2601 SSE Loop 323 Apt. 104 Tyler, TX. 75701 (for now) |
903-593-8508 Hm. 601-362-5541 E-mail Gerald_Russell@yahoo.com
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Gerald J. Russell
Objective |
Verbal- Visual
qualifications for genetically superior offspring.
This is the ability to read, comprehend and recall written information and has a strong dependence on genetics- it is inherited like height or skin color. I.E.- not equally distributed amongst the offspring of a certain set of parents, but having tall parents increases the chance for tall offspring, no doubt. Since the parents have not had an opportunity to express their Verbal –Visual genetic potential, due to socioeconomic constraints, then you must look at the offspring or myself to determine just how “tall” the genetic potential is in Visual-Verbal if I became a parent and produced offspring. |
Experience |
Born 1962 in
Oakland, CA Oldest of Four Children. Raised from the age of 5 years old by
Paternal grandparents Jackson ,MS . Parents –Father § High School Diploma (Clinton, MS.) § Assembly line worker-Carrier corp. |
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Mother § High School Diploma. (Clinton, MS) § SSI-Disability Child Abuse-age 23 when she scalded baby sister/daughter (Reganda with hot water at age 6 mos.) Custody was removed from the mother and the children were placed in foster care in an orphanage in LA for 9 months until the Paternal Grandparents (father’s mother and stepfather) agreed to become the legal guardians in Jackson, MS. My age was 4 years old at this time. |
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Siblings ▪ Miranda Russell-Paster- 10 months
younger, reading in first grade, did not attend St. Andrew’s Episcopal,
attended Westside elementary and Jr. High until part of 10th grade
then attended Freemont High school in South Central LA after grandmother died
of a stroke. Was on the honor roll at Westside and Freemont High school, became
a LVN (Vocational nurse) at Freemont High in a special training program
for high school students, decided that this was not the right career
move, did not like nursing and did well enough on the ACT to receive or
qualify for a full scholarship to a private all-female Catholic college in
west LA, Mt. St. Mary’s College. Here she majored in business and graduated
with honors and later returned to get her MBA at Cal State Dominguez
Hills in Carson, CA. during night school. She is employed with the city
of Los Angeles, CA. ▪ Tony Russell Jr.- 36 years old. Mild
dyslexic. Graduated from Forest Hill high school in Jackson, MS.
Majored in criminal justice at Jackson State Univ. but dropped out and joined
the Navy after 3 years. He is a certified Diesel mechanic in the Navy.
His measured IQ as evaluated by the Jackson Mental Health Clinic is
the same as mine, 125, genetically superior, with 10-15 pts. to be
added for low socioeconomic background the IQ = 135-140, very superior.
This is why IQ is not a measure of Verbal-Visual, Period. He has one child,
a daughter 8, who is not dyslexic and is on the Principal’s list at a
95% white elementary public school in Suffolk, VA. She was not early to read,
however. ▪ Reganda Russell, the youngest of the
four at 35 years old. The mother, Prince-Ella Ransom-Russell-Davis,
scalded her severely at the age of 6mos. She was also abused prior to this
time, as I am an eyewitness to this abuse and the scalding.
Reganda was hospitalized for several months while the other 3 siblings were
in the care of an orphanage for nine months until custody was taken over by
the paternal grandparents in Jackson, MS. Reganda has undergone several skin
grafting procedures in early childhood, and has 100% function with no skin
breakdown, but strangers find it difficult not to stare at her bare legs,
while the family takes it for granted and this takes a toll on her ability to
date. She read at the normal time,
1st grade, and also had honors throughout elementary.
When the grandmother died of a stroke, Reganda was in Junior High and
attended Chatsworth Jr. High school in the San Fernando Valley in LA. She was
bused out here from south central LA. She later attended Freemont High school
and was an honors grad also. She received a scholarship to Cal State Long
Beach in nursing and graduated with a BSN (bachelor’s degree of science
in Nursing) this is a 4-year RN degree in Nursing, as opposed to a
two-year degree RN. She/we all worked during college, any extra money was
sorely needed. Reganda is an ICU
RN with certifications in Burn Unit ICU, Neuro ICU, Coronary Care Unit (CCU),
and Medical-Surgical ICU nursing. In fact, she is one of the few
African-American ICU nurses in the US certified to work in Burn Unit ICU and
is highly motivated indeed, her patients cannot complain. Qualifications §
Reading at age four years in head start in South Central LA. The
only member of my family to achieve this developmental milestone at
such an early age. ▪ Only 1st grader at Westside Elementary and Jr. High School (Jackson, MS.) to enter reading. (1968-age five years) 100% Segregated until 1970, then 98% African-American. The community was low-income like North Tyler or South Dallas (Texas). Median income was blue collar as Grandfather had 6th grade education and was employed as a feed mill worker; the Grandmother had a 10th grade education and was a homemaker; she worked as a housekeeper on some Saturdays. |
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▪ 4th Grade (9 years old)-
Grades slumped at Westside Elementary and Jr. High School due to not paying
attention in class. A psychological evaluation was recommended by
the school counselor and a referral was made to the Jackson (MS)
Mental Health Center. Here the evaluation included an IQ test =125
measured in the superior range, adjusting for low socioeconomic background,
the actual IQ was estimated to be 10-15 pts. higher. (Est. IQ= 135-140) This
would place the IQ in the very superior range.The
reading ability (Verbal-Visual; not directly measured by the IQ test i.e. not
a good measure of visual-verbal as a dyslexic could achieve these testing
scores i.e. Younger brother Tony Russell Jr., a mild dyslexic, achieved the
same IQ scores IQ=125 pts. also evaluated later due to poor academic
performance) was evaluated as the history of reading at age 4 years was given
by the family. During this part of the evaluation various reading
materials were presented for the purpose of determining if indeed the
history of this precocious developmental milestone was true. The
reading materials started from those appropriate for 4th grade ability level.
