Day 279: The long distance relationship [update]

Today's inane image of the day:

One popular search phrase that lead people to my blog: "medical school books" -- so I thought hey, why not post yet another image of medical school books?!  

It has been a little while since I touched upon the subject of long distance relationships [LDR]. As you might recall, I was struggling with my LDR back in October but by February, I doled out advice on maintaining [long distance] relationships. Tonight, as I was scrolling through my Google Reader feed [have you subscribed to my blog yet?], I noticed that the Thought Catalog had an entry entitled, "How to survive any long distance relationship." After reading through it [and feeling rather unsatisfied with its content...] I decided to make this update about how things are going in my LDR.

Without a doubt, our relationship has taken a beating throughout the year. Mike has been exceedingly resilient [he's totally smirking right now as he reads this] and supportive throughout all of my stressed out rants and panic attacks over exams. Sadly, I don't feel like I'm reciprocating enough; because time is so limited and there's always so much to do, I often catch myself taking our relationship for granted. [I'm slowly working on changing that.]

Maintaining a long distance relationship while in medical school is no easy feat. It requires a unique type of dedication, understanding and strength to pull through. I cannot claim to be an expert on the subject because it hasn't even been a year since Mike left for California, but the first few months were the most difficult. There were a lot of factors to adjust to in those first few months: medical school, meeting new people, staying sane... adding an LDR only complicated things further. But then again, here we are more than nine months later.

In my earlier entry, I failed to mention how important it is to reach out to supportive friends. Admittedly, there were times when I thought the relationship wasn't going to make it. Mike felt it, too. But then I called up one of my friends and she guided me toward a sound conclusion. Normally, it's really hard for me to ask for help, but sometimes you just need to overcome your ego or whatever is preventing you from reaching out to someone because emotions tend to cloud logic -- talking about it helps clear up the situation and leaves you open to ideas you probably would not have discovered on your own. I am so grateful for the wonderful individuals [yes, if you think I might be referencing you, I am] that have listened patiently to my redundant rants about this relationship. Thank you.

Despite my pragmatic and sometimes pessimistic view on life, I'm optimistic about making my long distance relationship work. After all, we've made it this far...

Are you in a long distance relationship? Are you considering one?

Day 181: 6 tips for maintaining [long distance] relationships during medical school

Today's inane image of the day:

The front-side of a card Mike sent me. Isn't it the sweetest thing ever?!

[I apologize that this was prematurely published last night... but here's the full version of the post!]

Being in medical school really drives a huge stake into all of your relationships, not only your romantic ones. When you start the journey that we call medical education, suddenly you're always preoccupied with studying [for that exam in 2 weeks], medically-related facts and just trying to get by. Because of this, all [or most] of your attention, focus and energy shifts away from everyone [and sometimes everything] else in your life. Even when you do find a moment [like the day after an exam] to turn your attention to family, a significant other or friends, it seems that you always end up bringing up how fascinating a patient with visual agnosia is [aside: I read "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" quite a number of years ago and didn't quite get it -- now, I understand the true weight of the novel's narrative and plan on rereading it].

"REALLY?! Is medicine all you can talk about?!" Your family/significant other/friend exclaims. As you turn red with embarrassment at the outburst, you ask about that cruise ship that recently ran into trouble just to change the subject.

[Maybe this last part hasn't happened to all of us, but it could happen.]

Anyway, as I mentioned in my post featuring advice from my first semester of medical school, it's really important to keep in touch with your loved ones. I should have expanded on this and said that it's important to maintain relationships because in the grand scheme of things, your family/significant other/friends make up a huge part of your support network. When times get tough, you will inevitably rely on these individuals to help you pull through. Moreover, if you don't sustain the strength of this network then you'll suddenly feel very lonely once you're finally done with the training part of medical school and can enjoy your glamorous life as a physician [just kidding about the "glamorous" part -- it's still grueling but a different kind].

All of this begs the question, "What can I do to maintain my relationships?" As promised, this is a list of tips for long distance romantic relationships, but most of these tips also apply to maintaining relationships in general.

