It's been a long time since I've written - over three months. They've been some of the harderst months I can remember. My Fall quarter ended up at an 89%. Not at all where I wanted to be, but ok given the emotional turmoil and grade swings I experienced.
We're already four weeks into Winter quarter and it's not looking much different. Except that of the two classes I did well in last quarter; one (Topics) we don't have and the other (Pharm) I've gotten off to a rough start. So, my overall GPA may go down a bit further this quarter. I'm taking it better though. I'm focusing on Boards and not so much on test scores.
I really feel that this year's instruction is not anywhere near the quality we had last year. The "clinicians" are smart, good Docs. But they've proven that can't write lecture notes worth beans and have done a horrible job preparing us for this year. Micro is in terrible shape too. Two Profs are ok, but the rest are useless and ask stupid, irrelevent questions. The class is disorganized and focused on esoteric details. It's like you have to study for Boards Micro separate from class.
Anyway, it's the end of Xmas break and I'm tryng to finish a paper for a third year that would be great for my RadOnc applications. I did manage to read all of FirstAid once through while on vacation, but feel behind in clinical coorelates, Path and Pharm now. Hopefully I can catch up some over the next two days in those subjects.
Ah yes, the last two days (last weekend) of break for the next 6 months. We jst returned from a week in Silver Star in British Columbia where the family vacationed with 19 members of Becky's side of the family. It was blast. The boys learned how to ski decently and I really enjoyed doing the green runs with them after their lessons. I only got in one good day of skiing myself, but the weather and snow were great most of that day. I also listened to 5-6 hours of Goljan USMLE review lectures while skiing down the runs. That is the way to study!
The kids also tried snow boarding (too much pain!) and intertubing while I studied FirstAid. I drank and ate too much, but with the knowledge that the next 6 months is a death march to Boards. The last day Becky and I took the kids on a 50+ km snow mobile tour of the back country that was fanatastic. It was sunny and the snow was perfect for some terrifyingly fast riding. Colton is going to be our speed demon. He was soo excited to drive in the "meadow" and almost got us in a couple crashes. But I did too :-). We stopped at the steepest part of the mountain for hot chocolate, just in time to watch a couple telemarkers launch off into their graceful decents.
If we have the time and inclination to get into skiiing, I'm going to learn telemarking. Watching those two and Becky's brothers got me motivated. The latter woke up at 5am almost every morning and skinned up the mountain, then skiied down for breakfast with us around 7:30am. Great exercise and a lot of fun, even if the climbing is mostly in the dark with headlamps.
Boards planning is going ok. It's amazing how 6 mos seems like so little time. But with classes, 15 exams in the next 7 weeks (!!!) and extra stuff (Onc club, research, electives, etc.) time is going to fly by. Lots and lots of memorization to go...
As for career planning, I'm still very interested in RadOnc and having a good time shadowing my Preceptor who just finished his residency at UW in RadOnc. But it's so competitive that I need to have a fallback. Heme/Onc and Critical Care are possibles, but I'm concerned about the IM residency. It may take more time away from the family and it may require a second move for the fellowship. I could do Anesthesia then CC, but we'll see. Another option is Radiology, but it also is getting extremely competitive. If I can manage a 230 on the USMLE Step 1 it will open up some options, so we'll have to see.
My first rotation is probably going to be Psych in Tacoma. It should be a good break after the Boards and Becky's mom, a former admin at a Psych hospital there, is setting it up for me. The kids will escape the AZ heat with me and the Becky will join us on weekends. Then I'll do the OMM rotation with Dr. Will at the new campus clinic. The rest is going to be worked out over the next couple of months, but I hope I don't have to spend too much time out of town.
That's enough for now. Hopefully grades don't get me so depressed this quarter that I can't force myself to Blog now and again. That or I get a prescription for some psych drug that keeps me sane and well rested. The depression, anxiety and insomnia is getting a bit ridiculous. And to think Becky's family thought I looked happier and more relaxed than in the past. LoL!!
Saturday, December 31, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
School's in session
Ok, I'm crazy buzy now so not much time to write. Finished the first 2 weeks and the first big test (Path). Got the results back at lunch and I actually aced it (98%)! I'm thrilled, but worked my butt off and noticed that the rest of the tests are for larger units with less time to study.
And of course, I'm behind in Pharm and Micro. Micro is on Monday (we're not into M & F tests...yet) so I need to catch up on that. However, I'm doing the paid TA thing for the MSIs which takes 2 free afternoons, a lunch and some review time. It's fun though and I need the review. Tomorrow Dr. Walters is going over the brachial plexus with us. That will be great. I am also enjoy spending time with the MSIs. It's kind of fun to teach them and get to know them.
Club Week went fine. We got over 32 new AMA-MSS members, far better than last year's 19. And Oncology got 45 new members which I'm thrilled over. Now Matt and I need to find committee chairpeople willing to take over some projects. Matt and I are also continuing on with some of my summer research. I'm not sure how much time I can spend on that, but I'm going to show Matt some of the H2O2 stuff on Wednesday.
Another time drain is ICM and Clinical Correlates. We have weekly cases for ICM where we have to type up SOAP notes weekly and do a full H&P once a quarter. CC is a huge sink we have a 3 hour rambling lecture and a huge, VERY poorly written note packet that cover some monsterous topic in great detail (Shock, MI, etc.). We have to digest all this for the weekly quiz that's about 30% of our grade.
Oh, did I mention that just like last year, I started the year with an awful cold that had me in bed for a complete. I missed a few nights of studying there. Now Becky is down with it. The one upside is that I will be at school studying late and missing dinner so much this year, I don't think we'll be trading bugs much.
The profs this year haven't endeared themselves to me yet. I'm just looking at this year as the 10 month (thru Boards) death march. My "light at the end of the tunnel" is a quote I read recently; "the worst day on rotations is better than the best day in the classroom."
There is still hope...
And of course, I'm behind in Pharm and Micro. Micro is on Monday (we're not into M & F tests...yet) so I need to catch up on that. However, I'm doing the paid TA thing for the MSIs which takes 2 free afternoons, a lunch and some review time. It's fun though and I need the review. Tomorrow Dr. Walters is going over the brachial plexus with us. That will be great. I am also enjoy spending time with the MSIs. It's kind of fun to teach them and get to know them.
Club Week went fine. We got over 32 new AMA-MSS members, far better than last year's 19. And Oncology got 45 new members which I'm thrilled over. Now Matt and I need to find committee chairpeople willing to take over some projects. Matt and I are also continuing on with some of my summer research. I'm not sure how much time I can spend on that, but I'm going to show Matt some of the H2O2 stuff on Wednesday.
Another time drain is ICM and Clinical Correlates. We have weekly cases for ICM where we have to type up SOAP notes weekly and do a full H&P once a quarter. CC is a huge sink we have a 3 hour rambling lecture and a huge, VERY poorly written note packet that cover some monsterous topic in great detail (Shock, MI, etc.). We have to digest all this for the weekly quiz that's about 30% of our grade.
Oh, did I mention that just like last year, I started the year with an awful cold that had me in bed for a complete. I missed a few nights of studying there. Now Becky is down with it. The one upside is that I will be at school studying late and missing dinner so much this year, I don't think we'll be trading bugs much.
The profs this year haven't endeared themselves to me yet. I'm just looking at this year as the 10 month (thru Boards) death march. My "light at the end of the tunnel" is a quote I read recently; "the worst day on rotations is better than the best day in the classroom."
There is still hope...
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Summer Winding Down
The kids started school this week. It was fun to be able to drop them off, especially yesterday (Day 2) when Colton was taking the new schedule rough. I also picked them up so that we could try a swim team a few miles away. It's called the Sports Ranch and they have a swim clinic this week.
Connor enjoyed yesterday's 45 minute "get to know you" workout. But Colton is pretty he only wants to do soccer. I'm establishing a new rule that have to do some kind of workout everyday before they can play video games. I'm getting concerned that they aren't developing that winning, competitive, self-disciplined/motivated attitiude that you get from sports. And Connor is almost 100lbs! He's very tall, but still.
My getting into shape/losing weight efforts haven't taken off. Just too much to do and think about. I started a new PC Game that is sucking away too much time, but it may be the last one I play for many years.
Research is going better. Doing a lot of experiments and we're getting some useful data. Our electrophoresis procedures aren't yielding any results, so we have to fix that in this last week or so. I hope to keep working in the lab next year as time allows because we've discovered so much and there's still tons of experiments to do.
My efforts to get in some radiology job shadowing haven't done well either. I've made a bunch of phone calls, but with a week and half until classes start I still don't have any leads. I might try Clinical Ed. today to see if they any ideas.
Yeah, that's right. A week and half until I start my hardest year yet. I'm dreading it but also looking forward to getting it over. I've been going over my block schedule and entering them into my PDA (while using our cool new PVR at home to watch movies simultaneously). It's going to be crazy. Winter Qtr we have 1wk class, 1wk break (Thanksgiving), 3wks class, 2wks break (Xmas) and then 6 wks class. Yuck!
That's it for now. Going to be doing final preparations this week and hopefully enjoying myself a bit.
Connor enjoyed yesterday's 45 minute "get to know you" workout. But Colton is pretty he only wants to do soccer. I'm establishing a new rule that have to do some kind of workout everyday before they can play video games. I'm getting concerned that they aren't developing that winning, competitive, self-disciplined/motivated attitiude that you get from sports. And Connor is almost 100lbs! He's very tall, but still.
My getting into shape/losing weight efforts haven't taken off. Just too much to do and think about. I started a new PC Game that is sucking away too much time, but it may be the last one I play for many years.
Research is going better. Doing a lot of experiments and we're getting some useful data. Our electrophoresis procedures aren't yielding any results, so we have to fix that in this last week or so. I hope to keep working in the lab next year as time allows because we've discovered so much and there's still tons of experiments to do.
My efforts to get in some radiology job shadowing haven't done well either. I've made a bunch of phone calls, but with a week and half until classes start I still don't have any leads. I might try Clinical Ed. today to see if they any ideas.
Yeah, that's right. A week and half until I start my hardest year yet. I'm dreading it but also looking forward to getting it over. I've been going over my block schedule and entering them into my PDA (while using our cool new PVR at home to watch movies simultaneously). It's going to be crazy. Winter Qtr we have 1wk class, 1wk break (Thanksgiving), 3wks class, 2wks break (Xmas) and then 6 wks class. Yuck!
That's it for now. Going to be doing final preparations this week and hopefully enjoying myself a bit.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Summer Vacation
Overall we had a good time. Colton's 7th B-day party was fun and casual, but Colton wanted to immediately return home to play his new Xbox game. The kids and I also had a great time at Dave & Trish's playing on the trampouline with their cousins. I drank too much but still managed to get some studying, naps and exercise in.
My Mom's was ok but I felt like we cheated her by getting to her place late on Sunday and then spending all of Monday river rafting. The trip up Sunday took some time because Becky and I had to stop at Green Lake for some Spud's fish & chips. The boys enjoyed it, even our verbose tour of the Greek District, my Frat and college life at UW. Green Lake and the food were great, plus we got to watch the World Freestyle Frisbee Championships. For $5 each, the boys got to climb a man-made rock wall (ala REI) which they really enjoyed.
Rafting the Skagit on Monday was the most fun I've had a piddly class 2 river. Of course seeing the boys and cousins enjoy their first rapids was quite an experience. They were all a little afraid at first, but by the end they were fighting for the best view at the bow of the next rapid (and a chance to get soaked). Connor even rowed a bunch with his uncle and Dad. Now Becky and I are looking forward to taking our boys a real river.
My mom and sister seemed to be doing well. Joanne is doing well with #4 in the oven and the upcoming move to Spokane. Mom is contemplating how she's going to move over there with Joanne, Dan and their families. Joanne's kids are doing well and it was fun to see them but a little cramped in my Mom's place.
Then it was off to Paul & Suzie's place. The boys didn't complain too badly about not having access to TV or games and played in the yard, pool and trees. It was a little exhausting but we managed and I actually enjoyed having some time to talk with Dave & Paul. Paul & Suzie even managed to figure out a way to join us in Orando at Dave & Trish's vacation place. But not before we had the cousins pose on the UW campus for grandma's annual Xmas present.
UW provided a good background, the photographer Paul & Suzie hired (same one as always) didn't use the setting very well. I took a bunch of pictures on my own. After lunch and some long stories from Becky and I about our times on campus, I wondered over the UW medical school. I also wondered around the Fred Hutch cancer research center. It was pretty impressive. I'm left wondering if I should rank UW #1-#3 (RadOnc, Rads and Path), or focus more on a specialty. Hard choices coming up soon.
We spent the end of the week in Orando and had a great time knee boarding, wake boarding and intertubing. The boys had a great time and even showed off a bunch for pictures (which I hope to post shortly). I got more confident on the wake board, jumped off a little cliff with Trish, had a good swim and read a bunch. The only downer was sitting through Steckler nostalgia Thursday evening which, as usual, consisted of listening to Becky and her siblings bad songs from the 60's and 70's. This "tradition" is getting really old. The two days there were great though and really made wonder if I shouldn't just go for a specialty that I can use anywhere so we can have a house on a nice lake. I left really wanting a fairly rural home where I can swim, row, scull, boat, etc. with the family after breakfasts and before evenings looking out onto the water and surrounding nature. It feels a lot more attractive than the hustle and bustle of city life, even with research, academic and big name hospital opportunities.
The drive to Marge's Friday evening was driven by some insane, pushy need of Julie's that really pissed me off. I guess it gave me time to read and listen to lectures, but I sure felt stepped on. My anger with Becky and her sister didn't subside much at their mom's either as the boys and I were trapped between boredom and their gossip. Saturday was relaxing and the plane flight ok, but only because I pretty much did my own thing. The boys watched the weekly cartoons and picked out from DVDs from Marge's Ebay collection. I really didn't care what Becky and Julie did.