As there was no apparent difficulty noted, the difficulty level increased to
adult-level reading materials such as magazines and newspapers until
finally the examiners, in a state of amazement, astonishment, and disbelief,
started using their own professional journals in psychology just to
see where the limits of the reading ability extended to. Even at
this level, it was noted by the examiner “Had Gerald read a paragraph out of
one of my psychology books to see for myself how well he can read. He read
easily and smoothly- pronounced words I never expected a 9 year old to know”.
“ Is exceptionally bright.” References are
available from this psychological evaluation upon request. Upon
seeing this, it was recommended that I be enrolled in St. Andrew’s
Episcopal School, the best educational facility in the state of
Mississippi. It can be inferred/deduced from this professional
psychological evaluation, that even in the eyes of professional judgment, I
was a gifted and exceptional child, far advanced beyond my chronological age
in Verbal-Visual ability. The college level vocabulary in this Psychology
textbook at the age of 9 yrs./4th grade indicates a V-V IQ=of an
college age adult, but I was only 4th grade. The estimate is mind
bogglingly high. The estimated V-V IQ range can be
safely judged using these two criteria 1) precocious developmental milestone
of early to read at age 4 years. 2) Professional evaluation as
gifted/exceptional in Verbal-Visual with recommendation for enrollment in the
best educational facility that existed in the entire state of Miss. as being
past very superior all the way into the exceptional range and quite possibly
near genius. V-V IQ=170-180 (exceptional range) V-V IQ=near 200 (near genius
range). There were no scholarships available
until my 8th grade year. ▪ 7th Grade- (age 12 years) Entrance
examination for St. Andrew’s Episcopal. They were recruiting for scholarships
for enrollment in the 8th grade. This examination contained a Vocabulary
test where the score results indicated 12th grade level scores, as
the test did not go any higher than this, this was the maximum score.
This is the most direct objective test of Verbal-Visual ability ever
administered to my person, which did not indicate where the true
limits were. These were the limits of the testing instrument so no one
really knows the real V-V IQ at this time. I had not spent one day at St.
Andrew’s Episcopal, remember. These 12th grade vocabulary scores
(maximum scores) added to the early to read at age 4 years, and the
psychological evaluation at age 9 years (4th grade) reliably
places the estimated V-V IQ in the exceptional range (V-V IQ=170-180) to near
genius range (V-V IQ=near 200). Mental Age X100 = V-V
IQ 12th Grade X 100 = 171 V-V IQ Chronological Age 7th
Grade The test did not measure beyond 12th
grade so college level scores, if they could have been measured, would place
the V-V IQ at near 200. (genius range).
14/7 X100= 200 V-V IQ. With my
socioeconomic background (98% African-American public school, two years in
segregation [100% then]; grandparents with 6th and 10th grade educations
serving as the parents since age 5 years; not knowing what the real
significance was of a child with this precocious developmental milestone; remember,
there was no computer-aided instruction or any special developmental
techniques in use at this time i.e. “Hooked on phonics” or it’s equivalent.