Effective communication
Everyone always harps on this whole communication thing and with good reason. Any interaction with  people requires effective communication, period. Otherwise, frustration and stress ensues. So what can you do to be effective?

• Start with effective listening. Focus your attention 100% on the speaker and show that you're actually interested in the subject. When you're on the phone, don't give into the lure of trying to multitask. Also, try not to interrupt the speaker or try to conjure up the next thing to say. Silence doesn't have to be awkward, so let it slip in here and there.
• Awareness. I do believe that women tend to be better at picking up and interpreting certain inflections of tone than men, but that men are very capable of learning how to pick these hints up. Sometimes, what is said in between the lines is actually more important than the lines themselves. Try to pick up on these little indications [but don't look too deep! sometimes there really isn't anything there...]
• Consider what you're saying before you say it. I'm very guilty of letting the words spill before processing what they may be processed to mean. Sometimes you get excited about something and the words tumble out before you had a moment to phrase it more tactfully and you find that it is received in a completely different manner than you had intended. While this can be overlooked if you are interacting often with your family/significant other/friend, it can be a lot harder to overlook once you've entered the busy realm of medical school. 

Establishing a routine
This is especially important for sustaining long distance relationships with significant others -- if you establish a time of the day that is set aside especially for video chatting or a phone conversation, then you will have something to look forward to each day and you will maintain the regular contact/communication necessary for keeping the relationship strong. Mike and I usually chat during my commute and right before bed [and because of the 3 hour time change, sometimes he'll be up late and serve as my alarm clock -- this is especially helpful for the mornings that I opt to wake up at 4AM].

Plans & realistic goals for the future
Prior to embarking on my long distance relationship, Mike and I sat down and discussed how often we will realistically be able to see each other and identified an end point for the long distance. We discussed how we could ensure that we are together at that specified point [will he follow me? will I follow him?]. Although I realize that the "best laid plans of mice and men often go awry," it's settling to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Furthermore, our open lines of communication allow for adjustments to these plans as we see fit.

Little surprises
The image for this post is of the front of a card Mike sent me as a surprise. It was such a sweet gesture and it still makes me smile to see it each day. Just little handwritten notes or sweet emails with photos can really go a long way in keeping a relationship strong. This also applies to relationships in general -- if you haven't heard from someone in a while, why not give them a call and catch up or send them an email?

Reminiscing on good memories
I love when my best friend comes back into town and we catch up on what's going on in our lives [usually my end of the conversation is "we have another exam coming up" or "ugh, I didn't do well on that last exam"... heh]. But it's especially fun to reminisce about how we used to spend all of our time in Robotics after school [yes, we were quite nerdy... and probably still are] or the adventures we had in college. This also works really well for diffusing an argument with your significant other -- I've found that if I'm annoyed about something Mike said or did [or didn't do], I can't stay angry for very long when I think about how we met or how supportive he was through my medical school application process.

Knowing when to let go
Long distance relationships and relationships [in general] during medical school requires recognition of when it may no longer be healthy to maintain. Sometimes a great relationship in one setting is just not sustainable outside of it. I don't think that this applies to most relationships, but it's always important to realize that it might be a valid possibility.

Did I miss anything? Do you have any additional tips?

Day 145: Things are moving along

Today's inane image of the day:

MSG [Medical Student Government] got all of our white coats embroidered over the break! Now we look official. Thanks, MSG [really hard not to read that as monosodium glutamate...]!

Things this week have been relatively hectic...

Remediation
I took my remediation exam on Tuesday and... passed BFCP1! Woohoo! Interestingly, I thought studying for the remediation exam was more difficult than the original exam, primarily because all of the material was already at least familiar. It was hard to gauge what I actually still remember [S. aureus = gram positive cocci in clusters!] and what I only sort of remember [Turner syndrome = 45X -- for some reason this fact was more difficult for me to drill into my head]. Regardless, that hurdle has been surpassed and I was able to spend all of Wednesday not staring at books or lecture notes!