My attitude didn't improve much once we landed. And the way the gals were treating me didn't either. However, that paled in comparison to walking into a hot, humid AZ home with a non-functional AC. I stayed up watching TV most of the night because I couldn't sleep well. $450 later the repair guy and new motor had up and running on Sunday. I took naps, swam (after cleaning the disaster of a pool), read and did a ton of yard work. But it wasn't too bad.
Yesterday it was back to work at the lab. Several experiments had to be started for irradiation on Thursday so that we have some data to submit for the ADA grant application deadline on the 15th. I also did H.O.M.E. at UMOM last night and enjoyed seeing classmates, Dr. Will and some patients. The same monsoons that knocked our AC caused St. Mary's Food Bank's roof to collapse so Becky had an even crazier day.
This vacation has given me some time for reflection and soul searching but I don't really feel any closer to deciding on what I want to go into, where the best place for residency is (for the family, education, job prospects, etc.) or where I would like to eventually settle down. I seem to be narrowing in on RadOnc, Rads and Path. RadOnc is still #1, but may be unreachable (and too stressful to compete for). It also might the most restrictive for residency and practice locations. Rads may be a good fit once I get a taste of the specialty. Path seems like a good fallback with a short residency, good QOL and lots of options for a career (autopsies, surgery, lab mgmt, R&D, education). I will definitely have to get in 20hrs or so of Rads job shadowing this summer so that I can see what it is really like.
My Mom's was ok but I felt like we cheated her by getting to her place late on Sunday and then spending all of Monday river rafting. The trip up Sunday took some time because Becky and I had to stop at Green Lake for some Spud's fish & chips. The boys enjoyed it, even our verbose tour of the Greek District, my Frat and college life at UW. Green Lake and the food were great, plus we got to watch the World Freestyle Frisbee Championships. For $5 each, the boys got to climb a man-made rock wall (ala REI) which they really enjoyed.
Rafting the Skagit on Monday was the most fun I've had a piddly class 2 river. Of course seeing the boys and cousins enjoy their first rapids was quite an experience. They were all a little afraid at first, but by the end they were fighting for the best view at the bow of the next rapid (and a chance to get soaked). Connor even rowed a bunch with his uncle and Dad. Now Becky and I are looking forward to taking our boys a real river.
My mom and sister seemed to be doing well. Joanne is doing well with #4 in the oven and the upcoming move to Spokane. Mom is contemplating how she's going to move over there with Joanne, Dan and their families. Joanne's kids are doing well and it was fun to see them but a little cramped in my Mom's place.
Then it was off to Paul & Suzie's place. The boys didn't complain too badly about not having access to TV or games and played in the yard, pool and trees. It was a little exhausting but we managed and I actually enjoyed having some time to talk with Dave & Paul. Paul & Suzie even managed to figure out a way to join us in Orando at Dave & Trish's vacation place. But not before we had the cousins pose on the UW campus for grandma's annual Xmas present.
UW provided a good background, the photographer Paul & Suzie hired (same one as always) didn't use the setting very well. I took a bunch of pictures on my own. After lunch and some long stories from Becky and I about our times on campus, I wondered over the UW medical school. I also wondered around the Fred Hutch cancer research center. It was pretty impressive. I'm left wondering if I should rank UW #1-#3 (RadOnc, Rads and Path), or focus more on a specialty. Hard choices coming up soon.
We spent the end of the week in Orando and had a great time knee boarding, wake boarding and intertubing. The boys had a great time and even showed off a bunch for pictures (which I hope to post shortly). I got more confident on the wake board, jumped off a little cliff with Trish, had a good swim and read a bunch. The only downer was sitting through Steckler nostalgia Thursday evening which, as usual, consisted of listening to Becky and her siblings bad songs from the 60's and 70's. This "tradition" is getting really old. The two days there were great though and really made wonder if I shouldn't just go for a specialty that I can use anywhere so we can have a house on a nice lake. I left really wanting a fairly rural home where I can swim, row, scull, boat, etc. with the family after breakfasts and before evenings looking out onto the water and surrounding nature. It feels a lot more attractive than the hustle and bustle of city life, even with research, academic and big name hospital opportunities.
The drive to Marge's Friday evening was driven by some insane, pushy need of Julie's that really pissed me off. I guess it gave me time to read and listen to lectures, but I sure felt stepped on. My anger with Becky and her sister didn't subside much at their mom's either as the boys and I were trapped between boredom and their gossip. Saturday was relaxing and the plane flight ok, but only because I pretty much did my own thing. The boys watched the weekly cartoons and picked out from DVDs from Marge's Ebay collection. I really didn't care what Becky and Julie did.
My attitude didn't improve much once we landed. And the way the gals were treating me didn't either. However, that paled in comparison to walking into a hot, humid AZ home with a non-functional AC. I stayed up watching TV most of the night because I couldn't sleep well. $450 later the repair guy and new motor had up and running on Sunday. I took naps, swam (after cleaning the disaster of a pool), read and did a ton of yard work. But it wasn't too bad.
Yesterday it was back to work at the lab. Several experiments had to be started for irradiation on Thursday so that we have some data to submit for the ADA grant application deadline on the 15th. I also did H.O.M.E. at UMOM last night and enjoyed seeing classmates, Dr. Will and some patients. The same monsoons that knocked our AC caused St. Mary's Food Bank's roof to collapse so Becky had an even crazier day.
This vacation has given me some time for reflection and soul searching but I don't really feel any closer to deciding on what I want to go into, where the best place for residency is (for the family, education, job prospects, etc.) or where I would like to eventually settle down. I seem to be narrowing in on RadOnc, Rads and Path. RadOnc is still #1, but may be unreachable (and too stressful to compete for). It also might the most restrictive for residency and practice locations. Rads may be a good fit once I get a taste of the specialty. Path seems like a good fallback with a short residency, good QOL and lots of options for a career (autopsies, surgery, lab mgmt, R&D, education). I will definitely have to get in 20hrs or so of Rads job shadowing this summer so that I can see what it is really like.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Flying Out for the Family Vacation
The kids flew to Seattle last weekend and have been enjoying some time with Becky's family for the last few days. They are young that they still miss us a lot, especially Colton. So it will be nice to see them late tonight.
We're flying out after work for a nice week and a half of cool Seattle weather. I'll write of the events when we return.
Other than that, July has been pretty nondescript. I'm still working a lot in the lab trying to get good data. I'm learning a lot of techniques and cell biology, but hoping that we can really come up with some good data in the next few weeks.
Tucker and I, and Dan to some degree, have rebuilt our back porch. It's going to end up costing us over $1500 with the Home Depot supplies and dumpster, but it's looking much better. We still have to finish the outdoor shower, mister and gutters. For Tucker, I've purchased a PDA for him off Ebay that I need to configure and deliver after we return.
Other than that, Cedar is limping again (normal set-back for Valley Fever) so I'm not running a lot atm. I'm doing some reading; House of God or, when I can steal the book from Connor, the new Harry Potter. Oh, and I've been playing Pirates on Xbox, an early B-day present for Colton.
Time to get serious and start reading Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, watching some of the DVD lectures I purchased off Ebay and review some anatomy. I was awarded the Anatomy paid TAships for Fall (almost most probably Winter as well)! It will be a great review for boards and provide $30+ per hour. Not bad!
Whew. One last thought. It's a sign of the computer age that I have to pack FIVE(!) devices with their rechargeable batteries and cables on a vacation (LOL).
1) Notebook PC (e-mail, videos)
2) PDA (schedule, references)
3) Digital Camera
4) MP3 Player (audio lectures)
5) Cell Phone
No, this is normal. I'm not a flaming geek. I still pack books too :-).
We're flying out after work for a nice week and a half of cool Seattle weather. I'll write of the events when we return.
Other than that, July has been pretty nondescript. I'm still working a lot in the lab trying to get good data. I'm learning a lot of techniques and cell biology, but hoping that we can really come up with some good data in the next few weeks.
Tucker and I, and Dan to some degree, have rebuilt our back porch. It's going to end up costing us over $1500 with the Home Depot supplies and dumpster, but it's looking much better. We still have to finish the outdoor shower, mister and gutters. For Tucker, I've purchased a PDA for him off Ebay that I need to configure and deliver after we return.
Other than that, Cedar is limping again (normal set-back for Valley Fever) so I'm not running a lot atm. I'm doing some reading; House of God or, when I can steal the book from Connor, the new Harry Potter. Oh, and I've been playing Pirates on Xbox, an early B-day present for Colton.
Time to get serious and start reading Micro Made Ridiculously Simple, watching some of the DVD lectures I purchased off Ebay and review some anatomy. I was awarded the Anatomy paid TAships for Fall (almost most probably Winter as well)! It will be a great review for boards and provide $30+ per hour. Not bad!
Whew. One last thought. It's a sign of the computer age that I have to pack FIVE(!) devices with their rechargeable batteries and cables on a vacation (LOL).
1) Notebook PC (e-mail, videos)
2) PDA (schedule, references)
3) Digital Camera
4) MP3 Player (audio lectures)
5) Cell Phone
No, this is normal. I'm not a flaming geek. I still pack books too :-).
July's Epiphany
Becky has been saying my family is on "Grady" time since we were dating 14 years ago. She frequently reminds me that a) I was 45 minutes late to our first date and b) my brother is the only person she knows that missed his own B-day party.
Her family on the other hand, used to go postal if they weren't 15 minutes early - literally! She would get evil looks from her family if we arrived only on-time, which of course got feed back to me for the rest of the evening. The other two in-laws and myself have relaxed them somewhat, but they are still extreme.
This week I finally put these different philosophies of scheduling life into perspective. Becky and her family come from the CEO viewpoint. If time is up, you end whatever you're doing, make a decision and leave. My family, and a good part of the population, come from a Surgeon's viewpoint. You don't leave a job until you're darn sure that it is done to your satisfaction.
I think many medical students fall into this latter category because so many of us are Obsessive Compulsive. I remember not being able to change out my suit until I had picked up a couple hundred pine cones in my yard (almost every day!) or not being able to swim until I had removed every pine needle from the pool in our backyard. For an anon username Dr. OCD would be appropriate, but guaranteed that one has been used many times over!
Her family on the other hand, used to go postal if they weren't 15 minutes early - literally! She would get evil looks from her family if we arrived only on-time, which of course got feed back to me for the rest of the evening. The other two in-laws and myself have relaxed them somewhat, but they are still extreme.
This week I finally put these different philosophies of scheduling life into perspective. Becky and her family come from the CEO viewpoint. If time is up, you end whatever you're doing, make a decision and leave. My family, and a good part of the population, come from a Surgeon's viewpoint. You don't leave a job until you're darn sure that it is done to your satisfaction.
I think many medical students fall into this latter category because so many of us are Obsessive Compulsive. I remember not being able to change out my suit until I had picked up a couple hundred pine cones in my yard (almost every day!) or not being able to swim until I had removed every pine needle from the pool in our backyard. For an anon username Dr. OCD would be appropriate, but guaranteed that one has been used many times over!
Friday, July 15, 2005
July 2005
July flew by. I feel like I got even less done this month than in June. I'm doing more experiments, but not getting any useful data yet. I also haven't managed to get through many papers yet.
The job shadowing ended up going well. But it sounds like my preceptor might have been steering me away from RadOncs due to the competitiveness. I e-mailed someone at OHSU to see if DOs were welcome and she replied, yes, but that 140+ people apply for the ONE residency spot they have per year! UW has 2 and of the residents currently in training, two are DOs, but I get the feeling that I need a fallback.
I've started my residency program ranking spreadsheet which includes RadOnc, Rads and Path programs, in that order, at this point. A lot depends on Becky, since her JD career options would be greatly enhanced in CA. It sounds like we'll probably stay in the Western states but I definately need to do more research on programs; reputations, DO favorability, competitiveness, research, etc.
I finished my one video game for the summer, Jade Empire. It was ok, but nothing like an addictive MMORG. I also got some reading done. I'm trying to finish 'The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down' and 'House of God'. I finished my Biochem review book, so after I get done with those two, I need to jump on Micro Made Ridiculously Simple. I also purchased a Rio 6GB MP3 player on Ebay that I've been using to listen to lectures. I've got about 3GB of songs and 3GB of lectures and it's working well so far. To round out the geek factor, I re-installed my med software on my Pocket PC. Since I got my MP3 player, I had a whole 512 MB SD card to fill up with s/w I purchased off Ebay. Now I have just about three programs of everything.
Working out on the other hand, isn't going too well. We just got the pool up and running after the pump broke down. And the dogs are now in good enough shape to do some running with me. So hopefully I can work off a few pounds and get into a bit better shape before school starts in 6 weeks.
Tucker is helping me rebuild our porch in the backyard. Last weekend we tore off the roof and the 1/3 that is falling apart. Tomorrow, starting at 6am, we hope to get most of the structure complete so that all we have left is the roofing.
Only other event worth mentioning is that we spent the weekend before last at my father's in San Diego. Is was a fun trip and the boys had a good time. Colton even got to ride a horse for the first time.
That's it for now. Hopefully I'll have more to write about next month, a trip to Seattle, Miho moving in, great research results, finishing more review material and getting in decent shape. Shoot high right? :-)
The job shadowing ended up going well. But it sounds like my preceptor might have been steering me away from RadOncs due to the competitiveness. I e-mailed someone at OHSU to see if DOs were welcome and she replied, yes, but that 140+ people apply for the ONE residency spot they have per year! UW has 2 and of the residents currently in training, two are DOs, but I get the feeling that I need a fallback.
I've started my residency program ranking spreadsheet which includes RadOnc, Rads and Path programs, in that order, at this point. A lot depends on Becky, since her JD career options would be greatly enhanced in CA. It sounds like we'll probably stay in the Western states but I definately need to do more research on programs; reputations, DO favorability, competitiveness, research, etc.