As there were 3 other younger siblings at the time- the next closest was 10
mos. younger, there was little time for dedicated special attention;
this milestone was achieved in a Head Start program in South Central
LA in 1966.) This speaks volumes about the true genetic Verbal-Visual
potential, as even white-collar subjects could not achieve such scores
with educated parents or guardians matched year for year. Other scores
showed superior results, except for spelling errors, which did not agree with
the vocabulary results. This was due to early sub clinical chronic
metallic mercury poisoning, the source being dental fillings installed in the
sixth grade in the previous year. It seemed to spare visual-verbal ability
however, and was not a factor at this time. ▪ 11th grade- 16 years old. ACT testing
scores old format 28; new enhanced version 29. overall, (95th percentile); English=21(66th
pct.); Math=26 (86th pct.); Natural Sciences=31 (93rd pct.); Social
Sciences=33 (99pct.) The ACT is not a great test of Visual-Verbal, however an
estimate can be made from the sections which are highly dependent on reading
skills i.e. verbal-visual. The Natural Science score is 93rd percentile while
the Soc. Sci (History) score is 99th percentile rank. The test was not
studied for either nor did I engage in much study at St. Andrew’s. enrolled
here the family did not drive me to excel, I just sort of existed. I also
participated in several sports, Soccer 8th-11th grade; basketball, 8th grade;
track, 11th grade; Football 11th grade; Baseball 12th grade. I also worked
part-time for my uncle’s janitorial service during the school year and summers.
From the 10th grade onward, I was the only African-American Student in my
class and I was popular enough to be elected as the Junior class
treasurer. ▪College-
Jackson State University (Historically Black College/University) – Honor
Student with full scholarship, Major in Biology, Minor in Chemistry. Undergraduate research scholarship student
in Biomedical Sciences. Math and Science Tutor in Academic Skills
Center. Member of Beta Beta Beta biological honor society. General Chemistry/ American Chemical
Society national Standardized Final Exam score after one year (two
semester course) = 97th Percentile Rank nationwide test required of all 4
year accredited colleges and universities in the US. Organic Chemistry/American Chemical
Society Standardized Final Exam Score after one year (two semester
course) =93rd percentile. Both are record scores in the entire history
of JSU, never equaled. No severe competition was present here; there was
more in General chemistry due to the presence of foreign students whom were
not in the Organic chemistry class. MCAT (Medical college admissions
test) scores-73 in 1987, Avg. scores
12-13; 14 in Physics no higher scores were recorded in Physics that year in
the entire US. THIS TEST MUST BE STUDIED FOR, OTHERWISE IT WILL NOT
REFLECT YOUR TRUE ABILITY. I studied
for this test. Did not take the Stanley Kaplan course, could not afford it.
Still no severe competition. i.e. majority universities like Duke, SMU, RICE,
UT-Austin, OLE MISS, U.C. Berkeley, etc… These MCAT scores(12-13; 14
Physics) were the highest ever recorded at JSU and remarked upon by
Dr. Charles Spann, the medical school coordinator at JSU. Dr. Spann
also indicated that these MCAT scores were the highest ever recorded by any
African-American medical school applicant via communication with minority
medical admission officers at all the medical schools to which I applied,
including Baylor (Houston) [avg. MCAT scores =10-11], Washington U. at St.
Louis [avg. MCAT=11.5], U. of Iowa, [avg. MCAT=10] U. of Illinois at Chicago
[avg. MCAT=10], U. of Calf. at San Francisco [avg. MCAT=12-13 and the #1
ranked MCAT/GPA’s of all the medical schools in the US including John
Hopkins, Stanford and even the Harvard School of Medicine at the time. This
was the most competitive medical school class in the US, period.] He remarked
that they were in competition to get me enrolled in their respective
programs. ▪ Accepted at all medical schools to which
I interviewed-Baylor, U. of Ill at Chicago, Washington Univ. at
St. Louis, UC San Francisco. Offered a full scholarship and a
furnished apartment in the Houston area worth $29,000/yr. The
ophthalmologist who interviewed me at Baylor stated that he had never seen a
higher score on the Physics section of the MCAT, before, a 14, the
highest scores on this section, this year in the entire testing group
(300 people achieved this out of the entire MCAT testing group for 1987- over
several thousand people. The minority admissions director at
U. of ILL. , Chicago took a brief 5 min. glance at the application folder and
did not interview, he was so impressed. He just said there would be no
problem, and introduced me to the African-American student lounge where I was
given a tour and an orientation. At Washington U. in St. Louis, I was
offered a partial scholarship of $14,000, but there was still $14,000 left to
borrow in student loans, so I declined. I accepted at UC San Francisco, no
scholarship, but it had $5000 out-of-state tuition, which dropped down to $1000
the next year when one becomes a CA state resident. This was
the #1 ranked medical school in the US, #1 in GPA’s/MCAT scores at the time,
even above Harvard, John’s Hopkins, and Stanford schools of medicine. I
was familiar with the SF Bay area as I had relatives here, Great Uncle and
Aunt and cousins. I had also spent 8 mos. at UC Berkeley/Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratory as a Jackson State Univ. co-op student in 1985, where I took a
class in Biochemistry at UC Berkeley. It was just a natural move. I lived
with my great uncle and aunt. ▪ 1988-UCSF School of Medicine:
