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Today’s inane images of the day:

A successful kick-off AMWA Dinner With Dr. Nuzzarello!

A beautiful sunset in Pasadena [this was taken from the top floor of a parking deck].

Pasadena night life.

This last week following the Renal and Urinary exam has probably been my most stressful one to date because 1) our Anatomy practical examination grades were held until Thursday afternoon and I was scared about failing 2) I neglected all of my other commitments [i.e. AMWA] to study for the exam and felt overwhelmed by having to play catch-up 3) we didn’t get a break Tuesday morning after the exam – nope, we started class at 7:30AM and went until 3PM. All of these things combined made for a very painful week.

Last weekend while I was studying, I felt empty and well, depressed… so I planned a couple of things to look forward to. One of these things was a weekend trip to visit Mike [as you can see from the photos of Pasadena] – albeit short, it was wonderful and worth the money and fatigue from traveling. Currently, I’m writing this from LAX, awaiting my flight back to Detroit [did you know there was free WiFi in LAX?! I’ve totally been missing out…].

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Have you noticed my rather sporadic posting schedule? Well… that’s because all of my blogging juices have been directed toward my weekly Kaplan medical blog entries and the newest addition – The Differential. Here are some recent entries I wrote:

Today’s inane image of the day:

Back at it again with Netter’s Atlas and my laptop. Oh, and why not throw in a game of Gin Rummy while we’re at it?

Mike visited for a couple of days, then left again. As always, the visit was too short-lived and now I feel like a part of me is missing. We spent most of his visit doing what I always do – school, study, eat, exercise and sleep [admittedly, I got some shopping in, too].

Generally, my day runs something like this:

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Today’s inane image of the day:

When we help out during interview days, we are given these notecard packets with maps and other useful information. I was an “escort” [heh…], which means I accompany applicants to their interview and back.

We had a TBL yesterday that put me in a rather foul mood. It wasn’t necessarily because of the TBL itself, but more due to my personal performance on it. It’s no secret that I struggle with multiple-choice exams, but I thought I had been improving in that department – well, apparently not so much. Sometimes I’m able to convince myself that often these tests aren’t representative of my true knowledge, however, there’s no escaping multiple-choice assessments so I’ll have to make due and just keep trying [at least I’m not failing!].

I signed up to participate in the first interview day of the 2012-2013 application cycle, which was yesterday immediately following my TBL. I was a bit concerned about my ability to talk about OUWB when I was feeling rather unhappy – but my mood markedly improved after chatting with some prospective students. One of them asked why I took time out of my busy schedule to do interview days, and I told him that it was because talking with interviewees reminded me of how excited I was to start medical school and proves to be relatively good motivation to keep moving forward.

My evening was topped off with some unexpectedly fun company. And today things are looking rather up [including the weather, which is 90+ degrees – I thought it was almost cider and donuts time?! Oh, Michigan], especially since I checked off a number of tasks this morning and I always feel better when I get stuff done.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Today’s inane image of the day:

From my trip to San Fran – we made a pitstop in Malibu to visit one of Mike’s friends who was camping on the beach.

Today, we are 2.5 years into our relationship. Over 1 year of it has been on almost-opposite ends of the country. Sadly, it is likely that we will be permanently reunited only after we’ve spent more time separated by 1000s of miles than together.

Things have not necessarily gotten easier with time [whoever said time heals all, lied] – in fact, I’d argue that it has gotten harder as I move forward with medical school. Although I have arrived at a relatively comfortable point of treading the enormous volume of material, I cannot help but feel apprehensive about Step 1. I do not feel like I adequately learned the basic sciences last year, nor do I feel comfortable identifying a lesion in the spinal cord when given the results of a neurological examination. Although these fears cannot be erased by having Mike around, he could at least help keep them at bay.

But I guess we all yearn for the things we cannot have. Admittedly, I should be grateful for the endless hours he spends with me over FaceTime, merely watching me stare at textbooks or listening to me talk to myself about the pathophysiology of this, or that. I should be happy that I have someone so supportive and stubborn. I should feel lucky that he can visit on such a regular basis.

I recognize that I definitely have a pretty optimal LDR situation, but I cannot help but feel pangs of jealousy when I see my happily married peers at social events or hear about regular weekend visits from significant others in places only a couple hours away. Through my eyes, everyone else has a more optimal situation – however, I know that this isn’t necessarily true. I just have to keep reminding myself that appearances are not always representative of the truth.

My frustration comes in waves – most of the time I keep myself so busy that there isn’t enough time to let the negative feelings surface – but, sometimes they escape and morph into a fight. Mike is so accustomed to them now that he just seems to ride out the storm until the sun rises again. I really try not to let my emotions get the best of me, however, by the end of the week, I am sleep-deprived and stressed, which tends to turn me into a blubbering ball of anger and tears. Usually, if sleep it off, everything is better the next day.

We still have something like four years of long distance to go – hopefully it will all work out in the end.

Today’s inane image of the day:

A nighttime view of a street in San Francisco. This was taken from the back of a trolley [one of the highlights of my visit to San Fran – they’re so fun to ride!].

