Free time

For those of you not in medical school, it's residency interview season. My particular medical school gives me two months off (read: vacation) in order to travel and complete interviews. Two months is more free time than I have head since, well, since I went to Thailand. So what did I do with this precious time? I intended to learn Spanish. That did not happen. Instead, I:

- traveled to 11 interviews (and saw friends!)

- took Step 2 CS

- visited my parents for two weeks

- met my boyfriend's parents (I took them to the anatomy lab)

- did crossword puzzles

- baked (a lot)

- tasted several varieties of gourmet cupcakes

- improved my skills at Burnout 3 on the PS2

- played Betrayal: House on Haunted Hill (board game)

- watched The Lives of Others and Lawrence of Arabia

- trained new SPIs at school

- taught the M2s pulmonary classics

- slept. slept more.

All in all, it was quite nice to live life at a reduced pace, however I don't think it really generated any interesting or funny stories for blogging. Except for that time I found $20.

Welcome to M4!

One whole week into my fourth year you may be wondering, what have I done with myself? Well, I am starting the fourth year much the same way I started the third year: studying for a USMLE exam.

This week I have covered cardiology, dermatology, GI, endocrine, biostatistics and some infectious disease. I am reading, highlighting, making flashcards and doing lots of practice questions. Fun fun.

However, life is not all work. I had a lovely day and night out (we started a little early) after completing third year: there was sangria, there was gin, there were pancakes the next morning.

I've also been helping to orient the rising M3s, which is a nostalgia-inducing process. It really makes me realise how far I've come in the last year in terms of my comfort in talking to and evaluating patients. It also points out how different the focus in teaching is now - I spend much more time thinking about details: drug choice, dosing, treatment length, etc - whereas before it was about having a workable list of potential diagnoses. A lot of what I struggled with at the beginning of my third year is assumed knowledge in the fourth. My review books don't even bother to classify antibiotic types, for example, it's assumed I know azithromycin is a macrolide that acts on the 50S ribosomal subunit and has good efficacy against gram positives and atypicals. The new questions is: how much and how many days worth for a patient with strep pharyngitis in a COPD patient?

In an effort to stay balanced while studying, I've joined a tennis clinic. I had my first practice yesterday and got a little sun (oops) as well as losing half a toenail jamming my foot in my shoe on some abrupt directional change. Worth it. I'm horrendously inconsistent at the moment, but I hit a few aces and a couple of solid put-away shots. I'm considering joining a USTA team this summer, but I'm not sure I'll have time with the sub-i's etc.

Motorcycle lessons start next week and I'm now involved with admissions for the medical school too - so hopefully those will yield some good stories for a post. In the meantime... nose to the grindstone to (hopefully) pull out a good Step 2 score.

One day of freedom

I officially passed and completed my M2 year! Pre-clinical medical school is over! My reward is a single day off before 4.5 weeks of intense boards studying.

I decided this was insufficient and so allowed myself the following two additional indulgences:

1.) Oreo milkshake from Potbelly's. Amazing and delicious.

2.) A new pair of shoes. They are completely impractical but utterly fabulous. Who doesn't feel sexy in red peep-toe heels?

The Good and the Bad... an update

Thumbs Up:

• I found a new apartment - a one bedroom - and will move in July
• M3 rotations are out, I got my first choice track
• No cavities at the dentist
• Passed my physical with flying colours
• My car is fixed and looks/smells new again
• Love my gym, really enjoying PT

Bummer:

• Grandma may need surgery
• A friend is sick (with something chronic)
• Research projects are lagging a bit
• Um... boards?

I will try to post something more substantial soon.

I graduated high school a DECADE ago?!

This is a photo of me getting dressed for new years this year. It was a low-key affair with low expectations so it turned out to be an okay night. I wasn't quite back to myself -I'm still not- having just been traveling internationally. I always get a bit brooding when I return home. I don't like giving up the freedom of traveling - life is a bit too tied down and restricting for my taste. I wonder if I should have taken more time off - a whole year of traveling instead of just a few months? I also miss the person I am when I'm not here - I'm more confident, easygoing, in-the-present when I'm away.

