Intern: And I think I have dementia

[SpiritiualDuck]

Seriously, my memory sucks these days. Yes, I'm frequently on call, tired, and sleep deprived.

But I struggle to remember names, names of nurses, new patients. I know their hx, meds well, but I'm always glancing at my list to remember their names.

I'm also forgetting the names of kids I went to high school with, a girl that I slept with in college a couple of times (now that is wrong). So, far my major deficit is names, but I'm afraid it's going to get worse. Although, in truth, I haven't slept well in years, med school, residency, but not as sharp as I used to be.

Told one of my attendings that I think I'm showing some early signs of dementia, he laughed.

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[Anasazi23]

Get some rest.

 

[whopper]

Non medical advice--more on the order of colleague to colleague.

During medical school & residency, I noticed my own memories being dumped. Things that were not used in medicine were going out of my head. I used to be able to get 1/3-1/2 of the questions right on Jeopardy. Now I can't get any right.

I think what happens is since medicine is a specialized field of knowledge, and so many other areas of knowledge aren't used, the mind starts forgetting them because those memory tracts aren't excercised. They in turn are replaced by new memories which are medical.

Another thing is most of my college buddies, whose friendships I very much valued, well things weren't the same during & after medical school. I found we had less in common, I changed from an Animal House type of guy to a more reserved doctor type of guy. I started finding more in common with fellow doctors, and having to cancel a lot of social engagements with old friends because I was working on something serious--a research project, a case no one could solve etc.

I also went through a stage where I started becoming very good friends with fellow residents--several of which I lost contact with because they were transitional PGY-1s, or going to fellowship in a new area--you lose contact with some people, meet new people. I think in some ways medical education can be like the military--it can make you move so many times.

Your brain could be in a state of rapid transition.

For myself, being in a state of mind where I'm not fearing USMLE 1, 2 or 3 on the back of my mind, I actually feel like I got some room to think about things non-medical for the first time since medical school began. That and getting on to facebook a few months ago, I'm reconnecting with some friends I lost contact with. I'm studying for my boards now, but its actually something I use on an everyday basis vs. studying for things like Surgery on USMLE 3.