Happy holidays everyone! I have done nothing this break save for relaxing, eating, and exercising. A wee bit of Christmas shopping as well :)

I know I don't say a lot on these pages, but I have gone back and read posts from last year and I can already see myself changing. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse. I have been pretty reflective over the break, so stay tuned for a new year's post.

To the left are some snaps from this winter...snow in Richmond, cookie baking, corporate tomato gifts for dad, Denver airport yoga, and Christmas eve crabs!

All I can say for the conclusion of the semester is...wow. A snow storm came the day before our final exam in respiratory, causing the first two groups' exams to be postponed. The groups were given the option of taking the exam three days later (when we were scheduled to be on break) or when we return January 3. It was enlightening to see every one's response. Some protested that those taking the exam later had an advantage and wanted a similar extension. I, for one, was relieved to be in one of the groups still scheduled to take the exam so I could get out of town and forget the whole ordeal. I guess that's med school for you.

For now, I wish everyone a happy holiday season, warm snuggles, family, good food, and a safe end to the year.

The countdown is on! Only 11 more days to go before the semester is over! Can you believe it?

The other, more ominous countdown ticks away...199 days until Step 1 of the Boards. Sigh.

For now, let us focus on the nearer and more exciting countdown, for it means I get to go back to the West Coast finally! And relax! And not think about school (mostly)!

I have nothing much to say, so I will leave you with this picture I found today on the school's Pathology Club website. A classmate and I are posing with the state's chief medical examiner before we headed over to their office for the grand tour.

I thought I would make a post to mark this day in history (the history of me, that is). Today I chose my test date and location for the USMLE Step 1. The US Medical Licensing Exam, though dreaded by most medical students, is at least the first big mile-post in our training.

To mark the occasion, I have added a lovely countdown widget to the sidebar.

I have to say, I feel more at ease now that the date has been set. When we registered for the exam a few weeks ago, we only selected a period of three months within which we would select our test date. Now that I have a definite point in time to look forward to (either with anticipation or dread), I know when it is happening and I know when it will end. And then I will enjoy what little summer vacation I can afford. Hooray!

I have heard that it is the critical moments in life that define us. Well, in these critical hours (of cramming for tomorrow's renal exam) I have interspersed cramming with peanut butter making (for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies), veggie stock making (for vegetable barley soup), coffee grinding (for caffeination, obviously), and dish washing....so I can make soup and cookies later!! It's just too bad we aren't studying the gastrointestinal system right now. I know all about digestion. So there you have it. You know the 'real' me.

Now it's really time to start thinking about kidneys.

Class of 2013,

Please read the attached memo for information regarding the USMLE Step 1 registration.

Thanks for casting a dark shadow over this lovely fall morning...

Well, hello there readers of my humble little blog! I felt it was time for my monthly update. I love the momentum of this year. We fly through classes so fast, I can actually feel the time passing. Pharmacology, Pathogenesis, Microbiology...check, check, check. And now here we are halfway through Renal!

In addition, I signed on for a month and a half long elective in Pathology. Unfortunately, there are a few fields of medicine we won't see much or at all during our third year rotations, a time where I hope to find out which field of medicine is right for me. Being that I am completely undecided about which field I will enter, I am trying my hardest to explore every path available.

Today that search led me to a lecture by the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia on a domestic violence and murder case and a tour of the ME's office. Suffice it to say, I can finally cross something off my list. Forensics. And two examples of decomposing human was all it took! If only deciding between the other fields of medicine were that cut and dry for me.

Anyway, it's fall. It's beautiful outside. And I am no longer smelling decomp. Life is good.

Why hello blogosphere! It's been a whole month, which means time for an update. Somehow we are already 6 weeks into the school year, 2 and 1/3 classes complete. Things are starting to heat up, my friends. We have already begun our Board review class (ok, so we just had one intro session, but it still feels alarmingly early...Boards are in July!) and Careers in Medicine. I can feel the momentum. In 2.5 weeks we will launch into systems-based classes and before you know it the holidays will be here and then a steady march to my funeral...er, the Boards.

