Gene's Joint

1/72 of the way there!

In the last month, I think I’ve really gone from being on a high about med school/becoming a doctor to “just trying to pass”.

The information just piles up . . . and its hard to find time to catch your breathe . . . I had to learn most of human development (Embryology) in about 5 days and then take a final which I had to pass in order to stay in med school.

Just had my first two finals in Human Anatomy, histology and about 7 hrs away from my next final in Biochem.
I think my brain is shutting down . . .

Well, at least the Lakers are up on Chicago . . .

Harold & Kumar Go to Halloween Party

H&K’s Halloween special

Jane and Ako gettin’ jiggy wit it

Kumar, what the #&@% are you doing?

Kenton’s distracted, but otherwise a nice pic of me and the classmates

still in med school

Wow, been a while since my last posting. Life is still good, we are having a mini heat wave up here after last week’s first snow. Mid-sixties and sunny although its still getting dark early (around 5pm). I really hope I don’t have SAD (seasonal affective disorder). Maybe food can cheer me up. We have this Korean-Japanese place here that is pretty darn good, just had some tofu chige, stone pot bibimbap and bulkoki last night . . . mmmmm bibim bap. I swear I don’t know what I would do without that place.

I recently turned in my MD/MBA application. I have decided to go forward with it after all. More options on the table, surgery? internal medicine? dermatology? non-profit aid work? business? More indecision, that’s for sure.

Okay, enough rambling, back to studying anatomy and CTO. Finals are in two weeks and then, hurrah hurrah, the end of my first term in med school!!

Tired . . .

Exhaustion may be a better word to describe how I feel right now. Emotionally, physically and mentally drained. Its the weekend before another set of quizzes and I feel so unprepared. Somehow I think going to some review sessions and seeing how unprepared I was relative to the material I was supposed to know and be reviewing and compared to my classmates, I definitely feel a small sense of inadequacy and anxiety. That coupled with feeling really tired has really got me bummin.

Its less than a month until finals . . .
Right now, all I want to do is to isolate myself and lick my wounds and study study study.

Buuuuuuu

Just failed my first quiz. Its a crappy feeling and pretty scary because I really felt like I knew the material fairly well although its obvious I did not. I really need to spend more time on this quiz next round.

Man, I really gotta get back my groove like I did on the first two quizzes, more independent studying with Deo, less socializing and screwing around.

That said, I will probably go to NYC this weekend. We get Friday off and I will be done with my bschool applications.

Need to really clear my head, be in a big city, watch a movie in a real theater, eat ethnic foods, maybe go to a club. Based on my quiz scores, looks like I will be bringing some books too though. hahaha

Man, this life balance in med school stuff is really no joke.

Look mom, I’m gonna be a doctor!

Pictures from my white coat ceremony this past weekend where my classmates got to sit through talks about what great doctors we are going to be, hear about the huge need for more compassionate doctors, yada yada, it was nice to take lots of pictures with family and friends

Trying the white coat on for the first time, the sleeves were a little big . . . :)

Me with the Dean, nice smile eh?

Me and my classmates! Whoo hoo, we’re gonna be doctors!

. . . might as well enjoy it

Wow, the weekend is almost over and I’ve been studying non stop. It makes life simple: study, sleep, study, sleep, occasionally eat and sometimes work out.

As Deo tells me, in med school, since I will study harder than I have ever studied, become sleep deprived and go into lots of debt . . . I might as well enjoy it.

And I have been. The people are great, the material is interesting and the workload, although at times overwhelming is really interesting. I have started seeing patients and taking histories and doing physicals in clinic. Its been really fun and I really feel this is the right path for me. That ultimately, is the best reward I could have.

So for all the hard work, I am enjoying it.

Happiness is a state of mind

Man I’ve had a great week! Slept about 5 hours each night, studied like hell, barely even got to talk to Saya on the phone, and no weeked because this coming Monday I have four quizzes to look forward to.

But you know what? I am LOVING IT.

Seriously, I can truly, honestly say I love being here, I love med school, I want to be a doctor. I feel this great sense of belonging to my profession, to my school . . . its like a strong sense of ownership in what I am doing right now every day. I am the only one responsible for making myself a good doctor. Its really a wonderful feeling. So what has made me this happy you ask?

This week I figured out a new way of studying Anatomy that really worked. I bought an Anatomy coloring book, went into lab on my own and talked to my anatomy teacher about questions. It worked wonders and really helped me to learn and start having fun with the material. Sounds nerdy but you know what? I don’t care, its what I want to be learning, its how I am training my mind to observe, perceive, think, sort information and after just five weeks, I can FEEL the growth happening.

In addition, I am really enjoying my time here at Dartmouth. The people are fantastic, supportive and I have never been in a situation where there are so many accomplished people around me WANT me to succeed and are willing to go out of their way to help me. Just today I had one of my Anatomy profs (Dr. C, a former general surgeon) come up to me and tell me that he got my email from last night and wanted to see me in his office because he wanted to explain the answers to my anatomy questions more thoroughly. The second year students just had an Anatomy prosection for us (open lab where they point out on cadavers what is important for us to know) – it was tremendously helpful.

What other med schools give you this kind of personal attention? I think I made the right choice and I am starting to have a hard time imagining being anywhere else!

All day of studying to look forward to tomorrow, . . . as Quagmire from Family Guy would say . . . aaaAAAALLL RIGHT! :)

Moon Festival Party at DMS!

So life in med school is not all about studying . . . I have a life, I swear!

Dinner before the party. We made dumplings! Or should I say my classmates made dumplings and I . . . errr . . . supervised . . .

My friends/classmates at DMS. From Left to Right: Vasi, Jane, Khue, Naren and Vorapat, Henry, Abby, Michelle, Deo

we studied Anatomy afterwards . . . the superior mediastinum is bounded superiorly by the superior aperture, anteriorly by the sternum, posteriorly by vertebrae T1-T4 and inferiorly by the transverse plane from the angle of Louis to the intrathoracic space between T4-T5 . . . oh crap, does this mean I’m a nerd?

Look Mom, I’m cooking! :)

Its a funny thing to live and go to school in a small New England town tucked away in the woods, far far away from everything and almost everyone I know. What makes me feel more at home though is surrounding myself with things that remind me of home. I got a HUGE package from my mom today with all kinds of Japanese and Chinese snacks, condiments and food, a new pillow and a really nice Chinese tea set. Between that and reading Lu Xun short stories, I am really coping quite well to being in the Northeast. I have however decided that I really need to cook to survive out here. So without further ado, my first two homecooked meals at DMS. The head chef (yours truly) sincerely hopes you enjoy these pictures of the great food-I- made-which-you-can’t-have-unless-you-visit-me. Bon Apetit!

Curry, the healthy food on every med student’s diet

Mmmmmmm Curry . . . the chef enjoying a well-deserved meal

Shandong-style Chicken and Mushroom Dumplings and Gai lan with chopped garlic