I just got back...
...from having dinner with a really nice guy. He's a pharmacist and we spent the entire evening chatting about this and that...mainly about things that we have in common. Of course, both of us work in the health field so most of our conversation was about that.
He has a son in medical school who told him that he has friends, other med students, who take Adderall so that they can stay awake long enough to study. The kid goes to SFU or FSU...something like that. It's right near here. I asked him where the kids were getting drugs like that and he said that they just go to their own doctors and report the symptoms of Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. I was blown away that medical students would do something so stupid.
The other thing that amazed me was the fact that when doctors began prescribing Adderall to kids for ADD, they said that a drug that is normally a stimulant in adults (Adderall), acts as a calming agent in children. Well, if that's true...why do they give it to adults who suffer from ADD? That makes no sense at all. For years they've been giving kids that drug saying that it works totally differently with the brain chemistry of a kid...so how do they justify giving it to adults?
And what the heck is wrong with doctors who prescribe such a drug for med students? Do they take care of their own by giving them drugs? They know how tough med school is...do they really think that med students need uppers for anything other than staying awake? The guy I was with tonight said that he believes that doctors don't mind passing out drugs to each other because they believe that they are all "disciplined" enough to take the drugs "properly". It's never, ever proper to take drugs to stay awake and it certainly isn't proper for them to take the drugs to stay awake during med school.
The guy's kid is beginning his first year of patient contact and he goes to school with a bunch of kids who will also be caring for sick people but they'll be doing it while drugged up on Adderall. I've done stupid things in my life but I've never gone to work under the influence of anything stronger than caffeine.
Anyway...dinner was nice. After we got back we went walking along the water by the condo. There are canals along the perimeter that people keep their boats in and I guess they use them as "streets" for the boats. We watched a few people fishing off of boats and off of the side of the canal. If you were to float (sail?) about a half a mile west of where we were, the water turns brackish. I've fished in fresh water and salt water but never in brackish water. Now I have to go get some fishing gear so that I can walk out to the canal and drop a line when I start to get frustrated here.
Well, Jean is sleeping in the chair and my father is sleeping in their room. I have to go wake Jean up and help her change into some jammies so that I can help her into the other room where I can wake up my father by putting Jean in bed. Neither one of them are going to be happy about what I'm about to do but I have to do it. So...I'm off to wake up two old people who are sure to bitch at me. Sounds like fun, 'ey?
See ya later!
...from having dinner with a really nice guy. He's a pharmacist and we spent the entire evening chatting about this and that...mainly about things that we have in common. Of course, both of us work in the health field so most of our conversation was about that.
He has a son in medical school who told him that he has friends, other med students, who take Adderall so that they can stay awake long enough to study. The kid goes to SFU or FSU...something like that. It's right near here. I asked him where the kids were getting drugs like that and he said that they just go to their own doctors and report the symptoms of Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. I was blown away that medical students would do something so stupid.
The other thing that amazed me was the fact that when doctors began prescribing Adderall to kids for ADD, they said that a drug that is normally a stimulant in adults (Adderall), acts as a calming agent in children. Well, if that's true...why do they give it to adults who suffer from ADD? That makes no sense at all. For years they've been giving kids that drug saying that it works totally differently with the brain chemistry of a kid...so how do they justify giving it to adults?
And what the heck is wrong with doctors who prescribe such a drug for med students? Do they take care of their own by giving them drugs? They know how tough med school is...do they really think that med students need uppers for anything other than staying awake? The guy I was with tonight said that he believes that doctors don't mind passing out drugs to each other because they believe that they are all "disciplined" enough to take the drugs "properly". It's never, ever proper to take drugs to stay awake and it certainly isn't proper for them to take the drugs to stay awake during med school.
The guy's kid is beginning his first year of patient contact and he goes to school with a bunch of kids who will also be caring for sick people but they'll be doing it while drugged up on Adderall. I've done stupid things in my life but I've never gone to work under the influence of anything stronger than caffeine.
Anyway...dinner was nice. After we got back we went walking along the water by the condo. There are canals along the perimeter that people keep their boats in and I guess they use them as "streets" for the boats. We watched a few people fishing off of boats and off of the side of the canal. If you were to float (sail?) about a half a mile west of where we were, the water turns brackish. I've fished in fresh water and salt water but never in brackish water. Now I have to go get some fishing gear so that I can walk out to the canal and drop a line when I start to get frustrated here.
Well, Jean is sleeping in the chair and my father is sleeping in their room. I have to go wake Jean up and help her change into some jammies so that I can help her into the other room where I can wake up my father by putting Jean in bed. Neither one of them are going to be happy about what I'm about to do but I have to do it. So...I'm off to wake up two old people who are sure to bitch at me. Sounds like fun, 'ey?
See ya later!
posted by Meg Kelso | 8:10 PM
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