September Round-Up (Medical Student gems)

Youtube Channel: Vsauce

It has to be the most interesting video channel on the internet. Michael Stevens the main host has become an internet personality and star as a result of his fascinating channel, in fact Vsauce now is spread over four channels on Youtube; Vsauce1 (linked above), Vsauce2 (hosted by Kevin Lieber), Vsauce3 (dedicated to virtual worlds and Wesauce. There are often videos about medical themes or ancient medical practises for those looking for most medically related content. I absolutely love this channel and it never fails to leave me in a completely pensive state about the universe or nature of things. 

Book: Doctors Dissected

Doctors dissected is an incredibly honest insight into the lives of Doctors. Jane Haynes (a psychotherapist) asks various British doctors (a few of them London based GP's) about the reasons they chose medicine and how they feel about the profession today. The answers are often incredibly heartfelt and you feel you really are experiencing a side of these doctors that very few people would get to see. I finished this book with a feeling that Medicine has changed dramatically over the last forty years both for the better and for the worse (its often mentioned the loss of continuity of care has been the worst loss to current medical practice). 

Twitter accounts: @NEJM @Qikipedia

The New England Journal of Medicine and The QI elves, the Kings/Queens of interesting facts (Not strictly medical account but very entertaining nonetheless). 

Webpage: Sporcle

This website, although its full of games, is a fantastic site for educational time killers. I found myself addicted to trying to name all the countries in Europe, Africa and eventually the world. So again not strictly medical, however, if you want something medical there are some medically related quizzes. For example try naming all the eponymous syndromes..

Film: The Doctor

Ok the choice is obvious and it may seem like a boring movie but this movie was the centre of my course on professionalism and there are some lessons to learn. The main character, an arrogant heart surgeon, gets laryngeal cancer and the movie follows his journey through the patient experience. 

For more round ups click here. 

What vessel arises from abdominal aorta and supplies an organ in the pelvis? (and isnt the inferior mesenteric artery)

I was scrubbed into a vascular surgery operation the other day, a standard aneurysmectomy when the consultant asked me "whats this vessel?". I had no flipping clue, the aorta was exposed and this mysterious vessel seemed to branch from just below the renal arteries and travel down into the pelvis.

It was one of the paired Gonadal arteries! (AKA testicular arteries or ovarian arteries)

The arteries supplying the testicles or ovaries arise from the abdominal aorta at around the L2 level. This is because of the embryological descent of the gonads from the abdominal cavity to their rightful position in the pelvis or scrotum (this process starts at the 3rd month of prgenancy and ends at the end of pregnancy). 

There are a few anatomical variants where the gonandal artery arises from the renal artery or slips behind the inferior vena cava before descending, it may even originate higher than the L2 area. 

So dont forget the Gonadal arteries!