Have a great weekend!

Hello my dears, do you have any fun plans for this long Labor Day weekend? I'm looking forward to a s'mores party tomorrow night with some friends, even though it is supposed to be about 90 degrees outside. Hope you all have a wonderful and relaxing time. Here's a song to kick off your weekend!

Time lapse photograph of fireflies by Tsuneiki Hiramatsu.

Physicals

Today, I realized something: I have no idea what I'm doing in medical school. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know why I'm here (to 'help people' -- duh ;) ), but actually having the skills to put that into action...well, let's just say I'm at step -1. 

At UT Southwestern, we have this thing called Colleges. Basically, what happens is the entire class of 240 students gets separated into six different Colleges (named after previous distinguished UT Southwestern faculty) by an impartial third party observer. (If this sounds familiar, please see below). 

We're separated into small groups within our college and each group meets with a mentor every Wednesday to go over clinical skills. My small group met with our mentor today to go over basic vital signs, in particular, how to take blood pressure measurements. Let's just say I had no idea what I was doing. Sure, I've 'volunteered' before in places where I had to take blood pressure readings for patients, but those experiences were few and nothing compared to the anxiety I felt for having to do it in front of a real doctor. Plus, it didn't help that no matter how I oriented the stethoscope/sphygmomanometer (the blood pressure cuff), I couldn't hear anything from the volunteer's arm (..."it's amazing...you're alive, but I don't hear your heartbeat!").

Well, turns out that I just wasn't pressing down on the arm firm enough. Who knew?

As luck would have it, I ended up volunteering that afternoon at a back-to-school sports physical check up event for a local middle school. It was the perfect opportunity to practice my new skill (or lack of skill). But it didn't really work out, since there were a lot of other stations. I did learn how to listen to the heart/lungs, do a musculoskeletal exam, and an eye exam though! I felt really proud. Almost like 1/10 of an actual physician.

Next goal: find the heartbeat when measuring bp. I will work on it.

Fruit & Vegetable Juices

When I was in NYC this summer, my friend Lianna took me to this amazing juice bar in Brooklyn - near Williamsburg. Now, I have to admit, I'm not a very big juice fan, and my experiences with juice places is...limited...but, this juice bar was much better than I expected! The thing is, they had some really unique mixes of fruits and vegetables in their juice selection that I never would had thought to combine. For instance, one juice was a mix of carrot, apple, and pineapple. Another, had ginger, carrots and oranges! I was hesitant about diving in with one of their fruit AND vegetable drinks, so I just got one of their fruit juices (which was still delicious). However, this past weekend, during a much needed study break, my friend Adina and I decided to have a juice party!

Here are two juice combinations that we came up with:

Celery + Pineapple (the mix of the two is soo good! It doesn't taste like celery or pineapple...more like pinelery or celapple).

and 

Guava + Pineapple (we both love pineapple :))

Both juices are super easy to make. All you have to do is put the ingredients into a blender. Add ice, water and sugar (occasional taste checks are encouraged) and blend until there are no more clumps. 

New Lunch Idea

It's been two weeks since I first started medical school and I love it. However, that's not to say med school does not have its challenges. Not only has it been quite an adjustment getting used to the courseload, but it's also been hard to figure out how to live a healthy lifestyle (I mean, in undergrad, I lived on campus and never had to cook or clean -- well, maybe occasionally :) -- or pay my own bills). Although it might seem like a small detail, one of the most challenging things for me to get used to was bringing my own lunch to school. At first, I brought leftovers from the night before. But I soon realized that it took half of my lunch break just to heat up the food because of the lack of microwaves in the cafeteria. I wanted to see if there was a way to pack a lunch without having to go through all that trouble and came across this brilliant idea: Mason Jar Salads.

A True Love Story

Oh my goodness. This is the most heartbreakingly beautiful story I've ever heard. Real life Brooklyn couple Danny and Annie recount their twenty-seven year long marriage from their first date to Danny's last days with terminal cancer. It is simple and real. The way true love should be. You have to watch it!

Video from Storycorps. There are many more amazing clips!

