At least the tuition's going to something...

I was talking to David today about how gene therapy and how it works, or at least how it's supposed to work. I hadn't ever tried to explain it before and I found myself actually remembering things I had learned months previously (which is a quite a relief). This combined with a recent comment made by a lecturer about depression in medical students got me thinking about it. He said that when medical school students are depressed, they come to class anyway. Now, for those of you who are less familiar with depression, I'll give you a quick run-down. "Major Depression" is not "just feeling sad." For example, if a loved one were to die, you would go through grief which includes sadness. However, just because you're sad for awhile (even up to a year) doesn't mean you're depressed. Traditionally, clinically diagnosable depression includes symptoms such as: change in appetite (weight loss or gain), change in sleep, loss of concentration and memory, feelings of worthlessness, low mood, loss of pleasure in activities one previously enjoyed, etc. I think this website has a fairly complete list of the DSM IV criteria. Somehow depression is linked to dopamine and its' function as a neurotransmitter, but in fact, no one really knows what's going on. Anyway, I bring all this up because I started thinking about depression would impact someone in medical school as composed to people in graduate and law schools. As it turns out, people in medical school are WAY more likely to become clinically depressed. I think it's something like 3x more. Shesh. So, does that mean medical school self-selects for this kind of person? Or, is it the experience of medical school itself? Well, evidence seems to suggest it's medical school. (Rosal MC, Ockene IS, et al. A longitudinal study of students' depression at one medical school. Acad. Med. 1997;72:542-546. ) In short, people come in "normal" and during the course of medical school many of them develop depression. And, unlike a lot of the general population, even if a student is horribly depressed, he/she does his/her work anyway. I'm not sure where I'm going with this per se, but it seemed important enough to bring up. Depression is fascinating and when you've seen someone with it, you'll never again confuse it with "being sad" (at least in my opinion).

To end on a happier note, Low Millions is a fantastic band and I'm infatuated. Check out this link to hear their album.

I'd also like to wish Felicia and my Mom happy Birthday! (Yes, Felicia is 18, and no you can't date her :P )