I'm not usually very big on new year's resolutions, but this year I have a few. They are more reflections on self-improvement that stem from travel, but new years is as good an excuse as any.

1. I choose confidence. I choose to be okay with who I am. I will own it.

2. I will read more non-medical non-fiction.

3. I will stop using medical school as an excuse.

I'm going to head back to California for a couple of weeks in early April and then hopefully off to Turkey the first week of May. Hopefully that will sate the nomad in me until next December.

Wednesday night procrastination

My much-anticipated new shoes came - limited edition pinstripe Jack Purcells. I love them. Super preppy with a twist. So perfect. They took their inaugural walk to get me to IV clinic and back.

IV clinic is where the emergency department docs teach us how to place IVs and subsequently give us equipment to practice on each other. My friend J and I stuck each other three times. It turns out placing IVs in the hand is both more difficult and more painful than in the arm.

I watched the premiere of Scrubs season 9 and was disappointed. What the hell were all the first year medical students doing on rounds, in scrubs and working with patients? Your first two years (until you take and pass the boards) you are lucky if you shadow rounds - you are definitely not let loose in the hospital. Not to mention you would definitely not have a class called internal medicine before you've completed something as basic as anatomy. C'mon writers. Seriously.

Speaking of boards, I've turned in my registration for mine. I'm aiming for April 26... USMLE step 1 is officially on my radar.

I haven't been in the OR since Oct 14th, but I'm on call this Thurs-Sun. Here's hoping for a liver. Except maybe not Sat night (day is fine) because I have a date and I would kinda like to make it. Even if I have to show up with a pager and track marks (from IV clinic). Actually, Sat would be a good time to get my autopsy requirement out of the way. So here's hoping for a dead body and a life-saving liver, all in one weekend.

Positive Framing

My dad likes to send me links to interesting articles he finds online. Recently I received one about Japan's health care problems (which I didn't read) in a journal that also had an article on characteristics of successful women (which I did read). Apparently these women exhibited something called "positive framing."

"Positive framing and positive thinking... are two different notions. The latter tries to replace adversity with positive beliefs. The former accepts the facts of adversity and counters them with action."

This, I think, sums up my last few weeks very well. They have been extremely turbulent and somehow, three days ago, my mind pulled the plug on the purely emotional reactions and kicked me into action-mode. It's not that everything is suddenly okay, but that I have accepted what is and decided on actions that will eventually result in a restoration of my usual level of happiness.

And I have to say, when I dried my eyes and took stock of the life I have, I was really grateful. I have wonderful, supportive friends who were there for me, the respect of my peers and professors and lots of interesting opportunities ahead of me.

I'm certain I didn't choose the easiest road, but I (still) think it's the best one for me. Besides, you can't "live to the point of tears (Albert Camus)" without actually crying once and a while.

.... and I'm back

I know it's been a while since I've posted regularly. I can give you all kinds of excuses (medical school is a lot of work, I've been traveling a lot), but honestly it doesn't mean much unless you see me post regularly again... so let's see if I can manage that.

The first year of medical school (to date) has been a little different than expected - there is a lot less patient interaction than I was accustomed to while being in the hospital. It's a lot more social than you think - we work really hard but we go out a lot too. On the other hand, it's also cost me more than I expected and I don't likemy geography at all. I love my school and my classmates, but I don't like living in Michigan (too far from friends/family/big cities). Some notes:

1. I hate anatomy. It takes up a lot of time and it's not that interesting. Apparently this means I am unlikely to become a surgeon.

2. I love video-taped lectures and flex-time quizzes. It gives me autonomy and allows me to pursue activities outside of class.

3. I was in a swing dance performance



4. I am doing clinical research again (on HLHS). I didn't realise how much I would miss it, so it's really nice to be able to work that into my schedule.

5. I am a MedBuddy coordinator - we pair medical and nursing students with children in the hospital for extended stays. The students visit the kids 3-4 times a week. I also have a MedBuddy - cutest little girl ever!