New to the mix this year is my rural family medicine preceptorship, which is going just fine. My preceptor last year, for those of you who forgot, was in a suburban family medicine practice. I was hoping to expand my family medicine horizons by moving to a rural practice: a setting where I have come to believe one can practice a larger scope of medicine, including more in-office procedures. So far, I have not found that to be the case. Other than a slightly more rural patient population, not much has changed. Either my suburban preceptor saw an unusual amount of diversity, or I have been duped. Maybe I haven't gone rural enough. Whatever the case, I still enjoy family medicine and I am happy to be in a unique setting (we have a cornfield right outside the back door of the office!).

I hope you all had a relaxing Labor Day weekend! I enjoyed mine with good friends, a Flying Squirrels game, a trip to Virginia Beach, exploring in Richmond, and not enough studying. Time to catch up, and quick!

Well, we had a great time at the conference, but now it's back to the books for...oh, the next 11 months..........

Fear not folks, I have my industrial sized binder, multi-highlighter, notes (oh so many notes), coffee cup, and robot friend keeping me company.

Tomorrow I'm headed to Kansas City, MO for the remainder of the week for the AAFP national conference of family medicine residents and medical students. A few classmates and VCU colleagues will be joining me for what looks to be a whirlwind week of career planning and hands-on clinical skills workshops.

I'm looking forward to visiting KCMO, feeling overwhelmed (this is my first big conference), learning a lot, and hopefully meeting like-minded folks from around the country!

...And the pile just keeps growing! For reference, this is what we are working towards. Pictured above is all of our M1 material. Still a long way to go this year!

Obviously my enthusiasm for tabbing has died down a little over time, but don't worry folks. I'm still keeping up with the tabbing and color coordinating :)

First day of M2....here we go!

No more downer posts from me. I promise. It's summer!!

I have been putting off my summary post of M1 year for some time now! There are many reasons, but predominantly I feel like we have barely started on this journey of becoming doctors and summarizing the first baby steps seems silly to me now. We have laid the groundwork, no doubt, with volumes of background knowledge and the basics of communicating with patients and other doctors/health care workers. However, aside from a few exciting clinical experiences and 'a-ha moments' where some bit of classroom physiology became clinically relevant, I feel more or less the same about caring for patients as I did on the first day of medical school. My presence on a medical team is more of a burden at this point than a benefit to my patients.

I closed the year volunteering with the Una Vida Sana clinic, a free screening event for Latinos in the Richmond community. I worked closely with advanced nursing students and a volunteer doctor at the consult table where we pooled information collected at other stations on each person's BMI, blood pressure and blood glucose levels to determine relative risk for disease. We then advised the patients on seeking further care or making lifestyle modifications to reduce their risk. This was one of the most practical and fun learning experiences I've had to date, and I am so grateful to the doctors who help us staff and run these clinics. I am excited to be involved with these events in the years to come!

I also look forward to the upcoming year, as we will delve into the nuts and bolts of disease and treatments in the classroom and make real progress in physical exam skills and diagnosis. In just one year's time, we will be embarking on the first step of the Board exams and starting our clinical rotations. Scary, but exciting!!

The final countdown!!

49.5 hours until summer vacation.

Well folks, I was aiming for 2 blog posts a month, but it looks like we are down to 1. I guess that is just how it's going to be. I thought I might update since I have a moment while I am sitting here drinking a Hef on a warm Spring day.

First, an update on school: We are currently in our last block of Physiology/Histology and wrapping up a brief course in Immunology. Since my last post during renal physiology, we have completed respiratory and we are currently charging through the endocrine system and reproduction. Next up: Neuroscience (in which I hope I have some sort of advantage after 3 years of neuro research, but you never know with med school)!

In other news, I am an elected official! Next year I will be the vice president of Club Med (the newly re-activated internal medicine group on campus) and the community service chair for the Student Family Medicine Association. I am excited about the people I will meet and work with through these positions.