I finished my one video game for the summer, Jade Empire. It was ok, but nothing like an addictive MMORG. I also got some reading done. I'm trying to finish 'The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down' and 'House of God'. I finished my Biochem review book, so after I get done with those two, I need to jump on Micro Made Ridiculously Simple. I also purchased a Rio 6GB MP3 player on Ebay that I've been using to listen to lectures. I've got about 3GB of songs and 3GB of lectures and it's working well so far. To round out the geek factor, I re-installed my med software on my Pocket PC. Since I got my MP3 player, I had a whole 512 MB SD card to fill up with s/w I purchased off Ebay. Now I have just about three programs of everything.
Working out on the other hand, isn't going too well. We just got the pool up and running after the pump broke down. And the dogs are now in good enough shape to do some running with me. So hopefully I can work off a few pounds and get into a bit better shape before school starts in 6 weeks.
Tucker is helping me rebuild our porch in the backyard. Last weekend we tore off the roof and the 1/3 that is falling apart. Tomorrow, starting at 6am, we hope to get most of the structure complete so that all we have left is the roofing.
Only other event worth mentioning is that we spent the weekend before last at my father's in San Diego. Is was a fun trip and the boys had a good time. Colton even got to ride a horse for the first time.
That's it for now. Hopefully I'll have more to write about next month, a trip to Seattle, Miho moving in, great research results, finishing more review material and getting in decent shape. Shoot high right? :-)
Saturday, June 25, 2005
June 2005
June is just about gone. I don't feel like I've accomplished alot, but it has been fairly relaxing.
To start, research has been frustrating. I've been muddling through experiments and am just now getting to do (and understand) some statistically relevant protocols. However, Dr. Jones left for vacation last week with a parting gift of 58 MB of papers for me to read, at least 50 or them. I just finished one today that was a bit disturbing. We should have found and read this one last quarter. They did exactly what I am proposing but with UVA and fibroblasts instead of clinical radiation and endothelial cells. Hopefully we'll be able to leverage their work (protocols and results). Since it was written in 1999, I'm a little afraid of how many more papers I need to read to catch up with what they've done since then.
I've also been job shadowing with Dr. Steinway, a RadOnc here in town, a couple mornings this week while Dr. Jones is on vacation. It has been interesting from a patient standpoint but a little disquieting on the career side. He even suggested I look at Radiology as a field with more opportunity and growth, even in patient treatment. The impression I got was that RadOnc is an expensive therapy of limited value not that genetics and chemotherapy have advanced so much. I need to look into all of this a lot more. I've had Rads (or Inv'l Rads) as a 2nd choice for a long time so that hasn't changed. It even came up Rads as my #1 match on a career questionnaire. But I don't really know that much about what they do and what the future for Rads looks like.
Not sure if I mentioned it, but my dog was finally diagnosed with Valley Fever. The good news is that he doesn't have a chronic joint problem and the treatment is only $33/mos for 6-9 mos vs. the $300/mos it was recently, before the patent ran out. He's doing much better and doesn't have to wear the sling we had him in for weekend, until it chafed his 'underarms' raw.
The boys are doing well and enjoying swimming. They have lessons in the morning and we swim in our pool most evenings. They are definitely improving and Connor is even interested in joining a swim team.
Last weekend I went to the American Medical Association Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS) convention in Chicago. As our school chapter's VP, I went with Jill (Prez) and roomed with Jason (former Prez) and Kohl (classmate). It was a great time. I especially enjoyed working with the UofA students and getting to know them. The meetings went well and DOs were definitely welcomed. Most of the fluff resolutions were struck down and the good ones passed. We got to meet several local physicians at a breakout room for the Arizona Medical Association (ARMA). I think that by getting our faces in front of some oldtimers we are doing a lot to improve perceptions of DOs. The weather in Chicago was incredible. And we got to see Navy Pier and the BodyWorlds show. The latter had plastinated cadavers posed to educate viewers on anatomy and function. I can't believe the show was protested in Germany where it started for desecrating the human body. It beautifully immortalized the human form. I also realized how much anatomy I've forgotten as Jill and I argued over names.
I still haven't finished Rapid Review Biochem but am getting some review in. Now I'm reading a couple pleasure books (e.g. Anatomy of Hope) and catching up on a lot of movies. I'm even close to finishing the one Xbox RPG I wanted to play this summer, Jade Empire.
Still, there's a lot to do this summer. Tucker is coming over tomorrow to help me replace 1/3 of the back porch that is falling apart. The plan is to tear down the weak part and create a list of supplies we need from Home Depot. I hope we can also replace the front brakes on our Accord since Tucker knows what he's doing there too. Hopefully his family and Dan/Miho are joining all of us for dinner tomorrow and some cool off time in the pool.
That's just one item of many on the todo list. We'll see how many I can get done with everything on the plate, such as the drive to San Diego with the family next weekend to see my Dad. Hopefully my new MP3 will get here by then so I can listen USMLE Step 1 lectures in the car.
That's it for now. I seem to be much more consistent on Student Doctor Network than here, but I'll try to improve.
To start, research has been frustrating. I've been muddling through experiments and am just now getting to do (and understand) some statistically relevant protocols. However, Dr. Jones left for vacation last week with a parting gift of 58 MB of papers for me to read, at least 50 or them. I just finished one today that was a bit disturbing. We should have found and read this one last quarter. They did exactly what I am proposing but with UVA and fibroblasts instead of clinical radiation and endothelial cells. Hopefully we'll be able to leverage their work (protocols and results). Since it was written in 1999, I'm a little afraid of how many more papers I need to read to catch up with what they've done since then.
I've also been job shadowing with Dr. Steinway, a RadOnc here in town, a couple mornings this week while Dr. Jones is on vacation. It has been interesting from a patient standpoint but a little disquieting on the career side. He even suggested I look at Radiology as a field with more opportunity and growth, even in patient treatment. The impression I got was that RadOnc is an expensive therapy of limited value not that genetics and chemotherapy have advanced so much. I need to look into all of this a lot more. I've had Rads (or Inv'l Rads) as a 2nd choice for a long time so that hasn't changed. It even came up Rads as my #1 match on a career questionnaire. But I don't really know that much about what they do and what the future for Rads looks like.
Not sure if I mentioned it, but my dog was finally diagnosed with Valley Fever. The good news is that he doesn't have a chronic joint problem and the treatment is only $33/mos for 6-9 mos vs. the $300/mos it was recently, before the patent ran out. He's doing much better and doesn't have to wear the sling we had him in for weekend, until it chafed his 'underarms' raw.
The boys are doing well and enjoying swimming. They have lessons in the morning and we swim in our pool most evenings. They are definitely improving and Connor is even interested in joining a swim team.
Last weekend I went to the American Medical Association Medical Student Section (AMA-MSS) convention in Chicago. As our school chapter's VP, I went with Jill (Prez) and roomed with Jason (former Prez) and Kohl (classmate). It was a great time. I especially enjoyed working with the UofA students and getting to know them. The meetings went well and DOs were definitely welcomed. Most of the fluff resolutions were struck down and the good ones passed. We got to meet several local physicians at a breakout room for the Arizona Medical Association (ARMA). I think that by getting our faces in front of some oldtimers we are doing a lot to improve perceptions of DOs. The weather in Chicago was incredible. And we got to see Navy Pier and the BodyWorlds show. The latter had plastinated cadavers posed to educate viewers on anatomy and function. I can't believe the show was protested in Germany where it started for desecrating the human body. It beautifully immortalized the human form. I also realized how much anatomy I've forgotten as Jill and I argued over names.
I still haven't finished Rapid Review Biochem but am getting some review in. Now I'm reading a couple pleasure books (e.g. Anatomy of Hope) and catching up on a lot of movies. I'm even close to finishing the one Xbox RPG I wanted to play this summer, Jade Empire.
Still, there's a lot to do this summer. Tucker is coming over tomorrow to help me replace 1/3 of the back porch that is falling apart. The plan is to tear down the weak part and create a list of supplies we need from Home Depot. I hope we can also replace the front brakes on our Accord since Tucker knows what he's doing there too. Hopefully his family and Dan/Miho are joining all of us for dinner tomorrow and some cool off time in the pool.
That's just one item of many on the todo list. We'll see how many I can get done with everything on the plate, such as the drive to San Diego with the family next weekend to see my Dad. Hopefully my new MP3 will get here by then so I can listen USMLE Step 1 lectures in the car.
That's it for now. I seem to be much more consistent on Student Doctor Network than here, but I'll try to improve.
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Two weeks gone already?
Jeez! I'm through two of my fourteen week vacation and what do I have to show for it?
Spent a few hundred bucks seeing a veternary surgical specialist for my almost three year golden Retreiver, who has to be one of the most expensive dogs in the world by now. At least we think we found the problem; a tear in his medial shoulder ligament. He's in a sling for the next two weeks which pretty much rules out a trip to the Grand Canyon next weekend. However, I really hope this cures Cedar. He's too young to be lame and suffering this much pain. And selfishly, I want to go running with him again.
The Fellowship is going ok. I am learning a ton and really enjoy working with Dr. Jones when he's available. However, I've had a string of bad electrophoresis experiments. We're going to try another Monday and Friday we'll irradiate some newly glycated samples. I'm really crossing my fingers that this week things will start to turn around. I need to start getting some results. I also started working with cells, so I hope we can finish up the protein work and concentrate on cells soon.
Tomorrow is a combined B-day pool party for the boys. I hope we have a decent turnout. Most of their friends are already traveling and can't make it. They just got out of school yesterday! The noteworthy event there was an assembly where Connor got on the Principal's list for having a 3.75 or higher GPA. They only start tracking GPAs in Third Grade so Colton wasn't eligible for it.
Oh, last weekend, during a Memorial Day sale Becky & I ended up purchasing a Polaroid 26" HDTV, the flat panel LCD kind. It's very cool and we got a great price for it. Since it's wide angle, the picture is about the same size as our 31" CRT that is sitting in the corner now. We also started a free trial on Netflix so we've been watching a ton of movies. I even got around to signing up at the Glendale library. I purchased a couple of used books and borrowed 5 DVDs (the max).
Schoolwise, I'm catching up on Student Doctor Network (SDN) threads and giving a lot of advice to up-and-coming MSIs. I'm about 1/2 through my Biochem review book but presently am sidetracked with a Cancer book I got at the library for a buck. It's on alternative and complementary therapies which will be good information for a DO Oncologist to have.
That's about it. I need to exercise more, get started on home repair projects and make better progress on reviewing didactics from last year. That leaves a lot of room for improvement :-).
Spent a few hundred bucks seeing a veternary surgical specialist for my almost three year golden Retreiver, who has to be one of the most expensive dogs in the world by now. At least we think we found the problem; a tear in his medial shoulder ligament. He's in a sling for the next two weeks which pretty much rules out a trip to the Grand Canyon next weekend. However, I really hope this cures Cedar. He's too young to be lame and suffering this much pain. And selfishly, I want to go running with him again.
The Fellowship is going ok. I am learning a ton and really enjoy working with Dr. Jones when he's available. However, I've had a string of bad electrophoresis experiments. We're going to try another Monday and Friday we'll irradiate some newly glycated samples. I'm really crossing my fingers that this week things will start to turn around. I need to start getting some results. I also started working with cells, so I hope we can finish up the protein work and concentrate on cells soon.
Tomorrow is a combined B-day pool party for the boys. I hope we have a decent turnout. Most of their friends are already traveling and can't make it. They just got out of school yesterday! The noteworthy event there was an assembly where Connor got on the Principal's list for having a 3.75 or higher GPA. They only start tracking GPAs in Third Grade so Colton wasn't eligible for it.
Oh, last weekend, during a Memorial Day sale Becky & I ended up purchasing a Polaroid 26" HDTV, the flat panel LCD kind. It's very cool and we got a great price for it. Since it's wide angle, the picture is about the same size as our 31" CRT that is sitting in the corner now. We also started a free trial on Netflix so we've been watching a ton of movies. I even got around to signing up at the Glendale library. I purchased a couple of used books and borrowed 5 DVDs (the max).
Schoolwise, I'm catching up on Student Doctor Network (SDN) threads and giving a lot of advice to up-and-coming MSIs. I'm about 1/2 through my Biochem review book but presently am sidetracked with a Cancer book I got at the library for a buck. It's on alternative and complementary therapies which will be good information for a DO Oncologist to have.
That's about it. I need to exercise more, get started on home repair projects and make better progress on reviewing didactics from last year. That leaves a lot of room for improvement :-).
Monday, May 23, 2005
First Year is Over!
Lot to cover in the three I haven't managed to update this site. So the big thing is that last Friday was one of those incredible days that I won't soon forget.
First, I finished MSI with an effort I can be proud of. Second, Colton (like his older brother) tested for the TAG gifted program his first time (as a 1st Grader). Finally, Becky passed the California Bar! Wow, what a day.
Now for a few more details. The couple weeks were hard but I managed to again pick up my average. Not all the grades are in, but it looks like I got between a 94 and 95% for an overall of 93%. I'm pretty happy with that. Kinda stinks that OMM is dragging me down, but after blowing one test in my main courses (Neuro, Immuno and Phys) I think I recovered well. Immuno was probably the most frustrating test of finals week because we had so little time to study 400+ slides of information. I assumed that like test #3 they would ask nit-picky questions, but I did very well on that test and feel it was fair.
This weekend I slept a lot, swam in the pool (110 degree weather does wonders for the pool temp!). Now I need to get back into shape and lose a few pounds. I started my summer research Fellowship today and learned how to run an electrophoresis experiment. The silver stain didn't turn out well, so I get to try again tomorrow with a different stain and see if we can nail down a glycation protocol that consistently creates AGEs.
On the extracurricular side of life, we are still trying to plan summer vacations for the family. But I do have a trip to the AMA Medical Student Section convention. As the VP I will representing the school with Jill (Pres) and Jason (former VP). It should be fun. Friday, right after finals, I had a great meeting with some AZCOM bigwigs (Assist. Dean AZCOM, Dean Student Affairs, club sponsor Dr. Jones), the other club officers and an investor who is supporting the club. He's a Hem/Onc DO I plan to have as my preceptor next year. We had a great meeting covering what we've accomplished so far and what we hope to accomplish next year.
