Day 242: Feeling overwhelmed

Today's inane image of the day:

This salad was a wonderful surprise -- adding fruit seems to make everything look and taste so much better!

Similar to the end of the Fall semester, the end of this semester is jam-packed with exams, assessments and assignments. I wish I could say that my many years of experience with this end-of-the-term-phenomenon prepared me to tackle this last month and a half with poise -- but the reality of medicine is that you cannot really predict how things will be until they are. Being someone who likes to feel in control of any and all situations... this is a terrifying position to be in.

Alas, I have adapted over the course of the year. Medical school seems to send you into a perpetual state of feeling overwhelmed -- it feels like you increase your threshold for stress and studying exponentially as you spend more time in medicine. Even though I'm used to this, school is still challenging. At times, it feels like being dropped off at Mt. Everest and told that you have to make it to the top; although we're inexperienced amateur, we were selected because a committee decided that we are capable of scaling this challenge called medical education.

Being conditioned to handle stress doesn't mean that I don't have moments of doubt. Often, the following questions creep up in my mind: How will I memorize all of this material? How will I have enough time for all of my extracurricular commitments? Will I have the strength to get through this all? And then I reflect upon the trials and tribulations of the last academic year, and I feel accomplished. Our class has made it this far -- we will make it through the last month and a half!

In the meantime, the only way to really address feeling overwhelmed is to actually do stuff [nothing compares to the satisfaction and relief of seeing the checkmarks next to a bunch of completed tasks!]. At this point, we have PMH and Capstone assignments due in the coming weeks in addition to keeping up with Respiratory lecture material. Then there's that whole trying not to gain 20 lbs from eating junk food [Sweet Onion Kettle chips for the win], coffee beverages [if that warm weather would just come back for a visit I could start drinking Frappuccinos again...mmm], consuming inordinate amounts of energy drinks [I'll be honest -- Red Bull is my drink of choice; 5 hour energy = flushing, Monster = too much liquid] and Lunch and Learn food [yeah, uhh cheesy pizza and oily mac and cheese are not conducive to maintaining a healthy weight]. Additionally, I seem to have taken on a number of extracurricular commitments that require some serious time management on my part to maintain [e.g. AMWA elections are around the corner -- eek!].

Anyway, look forward to future entries on trying to stay healthy, commuting, stress relief and anything else that pops into my mind!

Day 66: Life update and facts about food insecurity in the U.S. & Michigan

Today's inane image of the day:

[Old image] from when I visited Mike in L.A. over Labor Day weekend.

This week has been moving by relatively quickly -- I believe this is due to the following:

1. Mike's visit is still fresh in my mind and the residual happiness is carrying me through the week
2. We had some very interesting lectures this week [from global health to food insecurity to the stigma around STIs]
3. We had a somewhat relaxed week [less lecture than usual]

Anyway, I'm not sure how I feel about a fast week... while this means that the weekend comes sooner, it also means that there are less days between me and my next exam. But, then it means that I'll see Mike again sooner... and also means that medical school is going to fly by too quickly.

On a more serious note...

One of the interesting lectures/talks we had this week was on food insecurity in the U.S. and locally in the state of Michigan. Last month, I retweeted an article originally posted by Jay Parkinson on an awesome new program in Michigan that doubles the value of SNAP benefits at farmers' markets. Yesterday, I learned more facts about food insecurity from Feeding America [nation-wide] and Forgotten Harvest [Metro-Detroit-based] such as:

• 37 million Americans (16.6% of the population) are food insecure
• 1,828,060 people in Michigan are food insecure
• 183,660 people in Oakland County are food insecure
• 471,470 people in Wayne County are food insecure
• 46% of Michigan's school-age children receive free or reduced price lunch in school
• Food insecure individuals feed a family on $3-$5/day

[Data source: Hunger in America 2010, Executive Summary, A Report on Emergency Food Distribution]

Even though Oakland County has been recognized as one of the most affluent counties in the nation, the fact still stands that there are people who need assistance to feed their families... yes, right in our own community. It's important to recognize this fact and really consider what it takes to live a life like this -- could you survive on $3-$5/day [that's like a Grande Starbucks latte right there!]? 

And the reality of our economy is that no one is safe -- someday, it could be you and your family that relies on the food that these great organizations provide. Collect some good karma by checking out how you can help out.

[Oh and the original goal of the talk was to spark interest in doing a Capstone project in food insecurity... oh the choices!]

Anyway, time to study!

Today's medical school fact of the day: Many people of Asian descent get an "alcohol flushed reaction" after consuming alcohol due to a deficiency in the enzyme, ALDH2 [which is largely responsible for the proper metabolism of ethanol].  - Biochemistry lecture notes [sort of... I added the Asian part].