Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Toxicology Viva

On the 24th, I had my Toxicology viva and spotting. At 9:30 we were asked to line up according to our roll numbers and after every 30 seconds the bell rang and one person would go inside a room full of toxicology specimen. There were 10 spots and we had to identify and answer the question given in 30 seconds which is literally absurd because it takes 10 seconds to reach the next spot and 10 seconds to write the answer. So in reality we actually have only 10 seconds to think about the question. The following were the spots.

1- Copper Sulphate....give its fatal dose.

2- Chillies....give its medicolegal importance ( I couldn't figure this out..hehe.....should goto the kitchen more often)

3- Poppy seeds...give its fatal dose (Poppy seeds are not fatal..darn it..I don't remember what I wrote, but it was wrong :( )

4- Define Run Amoke.

5- Nasogastric tube....give its contraindications (This too wrong :( )

6- Aconite....give its active principle.

7- Castor Oil Seeds..give its active principle.

8- Madar Leaves.....give its medicolegal importance.

9- Dhatura Seeds....Give its fatal dose.

There was another spot, but can't seem to recall it at this particular time. After my spotting, I had to go through that agonizing wait for my viva turn. At about 11:30, I was called in by the external examiner, an Associate Professor from Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore.

Sir:- What's EMR?

Me:- EMR sir???

Sir:- Yeah, you wrote it on your progress card. EMR Of Pakistan.

Me:- Oh! Sir, its Emb. It reads Embassy Of Pakistan. My dad works there.

Sir:- Your dad is in Cairo? Have you been there?

Me:- Yes sir. I did my 12th standard from there.

Sir:- (turns to our teacher Dr.Mateen) Note down this guy's address. He will arrange my stay there when I go there. How long is the flight?Have you seen the Pyramids and the Mummies? Egypt has one ancient history.

Me:- There is no direct flight from Pakistan. We have to fly enroute Jeddah or Dubai. Takes four hours to Jeddah and then a further 2 hours to Cairo. Yes, I have been to the Pyramids and the Museum.

Sir:- Dr.Mateen, remember Dr. so and so, he studied in Cairo. Now he has a very good clinic on GT road.

Me:- Cairo has some good medical colleges like Cairo University.

Sir:- Okz, Identify the things in front of you.

Me:- Abrus Precatarious, Tobacco, Copper Sulphate and Sir I don't know this one.

Sir:- Think about it. It's famous as the 9 D's.

Me:- Dhatura.

Sir:- Yeah, but what part of Dhatura is it?

Me:- Sir, it's the fruit.

Sir:- What's the antidote to Dhatura?

Me:- Physostigmine and Pilocarpine.

Sir:- Name poisons/drugs that affect gait.

Me:- Alchol......( and then I think a long time and my mind is empty) Sir, I can't recall anymore.

Sir:- Name myotoxic drugs.

Me:- Sea snake, Conium, Curare.

Sir:-Won't these poisons affect gait?

Me:- Yes Sir.

Sir:-What can you learn after examining the mouth of a patient with respect to
toxicology?


Me:- Corrosive Poisons stain the lips and mouth. Some poisons have a characteristic smell. Like phosphorus has a garlic like smell, kerosine has a distinct smell and DDT has a kerosine like smell.

Sir:- Why was DDT banned?

Me:- Because it concentrates while passing through the food chain.

Sir:- How do you know? And give me its scientific term.

Me:- Read it somewhere. I don't remember the term.

Sir:- It's called biomagnification. What's biotransformation?

Me:- Conversion of a drug inside the body into a more polar substance. It cane be more toxic or less toxic than the parent compound.

Sir:- What's your roll number? Dr.Mateen take his address.

Me:- 1398.

And I get to walk out.

Today I had forensic medicine viva and spotting. Stay tuned for its details because it was one hell of a day. I'm too tired of typing right now. So adios!!!!

3 comments:

Survivor said...

hey great job... Man,...he took ur address too ....HA..

mayya said...

this was interesting :D

Survivor said...

ur still too tired to post the details for the other exams?....

well.. Neway... Don't worry...I'm sure u did great...