Friday, January 14, 2011

Presentation skills

It's not a humorous topic, I know, but a student was giving a very solemn presentation yesterday about AIDS, and he kept on saying that one of the symptoms of HIV is "ammonia". I assume that he meant anaemia.

I didn't argue. It cheered up the talk. He's not planning on a career in medicine. Fortunately.

9 comments:

  1. Oh dear! I was a teaching assistant for a postgraduate class on the Epidemiology of HIV, so this is a little horrifying!

    On a similar note, I once was very confused as to why a woman I was talking to was convinced that following a vegan diet meant avoiding gluten. I wondered if she had a friend who was both vegan and gluten intolerant. Eventually I realized she was conflating gluten with gelatin.

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  2. one of my daughter's friends asked her to edit his paper on "human beans"

    seriously.

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  3. LOL - thanks for providing me with something to laugh at. There hasn't been much to laugh at Down Under lately. I haven't been directly affected by the floods in either Qld or Vic., but I think the images on the media have affected us all to some degree. It's been a bit like watching a Hollywood disaster movie, but knowing that this is reality for those people is distressing to put it mildly.
    I'm just catching up on your blog. I'm sorry to hear about your broken ankle - not only painful, but VERY inconvenient when there so much in your life to keep up with! Hope it heals very soon.

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  4. I hope he manages to learn both words and their respective meanings at some stage. Might come in handy, you never know.
    So you are back at work despite your ankle! How brave and stoical of you. I hope it is not too painful.Those boot things are most impressive and certainly help people not to bump into you. Don't overdo things, will you!
    Nice leg, too!

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  5. And everyone else in the class kept a straight face? Oh dear. But I'm sure you covered your grin with a sudden attack of coughing.....

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  6. That's as good as the list of 'possible questions to ask a celebrity' I have marked today which states, 'How did you feel when you became a football?'

    Inflated?

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  7. Pneumonia! They both sound alike -- tooo funny!

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  8. Ohh no, that made me laugh!

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  9. That's almost as good as my late grandmother's insistence that her next door neighbour had been diagnosed with muscular dysentery.

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