Medically Minded

I am one of a rare breed. The kind that is fascinated with medicine and the human body. Since being in PA school, we have been demanded time and again to hone our observation skills. And when you think of medicine for a majority of your waking (and sometimes sleeping) hours, it starts to seep into everything you see and do.

For instance, I saw this license plate the other day. 

Now, this is not the first time a license plate has caught my attention because of a medical acronym. Medicine is literally a language in itself. We were told we would learn 20,000 new words during our two years of school – and I think I have. (Taking medical terminology in college has been a lifesaver. Thanks Dr. T!) 

Or, take for instance, this true (and somewhat embarrassing) moment, when I commented on a friend’s arm veins after he had taken off his sweatshirt. I mentioned his veins would be great for an IV stick. FYI: sometimes it’s better to keep one’s observations to one's self.

I could tell story after story about things like this, but let’s move on…

Sometimes I feel like Dr. House – always seeing medical diagnoses in people I don’t even know  (e.g. at the airport in season 2 episode 10). Like today. I was running my scheduled 5 miles at the student recreation center and a girl walks in on legs that are reminiscent of toothpicks. Red flag #1. She then proceeds to take off her sweatshirt, revealing a t-shirt and emaciated arms. As she used the elliptical in front of me, all I could think about was her size. My brain was screaming anorexia, but I keep trying to push it aside. Sometimes it’s easier to not face the ugly truth. I start streaming through a differential. Cancer. Probably not. She wouldn’t feel well enough to exercise. Malabsorption issue, like Crohn’s. Again, probably not, for the same reason. And then I was left with only one other obvious diagnosis: eating disorder. Which totally fit (no pun intended) since she was at a gym.

When I was younger, I caught this made-for-TV movie at home one night while flipping channels. I’m not sure why my parents even let us watch it, but it stuck in my memory for years. And when I was studying eating disorders in my psychiatry rotation, I re-watched it. 

Seeing the girl in the gym today was like watching a clone of the lead actress in that movie. And all I could think about as I’m pounding through mile 3, 4, & 5 is that this sweet, sick girl in front of me is killing herself and could go into a cardiac arrhythmia any moment due to an imbalance in electrolytes. I glance around for an AED, but I don’t see one. Maybe behind the desk where the staff is sitting? Then I start thinking about whether I should do something or not. Talk to the girl? Notify the staff? I struggle through what my role should be as a medically informed person in the public. (Any like-minded person who has come upon a cardiac arrest or a severe car accident when emergency services have not yet responded likely has felt the same way.)

Ultimately, I decided to talk to the staff, just letting them know I was concerned for this girl's health and wondering if they had any kind of protocol for such a situation. They were aware of the situation and it was not the first time someone had expressed concern. They were working toward revoking her membership (although I’m not sure if they were working on the medical aspects of her disorder). I felt like the action I took was the appropriate one, but for the first time, I realized this wouldn’t be the last time I faced a dilemma like this one.

We all have choices to make. May I continue to always struggle through difficult ones and not just take the easy path by doing nothing.