I also find myself constantly spelling (aloud, but only in my head) the word "diphtheria." Why, you may ask? Well.. When I was in second grade I came in second place in the second grade spelling bee. Care to know what word caused me to lose the first place prize? You'll never guess. Yep, of all words, it was diphtheria. Now, what second grader in their right mind knows how to spell diphtheria is a mystery to me. But, for almost 20 years now I have waited for an opportunity to display my uncanny ability to spell the word diphtheria correctly, and finally, medical school has provided me with that opportunity. It's a shame that questions like that don't appear that often on our exams.
Turns out, though, that spelling is a big deal in medical school, as one of our professors made clear when he told us that the most important thing to learn about antibiotics was the correct spelling of "gentamicin" (it's NOT gentamycin, fyi). Unfortunately, that's really about all I know about antibiotics, which is a problem since I have a pharmacology exam on Thursday.
At any rate, that's enough random musings about the state of my medical education. Wish me luck as I attempt to remember which organisms/diseases can be acquired from drinking unpasteurized milk (for the record: Listeria, Brucellosis, Campylobacter jejuni, and Yersinia enterocolitica).