First Day of Medical School

Today was my first day of medical school! After spending the entire weekend listening to the MS2s (2nd year medical students for those who aren't yet up-to-date on the medical school hierarchy lingo) and faculty tell us that 'medical school is like drinking fire from a hose', I was definitely a little nervous about starting classes today. (plus, it didn't help that the very first course we start out with is Biochemistry). But you know what? It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Sure, I got confused a couple times throughout the hour-long lecture, especially when the topic turned to pKa's and acid-base chemistry (the bane of my existence in college, sadly), but overall, the topics were pretty understandable. True, this is only the very first day of classes, so it's not really an accurate measure of what the next two months will be like. I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune come next week when we have our first exam -- eeks! 

Here's to not failing out this semester :D 

Also, interesting tidbit, we started out the class today with a lecture from one of the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine -- Dr. Bruce A. Beutler. He was recognized for his research in innate immunity just last year! Do you think this could count as a celebrity sighting? I mean, I know he's no Joseph Gordon Levitt, but his work in the field of medicine is pretty inspiring.

Photo of Woody Allen from filmfanatic.org.

Moving Day Part 1

I have big news...

Tomorrow, I’m moving to Dallas! My dad is helping me move from Cincinnati to Dallas by driving this gigantic 14 ft Uhaul, while I follow lazily in my little car. According to Google Maps, it is 932 miles and should take us about 15 hours. Think we’ll make it by Thursday afternoon? 

I think my mom is worried already. Note last night’s conversation:

Mom: You drive carefully, k?  Follow dad’s car, don’t go too fast. Leave 10 ft between cars (because I know exactly how far 10 ft is). and stop every two hour for break.

Me: Don’t worry mum. I’ve done this before (a total lie, since I’ve never driven more than an hour or two at a time before, but I’m just trying to calm those maternal nerves). Plus, I had practice today when we drove from the Uhaul dealership back home!

Mom: Yea, yea, but still, be careful. follow dad’s car. and don’t get lost. just follow him!

Me: I will, I will! Plus, if we get lost, I have my handy-dandy gps with voice navigation (it’s the mapquest app if anyone is interested and it’s life changing).

Mom: WHAT! nonono, don’t follow gps. follow DAD. who knows where you end up with gps. Then you both lost! Aiyouu…(a common asian sound with a meaning somewhere along the lines of “how could this happen” and “lord help us”).

Me: …

So I guess the moral of this story is: follow the gps dad.

Wish us luck! 

Monopoly

How sweet are these monopoly pieces on this color coordinated bookshelf? It adds just the right touch of whimsy, and the best part is, anyone can do it! (I'm sure we all have an old monopoly game set lying around somewhere...). I remember trying to learn how to play monopoly when I was little. $200 just for passing Go? Yes, please. I never got past buying the properties, and the idea of adding hotels and houses still confuse me. But I do remember I was adamant about being the thimble or iron every time I played. Which were your favorite pieces?

Monopoly photos from Pinterest.

Hello There.

Chances are, if you're reading this, you probably know me (at least a little bit). If not, you will! I decided to finally start this blog after mulling it over for about - oh, years (seriously, can I be any more indecisive?). And since I'm just about to start a new chapter in my life, what better time than now to begin? So, let me skip all the formal introductions and start off with some fun (or maybe not-so-fun, depending how you look at it) facts about myself.

(That's me on the far left with some of my good friends from college!)

1) I love Friends. The people that are there for you no matter what AND the T.V. show. Is there anything better than sitting around Central Perk gossiping with your five closest friends and not working? I think not. 

2) I don't like chocolate.

3) I love the smell of coffee, but can't stand the taste, which is why I rarely order anything whenever I go to the local Starbucks or Peets. However, I am more than happy to spend my whole afternoon there immersed in the sweet aroma of ground coffee beans (I'm sure the people working there must think I'm one of those lurkers just there for the free wifi).

4) I always sing in the shower. always. and it's nearly always the same 3 songs - Dream a Little Dream of Me by The Mamas & the Papas, Kiss Me by Sixpence None the Richer, and Baby it's Cold Outside, a la Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrel in Elf - I do both parts ;) ).

5) I'm really bad at riding bicycles. le tragic. 

So anyways, this blog is my outlet. A place where I can talk about life and all the ups and downs that come with it. If you're not too bored yet, stick around. I'll try to update often and keep things interesting :)