4th Semester Factoid: Monday

Okay, so today, I learned about blood (yes!). Let's face it, most medical students are fascinated with blood... we were the kids who picked at scabs to see what they would do, who didn't cry when it came to getting shots. (or maybe, i'm the only weirdo).

The normal human body (given "normal" weight) has approx. 5 L of blood. Normal blood donation is 1 "unit," which is about 500 ml...equivalent to 10% of your blood. Now, 10% may not seem like such a large fraction, but it's enough to set your body into compensatory mechanisms, like tachycardia (increased heart rate), and vessel constriction (to help raise blood pressure). (Okay, so I already knew this from 2nd semester, but we relearned it today).

Onto med pysch...we learned about defense mechanisms. The typical adult male defense mechanism is known as Intellectualizaion. It's the whole find it, fix it, principle without taking into account the other person's feelings. Let's role play:

Female: "wah, wah, wah. I had a bad day because Janey thought that my shoes didn't match my purse and earrings."

Male: Well, maybe you should just stick with matching to brown and black, that way, you won't have a problem."

Stop right there! What he should have done was said “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Let me give you a hug. We’ll go shopping later for some new accessories together, and it will be my treat.”

Guys, the lesson to learn here is to keep your mouth shut and just give us a hug.



Side note: Joke from med pysch today about defense mechanisms: how do med students channel anger and aggression? By becoming surgeons. :)