The best part of vacation as a single [as in, unmarried], non-parent? Being able to completely remove yourself from your world – everything falls away when you leave your comfort zone and explore somewhere new. You can temporarily ignore all the things that plague you. You can tell strangers lies about your life. You can breathe, freely.

But, all good things must come to an end.

It’s not that I don’t want to go back to school, but I’d rather not feel stressed out 24/7. Nor do I enjoy feeling relentlessly overwhelmed with the material. Or feeling very lonely while studying [though, Mike has been great about keeping me company].

In so many ways, the pre-clinical years kind of suck.

Participating in the Cardiology internship was a reminder that there’s a point to all of this. There are individuals out there with heart-wrenching stories of courage, hope and determination that I want to hear. Things don’t always work out, but when they do, it means more life. More love. More memories.

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One year ago, I was preparing to start a new chapter of my life. This year, we get an extra week of summer to enjoy before starting classes on Monday, August 13. Although the nerd in me is excited to put some new creases into my textbooks and break out a new set of highlighters/pens, another part of me is dreading our return. I am fully aware that in order to be a competent physician, I need to learn the material – but some part of me wonders if there’s a better way to do medical education.

Incoming M1s, please do relish in the excitement of this first week – it’s an exquisite feeling that cannot be replicated. You will learn all about our school and be greeted by an endless number of fresh, smiling faces. You will be interested in joining all of our organizations [come say “hi” to me at the Activities Fair – I’ll be at the AMWA table, of course], receive your laptops and lots of free food. You will bond with your classmates through group and evening activities. At the end of this week, you will be presented with your white coat by your PRISM mentor and have a million photos taken.

Then, you’ll be thrown headfirst into an ocean of material. Like I said, all good things must come to an end.

Today’s inane image of the day:

Hello from the West Coast!

Just wanted to drop a line and let you know that my Cardiology internship did not eat me up – I’ve just been enjoying some time in California with my love. Being [mostly] unplugged and completely smitten with Mike for the last 5-ish days has been delightful. I feel light and happy, but a bit apprehensive to start a new semester in less than 2 weeks [August 13, to be exact]. Alas, there’s no point in worrying over the future when we’re living in the present.

I’ll be back in Michigan [and back to reality] in less than 24 hours. But until then… I’ll be enjoying my last few hours with Mike.

Today’s inane image of the day:

Summertime is opportune travel-time. A couple weeks back, I made an impromptu trip to Milwaukee to celebrate my best friend’s birthday.

Remember that “exciting news” I had way back when? Well, now that things have finally settled, I can announce that I am expanding a bit and will also be writing blog entries for the Kaplan Medical blog, Med School Insight. With the exception of the first entry posted on the site, there shouldn’t be any repeat blog entries.

What does the new blog mean for this one? Well, the plan is to write more general medical school entries over there and stick to more personal narratives and OUWB-specific entries here. Hopefully it will all fall into place.

Today’s series of inane images:

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the American College of Physicians [ACP] Leadership Day on Capitol Hill.

Since it was my first visit to Washington D.C., I made sure to visit the National Mall. We started with the U.S. Capitol Building since it was right down the street from our hotel.

Sadly the Washington Monument is closed to visitors due to a past earthquake.

The Lincoln Memorial was well worth the long trek across the National Mall.

A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend the American College of Physicians [ACP] Leadership Day on Capitol Hill with two of my classmates, a Wayne State medical student, a Beaumont resident physician and three other ACP fellows practicing in Michigan [including one of our lecturers and the governor of the ACP Michigan Chapter, Dr. Carl Lauter]. Because I am not too well-versed in the area of legislation, I thought that this would be an optimal opportunity to catch myself up.

Basically we spent an entire day learning about the ACP Key Priorities which were:

1. Eliminate Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate [SGR] and Transition to Better Payment SYstems
2. Ensure Full Funding for Essential Health Programs [e.g. National Health Service Corps, National Institutes of Health (NIH), etc]
3. Enact Meaningful Medical Liability Reforms; Authorize and Fund a National Pilot of No-Fault Health Courts
4. Fully Fund Graduate Medical Education; Re-align the Program with the National’s Workforce Needs

Today’s inane image of the day:

I love the green summer foliage and clear blue skies — never fails to put a smile on my face.

Today we took our last examination of the M1 year. Today was our last official day of class. Today is the first day of summer.

I’ll be on a short hiatus until sometime late next week [look forward to some exciting news in the coming weeks and updates on my rather jam-packed summer].

Today’s inane image of the day:

Sample of my written notes… here, I am trying to remind myself of the distinctions between the two main categories of lung cancer: small cell and non-small cell.

May 4, 2011 @ 11:17AM will always hold a special place in my heart — it was the moment that I received my first medical school acceptance. It was a redeeming, beautiful, overwhelming moment; finally, all of the years of preparation and hard work opened the door to the next chapter of my life. It was the day that I realized I would someday be a doctor.

Time get back to the lung…