I realize I have said this before, but I will try to get some more pictures up soon. Last time, the software kept crashing my mouse everytime I tried to upload one. Hopefully I can overcome that for posterity's sake.
Oh, Star Wars III was good but kind of a disappointment. Great effects, but horrible acting and dialogue and only passable storyline. I'm slowly nailing down to-do's but surprised to feel more motivated to study (review last year's subjects) than to exercise. It could have something to do with the heat though. Running or biking is not enticing in 110 degrees weather. My riptide (bungee cord) swim workouts are passable, but not 'real' workouts.
That's enough for now. Feels great to be an MSII. It feels even better to be an MSII with a good direction (RadOnc) and a strategy to get there (clubs, research, decent grades, early studying for Boards). I'm jealous of the MSIIIs cramming their last week before COMLEX, but it's time to enjoy a little break.
First, I finished MSI with an effort I can be proud of. Second, Colton (like his older brother) tested for the TAG gifted program his first time (as a 1st Grader). Finally, Becky passed the California Bar! Wow, what a day.
Now for a few more details. The couple weeks were hard but I managed to again pick up my average. Not all the grades are in, but it looks like I got between a 94 and 95% for an overall of 93%. I'm pretty happy with that. Kinda stinks that OMM is dragging me down, but after blowing one test in my main courses (Neuro, Immuno and Phys) I think I recovered well. Immuno was probably the most frustrating test of finals week because we had so little time to study 400+ slides of information. I assumed that like test #3 they would ask nit-picky questions, but I did very well on that test and feel it was fair.
This weekend I slept a lot, swam in the pool (110 degree weather does wonders for the pool temp!). Now I need to get back into shape and lose a few pounds. I started my summer research Fellowship today and learned how to run an electrophoresis experiment. The silver stain didn't turn out well, so I get to try again tomorrow with a different stain and see if we can nail down a glycation protocol that consistently creates AGEs.
On the extracurricular side of life, we are still trying to plan summer vacations for the family. But I do have a trip to the AMA Medical Student Section convention. As the VP I will representing the school with Jill (Pres) and Jason (former VP). It should be fun. Friday, right after finals, I had a great meeting with some AZCOM bigwigs (Assist. Dean AZCOM, Dean Student Affairs, club sponsor Dr. Jones), the other club officers and an investor who is supporting the club. He's a Hem/Onc DO I plan to have as my preceptor next year. We had a great meeting covering what we've accomplished so far and what we hope to accomplish next year.
I realize I have said this before, but I will try to get some more pictures up soon. Last time, the software kept crashing my mouse everytime I tried to upload one. Hopefully I can overcome that for posterity's sake.
Oh, Star Wars III was good but kind of a disappointment. Great effects, but horrible acting and dialogue and only passable storyline. I'm slowly nailing down to-do's but surprised to feel more motivated to study (review last year's subjects) than to exercise. It could have something to do with the heat though. Running or biking is not enticing in 110 degrees weather. My riptide (bungee cord) swim workouts are passable, but not 'real' workouts.
That's enough for now. Feels great to be an MSII. It feels even better to be an MSII with a good direction (RadOnc) and a strategy to get there (clubs, research, decent grades, early studying for Boards). I'm jealous of the MSIIIs cramming their last week before COMLEX, but it's time to enjoy a little break.
Sunday, May 08, 2005
Been a while...
Not a lot to report. Had a hard week and a half after blowing a Phys test. I knew respiratory phys, but only got a 84%, then got slammed like 99% of the class on a Immuno test later that week (81% with an avg. of 74%).
Did better last week on our ICM final with a 96%. And studying hard now for our written OMM final on Monday.
Other than that, zapped my first samples on Friday (proteins) so this week I'll get see do some new stuff in the lab studying them. The MS-IIs had their last class on Friday and I am really jealous.
Oh, the Oncology club is going well. We had a great meeting with our first speaker and then a fun time at our first community event, the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. I'm hoping we get to meet with a contributor to the school next week who is an oncologist. He sounded open to being my Preceptor next year.
And I got elected to VP for the school's AMA Chapter so I get a couple free networking trips to the national meetings. I hope we can live up to our predecessors example. The last President managed to the President of the AMA to AZCOM this year, the first time an AMA President has ever spoken at an Osteopathic school.
I doubt I'm going to have much time to write until after finals but hopefully I can provide a better update then - and some more pictures.
Did better last week on our ICM final with a 96%. And studying hard now for our written OMM final on Monday.
Other than that, zapped my first samples on Friday (proteins) so this week I'll get see do some new stuff in the lab studying them. The MS-IIs had their last class on Friday and I am really jealous.
Oh, the Oncology club is going well. We had a great meeting with our first speaker and then a fun time at our first community event, the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. I'm hoping we get to meet with a contributor to the school next week who is an oncologist. He sounded open to being my Preceptor next year.
And I got elected to VP for the school's AMA Chapter so I get a couple free networking trips to the national meetings. I hope we can live up to our predecessors example. The last President managed to the President of the AMA to AZCOM this year, the first time an AMA President has ever spoken at an Osteopathic school.
I doubt I'm going to have much time to write until after finals but hopefully I can provide a better update then - and some more pictures.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Weekly update
Last week went by with a few interesting events but routine for the most part. Monday's Physiology test went ok, I got 93.5% with one blank answer that I still have to check on. I'm betting this is the third time I forgot to transfer an answer from my test to the scantron. But hopefully the form reader just missed my 'correct' response.
We also had tests in ICM and Human Behavior. I studied way too much for these. As in about three times more than most of my classmates! I actually outlined every lecture for both classes trying to break in the new laptop. We still haven't received our grades yet on either of these, but I better have done decently or I will be fuming mad. However, ICM is such a poorly run class that I won't be surprised by anything. Their lectures, lecture notes, test questions and labs rank at the bottom of my experiences here at AZCOM.
On an intesting note, instead of doing something to improve ICM, the powers that be fired our OMM guru. He's been here since the beginning and hired the entire team of instructors including the Dean (who's the guru in reputation only). I guess the complaints about last quarter's final, the OMM department's response to it and their follow-up were turned on Dr. Ross. Someone mentioned our President Dr. G. has been out to fire Dr. Ross for a long time. It's too bad because Dr. Ross was a great instructor and well liked. Our class' complaints were probably overboard but regardless they were directed at the departments admin gal who comes across as incompetent. If it had to go up the ranks, the Dean should have taken the fall IMHO. The MSI and MSII classes signed a petition to support Dr. Ross, but it won't do any good. We can only hope Dr. Ross will be around for preceptorships, guest lectures and rotations.
Monday's test is in Neuroscience. I was feeling totally behind and quite stressed Friday since I spent SO much time on ICM and Human Behavior. But I got through almost all the lectures last night and today. I have two more lectures on Occulomotor pathways I hope to finish tonight. But at the moment I have my dad, stepmom, brother and his significant other over for dinner. I'm feeling a lot more confident about the test, but would really like to finish the last two lectures so I can start tomorrow having reviewed all the lectures at least once. I give it a 50/50 shot at this point since it's 9pm now.
Oh, I tried to upload more pictures, but Google's Picaso software kept locking up my mouse. I'll keep trying.
We also had tests in ICM and Human Behavior. I studied way too much for these. As in about three times more than most of my classmates! I actually outlined every lecture for both classes trying to break in the new laptop. We still haven't received our grades yet on either of these, but I better have done decently or I will be fuming mad. However, ICM is such a poorly run class that I won't be surprised by anything. Their lectures, lecture notes, test questions and labs rank at the bottom of my experiences here at AZCOM.
On an intesting note, instead of doing something to improve ICM, the powers that be fired our OMM guru. He's been here since the beginning and hired the entire team of instructors including the Dean (who's the guru in reputation only). I guess the complaints about last quarter's final, the OMM department's response to it and their follow-up were turned on Dr. Ross. Someone mentioned our President Dr. G. has been out to fire Dr. Ross for a long time. It's too bad because Dr. Ross was a great instructor and well liked. Our class' complaints were probably overboard but regardless they were directed at the departments admin gal who comes across as incompetent. If it had to go up the ranks, the Dean should have taken the fall IMHO. The MSI and MSII classes signed a petition to support Dr. Ross, but it won't do any good. We can only hope Dr. Ross will be around for preceptorships, guest lectures and rotations.
Monday's test is in Neuroscience. I was feeling totally behind and quite stressed Friday since I spent SO much time on ICM and Human Behavior. But I got through almost all the lectures last night and today. I have two more lectures on Occulomotor pathways I hope to finish tonight. But at the moment I have my dad, stepmom, brother and his significant other over for dinner. I'm feeling a lot more confident about the test, but would really like to finish the last two lectures so I can start tomorrow having reviewed all the lectures at least once. I give it a 50/50 shot at this point since it's 9pm now.
Oh, I tried to upload more pictures, but Google's Picaso software kept locking up my mouse. I'll keep trying.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Notebook up and running a good thing?
Well I finally got my new Dell 700m subnotebook up and running. But I probably spent too much time working on it over the last week, and I'm not sure that I'm not using it as efficiently as I should be at this point.
A big Phys test is on Monday and I'm not even through the notes the first time yet! Far from it in fact. Besides starting too late, studying the lecture notes and outlining them on the PC as I go seems slow. And I don't notice any huge improvements in retention.
So it's going to be a long night. Tomorrow will be even longer since I'll probably have to spend the morning finishing my first time through, then reviewing everything. Ugh.
Next week doesn't look any better. After Monday's test, I have a H.O.M.E. community deal where I'm doing physicals on kids (I think) at a women's shelter. Tuesday is my preceptor day. Then Thursday is an ICM test and Friday a Human Behavior test. What a great way to kick off the weekend before a big Neuroscience test the following Monday! The same weekend my Dad is coming in town :(.
What else is going on? A new series called Grey's Anatomy started this pretty good after two episodes. The puppy has been a great addition to the family (see pictures). The boys are loving soccer and we're are enjoying watching them play (I took a break this morning and watched Colton's game). My research should be getting kicked off this week now that I've submitted the Fellowship application and acquired a couple protocols to start with. I still need to get in touch with a local radiologist for that too.
The Oncology Club is going well so far. I sent out an e-mail on Friday to get volunteers for an anti-smoking education thing we are doing with the American Cancer Society at their Relay For Life event at the Peoria Sports Complex. I hope to get some interest from Pharm and PA students as well as DOs. There seemed to be a lot of interest at an Integrated Oncology lunch meeting yesterday, so my hopes are up. Dean Kosinski even ordered a couple cool manikins for demonstrations.
Oh, I am now officially through half of the quarter, my last one for year one! I can't wait for Summer!
This quarter has been strange in a few that are worth mentioning before I forget. The OMM department has been absentee a lot (Convocation and guest lecturers) plus admin screw-ups in their dept. have really reduced enthusiasm for the subject in the whole class. Find it and Fix it practicals are looming and I fell less prepared than the end of last quarter. I have now taken blood from a fellow student and gotten better at my H & Ps courtesy of practice for my TOPS elective. It seems like electives, clubs and community stuff have filled free afternoons we aren't spending in the anatomy lab - plus some.
Past time to get studying until Becky gets home. Then off to school for studying until midnight or so...
A big Phys test is on Monday and I'm not even through the notes the first time yet! Far from it in fact. Besides starting too late, studying the lecture notes and outlining them on the PC as I go seems slow. And I don't notice any huge improvements in retention.
So it's going to be a long night. Tomorrow will be even longer since I'll probably have to spend the morning finishing my first time through, then reviewing everything. Ugh.
Next week doesn't look any better. After Monday's test, I have a H.O.M.E. community deal where I'm doing physicals on kids (I think) at a women's shelter. Tuesday is my preceptor day. Then Thursday is an ICM test and Friday a Human Behavior test. What a great way to kick off the weekend before a big Neuroscience test the following Monday! The same weekend my Dad is coming in town :(.
What else is going on? A new series called Grey's Anatomy started this pretty good after two episodes. The puppy has been a great addition to the family (see pictures). The boys are loving soccer and we're are enjoying watching them play (I took a break this morning and watched Colton's game). My research should be getting kicked off this week now that I've submitted the Fellowship application and acquired a couple protocols to start with. I still need to get in touch with a local radiologist for that too.
The Oncology Club is going well so far. I sent out an e-mail on Friday to get volunteers for an anti-smoking education thing we are doing with the American Cancer Society at their Relay For Life event at the Peoria Sports Complex. I hope to get some interest from Pharm and PA students as well as DOs. There seemed to be a lot of interest at an Integrated Oncology lunch meeting yesterday, so my hopes are up. Dean Kosinski even ordered a couple cool manikins for demonstrations.
Oh, I am now officially through half of the quarter, my last one for year one! I can't wait for Summer!
This quarter has been strange in a few that are worth mentioning before I forget. The OMM department has been absentee a lot (Convocation and guest lecturers) plus admin screw-ups in their dept. have really reduced enthusiasm for the subject in the whole class. Find it and Fix it practicals are looming and I fell less prepared than the end of last quarter. I have now taken blood from a fellow student and gotten better at my H & Ps courtesy of practice for my TOPS elective. It seems like electives, clubs and community stuff have filled free afternoons we aren't spending in the anatomy lab - plus some.
Past time to get studying until Becky gets home. Then off to school for studying until midnight or so...
Monday, April 04, 2005
Another Monday test down
I had thought that Immuno would be easier after the first test. After about 20 hours this weekend to study seven lectures I've changed my mind. On the good side, I did get 96% on the test. I guess Tucker and I over studied a bit.