6. Two of the papers I was co-author on have been published!

7. During an a series of alternative medicine lectures I received a massage and had an acupuncture needle put in my hand (it feels weird).











8. I went to the inauguration










9. I went to Rome, Florence and Paris for spring break










Ok - I think that covers some of the cooler tidbits. I will keep you updated!

Passed: Patients & Populations

I have successfully completed the first sequence in medical school: patients and populations. It was comprised of three threads: Medical decision making, pathology and genetics. If anyone ever told you there is no math in medical school, they were wrong. Bayesian probabilities anyone?

It was actually quite a nice starting sequence because we had no anatomy or histology - giving us more time to get to know each other and the town. Once a week we had patient presentations, for example, the mother of a son with Down Syndrome, a woman who has tested positive for Huntington (but is still clinically asymptomatic) and a girl who was diagnosed with colon cancer at 22.

Speaking of extra-curriculars... the first football game was Saturday! You have definitely not seen a tailgate until you've seen a big 10 tailgate. Wow.

We have met our cadavers though and dissection begins Sept 2. Histology Sept 3. Next sequence: Cells & Tissues.

(one photo is from the tailgate, the other is karaoke night)

Orientation round-up

The first week of medical school is coming to a close and I thought I would run through the highlights. First, we were all coated and attended a rather awkward reception because no one knew anyone else. The chocolate-covered strawberries were delicious though. The next three days included an array of (rather boring) lectures acquainting us with the school, its policies and what was expected of us interspersed with some cool team building exercises and lots of provided food.

Thursday night was the traditional M1 bar crawl (the first day of class was also Thursday...coincidence... not exactly). We all wore pretty blue matching shirts and had drink specials at three bars in town. Pre-drinking chow at the Pizza House before shots and dancing and singing to Bon Jovi. Fun moment: asking directions from a law student. His reponse: what did you get on the MCAT?

Friday I missed the first hour of lecture (bad me) but did make it to a dinner party at a neighbor's house and a hip hop concert (6 acts!) in town. The DJ for the Blue Scholars is a phenom... I never thought I would hear Green Day turned into a hip hop beat, but it works.

Saturday we made a little mall trip, then a BBQ and a night of dancing at Live. Tonight will be Indian food for dinner... yummy!

Coated!

I have officially started medical school! I received my white coat and stethoscope from the Dean, stumbled my rather bewildered way through three days of orientation and am now in classes. I (already) have lectures and syllabi and assignments and quizzes... I am a medical student... weird.

School is modular, so every few weeks I will finish a module (organ system) and all its corresponding histology/pathology and anatomy. Year one is healthy organs, year two is sick ones.

First up: Patients & Populations (genetics) - 3 weeks.

Drumroll please...

The deposit has been paid and all other applications withdrawn. Starting August 3, I will be attending the University of Michigan Medical School. Go Blue!

For the Lost addicts: This was foreshadowed years ago... when I was 6 and lost part of my finger in the door and it grew back ala Wolverine in X-men... and the Michigan football team is the... Wolverines.

Comings and Goings

I was up in NYC this weekend and while walking around saw a cage full of kittens waiting to be adopted. I have a huge soft spot for kittens (who doesn't?) and had to stand and coo for the requisite 5 minutes.

Otherwise, my lack of posting can be attributed to finishing up classes (they're done, hallelujah!), working lots (stupid NIH Progress report), major school choice indecision (UPitt vs UMich), and my discovery of Battlestar Gallactica (is it just me or are the cylons obsessed with sex?).

I'm trying to pull together an entertaining summer... starting with a few days in Mexico, then a friend's wedding in NYC, maybe some time in Cali (Northern and Southern) and hopefully a family vacation to Alaska. If anyone wants to go to Istanbul I think I could be convinced to make time for that.

Of course, somewhere in there will be moving to medical school; white coat ceremony Aug 3. For those of you who miss the travel posts, hopefully my summer will provide adequate fodder. Past Aug 3rd though, I think the distinctly medical/academic bent will return.

Medical School Update

Because no, the process is still not over.

