Yes another post

Perhaps you've guessed by now that I can be introspective at times. Its only taken 73 blog posts for me to get to that point, in case you haven't figured it out. Occasionally, though, its nice to hear outside criticism of my study efforts.

One such weakness, which was noted by a study partner, is that I often get obsessive with trying to figure out a specific mechanism or pathway. For many of these searches, online encyclopedias have been a wonderful resource. However, at other times the search can become too in-depth. Simply trying to find the opening and closing of ion channels in cardiac myocytes...that one took over 3 hours. One professor I highly respect explained the cycle using 4 channels. A review textbook provided by the school had no less than 9 channels. After the first hour, I was reading into published research articles instead of bothering with review textbooks. It was only when my study partner pulled me aside and taught me what I wanted to know, that I could breath a sigh of relief.

Well, going over an older lecture that was an adjunct to the obsession-inducing lecture, I found the answer that I was looking for. My study partner was wrong. But it doesn't matter anymore. The chances of that specific question popping up are minimal. However, simply KNOWING feels good. That turmoil inside my mind that searches to find truth using science and reason has subsided (for now). But for every battle that is won, hundreds of others are lost. Some to chance, some to errors in texts or in my understanding. The majority are simply under the heading of "this is the way it is, but we don't know yet why" or "we THINK it might be this, but the research is still ongoing." Sometimes, there are multiple truths, such as drugs that work by multiple mechanisms.

Part of the reason I chose medicine is because I knew there is too much for me to learn in a lifetime. More research will probably be published this month than I could read in a lifetime. I'll never be full or bored. But once in a while, its nice to stop feeling hungry.

Then again, I know something that my study partner doesn't :P