Signs and Symptoms of mercury poisoning (Dental fillings) developed
in the winter of 1989. This is a neurological poison, which affects
the CNS causing decreased global CNS function including the areas of memory,
attention, concentration, coordination, balance (Stags and sways), hearing,
vision, speech, depression, and intention tremors. Still, I achieved a 91% in
gross anatomy during this time. (92%=honors; 100% max, graded on a bell
curve, this means that out of 144 UCSF medical students, the test
score represents one’s percent ranking against your classmates, not
the actual test score. This percent ranking was achieved against the
most competitive medical school class in the US (1# GPA’s’/MCAT
scores). This means the most severe competition that I could have ever
faced in any medical school in the US, and the most severe competition that I
have faced in my entire life. The problem is that now I am facing this severe
competition with the stags and sways and the other signs and symptoms of mild
chronic mercury poisoning. Also, I have a premed education from a minority
4-year university, Jackson State Univ., with the corresponding low/
disadvantaged/blue collar socioeconomic background, unlike the vast majority
of my competition, white collar and far superior educational backgrounds, UC
schools mostly. Even the majority of the African-American students had either
white-collar backgrounds or superior pre-med educations. 2 of these students
had parents who were medical doctors (Joy Gathe-Germay-father general
practice-Houston, TX. Lisa
Benton-Bennett, Stanford U. father- general surgeon from Oakland, CA. now
married in Atlanta, GA.). This is equivalent to an inside track to how the
medical school game is played. They, of course were no competition and they
regarded me with awe as they observed that I could go head to toe with the
best and brightest medical students that UCSF had to offer, in fact I was
considered the ringer, the big gun that represented African-American medical
students as equal or better than the majority (White, Asian, East Indian). ▪ I threatened to quit medical school
between 1st and 2nd year, because of
these signs and symptoms, but I returned in the Fall of 1989 (2nd Year) and despite
the stags and sways, I resumed my rightful place amongst the severe
competition that UCSF had to offer. ▪ Honors in Medical Pharmacology, 2nd year-
UCSF school of medicine, Anthony Trevor Ph. D. professor. This was done with the stags and sways,
i.e. mild chronic metallic mercury poisoning, low socioeconomic background,
blue-collar, African –American pre-medical education, even with the
additional time the entire UCSF 2nd year class (#1 GPA’s/MCAT scores in US)
had to adjust to this system to make their attempts on Honors. No one else in
the entire class or any medical school in the US would ever be expected to
achieve honors in any medical school class with the stags and sways of
mercury poisoning, much less with a disadvantaged socioeconomic
background, and much less against the #1 ranked medical school class
GPA’s/MCAT’s in the US at the time. This
feat has no equal, and is in fact quite a testimony to the absolute strength
of the Verbal-Visual capability, Period. Noticeable stags and sways and
slurred speech indicate that the entire CNS was “knocked down” an entire
standard deviation as compared to normal. In fact, the measured IQ at this
time was IQ=103 (Michael Shore Ph.D -Neuropyschologist) at age 9 it was
IQ=125. [one standard deviation for general IQ is 15 pts. this drop was 22
pts-exactly 1 ½ standard deviations]. It would not be expected that
even a medical student with the finest educational and socioeconomic
backgrounds, including the those who would have Visual-Verbal
ability/genetics to become chief attending physician such as Paul Volberding M.D.,
the clinical director of HIV/AIDS programs at UCSF/ San Francisco General
Hospital and Merle Sande M.D., Chief of Internal Medicine, UCSF/ SFGH could
achieve honors against severe competition with the stags and sways, much less
disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. (They study HIV/AIDS and control the
majority of NIH research dollars in the most intensively studied infectious
disease epidemic in the history of mankind as they have the #1 ranked
HIV/AIDS medical research and treatment center in the entire US. Yet they
have not reported a single case of a clinically innapparent viral
encephalitis even 14 years later. They publish textbooks on the subject on a
regular basis, and are world-class experts.) There are hundreds of reports of
persons poisoned by their dental fillings in the scientific literature, even
the AMA held this same position in the early to mid 90’s based on these
real-life reports. There are no corresponding warnings for blood products
ever, but this is where a virus that is transmissible in bodily fluids would
eventually end up causing a reportable illness like HIV and Hepatitis-B, but still
Zero reports yet 14 years later. ▪ 3rd Year- Clinical. There was no clinical rotation at UCSF
where any medical student could ever exceed my clinical/medical
knowledge; I was never outgunned in Visual-Verbal in other words,
even with the stags and sways from mercury poisoning. The method used for teaching
medical students is the Socratic method. This is where the teaching superior,
Attending, Resident or Intern, asks a group of medical students questions
pertaining to medical knowledge starting with low difficulty level and
increases the difficulty level until the knowledge level of the group of
medical students is exceeded. This is a very direct and competitive measure
of the clinical/medical knowledge of any medical student on a clinical rotation.
