At various points in your medical education, you reach a point where you have to ask yourself whether or not all your effort has been or will be worth it. Most of the time, you tell yourself that everything you've done up until this point has been a step in the right direction that will ultimately get you to your career in medicine. Sometimes, it becomes difficult to keep your head above water and reassure yourself of what you know to be true.

You're away from family and friends, and you spend any time you have outside of the classroom inside of a library. There will be some exams where, regardless of how hard you study or how much you think you know, you'll do poorly. It's discouraging, because you begin to feel like nothing you do to prepare has any effect on the outcome. You begin to resent the professors for writing ridiculous questions, your classmates for somehow outperforming you, or your friends outside of medical school who are busy starting their own families instead of wasting four more years and another $150,000-$200,000 after college.

I have plenty of things to look forward to at the end of my second year. I'm getting married in May, and I start clinical rotations in June. I'll actually be getting hands-on experience with real patients instead of pretending to treat actors with fake medical problems. I'll be leaving Pennsylvania and moving in with my wife to a brand new house.

But when you're stuck inside every weekend preparing for a 2-3 hour exam every Monday morning, it's difficult to think that far ahead. You start getting run down, tired of treading water and going through the motions. I know that it will be worth it in a few years when I'm starting a family and doing what I've wanted to do for as long as I can remember. It's just that right now, all I can remember is that I should be studying instead of typing this.

Originally posted on Doctor Fishypants.

So I hear that Mr. Martinet let it slip that Nintendo is working on a new Mario game. In honor of this momentous occasion, here's another world-exclusive scoop, brought to you by my infallible detective skills. Are you ready? It's a doozy. I'm going to shock you. Here it is: the sky is blue.

I'm not really sure what passes for news these days.

It's always nice when I get to post about the positive effects video games can have on people. It's even nicer when I can post about video games having a positive effect on the medical community.

Children's Miracle Network is a non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children's hospitals. To date, it has raised over $3.4 billion through mostly individual donations. Microsoft has partnered with the charity to provide three Children's Miracle Network pediatric hospitals an "Ultimate Gameroom experience."

From now until October 16, you can visit the gameroom giveaway site to vote for your favorite hospital to receive a gameroom upgrade. You get 10 votes per day, and each time you vote you're entered to win a free Xbox 360 console. And while you're at it, take a look at Child's Play. It's another video game charity that donates games to pediatric hospitals for patients to play while they're recovering. Last year, I donated Lego Star Wars to Akron Children's Hospital in Akron, Ohio. It doesn't seem like much, but giving a kid something else to think about and enjoy while they're in the hospital can really help improve their morale. It's encouraging to see the video game and medical communities come together for good causes like these.

Originally posted on DoctorFishypants