The funny part is that I meant to get up at 5:30am and have a good two hours to review at the student lounge before the 8am test. However, when I looked at the wall clock around what I thought was 7am I saw that it was actually 6am! My alarm clock has some FM connection with the atomic clock and thought I was on Daylight Savings so I it woke me up an hour early. My 5.5 hours sleep was reduced to less than 4.5 hours with Becky's coughing. Let's just say I did the best I could on the test and then skipped out on Phys for a two hour nap at home so I would be functional for Neuro. That ended up being the best choice I think as I actually got a lot out of Neuro on vision clinical correlates.
Other than that, I'm trying to get my new Dell subnotebook up and running since the OEM driver CDs came in the mail today (in case I didn't mention it last time, I managed to crash the OS last week with Windows Media Player). I also made a good contact at the American Cancer Society at today's on-campus charity event, Cuts For Kids. I'm hoping the Oncology can support a relay the ACS is sponsoring at the Peoria Sports Complex on April 30th. My idea, which I need to pass by administration, is to use our anti-smoking education kit and man a table or two at the relay to educate kids and families. It would be a great way to get the club off and running.
Not a lot more to mention for now. Artemis is growing like crazy. Becky is pretty much over the crud (first day at work for her in over a week). The Boys' Parent-Teacher Conferences tonight went spectacularly (they are both academic stars :-). More later I guess.
The funny part is that I meant to get up at 5:30am and have a good two hours to review at the student lounge before the 8am test. However, when I looked at the wall clock around what I thought was 7am I saw that it was actually 6am! My alarm clock has some FM connection with the atomic clock and thought I was on Daylight Savings so I it woke me up an hour early. My 5.5 hours sleep was reduced to less than 4.5 hours with Becky's coughing. Let's just say I did the best I could on the test and then skipped out on Phys for a two hour nap at home so I would be functional for Neuro. That ended up being the best choice I think as I actually got a lot out of Neuro on vision clinical correlates.
Other than that, I'm trying to get my new Dell subnotebook up and running since the OEM driver CDs came in the mail today (in case I didn't mention it last time, I managed to crash the OS last week with Windows Media Player). I also made a good contact at the American Cancer Society at today's on-campus charity event, Cuts For Kids. I'm hoping the Oncology can support a relay the ACS is sponsoring at the Peoria Sports Complex on April 30th. My idea, which I need to pass by administration, is to use our anti-smoking education kit and man a table or two at the relay to educate kids and families. It would be a great way to get the club off and running.
Not a lot more to mention for now. Artemis is growing like crazy. Becky is pretty much over the crud (first day at work for her in over a week). The Boys' Parent-Teacher Conferences tonight went spectacularly (they are both academic stars :-). More later I guess.
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Nero exam #1
I am becoming too consistent. I had hoped to build some padding into my Neuro exam as the second year students suggested. Instead I hit my average of 94.5%. I somehow missed three on the written and forgot to transcribe one answer to my scantron, so I need to go to the review. But my score probably won't change.
Other than that, it's been a slow week. I received my new Dell subnotebook in the mail and wasted some time setting it up. Then this morning I found out it crashed while organizing my songs' tags. I may have to re-install the OS, but I'm hoping the repair process can fix the corrupted files.
Dr. Jones is finishing up my Fellowship application tomorrow. I hear there's a bit of a competition for the awards, but I'm hopeful that I'll "win". Anyway, I'm hosting a planning meeting for the Oncology Club tomorrow. I hope it goes well as I would really like a strong start and some plans on the schedule this Spring (guest speakers) and next year (Club week).
Last but not least, Becky got the kids' flu and has been under the weather so I've been watching the kids too. Bottom line is that I haven't gotten much studying done. Other that preparing for my Physiology presentation today, I haven't really done any studying. That sure needs to change.
Oh, had my Preceptorship afternoon (#2 of 4) yesterday and that was interesting. Interesting patients and a great Physician sure make it worthwhile, even if I'm getting much H&P or exam experience. Tomorrow evening I have a formal, simulated-patient, H&P exam for my clinical correlates class. In other words, this weekend is going to be full of studying.
Other than that, it's been a slow week. I received my new Dell subnotebook in the mail and wasted some time setting it up. Then this morning I found out it crashed while organizing my songs' tags. I may have to re-install the OS, but I'm hoping the repair process can fix the corrupted files.
Dr. Jones is finishing up my Fellowship application tomorrow. I hear there's a bit of a competition for the awards, but I'm hopeful that I'll "win". Anyway, I'm hosting a planning meeting for the Oncology Club tomorrow. I hope it goes well as I would really like a strong start and some plans on the schedule this Spring (guest speakers) and next year (Club week).
Last but not least, Becky got the kids' flu and has been under the weather so I've been watching the kids too. Bottom line is that I haven't gotten much studying done. Other that preparing for my Physiology presentation today, I haven't really done any studying. That sure needs to change.
Oh, had my Preceptorship afternoon (#2 of 4) yesterday and that was interesting. Interesting patients and a great Physician sure make it worthwhile, even if I'm getting much H&P or exam experience. Tomorrow evening I have a formal, simulated-patient, H&P exam for my clinical correlates class. In other words, this weekend is going to be full of studying.
Friday, March 25, 2005
Week 3 down
The weeks are going by faster now. I guess everything isn't so new. In fact this week was especially routine. On the bright side, I got back my first Immuno and Phys tests. While they weren't as high as I'd hoped, I'm not going to shed any tears over 94%+.
The rest of the week was studying, dealing with sick kids and studying for Monday's Neuro test. Well studying between freaking out over the ambiguous, unintuitive and and highly verbose nomenclature. Everything has three names; one after a dead guy, one the 'nerve' group it belongs to and an odd one just for kicks. Eight hours of doctorate level lectures a week on any topic is just crazy.
In fact, I should be studying now. I have three lectures more to review to get through all seventeen in this unit for the first time! That's 6-7 hours before I can start reviewing, which I really have no clue how to do. It's going to be a long weekend of going over the information time after time in hopes that it all starts to sink in. And somehow I have to fit in time for Connor's B-day and Easter.
Anyway, not a lot more to report. I'm making a little progress on my Fellowship proposal. But I still need to finish slides for a Phys case, line up CT & X-ray time with a local radiological group and get the Oncology club going. First meeting is scheduled for next week. I still have to send out an e-mail on that and try to ensure that turnout is good so we can make some progress this year.
That's about it. I'm riding my bike most days, but it's not enough to start taking some of the freshman weight off. The weather is great so I'm enjoying it. But it's going to take swimming in the pool when the water warms up and regular runs/rides after school is out. Of course I'm still reserving starvation as an option. I need to take this weight off before next year starts. It's going to be very hard to exercise and will be followed by Boards and then Rotations with no time to focus on exercise and shedding weight.
Ok, that's enough procrastinating. Time to head back to the student lounge and see I can get through two lectures this evening.
The rest of the week was studying, dealing with sick kids and studying for Monday's Neuro test. Well studying between freaking out over the ambiguous, unintuitive and and highly verbose nomenclature. Everything has three names; one after a dead guy, one the 'nerve' group it belongs to and an odd one just for kicks. Eight hours of doctorate level lectures a week on any topic is just crazy.
In fact, I should be studying now. I have three lectures more to review to get through all seventeen in this unit for the first time! That's 6-7 hours before I can start reviewing, which I really have no clue how to do. It's going to be a long weekend of going over the information time after time in hopes that it all starts to sink in. And somehow I have to fit in time for Connor's B-day and Easter.
Anyway, not a lot more to report. I'm making a little progress on my Fellowship proposal. But I still need to finish slides for a Phys case, line up CT & X-ray time with a local radiological group and get the Oncology club going. First meeting is scheduled for next week. I still have to send out an e-mail on that and try to ensure that turnout is good so we can make some progress this year.
That's about it. I'm riding my bike most days, but it's not enough to start taking some of the freshman weight off. The weather is great so I'm enjoying it. But it's going to take swimming in the pool when the water warms up and regular runs/rides after school is out. Of course I'm still reserving starvation as an option. I need to take this weight off before next year starts. It's going to be very hard to exercise and will be followed by Boards and then Rotations with no time to focus on exercise and shedding weight.
Ok, that's enough procrastinating. Time to head back to the student lounge and see I can get through two lectures this evening.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Friday, March 18, 2005
Second week down...
Wow, these weeks are rolling right along. I aced the Neuro quiz on Monday (it was easy) and think I did ok on today's Immuno test. But after three nights of <5 hours sleep I'm burnt out.
In other words I'm way behind for Monday's Physiology test. It's on 9 lectures so there's a lot to cover in two days. I just hope I can rebound tomorrow and get focused Satuday and Sunday. Then I'll have a week to catch-up in neuro (on over a dozen lectures). And after that the real fun begins with test after test for a couple weeks.
Somehow I have to fit research, oncology club and the family into this too. Oh, and did I mention that my B-day (today as a matter of fact) my wife dragged to a road side sale of "purebred" Golden Retrievers. We now have a new addition to the family that everyone is getting used to. Cedar was pretty upset initially (throwing up and now eating are far from normal for him). Now they are pals and Cedar is teaching good manners and tug-of-war. Julie has pretty much taken over training him. And got to name him and after several attempts we agreed on Artemis, from the Artemis Fowl books the boys love so much.
As for my B-day, we took Colton to the NextCare clinic (just a virus), purchased an ice cream cake and opened that presents that consisted of collars and leases for Artemis. I'm also shopping for a notebook or Tablet PC. I also got reminded by my mother-in-law in a loving way (!) that I'm only 365 days to 40!
Let's see if I can finally get those photos I promised uploaded.
In other words I'm way behind for Monday's Physiology test. It's on 9 lectures so there's a lot to cover in two days. I just hope I can rebound tomorrow and get focused Satuday and Sunday. Then I'll have a week to catch-up in neuro (on over a dozen lectures). And after that the real fun begins with test after test for a couple weeks.
Somehow I have to fit research, oncology club and the family into this too. Oh, and did I mention that my B-day (today as a matter of fact) my wife dragged to a road side sale of "purebred" Golden Retrievers. We now have a new addition to the family that everyone is getting used to. Cedar was pretty upset initially (throwing up and now eating are far from normal for him). Now they are pals and Cedar is teaching good manners and tug-of-war. Julie has pretty much taken over training him. And got to name him and after several attempts we agreed on Artemis, from the Artemis Fowl books the boys love so much.
As for my B-day, we took Colton to the NextCare clinic (just a virus), purchased an ice cream cake and opened that presents that consisted of collars and leases for Artemis. I'm also shopping for a notebook or Tablet PC. I also got reminded by my mother-in-law in a loving way (!) that I'm only 365 days to 40!
Let's see if I can finally get those photos I promised uploaded.
Saturday, March 12, 2005
First week down
Finished the first week of third quarter. It was a lot of hard work and errands.
Neuroscience is going to take a ton of time if week one is any indication. I studied it exclusively for the first three nights. We have to learn a new language for the practical test (quiz) on Monday. Immunology feels like a new language too, so I've spent a couple nights on it; reading the text and struggling through the lectures.
I haven't even cracked the Phys notes yet. But found out why I did so bad on last quarter's final. I forgot to transcribe the last page of answers (4 questions) to my scantron. Since I had the correct answers circled, I would have had an 88% instead of 75%, raising my class grade to 94% vs. 92%. Live and learn.
I also got a whole bunch of busy stuff taken care of. For my research, I had the safety lecture, got my card for access to the lab and went through thawing cells into culture flasks a couple times. Dr. Jones is back on Tuesday, so I hope to run through it on my own then. In the meantime I'm supposed to read a dozen journal articles (about 10 to go) and a couple chapters in a cell culture protocols book. One credit elective seems awfully low at this pace.
Also, I'm the new President of the Oncology Club. I started the week as the VHF, but the Prez and founder is a SGA (student gov) officer and an MS-2, so he can't hold the office. We had a good meeting with a community support group and a couple of our deans about an Oncology/Chronic Care elective for next spring. Now, I need to organize some of Brian's ideas: anti-smoking campaign, opening membership campus-wide, inviting guest speakers to campus (Onc pharm, radiation onc, Peds onc, etc.) and any other ideas Dean Kosinski has. A fellow MS-1 is interested in being VP and a MS-3 going for Rad Onc is Treasurer. Dr. Jones might even be our faculty sponsor. So I hope to have a meeting this quarter to organize things and prioritize our objectives. I also hope to keep Brian involved in an unofficial capacity.
Anyway, Becky's brothers finished their cancer fund raising bike ride from Seattle to here and are going to be guests at today's Mariner Spring Training game. They entertained the boys yesterday (boys played hooky) and now I'm going to take some time off from studying to see the game with everyone. Dan (my bro) and Miho are going to attend to, then take the boys for an overnight sleep-over. Becky, her siblings and I are then going to have dinner somewhere. Should be fun and after studying hard all week, I deserve a break :-).
Tomorrow I'll be back at it: a lot of neuro, review the last immuno lecture and hopefully get started on phys. I'm liking no labs and getting off at 2pm. Maybe this week I'll be able to use some of that time for studying instead of just taking care of errands. I even rode my bike to school four days this last week. Oh, and Tuesday I have a new Preceptor to work with here in town, so no bike commute and tie/white coat attire.
Whew!
Neuroscience is going to take a ton of time if week one is any indication. I studied it exclusively for the first three nights. We have to learn a new language for the practical test (quiz) on Monday. Immunology feels like a new language too, so I've spent a couple nights on it; reading the text and struggling through the lectures.
I haven't even cracked the Phys notes yet. But found out why I did so bad on last quarter's final. I forgot to transcribe the last page of answers (4 questions) to my scantron. Since I had the correct answers circled, I would have had an 88% instead of 75%, raising my class grade to 94% vs. 92%. Live and learn.
I also got a whole bunch of busy stuff taken care of. For my research, I had the safety lecture, got my card for access to the lab and went through thawing cells into culture flasks a couple times. Dr. Jones is back on Tuesday, so I hope to run through it on my own then. In the meantime I'm supposed to read a dozen journal articles (about 10 to go) and a couple chapters in a cell culture protocols book. One credit elective seems awfully low at this pace.