At the time that I realized I had to remediate, I was definitely frustrated with the idea that my entire winter break would be spent with this dark cloud over my head. Furthermore, the remediation exam is, in a way, a higher-stakes exam than the original because failure automatically requires course remediation over the summer and that is the last thing I want to be doing. But looking back, I do see the utility in the process and appreciate the extra push to review the material that I was weak on. I still wish I had passed the exam the first time around so I could have focused on all of my weak spots instead of just specific sections from one exam, but I guess that's what the summer is for.

Lovely company
Mike has been home since mid-December and it has been absolutely wonderful. Although the LDR thing has been rough, things have settled down a bit and I've adjusted [somewhat]. Of course I would much rather just have him around, but I can't change our current situation and in the end there are pros to the distance that I've come to appreciate. I plan on writing up an entry [at some point...] with tips for long distance relationships between medical and non-medical students.

Start of a new semester
We delved right into class again yesterday -- it felt like an eon had passed since we last had class, but it was nice to see everyone again and catch up. There were a couple of bumps with getting the semester started, but administration is right on top of smoothing things out.

I'm not sure I'm ready to delve into the extremely deep depths of Neuroscience yet...  but there's no turning back time at this point. Hopefully I'll get back into my studying [and regular blog updating] routine relatively quickly since I won't have any time to spare.

[Many of us discovered our unofficial transcripts and realized that last semester's courses totaled to 36 credits and this upcoming one is 40 credits... I'd say that this sounds about right.]

Day 103: Giving thanks

Today's inane image of the day:

It has been amazing to have Mike around! Sadly, I said my goodbyes to him early this afternoon [but he'll be back in mid-December!].

Although cliche, I think it's important to reflect upon the things that I am thankful for:

1. My family. They have been supportive, loving and incredible throughout my entire life. My parents gave me a comfortable upbringing that they could only dream of having themselves -- I am thankful for everything they have given me. Furthermore, being close to home has given me the opportunity to be a part of and contribute to my little brother's maturation into a respectable young man. 
2. My boyfriend. Mike has truly been a pillar of support throughout the last 21 months. He saw that I got through my relatively rough application cycle and has been there to listen to my endless number of school-related rants. Although long distance has been and still is extraordinarily difficult, each time he comes home to visit, I am thankful for the limited time we have together [plus, it reminds me why I decided to do this whole LDR thing in the first place!].
3. My friends. One of my oldest and bestest [yes, I am aware that this is not a word] friends came home to visit and we caught up a couple of nights ago. Spending quality time with any of my friends always lifts my spirits and I am really thankful for time spent with them.
4. My health. Being in medical school really makes you realize how fortunate it is to be in good health. I am immensely thankful for my strong immune system.
5. My school. Last night, Mike reminded me of how he encouraged me to submit the OUWB secondary application in the days preceding the deadline -- well I'm thankful that he did because I could not imagine being anywhere else! My peers, professors and the material have been nothing short of remarkable and I am thankful for the opportunity to be here.

Today's medical school fact of the day: "The brain is surrounded by 3 layers of membranes [meninges] [listed here from superficial to deep]: dura mater, arachnoid mater and pia mater." -- Gray's Anatomy for Students

P.S. Shara correctly guessed what Tuesday's inane image was modeling -- we were trying to show the sliding action of myosin and actin filaments during contraction and relaxation of a skeletal muscle sarcomere. If you have a moment, you should check out her wonderful entries at "This may hurt a bit." 

Day 100: Pause

Today's inane image of the day:

Challenge: Can you guess what we're modeling here? [Leave comments with what you think this is -- no OUWB students, please!]

I apologize for the lack of updates lately -- Mike flew into town late Friday and I have been busy relishing his presence since then [I even took him to school with me yesterday and today!]. Since things are still pretty hectic around here, I'll just leave you with my PRISM reflective writing piece [fictional, about anatomy lab, not my best work but still something!]:

As she stepped into the anatomy lab for her first session, the distinct scent of formalin filled her nasal cavity and sent chills down her spine. She looked around at the room filled symmetrically with metal gurneys. Each gurney had a similar white body bag, but the outline of each cadaver was unique. As her thoughts drifted away during the professor’s introductory presentation, she realized that she had never come this close to death before – in fact, there was a horribly eerie quality to standing in a room full of vibrant medical students ready to pry into the flesh of a deceased and preserved human being.

