Public health assignment #1 of the new semester: Pick a poor health behavior you have, and keep a journal of the behavior for five days. Then, diagram the contributing factors to that behavior.
My poor health behavior? CAFFEINE OVERDOSE!!!
So, what are the contributing factors to my caffeine addiction?
1.) Intra-personal Factors (i.e. the dialogue that goes something like, "Must stay awake to get the grade to get a residency spot to on and on and on... or else...yikes- better just get a coffee!")
2.) Social/Cultural Factors (AKA the "Medical School" Culture)
3.) Behavioral Factors (i.e. losing sleep due to too much caffeine leading to the need for more caffeine the following day)
My diagram was further decorated with double sided arrows and explanations of how medical school does indeed mess with my mind sometimes to the point where I just down some coffee to not think about how crazy I am becoming and to keep working.
However, medical school is not all that bad; I promise. The great thing about medical school is that I go to school with some phenomenal individuals which makes it much easier. We are all becoming crazy together as a family and are really starting to just accept it as part of the profession. As long as we embrace it and can laugh about it, I really don't see the harm. It's almost comforting to know we're all going a little crazy. At least I know I'm not the ONLY one. And if it's crazy for compassionate care, no big deal.
By the way, the PHENOMENAL depiction of the highly accurate medical school gunner is now FOR SALE! So, if you have already donated to the cause and would still like to send me a birthday present, there's an idea!
My poor health behavior? CAFFEINE OVERDOSE!!!
So, what are the contributing factors to my caffeine addiction?
1.) Intra-personal Factors (i.e. the dialogue that goes something like, "Must stay awake to get the grade to get a residency spot to on and on and on... or else...yikes- better just get a coffee!")
2.) Social/Cultural Factors (AKA the "Medical School" Culture)
3.) Behavioral Factors (i.e. losing sleep due to too much caffeine leading to the need for more caffeine the following day)
My diagram was further decorated with double sided arrows and explanations of how medical school does indeed mess with my mind sometimes to the point where I just down some coffee to not think about how crazy I am becoming and to keep working.
However, medical school is not all that bad; I promise. The great thing about medical school is that I go to school with some phenomenal individuals which makes it much easier. We are all becoming crazy together as a family and are really starting to just accept it as part of the profession. As long as we embrace it and can laugh about it, I really don't see the harm. It's almost comforting to know we're all going a little crazy. At least I know I'm not the ONLY one. And if it's crazy for compassionate care, no big deal.
By the way, the PHENOMENAL depiction of the highly accurate medical school gunner is now FOR SALE! So, if you have already donated to the cause and would still like to send me a birthday present, there's an idea!
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