Also, I'm the new President of the Oncology Club. I started the week as the VHF, but the Prez and founder is a SGA (student gov) officer and an MS-2, so he can't hold the office. We had a good meeting with a community support group and a couple of our deans about an Oncology/Chronic Care elective for next spring. Now, I need to organize some of Brian's ideas: anti-smoking campaign, opening membership campus-wide, inviting guest speakers to campus (Onc pharm, radiation onc, Peds onc, etc.) and any other ideas Dean Kosinski has. A fellow MS-1 is interested in being VP and a MS-3 going for Rad Onc is Treasurer. Dr. Jones might even be our faculty sponsor. So I hope to have a meeting this quarter to organize things and prioritize our objectives. I also hope to keep Brian involved in an unofficial capacity.
Anyway, Becky's brothers finished their cancer fund raising bike ride from Seattle to here and are going to be guests at today's Mariner Spring Training game. They entertained the boys yesterday (boys played hooky) and now I'm going to take some time off from studying to see the game with everyone. Dan (my bro) and Miho are going to attend to, then take the boys for an overnight sleep-over. Becky, her siblings and I are then going to have dinner somewhere. Should be fun and after studying hard all week, I deserve a break :-).
Tomorrow I'll be back at it: a lot of neuro, review the last immuno lecture and hopefully get started on phys. I'm liking no labs and getting off at 2pm. Maybe this week I'll be able to use some of that time for studying instead of just taking care of errands. I even rode my bike to school four days this last week. Oh, and Tuesday I have a new Preceptor to work with here in town, so no bike commute and tie/white coat attire.
Whew!
Friday, March 04, 2005
Aced my last couple tests!
Got my grades back. My Biochem was only 90% as that 85% on the last test hurt. My Physiology got knocked down to 92% from 95%, but the piss-poor 75% on the last test normally would have hurt a lot more. Ok results, but I am disappointed in those two tests. I reviewed my Biochem test today on campus; no big surprises. A couple dumb mistakes, several "studied the wrong material" questions and two that were very poorly worded. One a true/false, only 25% got it right! Now you know something is wrong there, but they won't change it. That department certainly deserved the negative reviews I gave them. I will be checking on the Physiology score next week when the Prof for the Dept is back in town. Something is wrong when I drop 20% on one test.
Better news on Histo and Gross though! I just about aced Histo to pull out a 92% even though I had an 85% going in from the one previous test. Gross I pulled out a 94% overall and about that on the final. I'm very pleased. My cumulative GPA went up .5. I'll never make the top 10 in the class, but I should be well above the mean. And hopefully, board scores will helped by my efforts now.
Finally, had a good meeting on campus today with my summer research sponsor, Dr. 'Buck' Jones and a representative of the Amer Diabetes Assoc. Sounds like we have a great shot at an Innovation Research Grant. Even better, he said that he hasn't heard of anyone doing similar research so we might in fact be onto something orginal enough to be publishable! As part of my Spring elective, I have to get started on writing my application for a school Fellowship and I have a tour of the research lab (including safety lecture) scheduled with Dr. Jones for Monday afternoon. I'm really looking forward to getting started on this. This will really help my CV and provide my the opportunity to master cell culturing, Western Blots and fluoroscopy. Having a paper published would be icing on the cake!
Now it's time to enjoy one of my last evenings playing Xbox for another quarter. I figure I earned it after finally getting off my butt and exercising. I road my Kestrel (first time in AZ) for about 25 miles and then hiked Thunderbird Park with the boys and Cedar for an unexpectedly long 1.5-2 hours. Oh, and last but not least,last night I organized all my binders, files and books for the new quarter.
I have definitely recovered from finals week and am eager to finish up MS-1 ;-).
Better news on Histo and Gross though! I just about aced Histo to pull out a 92% even though I had an 85% going in from the one previous test. Gross I pulled out a 94% overall and about that on the final. I'm very pleased. My cumulative GPA went up .5. I'll never make the top 10 in the class, but I should be well above the mean. And hopefully, board scores will helped by my efforts now.
Finally, had a good meeting on campus today with my summer research sponsor, Dr. 'Buck' Jones and a representative of the Amer Diabetes Assoc. Sounds like we have a great shot at an Innovation Research Grant. Even better, he said that he hasn't heard of anyone doing similar research so we might in fact be onto something orginal enough to be publishable! As part of my Spring elective, I have to get started on writing my application for a school Fellowship and I have a tour of the research lab (including safety lecture) scheduled with Dr. Jones for Monday afternoon. I'm really looking forward to getting started on this. This will really help my CV and provide my the opportunity to master cell culturing, Western Blots and fluoroscopy. Having a paper published would be icing on the cake!
Now it's time to enjoy one of my last evenings playing Xbox for another quarter. I figure I earned it after finally getting off my butt and exercising. I road my Kestrel (first time in AZ) for about 25 miles and then hiked Thunderbird Park with the boys and Cedar for an unexpectedly long 1.5-2 hours. Oh, and last but not least,last night I organized all my binders, files and books for the new quarter.
I have definitely recovered from finals week and am eager to finish up MS-1 ;-).
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Milestones
Last quarter was really hard on me. I started out with great grades and felt like I almost ruined them in the last week (still waiting on Gross, Histo & Biochem results). It seems crazy to get pushed this hard when we are supposed to be learning this information, not "binging and purging" it as the joke goes. They really need to look at using the free summer between MS-1 and MS-2 for classes or going five years IMHO.
At least I can say that I'm 1/3 done with didactics. I think I can make it four more quarters without going postal. Boy did I chew up some Profs on reviews though. Bad lectures and bad tests are extremely frustrating with this much effort and investment on the line.
So I'm still leaning towards radiation oncology, but I don't know if I have a shot as such a competitive specialty. This week I'll be doing a little research on it and my summer project. Hopefully I can get in some summer job shadowing to really check out radiology.
In the meantime, I'm reviewing Biochem and Anatomy. Knowing how my brain works I can't wait until even this summer to start reviewing. This quarter was a good reminder that I can be a good student given enough time to cover the material 2-3 times in depth, but I'm no genius that can pick it up in one quick review after lectures. I'm really beginning to question whether going to lecture is effective for me at all. Since I'm starting Immunology and Neuroanatomy I begin the quarter going to classes and see how it goes from there.
I hope it doesn't get any tougher than this quarter. I can't remember ever having felt so much stress. I'm still in recovery after gourging on sympathetics. My nails are nubs, I haven't exercised in weeks and I feel like sludge. To correct the latter two I'm getting my bike ready (riding to school is only 2 miles, but better than nothing) for commuting. For the former I'm not sure what to do. If med school gives you 8 lectures to assimilate in 24 hours between tests, you're looking at very little sleep and a lot of stress. There's not much you can do.
For all its negatives, I can't imagine being anywhere else than in medical school at this moment. So I guess I'm still in the right place. And I'm going to be very proud of getting through this and the effort I put into it. I've probably done more than most of my classmates and most Americans for that matter (boot camp/NROTC, MBA, Dot Coms, starting a company, kids, living in 7 states, married 13 years), but this is very likely the hardest thing I've done yet.
I'll upload some pics from the last few days shortly, but now I'm off to enjoy my kids and vacation a bit.
At least I can say that I'm 1/3 done with didactics. I think I can make it four more quarters without going postal. Boy did I chew up some Profs on reviews though. Bad lectures and bad tests are extremely frustrating with this much effort and investment on the line.
So I'm still leaning towards radiation oncology, but I don't know if I have a shot as such a competitive specialty. This week I'll be doing a little research on it and my summer project. Hopefully I can get in some summer job shadowing to really check out radiology.
In the meantime, I'm reviewing Biochem and Anatomy. Knowing how my brain works I can't wait until even this summer to start reviewing. This quarter was a good reminder that I can be a good student given enough time to cover the material 2-3 times in depth, but I'm no genius that can pick it up in one quick review after lectures. I'm really beginning to question whether going to lecture is effective for me at all. Since I'm starting Immunology and Neuroanatomy I begin the quarter going to classes and see how it goes from there.
I hope it doesn't get any tougher than this quarter. I can't remember ever having felt so much stress. I'm still in recovery after gourging on sympathetics. My nails are nubs, I haven't exercised in weeks and I feel like sludge. To correct the latter two I'm getting my bike ready (riding to school is only 2 miles, but better than nothing) for commuting. For the former I'm not sure what to do. If med school gives you 8 lectures to assimilate in 24 hours between tests, you're looking at very little sleep and a lot of stress. There's not much you can do.
For all its negatives, I can't imagine being anywhere else than in medical school at this moment. So I guess I'm still in the right place. And I'm going to be very proud of getting through this and the effort I put into it. I've probably done more than most of my classmates and most Americans for that matter (boot camp/NROTC, MBA, Dot Coms, starting a company, kids, living in 7 states, married 13 years), but this is very likely the hardest thing I've done yet.
I'll upload some pics from the last few days shortly, but now I'm off to enjoy my kids and vacation a bit.
Two quarters down and time to celebrate
This one felt a real accomplishment. I'm done with Gross Anatomy, Histology, Embryology and Biochem!
Obviously I need to really this information better in the next year and a half before COMLEX 1/Step 1, but the formal instruction and grades are done. One caveat is that I haven't gotten all my grades back yet. The ones I'm most interested in are those classes listed above. I have a 90%+ in Biochem going in but the test was very hard. I think I'm close, but who knows. Gross and Histo was a real grind. I really wasn't sure if I was going to pass until 10am Friday, two hours before the tests started. Now I just hoping that I didn't blow my ~95% in Gross and I managed to pick up my Histo a bit (85% prior to the test).
Bottom line though, I made it through the toughest week yet. It was a bear! I hardly got any sleep and studied non-stop for over a week with stress up to the eyeballs. Cramming when you've been irresponible is one thing. It's another when you've been studying like crazy and still don't if you're going to pass in medical school. I can't imagine passing these if I or my family had health problems or some other unforeseen event come up in the last few weeks.
Gross ended with a nice ceremony thanking the people who dedicated their bodies to our use. Immeditately after we bagged the bodies and cleaned our areas I headed home to quickly pack. Julie has been a godsend these few weeks. She not only packed the kids, but has pretty much been their parent this last week while I've been cramming and Becky is finishing the Bar. Aunt Julie is doing a great job!
So we got on the road about 7:30pm and I was still awake enough to drive for awhile. I did manage to sleep a bit in the back row of the van while Julie drove but sheer exhaustion and the stress of the last week kept me awake for the most part. It was a joy and reward to allow my brain to wander and think freely. It was amazing how nice it was to free my thoughts from the discipline of the last few weeks.
We arrived in LA around 12:30am LA time and met Becky. All of us got up fairly early for the hour drive to Becky's graduation ceremony. She was equally relieved to done, completely done, with her JD and the bar. Two months wait until we hear her results, bt she doesn't need to pass it so we won't be biting our nails. (speaking of, last week the stress was enough that I started biting again and my nails are stubs!) Also in addendence were Becky's mom and one uncle, my Mom, Dad and Stepmother and one of our nieces.
The ceremony was interesting. Her class is definiately older than mine. And lawyers are just a different breed. The speaker was pretty good. He's the VP of Planning/Strategy for The Washington Post company that owns Kaplan and Concord University of Law. He was, of course, very pro-lawyer, but talked about how Becky's program was harder than many public schools where students didn't have spouses, kids and careers to juggle with school. He recommended a book call Hard America, Soft America that sounds interesting. The gist is that our schools are weak and our kids start way behind up until about 18 yrs old. Then universities and the "kick you in the butt" capitalist system we have forces most of the kids to grow up fast so that by their twenties and thirties, we are far more compeitive than most countries.
Afterwards, we had a nice lunch. Then is was a long drive home. The kids and most of the family had enough energy to go swimming at the hotel pool, but I crashed for two hours. I think the exhaustion finally hit me. And I hadn't slept very well, reliving at least tests in my dreams during the night.
We had a casual night at the hotel and ate too much. Sunday everyone headed to California Adventures at Disneyland for the day. Disney is way overrated, but I can handle one (very expensive) day every couple years. Colton was thrilled because he's finally tall enough to ride the big roller coasters (picture forthcoming). Even with the hassles of coordinating a big group amidst huge crowds we had a good time.
At 5:30pm or so we started the 5.5 hour drive home which included a stop at the airport to drop off most of the relatives. The drive was long, but uneventful. Monday I slept in until noon and got some of my To Dos done. Still working on them now, but making some progress. I definately need some down time too. Unfortunately Becky headed right back to work. Even thought it's a non-profit, she's part of the exectutive team working a big merger with another non-profit.
That's plenty of verbage for an update. The impact posting will have to wait.
Obviously I need to really this information better in the next year and a half before COMLEX 1/Step 1, but the formal instruction and grades are done. One caveat is that I haven't gotten all my grades back yet. The ones I'm most interested in are those classes listed above. I have a 90%+ in Biochem going in but the test was very hard. I think I'm close, but who knows. Gross and Histo was a real grind. I really wasn't sure if I was going to pass until 10am Friday, two hours before the tests started. Now I just hoping that I didn't blow my ~95% in Gross and I managed to pick up my Histo a bit (85% prior to the test).
Bottom line though, I made it through the toughest week yet. It was a bear! I hardly got any sleep and studied non-stop for over a week with stress up to the eyeballs. Cramming when you've been irresponible is one thing. It's another when you've been studying like crazy and still don't if you're going to pass in medical school. I can't imagine passing these if I or my family had health problems or some other unforeseen event come up in the last few weeks.
Gross ended with a nice ceremony thanking the people who dedicated their bodies to our use. Immeditately after we bagged the bodies and cleaned our areas I headed home to quickly pack. Julie has been a godsend these few weeks. She not only packed the kids, but has pretty much been their parent this last week while I've been cramming and Becky is finishing the Bar. Aunt Julie is doing a great job!