The professor stopped speaking and she looked down at her assigned cadaver. Her team members were ready to unveil the body, but she wanted to take a step back and consider what lay in front of her. This woman was once a living, breathing person. She lived a life that this medical student would probably never know about. Family and friends probably loved her and probably still miss her. And now, 5 medical students were about to invade the physical entity of this woman’s life. They were about to explore her like no other person has before.

After mulling over her thoughts, she slowly approached the body with a scalpel and forceps. She was hesitant to plunge a knife into this woman’s flesh. There was something wrong about violating this woman’s body. But she recognized how this learning experience was one of the pinnacles of her medical education – there would be no other future opportunity to explore human structures in this manner. With this in mind, she began swiping unsteadily with her scalpel to retract the skin of the cadaver’s back. Two hours later, the group had exposed the superficial back muscles and she was relived the lab session was finally over.

Months pass and she is hunched over a new cadaver’s plantar region. A withering old man with surprisingly intact musculature replaced the previous cadaver. She was comfortable with the odd smells, sights and sounds of the anatomy lab. Time and experience have resolved her apprehension about dissection. Her blade now pierces the flesh with confidence to rip through the thick aponeurosis. After successfully exposing the 2^nd layer of the plantar muscles, she washes everything up and leaves the lab with a sense of excitement for what mysteries are to come. As she walks outside in the brisk, fresh air, she barely notices the distinct lingering scent of formalin in her nasal cavity. 

Happy Thanksgiving! More updates soon, promise.

Today's medical school fact of the day: "The quadriceps femoris is subdivided into four parts: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus intermedius, and vastus medialis. All four parts have the same insertion [tibial tuberosity] and innervation [femoral nerve]." -- Anatomy

P.S. w00t, 100 days in and still going strong!

Day 71: Battling the long distance relationship

Today's inane image of the day:

For anyone who was curious what Mike picked out for me in this entry, here it is! [I'm obsessed with hearts... if you know me in real life, you probably noticed that I always have some kind of heart-shaped jewelry on]

Males be warned: this entry may be a particularly sappy/feminine one [it is, after all, about my relationship].

I've hinted here and there that my long distance relationship with Mike has been, and currently is, extremely difficult. Anyone who has been in a relationship can understand why -- Facetime, phone calls and text messages can only get you so far. In the end, we naturally yearn for meaningful, enjoyable, physical company. When you find that the person you've invested your heart and soul in has decided to leave for an indefinite number of years to a place 2,000+ miles away... well, it puts a lot of strain on the relationship.

I have been putting forth my best effort and most optimistic, positive thoughts toward the situation: medical school is difficult, and if Mike was around, he could be distracting; absence makes the heart grow fonder; he promised to return to where ever I am when he's done with his PhD. But regardless of what I try to tell myself each day, the last almost-three months have been excruciatingly hard. Not only have I had to adjust to medical school [and boy, has that been a serious transition!], but I am also adjusting to my best [girl] friend moving away, to more time on the road, to a new life. Yank my pillar of support away, and you are left with one extremely stressed and sometimes unhappy me.

This begs the question, did Mike even have a choice in the matter? Well, yes, he did. In all fairness, he had to make his decision prior to my where I knew what I was going [at that point, I believe I was on OUWB's waitlist and still waiting on 3 other decisions]. And I did encourage him to decide based on what would be best for his career [i.e. take me out of the equation]. But... I still secretly hoped he would decide to stay nearby. Even though I knew that he enjoyed the research [and weather] more over there, I still selfishly wanted him to put me back into the equation and choose Michigan over where he is now.

When Mike was making his decision, he actually asked for advice from one of his professors/mentors. She had gone through a similar situation with her husband -- he went to medical school in a different state from her graduate school. After Mike explained the decision he had to make, she told him that long distance works for this particular situation. She thought it was better this way.

Well, I have been trying really hard to see this logic. And I can't. Maybe it's too soon to speak retrospectively. After all, you cannot make connections looking forward, or even in the present; you can only connect the dots looking retrospectively [paraphrased advice from Dean Folberg].