In fact, this is started in the 1st year in ICM (Intro to clinical medicine)
classes and even in basic science classes in small group format. This is how it was known by the
African-American medical students early on in 1st year that I could go head
to toe with the best and brightest that UCSF had to offer. The last medical student left standing
during these “pimping” sessions is considered to be superior in medical
knowledge for that session and I was never gunned down by another medical
student, all of whom did not have the stags and sways, there are a lot of
sessions like this in 3rd year. ▪ Surgery rotation- Gunned down
every thing here inc. Tammy a 3rd Year early decision from UC
Berkeley, this means that she was admitted as a junior from
undergraduate, this is very rare in any medical school and higher standards
are used for early admission, UCSF has the highest standards for admission. Puskal
Garg- East Indian student from Dallas, TX. Father has Ph. D. in Nutritional
biochemistry at SW Dallas Medical school and he is one of the leading
proponents of the high-carbohydrate diet in the US. Puskal Garg is
now an Nuclear medicine physician at SW Dallas Medical center, to
match here in this medical specialty requires vastly superior
Verbal-Visual, due to the fact that it is a very limited resource and
therefore very competitive, only 110 residency training slots/year. The
medical students matching here must have near perfect National Medical
Board Part I scores to match, which is no small feat, you
can study for it like hell or you can take your chances on what you remember
from your first two years of medical school, but your competition won’t be
leaving much to chance, I guarantee you. This is the way it is with every
highly competitive medical specialty with limited residency positions. This
is done by the AMA to prevent a doctor glut and to keep supply and demand in
balance. Puskal Garg was also prejudiced against African-American medical
students. These two medical
students represent my most severe competition in surgery
rotation/verbal-visual at UCSF. Puskal Garg was gunned down for the
first time direct head-to head early in surgery rotation when
we both were shown a Upper GI series X-ray, called a Barium swallow,
in fact we were both shown several of these with various disease findings
which were of low-difficulty, (Ulcers, reflux, bowel obstructions, tumors,
etc.) the one in question contained a outline of a clear long thin
cylinder in the small intestine surrounded by the chalk (Barium) in the
person’s GI tract. In fact, it looked like a whole snap bean or an unshelled
pea in outline form. Puskal was asked what it was and was stumped.
With the stags and sways, I then proceeded to give the correct
answer, this was a parasitic roundworm infection, the roundworm being
Ascaris the scientific name of this worm, it is the most frequent
parasitic roundworm infection in the US and the entire world. I gave all this info to the radiology
attending and Puskal Garg’s head went down like a baseball pitcher
whom has just given up a home run. He saw fear for the first time
in his eyes, and learned to respect the academic talent of an
African-American medical student. We both had the
same parasitology course at UCSF in 2nd year, except I had the stags and
sways, he didn’t. He had a white-collar background with a Ph. D in
biochemistry for his father; my granddad had a 6th grade education, the
grandmother, 10th grade…hmmm. I went to Jackson State Univ.; Puskal went to a
majority school…. Hmmm. They were
impressed that day in surgery rotation at UCSF, Puskal Garg hated my
guts from then on in, and I guess he was jealous, but he knew I owned him, I
was his pimp ...smile. What could he do? Later, Puskal was presenting his ICU
patient in surgery and all the medical students on the rotation were there,
including Tammy, the early decision from UC Berkeley. The attending physician
asked him what was the meaning of an increasing BUN (Blood urea nitrogen
concentration-a marker of kidney function and protein metabolism in the body)
with a normal creatine- (marker of kidney function) in a patient in an ICU
setting (High stress). He tried to guess, but didn’t know, then Tammy tried
to guess, got closer than Puskal, and then I gave the correct answer. In a
ICU setting, a patient under great stress would be likely to be making a lot
of Corticosteriods (Stress hormones) which would increase the acid secretion
by the GI tract and increase the likelihood of GI ulceration with GI bleeding,
this extra protein load in the GI tract would be seen as an increasing BUN
due to increased protein metabolism.
The skinny is the ICU patient has developed a GI bleeding episode due
to stress ulcers, Period. Tammy, however was not prejudiced, and was well
liked but the competition was not subdued. In another radiology conference in
Surgery rotation, Tammy, the early decision from UC Berkeley and the
rest of the medical students on the rotation were being shown a series
of OB/GYN MRI scans of the female reproductive anatomy. The only
medical student in the group that knew the correct radiological
diagnosis was me, every single time. No other medical student had a
clue. The correct diagnosis was benign fibroid tumors(s) of the uterus
every time. The type of MRI scan was varied from T1 weighted images to T2
weighted images, which show a somewhat different grayscale for soft tissue
and bone, but they were still all various fibroid tumors of the uterus. This
was designed by the radiology attending to throw off the scent, but it did
not throw me off the scent. The other medical students had no clue yet again.
