Health for life

What makes medical students select one specialty career path over another? 

While academics and economists tell us it boils down to lifestyle and income, the Disease Management Care Blog thinks theres more to it. As its medical education progressed, the DMCB noticed that students who enjoyed the company of others pursued careers in primary care, while the not-so-sociably-inclined perred the company of unconscious patients by entering anesthesia. Those with hand dexterity seemed to gravitate toward surgery and the brainiest, naturally, chose internal medicine.

The classic stereotype has been that students with an athletic background, especially if they had less intellectual "heft," tend to go into that field of applied human carpentry known as orthopedics. But is that true? In a small tongue-in-cheek-study published in the British Medical Journal that was designed to shed more light on the link between native ability and specialty, Dr. Subramanian and colleagues performed intelligence (IQ, as measured by the Mensa test) and strength (by testing grip with a calibrated dynanometer) on 36 orthopedists and compared them to 40 anesthesiologists - who went through the same tests.

The orthopedists beat the anesthesiologists by small and statistically significant amounts in both measures. Whats more, the IQ and the grip strength, compared to the normal population, clustered around average.

The authors, who are orthopedists, naturally find the data redeeming and take comfort in their favorable specialty comparison. While the study was performed in England and excluded women (both of which have important and decidedly divergent implications for the IQ measures), the DMCB looks forward to using this study to remind its non-internist colleagues of the existence of published science that confirms their average abilities.

Last but not least, its important to note that confidence may also play a role in specialty selection.  Thats displayed by an old joke of two docs - an internist and an orthopedist - who had never seen wild ducks but decided to go duck hunting anyway.  Spying two of the apparent waterfowl headed their way, they both made successful shots.  Upon retrieving hapless birds, the internist looked at his and remarked that the bill, webbed feet and feathers certainly suggested it was a duck, but that hed confirm it by comparing it to some pictures when he got home. The orthopedists conclusion: "I shot it, so it must be a duck."

Image from Wikipedia

If you want to concentrate or get better test results, it helps you prepare for nap time. A recent study revealed a nap to prepare healthy brain to remember more sharply. Naps can be likened to reboot the computer in order to work more smoothly.

Matthew Walker, an assistant professor at the University of California said that sleep is not just for your health, but it is very important for the brain. In the study, Walker and 39 young adults were divided into two groups. At noon, all the participants took part in the exercise of memory to remember faces and link them with names.

Then the researchers took part in memory training in the afternoon after sleeping for 20-100 minutes. "Those who stay awake doing tests by 10 percent worse than take a nap," said Walker. One other thing that is obtained from the study, a persons ability to learn between noon and six oclock decreased by 10 percent, but this decline negates nap.

Studies show that the phase structure dreamless sleep improves memory. "Sleep plays an important role in memory processing. And give a lot of evidence that sleep is not only important for after learning, but you need it before learning to prepare the brain to put the information."

Long sleep gives the brain a chance to remember during the sleep cycle. After performing an electroencephalogram tests to track electrical activity in the brain, the researchers set, memory resher occur between deep sleep and dream, which is called rapid eye movement (REM).

"The brains ability to absorb information is not always stable," said Walker. "It seems that the capacity of the brain may be a bit like a sponge that will get soaked if you continue to learn throughout the day."

Jessica Payne, an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame, said the results provide additional evidence of the importance of sleep. Sleep is very important for students and those who fight to preserve the memory due to aging. Other recent research proves sleep can help you think more creatively, maintaining long-term memory better and preserve important memories.