[Note: This entry was purely for my benefit -- I wanted to organize my thoughts and this is how I decided to do it -- maybe someone out there can feel like they aren't battling this alone.]

Today's medical school fact of the day: "A virus is an obligate intracellular parasite that can either contain DNA or RNA, but not both." - Dr. Harriott's Virology lecture notes

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].

Day 63: A blissful weekend

Today's inane images of the day:

This here is my new baby...

... yes, I hopped onto the iPhone bandwagon and will never look back to my Blackberry! [the phone is sitting atop my slightly neglected Pharmacology TBL session objectives...]

This weekend was packed with two big events in my life: a much needed visit from Mike and the arrival of my new iPhone 4S!

Let's start with Mike -- I picked him up pretty late Thursday night and after a few short hours of sleep, headed off to school early Friday morning. I really wanted to show him how our medical school lectures were, so he agreed to sit in on my shorter 3 lecture day. He seemed to enjoy bits of pieces of lecture [but he had homework to complete, so he kept himself busy].

Friday was also the day that my iPhone was dropped off by UPS, so I literally spent the whole day on the tracking site refreshing the page [it was agonizing to find that it was "out for delivery" for something like 6 hours]. After finally picking up my phone, activating it and downloading the necessities [Facebook, Twitter, HealthTap -- more on this later... etc], I drove us to Ann Arbor to celebrate Mike's brother's birthday. Following dinner and dessert, I somehow conjured the energy to drive us out to Royal Oak for a drink with my bestest friend, O and TBL member, S. Although I was exhausted, it was well worth it.

Yesterday, I caught up on much needed sleep and Mike and I enjoyed much of the morning at home. Sadly, my AC adaptor to charge my iPhone wasn't working, so I made an appointment for the Genius Bar and headed over to the mall to get the issue resolved. While there, I stumbled across this fabulous Kate Spade iPhone case [couldn't find my color on the site... but close enough] and just had to have it. We then went over to Best Buy to pick up a Zagg Invisible Shield for the front of my phone [the two work together seamlessly!].

Luckily, we also ended up finding a way to extend Mike's stay by ~14 hours through my favorite Big Sib/Little Sib program resident [he actually organized the program and has been an invaluable resource]. So instead of saying painful goodbyes at 5am this morning, I had until 6:30pm. As short as 14 hours sounds, it really made a huge difference to have that extra time with him.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the latest project I'm involved in: HealthTap University [scroll down to the bottom to find a familiar name!]. Anyone with a smartphone should download the HealthTap app [iPhone- and Android-friendly!]. Anyway, I was a bit confused by the site until I familiarized myself with a bit, but essentially it's the most reputable place to get your medical questions answered. You know how when you have a question about, say Strep throat, and you go to Dr. Google to get an answer? Well, I'm sure you know how many forums appear in the search results with absolutely ridiculous and incorrect information -- this being said, HealthTap is the solution. With a network of 4,000+ physicians and now a number of medical students, anyone can log on and get a health question answered by a reputable source! It's really quite an ingenius idea.

I'll be updating more regularly now that Mike is [almost] back on the West Coast. As for how I'm feeling about my exam -- well, I'm bummed, but the reality of medical school is that now that I'm in, my school [and I believe all the other medical schools across the nation] is going do whatever it can to ensure that I graduate. I'm maintaining a positive attitude, and having Mike around this weekend has really helped me bounce right back.

Plus, I have you -- my dedicated readers -- to help me through this!

Today's medical school fact of the day: ADME [in the pharmacology world] is an abbreviation for absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion. - Golan, Principles of Pharmacology, Chapter 3

Day 36: Little surprises brighten a gloomy day

Today's [second] inane image of the day:

A beautiful piece of jewelry from Edor to brighten my evening.

When I walked outside this morning, the sky seemed as lost in itself as I was in my thoughts. Throughout the day, the rain and cold wind didn't help my mood. But I got through the day and was greeted by this tiny little box when I got home.

Originally, I saw this online store on one of my favorite blogs [she lived in Michigan at one point, too!]: A CUP OF JO -- although not medically-related, she really highlights a number of gems in her blog. Edor was featured in one of her giveaways, and being the sucker that I am for tiny, inconspicuous jewelry, I fell in love. After showing Mike the website a while back, he hinted that I may find a surprise sitting at my doorstep in the near future.