Even when the MRI scans were changed over to invasive cervical
cancer, I was the only medical student to give the correct Dx.
Tammy was asked about the correct medical term for a fibroid tumor, which I
knew, but she gave the correct answer several MRI’s later, leiomyoma-this
means smooth muscle tumor. However, she could not identify one on MRI scans,
I elected to use the most frequently used name so as to not confuse the
medical students. The rest of them just sat back while I was the “
radiologist” of the day and the rotation. ▪ Medicine rotation/3rd year
SFGH- No severe competition here, During a GI Medicine (Gastrointestinal Medicine) conference
during the first week of this rotation for medical students, interns and
residents at SFGH/UCSF, I was the last medical
student left standing and gave the most dazzling differential diagnosis and
displayed massive clinical knowledge in this area of Internal Medicine which
even outshined some interns. One
of the interns happened to be on my medical team, a white male who is
described by the Tyler PD announcers as “The Starling Mechanism Intern” This
“Starling Mechanism Intern was so impressed/bedazzled by my clinical
knowledge in GI medicine that later after this conference, he took me aside
in the hallway and started a conversation about Cardiovascular physiology (A
1st year basic science course) called the Starling mechanism. He
then proceeded to draw a graph on a sheet of paper which described this basic
scientific principle of how the force of ejection (blood flow) increased as
the stroke volume of the heart increases like a balloon or rubber band
stretching effect. Then upon seeing that I had mastered this area of medical
knowledge as well, he proceeded to
describe his life’s goal/ambition to become a Chief of Internal Medicine in
an academic medical center one day like Merle Sande M.D.. Next, The “Starling
Mechanism” intern also recommended that I read the book “As The Band
Played On” by Randy Shilts. This book was about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, a
hot topic at UCSF/SFGH. He stated that I would not put this book down, but
did not give away the plot. Only medical student to know at
beginning during tour of clinical labs with the director of laboratory
medicine, the most antibiotics and their proper use (coverage) including the
biggest gun available at the time, Imipenem-Cilastin, the director stated
that we only use the big guns for difficult to treat infections, otherwise
the big guns would no longer be potent, due to the development of bacterial
drug resistance. The medical students looked on in awe. The director also
asked what was the proper antidote for mercury poisoning. A.J. Smith an African-American
student had the correct answer, BAL (British Anti-Lewsiwhite). But it was a
trick question; the Attending physician then asked what were the drawbacks of
using BAL as an antidote for mercury poisoning. I was the only student to
know this one, IT TAKES MERCURY STRAIGHT INTO THE BRAIN. A better
antidote would be D-penicilliame, it does not have this side effect.
Of course, the attending and I were left standing alone for the rest of the
tour and pimping session. During the medicine rotation at
SFGH, I rotated through the AIDS ward, as it is the #1 ranked
HIV/AIDS treatment/research center in the US. All the medical students
did, this is routine at SFGH. Paul Volberding M.D.
a world class expert in HIV/AIDS medicine, editor-in-chief of the journal AIDS and the co-author along with Merle
Sande M.D. of the most widely used textbook in HIV medicine The
Medical Management of AIDS, was my medical Attending for 11 days of
this medicine rotation at SFGH. We did so on medical teams
consisting of one 3rd year, one 4th year, two interns, one
resident and one attending. We were split up unless there was a meeting or a
joint session, weekly to bi-weekly there were teaching sessions for 3rd
year students only so that the 10-15 students would meet with an attending in
a certain medical specialty and learn essential elements of the major medical
specialties of Internal medicine. Also there were morbidity and mortality
conferences where Merle Sande, the chief of Internal medicine,
SFGH/UCSF, whose specialty is infectious diseases, would attend. All the students saw and
met him. In fact Merle Sande gave me tickets to an Oakland A’s baseball
game once, they were donated to the medical school, they were mostly for the
residents and interns, but he knew I was a rabid fan and gave me a couple. In these small group sessions for the 3rd year
students only, I was the only medical student with the most clinical
knowledge in these groups and knowledge from basic science as well.
I did this with the stags and sways of mercury poisoning with low socioeconomic
background and from Jackson State Univ.; a very unlevel playing field. I was never gunned down no matter what
division of internal medicine was being discussed. In fact the
Hematology attending teaching the coagulation pathways (blood
clotting) stated that I was the most knowledgeable 3rd year
student he ever encountered. The ER attending asked what was the major
toxicities of tricyclic antidepressant overdose in one of these small groups
and of course I knew every angle here and I was the only medical student to
know why sodium bicarbonate was administered for such overdoses, because it
helped the acidosis and the heart at the same time, because this is the major
life threatening toxicity, cardiac arrhythmias. No other student knew why. All with the stags and sways. Of
course in renal (kidney) I knew all the diuretics (water pills) and their
mechanisms of action. ▪
Pediatrics 3rd year- At San Francisco Children’s Hospital. Here I faced
William (Will) Wong, A.J.
