guess it is 1.5 more years of this and 2 years on being in the way of the people who know what they are doing and trying to stay invisible so I do not get pimped in front of my classmates.  Can't wait for that day.  Anatomy is done for this section, so now it is allllll lecture, baby!  SA-WEEEET.  There is only one thing sweeter than that, and it is this job.  Thanks to my future sister for that find.  Too bad I couldn't fulfill their scuba diving requirement as I have a permanently ruptured tympanic membrane.  My other ear sometimes ruptures during plane landings.  Awesome.  Without that, there might just be one more vacant seat in my class.

Not much to write today, but thought I should get the wheels rolling again as it took me all of last week to remember what class I was taking, and how to study, not that I am any good at it.  Looking forward to what semester 2 has to offer in the form of blogging material.  Oh, and tonight is my final class on basic life saving which means that now if you choke, have a heart attack, or cardiac arrest, I might know a thing or two about it and maybe might be able to help.  But then again, after certification I may end up flushing all that info out as that is what seems to happen after tests now, so don't count on me for rescue.