I won't show you what I selected [I'll save that for another day], but it's absolutely perfect and went well with the sun peeking from below the horizon just before it fell to darkness on this overcast day.

Day 21: Making the most of it

Today's inane image of the day:

I'm not quite leaving yet... but it's coming too soon!

The problem with flying out to California for a 3-day weekend is that it ends too soon. While I don't technically leave until tomorrow, I basically only have 24 more hours here with Mike before I return home. I feel like it was just last night that I landed here and I have to leave again!

I wish that we had more time together -- it feels good to be back in an old familiar routine [even if it's in a new place] and it definitely doesn't hurt that Mike can help me get through any stressful patches... but the reality of our relationship right now is that we are ~2,000 miles and 3 time zones apart. It's hard not to have the inklings of doubt when you haven't been able to touch your significant other for weeks at a time, but finally having these moments together again reminds you of why you love them.

So I have a confession to make: I've never really learned to cook before. For various reasons, I've never actually had to pick up the craft, so I decided that this weekend would be a good opportunity to try something new. Plus, I requested that Mike make us a pasta dish [it was fabulous!] and I thought it would only be fair if I returned the favor with something edible and hopefully tasty.

What did I end up with?

A scramble with carrots, spinach, sausage, and red onions!

I definitely cannot complain about how it turned out since we enjoyed eating it! Sadly, this now means that I no longer have the excuse of "I don't know how to cook" when Mike asks me to make food for a meal.

Alas, time to crank out [or crank into my head?] some biochemistry!

Day 20: Making this work

Today's inane image of the day:

Even while on "vacation" in California, I need to keep up with studying! At least the sun makes every subject so much brighter and more fun to study [plus, it doesn't hurt to have Mike around to keep me smiling!].

Greetings from the Starbucks in Duarte, California! You didn't think I'd forget about you during my extended weekend, did you?

Yesterday flew by in a dizzying haze. I woke up slightly earlier than normal to ensure that I could leave early enough to get a prime parking spot near O'Dowd [since the rest of Oakland University started classes on Thursday, we haven't had a problem with parking... but Dr. Sabina warned us about how it can get frightening to fight for a spot during the first couple of weeks when students still attend class] and to give myself some time to review the various biological tools of molecular biology [e.g., Northern/Southern/Western blots, PCR, gel electrophoresis, etc] that our TBL was on. One of my classmates' wife baked us a billion cookies, which was a pleasant and much needed treat [more reasons to love my peers... and their significant others!].

The TBL was... what I expected. The questions in the IRAT were definitely more clinically-oriented and not just, "What does a Northern blot do?" While I cannot say I am thrilled with my performance on the IRAT, I did well enough. Plus, our group did fantastic on the GRAT... which made up for our poor performance on the application exercise portion. Although I hate to admit it, I'm starting to understand the reasoning that pass = MD. Plus, the TBLs aren't worth a huge portion of our BFCP grade, so I'll just see this as a learning experience and make sure to improve next time.

After the TBL was over, I hurried home to take care of last minute packing and eat a quick lunch before heading to the airport for my flight to LAX. Happily, there wasn't much of a line at security, I had an exit row seat on the plane and I purchased internet on the plane so I was able to at least start a to do list. By the time I made it to Duarte last night, it was already somewhere around midnight EST [which is so late for me now!].

Although I'm happy to be with Mike, it has been hard trying to balance my study needs with wanting to spend every waking moment in his presence. I was slightly distraught earlier because I felt like I had wasted the day away, but I think I just need to keep reminding myself that by taking things one small step at a time, I can get a lot done.

We have a reflective writing assignment due on Monday and our first exam is a week from then. To say that I'm slightly stressed is an understatement, but generating unnecessary cortisol never did anyone any good. With that, I need to get back to biochemistry...

I hope you're having a fabulous long weekend!

Day 18: Do you have a Beaumont doctor?

Today's inane images of the day:

I just thought it was too funny that my textbooks take up at least 1/3 of the space in my carry on luggage for my trip to L.A. tomorrow. Oh, the life of a medical student!

