cross one specialty off

Quick update - the past four weeks have been great. Spring break was relaxing and spending time with my family was fun. I stayed pretty relaxed even after Neuro block started - took a few naps, read a few books, went out a little too often. I thought neuro block was awesome - until this week, when I finally forced myself to study seriously for our exam tomorrow. And this is what I get! Do those arrows look like they are pointing to anything to you? They don't even look like blobs to me. Fun fact - there is a part of your brain, in the visual cortex, that scientists have named (rather accurately I think) "blobs" and "interblobs." I wish I were kidding.

I thought this picture from a practice exam best illustrated my pain. Let's just leave it with I will never become a neurosurgeon...

marathon

Never have I spent so many days in a row studying until midnight. I began on Sunday, March 11 and tomorrow night will be my last hurrah before Immunology on Friday morning. My earliest night was 10:30pm, my latest 2pm. I never knew I had such stamina, but I guess you just do what you have to do. My roommate probably only knows I exist from the daily coffee grounds I leave in the coffee maker. I have learned a lot though - I now know how to diagnose myself with study-induced Prader-Willi Syndrome, a genetic disorder where people suffer from insatiable hunger, so much so that they will literally eat garbage. Hehe, sorry if you don't find this joke funny. In my study-induced stupor, I find it hilarious.

Things that made these past two weeks better:

Seoul Taco Food Truck coming to the medical campus on Monday. If you have never had a Korean taco, your life is even sadder than mine has been lately.

The website http://whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com. The "random" button has provided me with endless entertainment.

My friend pronouncing me to be "kebodoctor."

Gchat. It, sadly, reminds me another world exists outside the med school.

This beautiful weather. Although it is a little warm for my taste, it makes my walk to school wonderful each day.

Coffee. Coffee. Chocolate. Coffee. I finally drink it black.

My friends. Aw that's a little sappy, sorry.

I apologize for my long blogging hiatus, but hopefully this post made up for it a little bit...?

birth!

On Friday, I saw a baby being born for the very first time. Don't worry, I'm not going to be super cheesy and talk about the miracle of life or something, but I think it was the best possible birth I could have observed at first, for the following reasons:

1) Mom had an epidural.
2) Baby and Mom were both healthy.
3) It was Mom's 2nd baby.
4) It was a lot cleaner than I expected, actually. Well, I guess with the exception of the amniotic fluid forming a projectile straight into the nurse's face. She probably didn't think the birth was so clean. But since I wasn't in the "line of fire," shall we say, I found it exceptionally hilarious. I know admitting this means karma might just slap me in the face with amniotic fluid someday, but it has to be said.

I took a reproductive health class in college (from an anthropology perspective, I might add), and up until this point I'd felt conflicted about hospital births. Are they actually superior to home births for healthy moms? Does hospitalization take something away from the magic of the experience? But I have to say that after observing a hospital birth in person for the very first time, I think an epidural plus someone else to clean up the mess seems pretty damn good. That's not to say that there aren't ways to improve the hospital experience for pregnant women, especially women who are not as compliant with the system as this particular family was, but I definitely saw the beauty in a hospital birth.

Also, I learned that there is no way I want the grandmas in the room when I give birth. Having them say "I see the baby's hair!" was just WAY too weird. I would probably shout "Stop looking at my va-jay-jay!" and that would be the end of that.

ballet

Today I took my first ballet class in... too long. Now I just feel high on life. Maybe it's the endorphins, maybe it's the reality, but even though I know my body will be aching tomorrow, I don't care.

I am so fortunate to have the wealth, health, ability, and friends to motivate me to do something I love. To do something purely for the enjoyment of doing it. I'm glad I didn't wait too long to go back to dance - something I have loved for such a long time.

Even though I was told going in to med school that I should hold on to my passions to keep my sanity, I think I took that too lightly. I'm glad I didn't learn my lesson too late - at least I was able to walk out of class in one piece today! Do the stuff you love. Even if it's annoying to schedule. Even if you don't know how you could possibly fit it in. Do it. You'll thank yourself later.

