Recent comments in /f/explainlikeimfive
Enough-Preference-18 t1_jdghzfr wrote
Reply to comment by TheGatsbyComplex in ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
And if you don’t match for residency, which is a possibility after you’ve dedicated most of your adult life to up until this point, you cannot practice as a physician in the US.
But aside from all this there are some wild tools we use. There’s this entire company called sketchy that makes cartoons to help remember microbiology. Anki is a flash card software platform that many swear by to help jam info in. These are most popularly used around board studying (our boards are taken in three steps, first one being 7 hours, second being 8 hours, and the third taking two days of 8 and 7 hours(?)).
But as stated above, the amount of medical and science knowledge in the world is constantly expanding. Doctor’s expertise is knowing how to identify an abnormality and knowing what tools to use to figure that out. And knowing exactly what to search for. Really just expert level googlers. Though, we do have this very handy website called UpToDate which is essentially medical google. Again, very handy but only because we know how to look at a patient’s complaint and distill it into a couple of words that are highly specific and unique.
Being able to jam knowledge into your head is half the battle. A really good doctor knows how to take all this knowledge and apply it dynamically.
pichael289 t1_jdggvvh wrote
Reply to ELI5: if I stand on a weighing scale that is kept on top of a soft surface (like a carpet) why does it show lesser weight that what actually is? by chiuchebaba
You might be putting more weight to the side, not evenly distributed. That could throw off the mechanism inside, introduce friction or something
Mash_man710 t1_jdgg2kh wrote
Reply to ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
How do plumbers, pilots and lawyers retain complex information for their jobs. Same as everybody else..
stiveooo t1_jdgf5f2 wrote
Reply to comment by AndYetHereWeAre121 in ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
Isnt it like how we all learned the chemical elements and bones in school but x100?
MrShotson t1_jdgem8z wrote
Reply to comment by Toger in ELI5: Do the ridged roofs on the houses in Bermuda actually increase rain capture? by Onholidaybymistake22
Just did a quick Google of weather patterns in Bermuda. Apparently, they average 5 to 7 inches of rain per month. With very little fluctuation. Rain is sudden, heavy, and short-lived. That may kind of make sense for the roofing strategy then.
themakermaria t1_jdgdxhz wrote
Reply to ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
I'm still not sure how he did it, but my father became a very successful physician despite dealing with undiagnosed dyslexia and not being at the top of his class. He is one of the hardest working people I know, and he's so passionate about what he does. Going to med school and doing a residency and a fellowship and all that is a massive sacrifice and will not be easy. But if you have enough determination and discipline, you can do it. It's just that you need a lot.
If you're not sure about med school, you could also consider being a PA, a nurse, a lab tech, etc. There's so many roles within medicine that need to be filled that are just as important as the doctor:)
Trumpet1956 t1_jdgcrt3 wrote
Reply to comment by chiuchebaba in ELI5: if I stand on a weighing scale that is kept on top of a soft surface (like a carpet) why does it show lesser weight that what actually is? by chiuchebaba
Yep, that sounds like what is going on. If the outside piece touches the material it would take part of the load and the scale would read less weight.
dramignophyte t1_jdgc5cw wrote
Reply to comment by TheGatsbyComplex in ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
They really need to make med school free. They really try to make sure barely anybody gets there but there is a difference between "weeding out the bad apples" and " kneecap anyone who flinches"
It makes sense on the level of only people who really want it make it and it keeps wages high but overworked people don't do better. Like we know this about regular school but we send kids at 7am, we know 80 hours a week ends up hurting people more than it helps, but we spread doctors crazy thin. The money supposed to be from specialty not due to barely having any doctors.
Toger t1_jdg71kg wrote
Reply to comment by MrShotson in ELI5: Do the ridged roofs on the houses in Bermuda actually increase rain capture? by Onholidaybymistake22
Granted; I was assuming a sustained downpour.
chiuchebaba OP t1_jdg6p1i wrote
Reply to comment by TheLuteceSibling in ELI5: if I stand on a weighing scale that is kept on top of a soft surface (like a carpet) why does it show lesser weight that what actually is? by chiuchebaba
Yes even I felt it shouldn’t happen.