Have you heard about this beautiful book by Dr. Diokno and Diane Carey? It chronicles the making of our fabulous health system!

OUWB is always full of surprises! We were each given a personalized copy of "Do You Have A Beaumont Doctor?" Could you imagine writing a note in 50 of these books?! 

I now have yet another reason to love OUWB -- we were surprised with a presentation from Dr. Diokno and a gift of the "Do You Have A Beaumont Doctor?" book. We learned a lot about the history of the Beaumont Health System through his presentation and it reminded me of how great of an opportunity I have to be part of the inaugural class! Please do consider purchasing the book, as proceeds benefit the Capstone Project Scholarship Fund.

In preparation for my trip to visit Mike in L.A. tomorrow, I couldn't help but feel butterflies fluttering around in my stomach. I'm definitely not nervous to see him, but it reminds me of the thrill of preparing for a first date with someone you just know will be amazing. I cannot believe that a whole month has passed since I left LAX to start here at OUWB -- the time away from him has been excruciating, but the only thing between me and him right now is a TBL [this time it's graded!] and a plane ride.

I'M SO EXCITED!

Day 11: Beaumont, Big sibs, PRISM, LDR and everything else

Today's inane image of the day:

Our first PRISM session was about expectations and wellness!

Most Thursdays, we have an excuse to wear our bright white coats because we have all of our classes in one of the Beaumont locations [today was Royal Oak]. I had the chance to walk through the small farmers' market that sits right outside the South entrance and was happy to find the tastiest vegan desserts at the market. I can't wait to go back and buy some baked goods next week!

Today, the resident that has directed the Big Sib/Little Sib program between us and the Beaumont residents organized a short Q&A event. Basically a panel of residents sat at the front of the classroom and tried to field our questions. Although the questions were mostly "how should we study?! can we fail out of medical school!?", it was reassuring to know that these residents seemed really... well, cool. Haha.

Oh, and I got matched with an Anesthesiology resident as I had requested! I'll be sure to discuss what's going through my head about specialty choices later.

We had our first official PRISM session today -- although I think it's a great idea to really drive the wellness point home, I was a bit agitated at the end of the day and kind of wanted to just go home. Our group mostly asked our mentor [an ER attending] a ton of questions about choosing a field, how the ER works and other academic questions. I really like our mentor because he's extremely laid back and I really need some of that to rub off on me!

On the more personal note -- this long distance relationship [LDR] has been extremely taxing on me. I truly do not know how people can handle the distance and the stress it puts on the relationship in general.  I tend to share very personal feelings with a small number of people, but when all of those people are no longer accessible, it really puts me in a bind. To complicate matters further, Chinese culture dictates that you remain a closed book about personal matters -- while I can't say I've been the best at maintaining this mentality [I was raised in the U.S...], I do unconsciously [or, I guess consciously now] follow it. This makes it extremely difficult, or basically impossible to open up and express my thoughts. So, I'm slightly concerned about imploding right now.

No wonder I had a good jog today -- I had a head full of thoughts that I needed to try to straighten out, and the rhythm really got me going. In fact, the endorphins from my jog today led me to write a guest post for the ever-popular KevinMD.com -- you'll have to wait for when it gets published to read it!

Finally, tomorrow is a pretty big day -- OUWB has its first interview day of the 2011-2012 application cycle and we have our first AMWA [American Medical Women's Association] meeting! Lots of great things happening around here.

Now on to find more ways to procrastinate... [Did you notice that I added pages to the right sidebar? I haven't had a chance to fill them out yet, but they'll hopefully make it easier to find what you need! Please let me know if you have any suggestions on improving the layout of the website!]

Day 8: Tigers game day recap, information resource overload and other asides

Today's inane images of the day:

If you click on the image to enlarge it, you'll see that OUWB appears on the board at Comerica Park!

How awesome is it that we got to go see the Tigers courtesy of Beaumont Health System?