My calves may not be thanking me right now, but my sanity sure is.

want to lose your appetite?

Some things I learned in medical school this week:

1) If you're a medical student, be warned: you may be shown gross videos at any time, without warning.

People must think we signed up for this or something. Therefore, one day you may walk into your microbes afternoon lecture, unsuspecting, thinking you're going to see some cute pictures of bacteria or viruses, but no - instead you are treated to a 5-minute long video of a foot debridement. What's debridement, you ask? You really don't want to know, but since you're reading my blog, you must be expecting this just as much as I was - debridement is when you cut infected flesh to squeeze out all the pus and scrape away as much of the festering flesh as possible. Repeat that image, five times slow. And the foot just gets more misshapen and festering. And the lecturer just keeps lecturing. Most of the class is looking away, taking glances that just get worse and worse. A few are ogling the screen with what I would describe as unadulterated interest. C'mon people. This stuff is gross.

What's worse is that I know I will have to do it. In real life. With real smells. I think I just threw up in my mouth. But ugh, does that really mean I have to watch it now??

2) Please, please, please America. Stop getting fat. Obesity is a vicious cycle that not only causes medical problems, but makes them harder to treat. Again, my unsuspecting medical student mind expected to zone out a little during a lecture on the mechanics of respiratory ventilation and sleep. Instead, I watched this video with almost as much horror:

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

I don't mean to go on a soapbox. I know how hard it is to avoid eating all the amazingly tempting foods we have available to us. But if I've learned nothing else so far this year - becoming obese is one of the worst risk factors for ill health. Ok, I have to stop writing. I need to go to the gym or something.

1/8 MD

And a new semester begins! I guess I shouldn't technically call it a semester, because we technically have two "blocks" this spring, one going to the end of March, and then a second in April and May. We are now done with Anatomy and Biochemistry, and in place of those two classes, we now have Immunology, Microbiology, and Genetics. Physiology, Histology, and Practice of Medicine continue.

I guess they thought we weren't busy enough last semester.

So with the new year I say farewell to having Wednesday and Friday afternoons free (if "free" means studying). I guess I shouldn't complain too much, however, because I am sitting in class right now, blogging. Sometimes I take class time to ponder whether sitting in class helps me at all - today, we were regaled with a 15 minute analogy comparing Pokemon to microbes. All I learned was which of my classmates to tease about their childhood (or perhaps current) activities...

I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions, but I do hope to improve some basic life skills. Like flossing every day. Cooking dinner on the stove (instead of the microwave) and making it to the grocery store at least once a week. Exercising a few times per week. Oh yeah, and maybe studying a little.

P's and pig labs

Yesterday was a big day. I took (and passed!) my last anatomy exam. So, I have completed my first medical school class, with a P! Woohoo! Doesn't quite have the same ring as an A, does it? (Or a B+ in a class I was really struggling with...) I think the pass/fail system for medical school is a tricky thing. It messes with my motivations. I thought coming from 17 years of being graded, it would be a relief not to care - but oh wait - I still do. Except I'm also lazy. Ok so anyway, big day yesterday.

In the afternoon, I got to go to an OB/GYN residents' laproscopic surgery training session. I phrase it like that first for all my friends who are animal lovers - yes, we did operate on live pigs under anesthesia. But the instruments were so amazing - they use vibration and heat and other amazing technologies to cut tissue in the least invasive way possible. The residents got to practice tying sutures inside of a body and doing a hysterectomy (I got to hold the camera!). It is also amazing how bloodless the surgery was - you basically only cut through completely avascular tissue to remove the uterus. While standing there observing for three hours, it struck me how different my life will be when I'm an actual doctor. Sometimes I get worried when I am so sick of all the studying and feel like I can't do this anymore - I am so glad I have opportunities to participate in amazing things like this surgery to keep my drive going. I won't be able to make it through if I allow myself to forget the end goal. Or if I simply forget how awesome the end goal is. I won't spend the rest of my life sitting in lecture and reading textbooks. Thank goodness.