So we got on the road about 7:30pm and I was still awake enough to drive for awhile. I did manage to sleep a bit in the back row of the van while Julie drove but sheer exhaustion and the stress of the last week kept me awake for the most part. It was a joy and reward to allow my brain to wander and think freely. It was amazing how nice it was to free my thoughts from the discipline of the last few weeks.
We arrived in LA around 12:30am LA time and met Becky. All of us got up fairly early for the hour drive to Becky's graduation ceremony. She was equally relieved to done, completely done, with her JD and the bar. Two months wait until we hear her results, bt she doesn't need to pass it so we won't be biting our nails. (speaking of, last week the stress was enough that I started biting again and my nails are stubs!) Also in addendence were Becky's mom and one uncle, my Mom, Dad and Stepmother and one of our nieces.
The ceremony was interesting. Her class is definiately older than mine. And lawyers are just a different breed. The speaker was pretty good. He's the VP of Planning/Strategy for The Washington Post company that owns Kaplan and Concord University of Law. He was, of course, very pro-lawyer, but talked about how Becky's program was harder than many public schools where students didn't have spouses, kids and careers to juggle with school. He recommended a book call Hard America, Soft America that sounds interesting. The gist is that our schools are weak and our kids start way behind up until about 18 yrs old. Then universities and the "kick you in the butt" capitalist system we have forces most of the kids to grow up fast so that by their twenties and thirties, we are far more compeitive than most countries.
Afterwards, we had a nice lunch. Then is was a long drive home. The kids and most of the family had enough energy to go swimming at the hotel pool, but I crashed for two hours. I think the exhaustion finally hit me. And I hadn't slept very well, reliving at least tests in my dreams during the night.
We had a casual night at the hotel and ate too much. Sunday everyone headed to California Adventures at Disneyland for the day. Disney is way overrated, but I can handle one (very expensive) day every couple years. Colton was thrilled because he's finally tall enough to ride the big roller coasters (picture forthcoming). Even with the hassles of coordinating a big group amidst huge crowds we had a good time.
At 5:30pm or so we started the 5.5 hour drive home which included a stop at the airport to drop off most of the relatives. The drive was long, but uneventful. Monday I slept in until noon and got some of my To Dos done. Still working on them now, but making some progress. I definately need some down time too. Unfortunately Becky headed right back to work. Even thought it's a non-profit, she's part of the exectutive team working a big merger with another non-profit.
That's plenty of verbage for an update. The impact posting will have to wait.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Only Gross and Histo to go!
Ugh! This quarter is sooo much tougher. Four down and two to go in the worst test week I've ever been through.
I got an 83% on totally bogus Biochem test. I hope that I have enough pad to pull out a 90% on it, but it will ber very close. I think the whole class did poorly on it, but not sure if they were 10% below norm. The kicker is I studied hard for it and thought I was pretty well prepared.
Oh, I pulled out a 94% on OMM with a B on the written an a perfect on the practical.
I just checked my test against the key for ICM (clinical correlates) and think I got about an 80% there to. The dumbest class here. What a waste of time. Another one where I studied hard for it, but felt like I was in the wrong test room. I mean I was in the mid to high 90's in all these classes going into finals!
On a better note, I think I did well on the Human Behavior test two hours after the ICM one. I felt prepared and am enjoying getting into the more clinical aspects of the subject. And I just finished Physiology. I think I did very well. Especially considering I only started studying for it about 3pm yesterday. I managed to get 3 hours of sleep to :-).
Now it's time for a couple hours of catch-up sleep before hitting the books for Gross and Histo in two days. Yeah! We get a day off. And we're going to need it. This is easily going to be our hardest Anatomy test yet with lots autonomics, cranial nerve pathologies, etc.
I might even get to say to my kids for a change. Becky is in LA on day two of the CA Bar test at this very moment, so it will be nice to catch up tonight. I hope she's doing well. I took up all the study time the past few weeks and even with her sister here helping to take care of the boys, she hasn't had much time to study.
I'm definitely looking forward to her graduation this Saturday and Disney Land with the boys on Sunday.
I got an 83% on totally bogus Biochem test. I hope that I have enough pad to pull out a 90% on it, but it will ber very close. I think the whole class did poorly on it, but not sure if they were 10% below norm. The kicker is I studied hard for it and thought I was pretty well prepared.
Oh, I pulled out a 94% on OMM with a B on the written an a perfect on the practical.
I just checked my test against the key for ICM (clinical correlates) and think I got about an 80% there to. The dumbest class here. What a waste of time. Another one where I studied hard for it, but felt like I was in the wrong test room. I mean I was in the mid to high 90's in all these classes going into finals!
On a better note, I think I did well on the Human Behavior test two hours after the ICM one. I felt prepared and am enjoying getting into the more clinical aspects of the subject. And I just finished Physiology. I think I did very well. Especially considering I only started studying for it about 3pm yesterday. I managed to get 3 hours of sleep to :-).
Now it's time for a couple hours of catch-up sleep before hitting the books for Gross and Histo in two days. Yeah! We get a day off. And we're going to need it. This is easily going to be our hardest Anatomy test yet with lots autonomics, cranial nerve pathologies, etc.
I might even get to say to my kids for a change. Becky is in LA on day two of the CA Bar test at this very moment, so it will be nice to catch up tonight. I hope she's doing well. I took up all the study time the past few weeks and even with her sister here helping to take care of the boys, she hasn't had much time to study.
I'm definitely looking forward to her graduation this Saturday and Disney Land with the boys on Sunday.
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Almost two weeks again?
I had imagined I would write here almost daily. Oh well, at least I'm fairly regular at it.
Today was the last day of Biochem, Gross Anatomy, Histology and Embryology lectures! Finals next week and those milestones are put to bed. But I should start from my last posting...
That miserable week and a half I wrote about previously took a long recovery period. Like most of my classmates I hardly studied at all the following week. I was plain burned out. Still am to some degree, but the sympathetics are pumping back in with finals rushing up. Let's just say that I wasn't alone in being WAY behind this week. I studied pretty darn hard and got fairly well caught up. Moreover, I finished OMM for the quarter.
Monday was the written which I did ok on (86%) but pretty poorly considering the amount of time I put in. The class sure got rebellious after it. About 2/3 of them didn't get legible to the last lecture since they were only the day before (Sunday) if you happened to wonder into the OMM lab. I think severla of them have filed a formal complaint to the Dean. Anyway, at least my efforts weren't in total vain. On Wednesday's practical I got 100% for a final grade of 92%. The practical had its own problems, we were taught mostly techniques this quarter (HVLA, muscle energy, counterstrain) and our review when 90% techniques, 10% diagnosis. However, the practical was 2 stations diagnosis and 1 techniques.
I sure feel like I overstudied and got ripped off on the written. Such is life at medical school though. Time to move on.
So this weekend is all about grinding it out for finals. I need to crash so that I can maintain a good 12 hours a day study schedule(!). I would have thought that insane a few months ago. Now that seems downright reasonable given the amount of material that I need to review for the first time since the lectures and solidify for Monday's Biochem test.
Btw, I managed to procrastinate most of last night by "perfecting" my Physiolgy case presentation on diabetics. Unfortunately I was so tired both last night and during hte presentation that I totally track of time (autopilot). I think I aced it but went ways overboard. The Diabetes research was interesting and hopefully will be relevant to my summer research. And that reminds me...
I have three more lectures to review in Biochem and they are on cancer. That is actually motivating me. I'm looking forward to mastering the material, much more so than all the ambiguous nutrition lectures Dr. Mann gave. I may just have a future in Radiation Oncology, if I can get into a residency.
Oncology is going to take a lot of work, but I'm hopeful that I have a shot even as a D.O. in a mostly MD field. My summer research should be applicable and would really be helpful if I can get published. Moreover, I'm not the VP of the newly formed Oncology club :-).
Night...
Today was the last day of Biochem, Gross Anatomy, Histology and Embryology lectures! Finals next week and those milestones are put to bed. But I should start from my last posting...
That miserable week and a half I wrote about previously took a long recovery period. Like most of my classmates I hardly studied at all the following week. I was plain burned out. Still am to some degree, but the sympathetics are pumping back in with finals rushing up. Let's just say that I wasn't alone in being WAY behind this week. I studied pretty darn hard and got fairly well caught up. Moreover, I finished OMM for the quarter.
Monday was the written which I did ok on (86%) but pretty poorly considering the amount of time I put in. The class sure got rebellious after it. About 2/3 of them didn't get legible to the last lecture since they were only the day before (Sunday) if you happened to wonder into the OMM lab. I think severla of them have filed a formal complaint to the Dean. Anyway, at least my efforts weren't in total vain. On Wednesday's practical I got 100% for a final grade of 92%. The practical had its own problems, we were taught mostly techniques this quarter (HVLA, muscle energy, counterstrain) and our review when 90% techniques, 10% diagnosis. However, the practical was 2 stations diagnosis and 1 techniques.
I sure feel like I overstudied and got ripped off on the written. Such is life at medical school though. Time to move on.
So this weekend is all about grinding it out for finals. I need to crash so that I can maintain a good 12 hours a day study schedule(!). I would have thought that insane a few months ago. Now that seems downright reasonable given the amount of material that I need to review for the first time since the lectures and solidify for Monday's Biochem test.
Btw, I managed to procrastinate most of last night by "perfecting" my Physiolgy case presentation on diabetics. Unfortunately I was so tired both last night and during hte presentation that I totally track of time (autopilot). I think I aced it but went ways overboard. The Diabetes research was interesting and hopefully will be relevant to my summer research. And that reminds me...
I have three more lectures to review in Biochem and they are on cancer. That is actually motivating me. I'm looking forward to mastering the material, much more so than all the ambiguous nutrition lectures Dr. Mann gave. I may just have a future in Radiation Oncology, if I can get into a residency.
Oncology is going to take a lot of work, but I'm hopeful that I have a shot even as a D.O. in a mostly MD field. My summer research should be applicable and would really be helpful if I can get published. Moreover, I'm not the VP of the newly formed Oncology club :-).
Night...
Monday, February 07, 2005
Black January is over!
I survived. Barely. I have never seen my classmates so burned out as I did this weekend. I was ever bit as bad. Sunday I did the smartest I could have and called it quits at about 9:30pm, got home and immediately went to sleep until 5am. That gave me two very productive hours before the Physiology exam this morning.
I think I did well, but if I missed more than I expect, I felt reasonably well today. Getting a good score on last Thursday's anatomy test didn't hurt either though. I missed three problems on the written and one on the practical. With four (out of five) bonus points I got 126 out of 130 points possible. Biochem seems to be my worst subject. I managed to get 91% on it, but was hoping for more padding going into finals. Three big tests in a week (including our hardest anatomy unit yet) and I'm happy with the first two. Hopefully Physiology will come through tomorrow.
Now we have a week until our OMM written final, and then a week until finals. So I'm taking tonight off and catching up a bit. Tomorrow I have an "academic appointment" schedule with one of the OMM fellows. I hope that will help me get cranked up for finals; this time it's a diagnose and treat practical that I'm not feeling too confident on.
Anyway, this quarter has involved a lot of soul searching. Radiology is looking more and more like something I'm interested in. Anything with interventional in it sounds cool, but radiology has more gadgets, as least as good lifestyle and pay (vs. say cardiology or urology) and a more reasonable residency. I even took and online personality survey tonight and it ranked radiology and nuclear medicine as my top two of 40 or so specialties.
Of course it's the specialty that one of my top achieving classmates is interested in too. He has had a LOT more science than me, so it's a bit intimidating. He aced the anatomy test for example; 135 out of 130. I'm hoping that 1) we don't go after the same residencies or 2) my consistent grades plus this summer's research (and my awesome personality :-) put me ahead.
Speaking of summer R&D, I need to get up to speed on articles so I can submit a fellowship application this month and cement my Spring research elective in.
Oh, and I'm now the VP of the Oncology club. I lost an election for the SOMA delegate, but wasn't too heart-broken (it more a networking position than anything tangible). The VP thing can't look bad on my CV and may give me a chance to do some interesting things. We'll see.
Time to watch a movie and read an issue of Wired magazine that has been on my desk for over a week.
I think I did well, but if I missed more than I expect, I felt reasonably well today. Getting a good score on last Thursday's anatomy test didn't hurt either though. I missed three problems on the written and one on the practical. With four (out of five) bonus points I got 126 out of 130 points possible. Biochem seems to be my worst subject. I managed to get 91% on it, but was hoping for more padding going into finals. Three big tests in a week (including our hardest anatomy unit yet) and I'm happy with the first two. Hopefully Physiology will come through tomorrow.
Now we have a week until our OMM written final, and then a week until finals. So I'm taking tonight off and catching up a bit. Tomorrow I have an "academic appointment" schedule with one of the OMM fellows. I hope that will help me get cranked up for finals; this time it's a diagnose and treat practical that I'm not feeling too confident on.
Anyway, this quarter has involved a lot of soul searching. Radiology is looking more and more like something I'm interested in. Anything with interventional in it sounds cool, but radiology has more gadgets, as least as good lifestyle and pay (vs. say cardiology or urology) and a more reasonable residency. I even took and online personality survey tonight and it ranked radiology and nuclear medicine as my top two of 40 or so specialties.
Of course it's the specialty that one of my top achieving classmates is interested in too. He has had a LOT more science than me, so it's a bit intimidating. He aced the anatomy test for example; 135 out of 130. I'm hoping that 1) we don't go after the same residencies or 2) my consistent grades plus this summer's research (and my awesome personality :-) put me ahead.
Speaking of summer R&D, I need to get up to speed on articles so I can submit a fellowship application this month and cement my Spring research elective in.
Oh, and I'm now the VP of the Oncology club. I lost an election for the SOMA delegate, but wasn't too heart-broken (it more a networking position than anything tangible). The VP thing can't look bad on my CV and may give me a chance to do some interesting things. We'll see.
Time to watch a movie and read an issue of Wired magazine that has been on my desk for over a week.