As you might have been reminded by the above images, yesterday was Tigers Game Day! A good number of us were there alongside a couple of our professors and even Dean Folberg [who was a dedicated viewer -- he, unlike many, stayed to see the play that brought the win home to the D!]. Definitely was a lot of fun to see everyone out on such a gorgeous day and to have a chance to relax and not study.

Information Resource Overload
Every Monday we have two hours worth of Capstone sessions. Thus far, we have experienced a total of 4 sessions and I already feel overloaded by the medical information resources available to us.

In my downtime this past summer, I discovered social media and a multitude of fun and interesting websites to stimulate my brain. Unfortunately, the urge to check these websites every other moment of the day has been difficult to ignore -- while I have been better about turning off my browser altogether when I am studying [aside from a blank page to search for unfamiliar terms], I always end up spending time I don't have on the internet.

This being said, I already feel a bit overloaded by the internet. Now add on some medical information resources such as AccessMedicine, MD Consult, Micromedex, and UpToDate [the four websites we focused our attention on today] and I'm not sure I'll know where to turn in the future to look up medically-related terms. Sure, Micromedex is good for drugs and AccessMedicine has USMLE prep, but all four websites provide a great overview of whatever disease/ailment you might be looking up information on. It's awesome and daunting all at the same time to have so many places to turn to!

Aside
There have been a number of very interesting posts from some of my favorite bloggers -- this being said, my discussion of these topics will have to wait until the weekend when I am not required to sit from 8am to 5pm in O'Dowd Hall.

Final Divergence
For any guy out there reading this who may be in or considering the long distance relationship, this:

Being thoughtful is definitely one of the most important ways to sustain a long distance relationship.

...is the way to a woman's heart [the being thoughtful part].

The much needed pre-M1 vacation

Having done mostly academia and academia-related activities for the past 15 or so years of my life, it seems that a much needed vacation is in order. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am planning to road trip out to California with Mike right before orientation begins. While there isn't much to say about the first part of the trip [we are aiming for the approach of getting out west as quickly as possible then relaxing once we get there], I am getting super excited about the last part, since we recently booked our lodging in Palm Springs at the Colony Palms Hotel.

I'll definitely blog about the experience while I'm there [woohoo Wifi and endless hours of free time! Now I just need the iPhone to hop over to Sprint so I can blog while we're driving through the heart of the Midwest...].

On the note of my pre-M1 summer, one thread topic that tends to appear quite often on the SDN forums is whether or not to study during the pre-M1 summer. While I cannot say I subscribe to any one school of thought on the matter, I can say that I haven't been studying at all. Instead, my days are filled with work, working out, eating and sleeping -- which in a way is actually pretty draining. Honestly, I have never worked a steady full-time job prior to this one and while there are definitely perks [set hours, consistency in scheduling, free-time, a paycheck], I find a constant reminder of why I am pursuing medicine instead of a full-time engineering position.

But more on the whole engineering intern and medicine thing at a later time.

Here's my take on pre-studying while you're a pre-M1 looking forward to being a pre-resident then possibly a pre-fellow and finally being able to almost touch the $ as a pre-attending: take a moment to stop looking forward and just look around. Then breathe in, breathe out, and enjoy where you're at in life.

There are a lot of good reasons to continue looking ahead and working for something, but if your life revolves around "what's next?!" then you will never be satisfied. That's the reality of it. While I agree that it can be hard to put a pause on the instinct to plan your whole future [you're reading the words of someone who has every moment of her day blocked off on Google Calendar and is already planning on getting engaged after medical school, married during residency or right after, and then hopefully popping out 2 or 4 babies before the age of 35 -- yes, I have to have it all], I noticed that taking the time to actively enjoy my current place in life has slowly unloaded weight from my shoulders.

[If you didn't get it yet, I won't tell you what the best way to spend your pre-M1 summer is because we all need different things. Maybe pre-studying will help you clam your nerves. Maybe it won't. But, I do believe that the rest of our lives will be heavily intertwined with medicine and this is the last opportunity to experience life without the weight of Netter's Anatomy Atlas or patients upon our chests.]

In the end, taking time to reflect on the present has been a positive thing. Regardless of my stressing over the future, I don't know what life has around the corner for me and accept that the perfectly laid plans of mice and women will often go awry.