And the scale isn’t really a box inside a box. But it has tiny footrests kind of thing at the bottom that are just around 1 cm tall. My guess is that the compression on the footrests gets translated into the measured weight but if I keep the scale on a soft surface then the body of the scale may come in contact with that surface instead of just the footrests. Thanks.
responsiblecircus t1_jdg476e wrote
Reply to ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
I would argue that 99% of us don’t actually memorize/absorb ALL of the material we’re responsible for in medical school. Otherwise why would we need to do any further training (i.e. residency)? But we do learn a lot and we learn it quickly, because that’s how our degree programs (in theory) set us up to have the solid foundational knowledge to hit the ground running as baby physicians during the first year of post-grad training. It’s during residency that real doctors are made IMO, and one of the key things that sets us apart from other healthcare professionals. Physicians have thousands of hours of clinical work before they’re allowed to practice medicine independently, and during that time is when the majority of us will truly solidify that vast knowledge base into something useful.
I see you’re non-trad thinking of applying. I once was myself. Personally, I wouldn’t let the volume of information alone scare you — there are many other things to be considered in determining if this is the right move for you. If you have the desire, the stamina, and adequate support/stability… you can make it happen. But it’s not for the faint of heart.
TheLuteceSibling t1_jdg3msf wrote
Reply to ELI5: if I stand on a weighing scale that is kept on top of a soft surface (like a carpet) why does it show lesser weight that what actually is? by chiuchebaba
It shouldn't. Scales function on compression between two surfaces. Whether the surface under the scale is a little squishy or not shouldn't make a difference.
Does your scale have a two-piece construction? Like a box that fits in a box that compresses when you stand on it? If so, then the outer shell might be touching the carpet when you stand on it, so not all of your weight is on the scale... it's on the carpet.
TheGatsbyComplex t1_jdg2bg8 wrote
Reply to comment by AndYetHereWeAre121 in ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
It’s simple to say it takes a lot of discipline and commitment but let me expand more on that.
Learning the medical knowledge is truly the easy part. There are a lot of sacrifices along the way that fall into the category of commitment.
Entering medical training is essentially a 7-11 year long commitment depending on your specialty, or possibly longer, that once you start is very difficult to remove yourself from. If you’ve already a second career and roots planted somewhere, recognize that there is a huge financial opportunity cost in losing out on 11 years of pay and investment, in order to pursue this degree. It’s also 11 years of possibly dragging your family around the country.
I don’t know where you are in the application process but even before Med school begins, you need to have fulfilled some undergraduate prerequisites in freshman and sophomore level science and writing courses. If you had foresight it may already be done with your bachelors the first time around. For others going back to school, this is a year of your life just taking these courses. Then you have to take the MCAT which is a typical standardized test, where a fairly large amount of people get weeded out. This is also something most people would study at minimum 1 month for and it’s not unheard of to prep for 6 months or more.
Let’s say you apply to 30 or however many Med schools. It’s very competitive. There may be a lot of pressure to get accepted into someplace close to home, especially if your SO has an established career, or your kids are in school. Getting accepted into only one place, halfway across the country, can put a lot of people into depression and shame, feeling like they’ve failed their family and now have to uproot their whole life to move them across the country.
Ok now the 4 years of Med school where you learn all the things is supposed to actually be the easy part. Except the USMLEs which are extremely high stakes board exams. Most people who’ve attended a university are used to the concept of a final exam after a 4 month semester. For a lot of people, a board exam that tests your cumulative knowledge for the last 2 years is very high stakes and stressful. It takes a massive amount of discipline to study something during your first month of school, and then continually revisit it during the next 24 months all the while you are learning new material along the way.
So fourth year rolls around and you have to apply for the residency match. You may not get the specialty you want. It can be really defeating to feel like you’ve invested 4+ years already and still you may not get the specialty you want, and it’s easy to fall into a bad place when you feel like everything you’ve done is for nothing. And the same issue as applying to Med school comes up. Maybe you wanna be in X location, and there’s a lot of pressure. But then match at Y which is halfway across the country. Uproot your life again, and there’s a lot of shame and disappointment.
Then as a resident you have to work your butt off for 3-7 years, inhumane hours, 80h per week and 24+ hour shifts. Relationships are tested. You don’t see your kids that much. You’re getting paid peanuts.
Then at the end of it all, you’ve dragged your family across the country a couple times over the last 11 years. Maybe got a divorce along the way. Maybe didn’t see your kids that much. Lost out on 11 years of income, accumulated 200k of debt. And now for the rest of your life you get to be a physician that has to work “call” shifts meaning you’ll work holidays and nights forever.