Friday, February 04, 2005
Ouch
I've got one of those killer headaches that is keeping me up. So I'm writing when I should be sleeping or studying Physiology. Other than the last couple hours, today has been pretty good though. However, I will take a paragraph or two get caught up to date.
We had our 2nd Biochem test on Monday. I studied very hard for it and though I did very well. I only missed 3 multiple choice questions and one maching (rec'd 13.5 out of 14) for a total of about 91%. I was hoping for better, but I'll take this one.
Then is was a mad rush to prepare for our hardest Anatomy test yet. We had no Histology or Embryology, but neck, face, eyes and cranium was more than enough. The class has pretty stressed out this week to say the least.
The written portion this morning was hard. Many of my classmates agreed with me that they had never had so many question circled to review at the end. This is also the first time I've almost ran out of time. I hope I did well, but wouldn't be surprised to in the 80's on that part. The practical was easier than I expected. I know I missed one or two, but the bonus were pretty easy. I am hoping to have a solid 90% or more that portion to pull an A out. Anyway, it is over. Now on to our final, and from MSIIs reports, hardest Anatomy test yet. And that one will have Histology on it - my only chance to pull up my 86% from the first test.
After the test I cleaned the yard a bit, got a haircut and went for a run with the bog. First time in about three weeks. It felt great. Then I got caught up on e-mail enjoyed a dinner with the family (after missing several this week). I even had a glass of wine, which I may be paying for right now. I took a nap afterwards and before this headache started to flare up, I read some OMM and organized my notebooks for the push through finals.
Time for sleep now, and hopefully relief. It's going to be a long weekend and I need to be clear headed. I feel totally lost in vascular Physiology at the moment and didn't get the reading done tonight as I hoped. I missed 3 lectures to study for Biochem and Phys, so there's a lot of new material to cover.
Tomorrow is the end of week eight!
We had our 2nd Biochem test on Monday. I studied very hard for it and though I did very well. I only missed 3 multiple choice questions and one maching (rec'd 13.5 out of 14) for a total of about 91%. I was hoping for better, but I'll take this one.
Then is was a mad rush to prepare for our hardest Anatomy test yet. We had no Histology or Embryology, but neck, face, eyes and cranium was more than enough. The class has pretty stressed out this week to say the least.
The written portion this morning was hard. Many of my classmates agreed with me that they had never had so many question circled to review at the end. This is also the first time I've almost ran out of time. I hope I did well, but wouldn't be surprised to in the 80's on that part. The practical was easier than I expected. I know I missed one or two, but the bonus were pretty easy. I am hoping to have a solid 90% or more that portion to pull an A out. Anyway, it is over. Now on to our final, and from MSIIs reports, hardest Anatomy test yet. And that one will have Histology on it - my only chance to pull up my 86% from the first test.
After the test I cleaned the yard a bit, got a haircut and went for a run with the bog. First time in about three weeks. It felt great. Then I got caught up on e-mail enjoyed a dinner with the family (after missing several this week). I even had a glass of wine, which I may be paying for right now. I took a nap afterwards and before this headache started to flare up, I read some OMM and organized my notebooks for the push through finals.
Time for sleep now, and hopefully relief. It's going to be a long weekend and I need to be clear headed. I feel totally lost in vascular Physiology at the moment and didn't get the reading done tonight as I hoped. I missed 3 lectures to study for Biochem and Phys, so there's a lot of new material to cover.
Tomorrow is the end of week eight!
Monday, January 24, 2005
How time flies
January is flying by. I've been studying at the Student Lounge in the evenings and weekends when I'm not in a group session somewhere (usually the library). So I haven't seen my family or had a many hcances to Blog.
The MSIIs call this "Black January" for good reason. We've had tests every week. I've had to study pretty much everyday. Having my sister-in-law living here has helped. Becky can study for the Bar and I can still get in more study time than last quarter. I'm averaging at least 3% higher so far and hope to maintain that through the quarter (if not more).
I just finished my male invasive exam and second Physiology test. Both went ok, so I'm taking a breather and getting some research done for this summer's project, a Phys case and USMLE I. Well, I'm procrastinating by updating this first and hope to get to those before I nod off.
There's more details to update, but they will have to wait - hopefully not for another month to pass.
The MSIIs call this "Black January" for good reason. We've had tests every week. I've had to study pretty much everyday. Having my sister-in-law living here has helped. Becky can study for the Bar and I can still get in more study time than last quarter. I'm averaging at least 3% higher so far and hope to maintain that through the quarter (if not more).
I just finished my male invasive exam and second Physiology test. Both went ok, so I'm taking a breather and getting some research done for this summer's project, a Phys case and USMLE I. Well, I'm procrastinating by updating this first and hope to get to those before I nod off.
There's more details to update, but they will have to wait - hopefully not for another month to pass.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Back to school...
Wow, Xmas break is long gone. Heck, we just finished our first big test in "black January" - Physiology. It wasn't too bad, but I did study my butt off. Had 3.5 hrs of sleep last night. Since Sunday I've probably studied 40 hours for it in addition to class and everything else.
My sister-in-law moved in over the weekend to be our nanny, so that has freed up a lot of time for me. My boys were thrilled to spend some time with me tonight since the first we've had dinner together in three nights.
I should back up a bit since I have about two weeks to catch up on. Xmas was nice. We had my mother-in-law, her significant other and my wife's grandmother here. It was fairly pleasant here in AZ. And the boys did fine with presents. I didn't get finished helping them put together their new models, a "Visible Horse" and "Visible Human". We did finish assembling a large 3-D puzzle.
I also read a book entitled the "Ultimate Guide to Residencies". It got me really excited about Interventional Radiology. I read up a lot on it and other specialties online (e.g. SDN). It seems to be at the op of my list for the moment: lots of hands on procedures; reasonable residency; reasonable hours and pay; lots of cool toys to play with. However, lots of others still interest me too, like ENT, Plastics (burns), pediatric surgery, interventional cardiology and radiation oncology. I hope to get more exposure to some of these hospital-based specialies this summer on my own, since AZCOM's Clinical Ed. is focused on primary care only.
The only school work I managed to finish was some Biochem case research. After Christmas I spent two days interesting days with my Preceptor. We saw lots of interesting pathologies and stories. The Family Physician lifestyle wasn't overly attractive. But the specialty is intellectually challenging. The most interesting case we came across was a patient that came in with his son for some non-descript complaint.
My Preceptor went over his chart saying he was a bible salesman that had been treated for benign hypertrophy of the prostate. Recently he had complained of rectal bleeding and had been referred to a colorectal surgeon. The surgeon called her back afterwards saying in a surprised voice that he had "cured" the patient. He had removed a paint can from the patient's rectum!
Just before my Preceptor opened the door to the waiting room with this patient, she smiled and said; "I guess bigger is better"! Then I had to shake hands with the guy while keeping a straight face. Guess I wow the jackpot on bizarre patients!
I tried to study the next three days, before New Years Day, but couldn't get motivated. Instead I ran a few times, played with the kids and generally enjoyed myself. We even got in all extended versions of the Lord of Rings movies (an Xmas present for me).
New Years Day I started into Physiology pretty hard. I reviewed most of the fifteen lectures on the test over the weekend. Monday class started with no pause in the information "firehose". We covered a lot of the Lower Extremity in Anatomy and EKG in Phys. It felt pretty good. Tuesday I had to study like crazy, but luckily I didn't have to drive three hours roundtrip for my Preceptorship since I did that over the Holidays. I studied for a few hours with my old study group which was more fun than productive. Then from about 10pm until 2am I did a final review of all the lectures. I got up at 5:30am this morning to fill my short-term memory banks before starting the test at 7am. I felt better for this test than any one so far. And it wasn't just that I prepared or that the test was fairly easy. I just felt more at ease and less stressed. The first question freaked me a bit when I saw all the data for it in a table, but once I breezed through it I got back in my "zen" state and cruised through. I hope this means I've overcome the extreme stress tests have been putting me in up until now.
Afterwards I went home and slept a few hours. I spoke briefly with Dr. Jones who I hope becomes my summer research sponsor. He's pretty excited about my ideas for studying diabetic tissues. I hope this happens. It could be very cool, highly publishable and look awesome on residency applications (esp. radiology or oncology).
I made it back for the AMA President's lunch address to us. Dr. Thompson is a great speaker and treated us DOs as part of the team. It was the first time an AMA President has spoken at a DO school so that was cool.
OMM took up all the afternoon (like every other Wednesday) and was fun too. I spent some time talking with my favorite Adjunct Prof. and was saddened to hear he's moving to Colorado for lower malpractice premiums (Dr. Thompson's main theme ironically) and more outdoor activities. I'm totally envious of his lifestyle and skills. He makes great money doing just OMM and on very few hours compared to most Physicians. A quarter mill. on 36 hours a week with no call or rounds is pretty incredible in this day and age!
So FP with OMM is back on my list again :). But I'm concerned about not having the Jedi Knight like powers my guru does. He started in Family Practice only focused exclusively on OMM when other Doctors saw, heard about and experienced his OMM healing powers and told him he was wasting his time in FP. It's scary to think of going down the Primary Care road with the intention of focusing on OMM only to find out you don't have the skills to be very good at it (and get the referrals and committed patients it takes to establish a successful practice).
So, lots going on. But now it's time to hit Biochem and get some reasonable sleep. I have about twelve lectures I'm clueless on (including three difficult ones on hemostasis) to master by Monday plus finish my presentation on Alcoholic Liver Disease. Fun, fun, fun...
My sister-in-law moved in over the weekend to be our nanny, so that has freed up a lot of time for me. My boys were thrilled to spend some time with me tonight since the first we've had dinner together in three nights.
I should back up a bit since I have about two weeks to catch up on. Xmas was nice. We had my mother-in-law, her significant other and my wife's grandmother here. It was fairly pleasant here in AZ. And the boys did fine with presents. I didn't get finished helping them put together their new models, a "Visible Horse" and "Visible Human". We did finish assembling a large 3-D puzzle.
I also read a book entitled the "Ultimate Guide to Residencies". It got me really excited about Interventional Radiology. I read up a lot on it and other specialties online (e.g. SDN). It seems to be at the op of my list for the moment: lots of hands on procedures; reasonable residency; reasonable hours and pay; lots of cool toys to play with. However, lots of others still interest me too, like ENT, Plastics (burns), pediatric surgery, interventional cardiology and radiation oncology. I hope to get more exposure to some of these hospital-based specialies this summer on my own, since AZCOM's Clinical Ed. is focused on primary care only.
The only school work I managed to finish was some Biochem case research. After Christmas I spent two days interesting days with my Preceptor. We saw lots of interesting pathologies and stories. The Family Physician lifestyle wasn't overly attractive. But the specialty is intellectually challenging. The most interesting case we came across was a patient that came in with his son for some non-descript complaint.
My Preceptor went over his chart saying he was a bible salesman that had been treated for benign hypertrophy of the prostate. Recently he had complained of rectal bleeding and had been referred to a colorectal surgeon. The surgeon called her back afterwards saying in a surprised voice that he had "cured" the patient. He had removed a paint can from the patient's rectum!
Just before my Preceptor opened the door to the waiting room with this patient, she smiled and said; "I guess bigger is better"! Then I had to shake hands with the guy while keeping a straight face. Guess I wow the jackpot on bizarre patients!
I tried to study the next three days, before New Years Day, but couldn't get motivated. Instead I ran a few times, played with the kids and generally enjoyed myself. We even got in all extended versions of the Lord of Rings movies (an Xmas present for me).
New Years Day I started into Physiology pretty hard. I reviewed most of the fifteen lectures on the test over the weekend. Monday class started with no pause in the information "firehose". We covered a lot of the Lower Extremity in Anatomy and EKG in Phys. It felt pretty good. Tuesday I had to study like crazy, but luckily I didn't have to drive three hours roundtrip for my Preceptorship since I did that over the Holidays. I studied for a few hours with my old study group which was more fun than productive. Then from about 10pm until 2am I did a final review of all the lectures. I got up at 5:30am this morning to fill my short-term memory banks before starting the test at 7am. I felt better for this test than any one so far. And it wasn't just that I prepared or that the test was fairly easy. I just felt more at ease and less stressed. The first question freaked me a bit when I saw all the data for it in a table, but once I breezed through it I got back in my "zen" state and cruised through. I hope this means I've overcome the extreme stress tests have been putting me in up until now.
Afterwards I went home and slept a few hours. I spoke briefly with Dr. Jones who I hope becomes my summer research sponsor. He's pretty excited about my ideas for studying diabetic tissues. I hope this happens. It could be very cool, highly publishable and look awesome on residency applications (esp. radiology or oncology).
I made it back for the AMA President's lunch address to us. Dr. Thompson is a great speaker and treated us DOs as part of the team. It was the first time an AMA President has spoken at a DO school so that was cool.
OMM took up all the afternoon (like every other Wednesday) and was fun too. I spent some time talking with my favorite Adjunct Prof. and was saddened to hear he's moving to Colorado for lower malpractice premiums (Dr. Thompson's main theme ironically) and more outdoor activities. I'm totally envious of his lifestyle and skills. He makes great money doing just OMM and on very few hours compared to most Physicians. A quarter mill. on 36 hours a week with no call or rounds is pretty incredible in this day and age!
So FP with OMM is back on my list again :). But I'm concerned about not having the Jedi Knight like powers my guru does. He started in Family Practice only focused exclusively on OMM when other Doctors saw, heard about and experienced his OMM healing powers and told him he was wasting his time in FP. It's scary to think of going down the Primary Care road with the intention of focusing on OMM only to find out you don't have the skills to be very good at it (and get the referrals and committed patients it takes to establish a successful practice).
So, lots going on. But now it's time to hit Biochem and get some reasonable sleep. I have about twelve lectures I'm clueless on (including three difficult ones on hemostasis) to master by Monday plus finish my presentation on Alcoholic Liver Disease. Fun, fun, fun...
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