Smith, and another student as there were only 4 students doing pediatrics at
this campus. Will Wong is Asian and attended UC Berkeley. He eventually matched in an
ultra-competitive medical specialty with only 90 residency training slots
available each year. This
specialty is Radiation Oncology and it is not a
dime a dozen or run of the mill and requires
near perfect board scores and great
recommendations to match here. Plus Will Wong
is Asian, meaning that in Asian culture academics have a very high priority
even if the family is poor, middle class or well off. They are the typical overachievers
in academics and are over represented in such professions. He was my
most severe competition that I have ever faced head-to-head in life in Visual- Verbal and at UCSF. Right at the beginning of the rotation all of the medical students (four) met with the director/chief of Pediatrics at SF Children’s' Hospital who is also a Neonatology attending, an anal retentive, and is now an real-life neonatology attending at UCSF Moffit-Long Hospital. He asked us various questions about pediatrics and eventually he asked us questions about diabetic pregnancies and their complications as we all previously rotated the rotation before from OB-GYN, this was a fair question. Will Wong did his OB-GYN at SFGH, while I did mine at Moffit-Long the Tertiary care campus. We all read the same OB-GYN textbook, issued in the 2nd year ICM course of OB-GYN. We all had access to the same information. We all knew the standard complications of diabetic pregnancies, and eventually he kept on “pimping” us about rarer complications. I was the only student that knew the not too well known complication of several-fold increased incidence of birth defects in the offspring of such mothers. Here I struck a chord with the director of pediatrics at SF Children’s, because his wife was a juvenile diabetic just like Mary Tyler Moore and they had children and he stated that he was extremely nervous during her pregnancies because of this several-fold increased chance of birth defects. In fact he gave me one of the best reviews of all Attendings at UCSF. This was done with the stags and sways, low socioeconomic background and a Jackson State Univ. pre-med education. In fact, when I bought this textbook in 2nd year, I already had the stags and sways. This is a Hat trick in Visual-Verbal without equal against the most severe competition I could ever face, Period. Will Wong was outclassed or gunned
down in Verbal-Visual all over the pediatrics rotation at SF
Children’s’. He had a patient, a young African-American female with
Sickle Cell disease, not the trait, who was admitted with a bone infection
(osteomyelitis) of her right thighbone (femur). Of course I knew
everything about Sickle Cell and antibiotics appropriate for this type of
bone infection. I knew how to diagnose this in the lab, i.e. the sickling
test or Hemoglobin electrophoresis; I knew the major complications , why it
conferred a survival advantage in populations constantly exposed to malaria,
i.e. Sub-Saharan Africa and the latest experimental treatment at the time,
which was the use of Hydroxyurea, a cancer chemotherapy drug which acted on
the bone marrow to increase the production of fetal hemoglobin, the
red pigment in blood cells, but a form made by the body before birth,
which does not sickle in low oxygen concentrations. This experimental
treatment was not known by Will Wong or the Filipino pediatric
attending, who was also outclassed here as well. Will Wong knew
very little about sickle cell by the way, other than the standard basic info.
Will Wong was also assigned to an
African-American female who had a rather severe case of chickenpox.
She was about 9 years old and of course,
I knew it all about this viral infection; the proper drug; the type of
rash; the duration of infectivity; the major complications; the differential
diagnosis, and the very info which gunned down Will Wong here was that he
did not know the attack rate in unexposed adults ( extremely contagious) nor
did he know the major complication rate in adults or the complication(s),
which was a fatal bronchopneumonia (10-15% death rate). ▪ 3rd year
Neurology/Neurosurgery rotation.
Here no medical student ever exceeded my clinical/medical knowledge
here either. I walked off this rotation in 1991 and quit
UCSF/medical school, due to these stags and sways with less than two
weeks left on this rotation and about six weeks left to finish third year. There were about 7 medical students on
this rotation of which the major competition was a Iraqi-American medical
student, he was very friendly and not prejudiced, in fact, he was the
first medical student that I really met when I showed up at UCSF in 1988
during the second class period. He joked that “we didn’t think you were going
to show up, you must be that medical student that we kept seeing in the
picture book, but didn’t show up for the introductory week, but welcome to
UCSF.” He is now an orthopedic
surgeon, also a very competitive medical specialty, but not quite
as competitive as Nuclear Medicine or Radiation Oncology, but it is more
mainstream. Here I first distinguished myself
by knowing how to read MRI’s/CT scans of the CNS with no peer amongst the
group of medical students. This ability is known in psychology as
Visual-Spatial (the ability to distinguish objects in 2-D/3-D space). It
usually occurs in close association/correlation with Visual-Verbal.