So all of that is to say, there is so so so much more to consider than how you’re gonna learn all the medical knowledge. The discipline, commitment, and the sacrifices made along the way. The medical knowledge is really the relatively easy part.
AndYetHereWeAre121 OP t1_jdg0mgu wrote
Reply to comment by poretabletti in ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
Thank you for your kind words 😊
poretabletti t1_jdfzko3 wrote
Reply to comment by AndYetHereWeAre121 in ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
If you feel intimidated, it means you're taking it seriously and not just charging into it. That's good. It's fine to feel intimidated, especially about something that big, but you're gonna do well. Best of luck to you! :)
AndYetHereWeAre121 OP t1_jdfxgyc wrote
Reply to comment by TheGatsbyComplex in ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
Thank you for this. I'm considering med school, as a non-trad. I'm really intimidated, but I'm committed.
TheGatsbyComplex t1_jdfws0j wrote
Reply to ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
You just have to do it.
Anybody who is about average intelligence can do it. All it takes is discipline and commitment.
Realistically, most Americans in high school and university never had to study more than an average of 15 hours per week. In medical school studying is a full time job. Do it 60 hours a week and you can’t help but learn/know all the material.
MrShotson t1_jdfvxg7 wrote
Reply to comment by Toger in ELI5: Do the ridged roofs on the houses in Bermuda actually increase rain capture? by Onholidaybymistake22
I think that's incorrect, to a certain extent. Increasing the overall surface area of the roof increases the volume of water that can be on it at one time. Each of those ridges would act as a cistern capable of holding a volume of water that would have otherwise overran a simple slope. Instead of a straightforward through-rate, you need to take into account many small pockets of internal storage. Depending on the frequency and intensity of rain in the area, that could be significant.
[deleted] t1_jdftzwx wrote
Reply to comment by Any-Growth8158 in ELI5: How do the new airplane windows that turn dark using a button work? by gazpachosoupday
[removed]
Toger t1_jdfkrji wrote
Reply to comment by MidnightAdventurer in ELI5: Do the ridged roofs on the houses in Bermuda actually increase rain capture? by Onholidaybymistake22
All the rain hitting the roof has to drain off it at the same rate it is arriving though, since the roof isn't a deep pool. Hence all the piping etc has to handle the full volume of rain -- the ridges aren't holding the water back except to absorb some of its kinetic energy.
imamydesk t1_jdfhecq wrote
Reply to comment by _Connor in ELI5: How do the new airplane windows that turn dark using a button work? by gazpachosoupday
It is an electrochromic material, but it's not PDLC. For airplane windows you want to fail-safe to transparency, not opaqueness - so the power on state is the opaque, power off transparent. That way in an emergency if all windows lose power, emergency responders and passengers alike can look through the windows.
MidnightAdventurer t1_jdfgo8o wrote
Reply to comment by Onholidaybymistake22 in ELI5: Do the ridged roofs on the houses in Bermuda actually increase rain capture? by Onholidaybymistake22
It's not just larger gutters, its all the pipes to the tanks and even then, there's a limit to how fast water will flow through the pipes for a given level difference between the gutter and the tank. By slowing the water down earlier, the peak flow rate is reduced.
Also, from a quick read, the traditional design design is made of stone so increasing the gutter size may not be as easy. I suspect the shape is also partly a result of the construction technique and as with many local styles, once they become characteristic of the area, they tend to get carried on just out of tradition
Phage0070 t1_jdfagmj wrote
Reply to comment by Onholidaybymistake22 in ELI5: Do the ridged roofs on the houses in Bermuda actually increase rain capture? by Onholidaybymistake22
I think there is a healthy amount of tradition and folklore at work here.
Onholidaybymistake22 OP t1_jdf9lmp wrote
Reply to comment by Phage0070 in ELI5: Do the ridged roofs on the houses in Bermuda actually increase rain capture? by Onholidaybymistake22
But surely then they’d save resources by just making wider gutters? I suppose this is presuming that the Bermudans have calculated the perfect way to capture rain with a minimal use of resources instead of going off tradition…
zsero1138 t1_jdgiscw wrote
Reply to ELI5: Physicians, how is it possible to memorize and absorb so much material in med school? by AndYetHereWeAre121
nvm physicians, looks at london cabbies for memorization. with enough practice and dedication, your brain adapts to do what you want it to, some people take longer than others