Finally, the main reason/inspiration for this post: today I shadowed the team of residents in OB/GYN! I arrived at 7am to dawn my mint green scrubs and watch the night team sign off to the morning crew. Within an hour the intern and I were delivering baby #1, a little 7lb boy. I was able to help with the delivery of the baby and the placenta, and I have to say it was a very calm and seemingly natural process. No theatrics whatsoever, but what can you expect at 8am? I spent about an hour chatting with the residents in the workroom, a command center of sorts lined with computer monitors and large screens projecting the status and progress of all the patients on the floor. Next it was off to the nursery where 2 very young gents were awaiting their circumcisions. I will leave out the details here for all you male readers. Then I followed the Gyn/Oncology crew to watch a paracentesis (draining of abdominal fluid) of a woman with stage 4 uterine cancer. It was quite a change from the squawking infants to the ravaged body of a woman battling her 3rd bout with cancer. We drained 3 liters of fluid from her abdomen and sent her home, hopefully more comfortable than when she arrived. Finally, after hours of liquid encouragement (pitocin), baby #2 was ready to be delivered. She also came without theatrics at 7.9lbs, but I got to clamp, cut the cord, and deliver the placenta by myself! Unlike the first placenta, this one was full of blood and fluid and I thought it was going to explode like a water balloon in my unsteady hands. Somehow, I eased it gently into the tub with no explosions or oozy mess. And just like that my first day in Ob/gyn came to a close.

Now back to reality, aka studying and my Hef.

Blog....I don't know what to do with you. I try to keep you anonymous, but it seriously limits the content I can put on your pages.

What do you think, readers? Forgo anonymity (even though most of you know who I am) to allow for more pictures/videos/non-medically related fun?

I am waist deep in nephrons right now (get it, get it?):

This is where you will find me, from now until Wednesday's exams are over. No need to go to my real home, I've got everything I need right here! You think I'm kidding.

After yesterday's nearly lost battle with Behavioral Science, I feel that I am going to have to step up my study strategy. Here goes nothing!

Just a quick greeting from snow-covered Richmond! Plowing through another term with Physiology and Histology comprising the bulk of our work now. Is it spring break yet?

Well, I learned my lesson. No more promising of posts, especially with a specific deadline. Let's face it, it's just not going to happen. There are more pressing things on my agenda, like saving lives, people!

To sum up the holiday break: relaxing and gluttonous. I didn't pick up a school book, I got to exercise regularly, and, oh, you know, I baked off an entire 5lb bag of flour (at least it was whole wheat, right?) in the form of cookies and bread.

We are almost through with 1 week of the new semester, starting with Physiology, Embryology and Histology. I can feel the gears turning a leetle bit faster this year as the amount of information we are expected to learn continues to grow. This term appears to be a lesson in speed, whereas Anatomy seemed to be a lesson in volume. That said, we finally are being graced by the famous Dr. Costanzo, and she is every bit as delightful as I had hoped. She feeds us physiology like a mother feeds an infant, pureed and with a tiny spoon (open wide for the choo choo!).

Another new change is the switch from seeing actor patients to practice our most basic skills of interviewing and some even more basic physical exam skills, to seeing real patients through a preceptorship. I wanted to post today, after my first session yesterday, while I am still giddy like a kid on a new bike (albeit one with training wheels and safety horns and helmets and knee pads). I know how I can get when I let the stress of school and busy schedules get me down, so I wanted you to hear from me now while those things are not clouding the excitement.

I am working with a family physician in a small practice in a suburb of Richmond. I have been lucky with my faculty assignments this year (advisors, small group leaders, etc.), so while it was possible to make certain requests regarding preceptor placement, I let fate alone guide me to my assignment. I couldn't be happier. A family medicine practice can play out many different ways depending on the location and patient population, and my placement has an excellent mix of ages and ethnicities. Yesterday we saw 3 month old twins, older adults (including a grave digger!!), and everything in between. There was also a good mix of problems, from regular check ups to patients with compound medical issues. Finally, I think my preceptor himself is a good teacher and someone I will have no trouble getting along with for the duration of the term. He gives good feedback and is very clear about his expectations.

Now, back to the books. It's going to be really hard to keep up this semester, as I am already falling a little behind. Go, go gadget brain!