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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)