Even when these scans are T1 or T2 weighted. I also knew what a T1 or T1
weighted MRI image scan meant in color density and the technical meaning of
T1= means the relaxation time of the Hydrogen nuclei as they are returning to
a certain orientation in 3-D space after a radio frequency pulse, this
orientation is different from the T2 relaxation time which is a different
orientation in 3-D space. One is the X-Y orientation; the second is the Y-Z
orientation. They are measured by radio frequency receiver coils like radio
antennas in a very strong magnetic field provided by the surrounding cylindrical
structure of the MRI scanner using electromagnets. When the attending asked
what complications would be expected when operating on the central brain area
(hypothalamic area) I was the only medical student that knew that this would
shut down the master gland of the body, the pituitary gland, because this is
controlled by the hypothalamus. This would in turn result in the patient’s
death or severe morbidity if the products of the pituitary gland were not
replaced with their man-made synthetic equivalents. The medical term for this
is called panhypopituitarism, and I was the only medical student who knew
this term. When on Neurosurgical
rounds with Charles Wilson M.D. one day (not often), the
world’s best neurosurgeon in removal of pituitary tumors and one of the
world’s best general neurosurgeons, also part Cherokee Indian and from a
disadvantaged background himself, he showed us patients from all
over the US and he asked the group about pituitary tumors and what would
be one of the drugs used in a patient with a sex-hormone dependent tumor. I
was, even with the stags and sways, the only medical student who could
name the drugs (Naferellin and Synerel-GnRH agonists) and their major side
effects. (They interrupt the pulsatile secretion of
gonadotropin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus causing decreased
release of FSH and LH from the pituitary, which in turn stimulate the gonads
to produce sperm/eggs and testosterone/estrogen. The end result is hot
flashes, temporary chemical menopause/sterility and osteoporosis-bone
thinning, the side effects limit the use to only six months for certain
medical conditions-endometriosis, hormone dependent breast/prostate
cancers.) In summary, these are the
qualifications of the Verbal-Visual genetics, and the “height” or “tallness”
of this tree. Since my current position/status in life does not reflect this
vastly superior genetic potential, unless you knew me or my entire detailed
life/academic history, as gathered and reconstructed by law enforcement, just
like a FBI-type background check, one would never know what an apparent blue
collar person with the stags and sways of mercury poisoning could contribute
to the genetic potential of any offspring. The rules of mathematical averages
and statistical probability would apply to the expected Verbal-Visual IQ of
any offspring. That is if the parents had 100 offspring, one of
whose Visual-Verbal IQ is 100, the second parent had a Verbal-Visual IQ of
200, the average V-V IQ in the offspring would be a mathematical
average of 100+200/2 or 300/2=V-V IQ=150 average. Mother’s V-V IQ +
Father’s V-V IQ = avg. V-V
IQ for child 2 Of course, this would follow a bell-shaped
curve; there would be some offspring with V-V IQ’s above and below the
expected V-V IQ of 150. The chance or probability that a particular
offspring’s V-V IQ would fall above or below that expected 150 average would
be represented by a bell curve graph, the farther away from the 150 or
the average, the less likely this would occur. This contribution would be in the
exceptional range (Verbal-Visual- IQ=170-180)or genius range
(Verbal-Visual-IQ=near 200) and could take average Verbal-Visual genetics
(Verbal-Visual-IQ=100) into the superior range easily. This could take
superior Verbal-Visual genetics (Verbal-Visual-IQ=115-130) (i.e.
college-bound or professional educated) into the very superior range
easily. Of course, very superior Verbal-Visual genetics
(Verbal-Visual-IQ=135-150) (advanced professional degrees) could be taken
into the exceptional range easily and could prevent the watering down effect
of genetic combinations with average genetics. That is, the next level up is
easily achieved. With an exceptionally favorable combination the next two
levels higher could be achieved, a mindboggling thought. Even the
measured general IQ (125) is genetically superior, and with adjustments
for low socioeconomic background, the estimated IQ (135-140) which does not
correlate to Verbal-Visual (remember Tony Jr. and mild dyslexia; IQ=125
meas.; IQ=135-140 est.) is reason
enough. In other words, one could not lose, one could only gain, and it is a
win-win situation. This is a model of
inheritance of Verbal-Visual Genetics and is approximate. The
relationship of dyslexia to this relationship is not known for sure, but the
best educated guess is that vastly superior Verbal-Visual genetics as
occurring in this family tree and dyslexia can result in genetic combinations
which exceed those of even the parents V-V IQ’s. The offspring of the
dyslexic (Tony Jr.) is not dyslexic and can be assumed to be at least
genetically superior to her classmates, being on the Principal’s list
in a 95% white elementary public school in Hampton Roads (Suffolk, VA). To Contact click here--à
Gerald Russell or e-mail
at gerald_russell@yahoo.com. |