A nod to the pop-culture what influenced me

So, hopefully a few people will understand that the title of this post is deliberatly gramattically incorrect.

I wanted to do a quick update post about how pop-culture, your childhood and the things which make you happy can influence you in more ways than you think.

My friends know that I'm a huge nerd when it comes to cult TV shows, films and memes. I think I've always been that way. Oddly enough, I don't watch Live television anymore. I truly believe that TV, Film, YouTube, Facebook, Reddit, all of these things, can help you understand yourself and what your place is in this huge world, whilst also giving you a sense of community. With the sheer amount of choice these days, however, it's nice to choose what you watch and when. Unless it's The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones. In which case you have to watch that ASAP because it'll inevitably be spoiled for you via. character death memes on Facebook and Twitter.

My pop-culture influences:

#1) Jurassic Park

I am a huge Jurassic Park fangirl. My 2 favourite films of all time and Jurassic Park and The Sound of Music. I'm still unsure as to whether I'd enjoy watching a mash-up of the two.

I was around 5 years old when Jurassic Park came out and I remember it made science so exciting for me. Who can forget the friendly DNA double helix, despite the fact he resembled the loathed "looks like you're writing a letter!" paperclip helper from Microsoft Office.

Genetics, I decided, was cool. I still get a bit teary over the scene where Alan Grant sees the Parasaurolophuses and says "they do move in herds". They do, Alan, they do!!! 

Genetics wasn't on the junior-school syllabus back then, I'm not sure it even is now. However, this little bit of science communication in a film which could otherwise have gone unnoticed was the coolest thing I'd ever heard, after confirmation from my Dad that it wasn't such a far-fetched idea. Since then I've had my own genetic mutations screened, have been talking with some incredible scientists, ethicists, lawyers and even programmers about applications of personal genetics. In decoding terms, the letters C, A, G and T make the physical being of you. How cool is that?!

I even went to Kauai, Hawaii on my medical elective so I could visit the infamous waterfall from the helicopter scene. It was an incredible experience and a dream that wouldn't have existed unless there had been a film about kids distracting clever velociraptors using a ladel and clever mirrored cabinet skills.

Thanks, JP!

#2) Theme Hospital

Seriously. No, seriously. Theme Hospital made me want to be a "doctor". I was 9 when it was released and must have spent hours and hours building clinics to deflate little animated people with huge heads. So this probably fits more with "hospital management" rather than "being a doctor", but it was satisfying. I think a lot of those little pixelated people went on to have long, fulfilling, healthy lives thanks to me.

Thanks Theme Hospital!

#3) ER

I know that this one may be a bit before-the-time of a lot of soon to be doctors. Retrospectively I was probably a bit too young at 6/7 to be watching this, but this is the beauty of having siblings who are 8 and 12 years older than you. 

I challenge anyone to listen to the theme of ER and not think "yeah, medicine! go doctors and nurses!".

Ok, so in real life, flat-lines don't exist (unless the ECG is turned off or broken) and the odds of you getting your arm chopped off by waving near a helicopter (too-late spoiler alert) are slim. Still, ER made medicine look cool. And medicine is cool. Sure, they cut 90% of ER where they're doing discharge forms or filling in paperwork, but every now and then you do get to really help someone.

Also. Kovac. Just Kovac. Sigh.

Thanks, ER!

#4) The Simpsons

I used to watch The Simpsons at 6pm every evening with my brother. I'm not sure if anyone has gone back and re-watched old episodes, but they change as you grow up. Did you know that they managed to get Fermat's Last Theorem into an episode? The writers for The Simpsons are notoriously nerdy in the best way possible, especially when it comes to maths. Like it or not, you were or still are being subliminally influenced to enjoy maths through the world's favourite cartoon. The fantastic Simon Singh has even written a book about it and you can read one of his articles here.

Why else? Well, Lisa was an example of a young girl who loved learning. She's often portrayed as an outcast in the show, but she normally comes out ahead. She also gave me a grounding in good scientific method.

Thanks, The Simpsons!

So that's all for now. Just a quick update as I'm feeling slightly nostalgic today. Once I figure out how to improve the sound quality on my videos, I'll hopefully be doing a short series on medical genetics, what you need to know for clinical practice and possibly a heartbreaking one on why Jurassic Park couldn't actually happen.

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Hope you all have a lovely week

-H x