Applied: 23
Interviews: 13

Of the schools who gave me interviews:
Withdrawn: 2
Waitlisted: 2
Accepted: 5

Of the schools who have accepted me, I have declined 2.

As you can tell, I'm still waiting for 4 replies. I will be rejected by the 10 schools that didn't interview me (I received 6 of those letters already).

Deadline for the final decision: May 15th.

Medical school admissions update

Left: Chasing sunset on a plane to St. Louis.

Applications completed: 23
Interviews offered: 12
Rejections: 3
Acceptances: 3

A common sight recently...

No plane.

A month of travel

Someone emailed to remind me I haven't posted in a month. True. And I have no excuse because my hotels had internet access. I was in Pittsburgh, Boston, and Atlanta to interview at medical schools and in Vegas to, well, blow off some steam.

For those of you keeping score, I have 9 interview invites, 2 rejections, and 12 haven't-heard-yets.

Tomorrow I have my neuroanatomy midterm (yikes) for which I am incredibly unprepared. This is partially due to travel and work and partially due to my going to Vegas instead of studying.

Vegas was phenomenal. I gambled (and won - Pai Gow!), first with someone else's money (what better way to learn) and then with my own. I ate (a lot), I sunned by the pools (tan = no, bikini debut = yes), I watched sports and drank beer in the sports book (go Steelers go Rockies), and I went clubbing (VIP, skybox: balcony over the dance floor = awesome). I took a red eye back, went straight to work and ended up in bed by 8:30pm (totally exhausted) for a nice 11.5 hour snooze. Four days of fantastic.

Flash back to now... sore arm from a flu shot, totally unprepared for a midterm, pre-lab to write and more travel to come. Oh, and I'm cold (not a surprise).

The next two weeks: Nov 5-6 Boston, Nov 7 NYC, Nov 12-13 Cleveland, Nov 15-16 Ann Arbour

If I get in somewhere (two letters potentially on their way) - you bet your cute little butt I'm gonna post.

Medical school admissions update

# applications initiated: 27
# secondaries received: 25
# secondaries completed: 22
# confirmed complete apps: 20

# interviews offered: 6
# acceptances: 0
# rejections: 1

Summer sports

Since I'm not taking classes this summer, I've been trying to be more active. I don't have a gym membership, but that's really a good thing as I much prefer excersize that doesn't feel quite so pointless as running in place indoors. Instead, I've been playing lots of tennis and have taken up yoga - the kind done in a 95 degree room.

Tennis has been fantastic since so many people here play and it's super cheap for students. I'm now playing twice a week - one day of clinic and one day of matchplay with friends. I can feel my game getting a little better each time, which is really encouraging and just makes me want to play more. I'm working on learning a backhand slice approach shot and eventually I really need a better second serve.

Yoga has been quite the experience so far... I was incredibly sore all over after the first class, but the second was invigorating. It really is remarkably calming and I don't notice the heat at all. I'm relatively flexible, but I had no idea I was so weak! Well, maybe I had some idea, but this really confirms it!

When I was in Cali visiting my parents, I went rock climbing with a friend, Mike. It was really good fun and I'm hoping we'll go again when I head back there in late August. That's definitely a sport where I need to work on my upper body strength, but it's a great feeling when you get to the top of a route you didn't think you could do. Repelling down is pretty good fun too :)

A night in the city

It was a friend's birthday this weekend so I headed up to nyc for a celebration. Other friends from college, now in Ohio or D.C., also came up, turning this birthday party into a mini college reunion. I am ashamed to say I had been out of touch with some for two years; unless you count Facebook as meaningful interaction.
There was lots of laughter, a total of six cameras to record the event, and much frustration over the Duane Reeds in the financial district. If they all close at 6pm, where can a girl get some double-sided tape before a night out?
On the train on the way back I ran into a student from the weekly tennis clinic. He graduated to the super-secret, advanced clinic (I'm still intermediate) but after swapping stories for an hour on the railways we decided we could probably still play together. I'll just lose. Every time. Which is ok.