Broken

So I get one of those new Macbook Airs recently, and it's awesome. It's funny, just 2 years ago I was the biggest Apple hater in the world but slowly I've managed to get just about every gadget they've put out. Competition? None for some of this stuff, I'm so tired of my horrible, heinous Blackberry Storm - to think some people called it the "iPhone killer" when it first came out. BBM is cool, but that's about it. Even Brickbreaker is like impossible with its crappy screen. I'm pretty psyched to (finally) get the new Verizon iPhone coming out in a few weeks, right in time for me to hit the wards with it - badass.

Anyways, so my new computer is great - light, quiet (my old computer is so loud with its fan), and turns on/off like in 2 seconds. Well, then it started to give me some error messages and having some trouble waking up. Wait, I thought Macs don't DO error messages - aren't they perfect? Well, figures that when Steve Jobs gets sick so does my new computer. So I take it in to this somewhat dubious shop in town and am told basically that my "logic board" is causing my computer to crash because something about it not being about to learn how I use my computer most. Huh? Logic boards? Learning? Sounds very 1984/Big Brother kinda stuff, but whatever I'll just roll with it. That's waaaaaaay above my paygrade, anyway it's under warranty so hopefully I'll get it back in the next few days.

Oh yeah, our new medical education building opened back in the Fall and we now have classes there everyday instead of in the old Jordan Hall dungeon used for so many years. We're on the top floor, get tons of natural light, and our room is nice and spaced out... not that all that many people go to class. I said it last year, but now it's almost comical - sometimes we are down to about 20 people (especially at 8 AM) out of 140. Being the audio/visual learner, I'm there holding down the fort with the "skeleton crew." Plus, going over new material in the morning makes me feel less guilty about going over old stuff in the afternoon. It'll be interesting to see how to balance studying new material presented (and it's hard - hematology/oncology [basically blood problems/cancer] and virology are out major subjects now) and going over the old stuff. Guess I'll just have to wait and see how it works out!

Dynamite

Whew, it's been a long time. Don't know why I really fell off the train - inexcusable! I'm back now, isn't that all that matters?

To put it mildly, I've been busy. Where to even begin? I haven't yet been kicked out of medical school and I'm trucking along through 2nd year. How is it compared to the 1st? Different - LOTS more material. I miss the good old days of having only two hard classes and one joke class. Now we have 5 (yeah, five) classes that are by no stretch easy and take up tons of time in their own way. The result? Cliff has like no free time. At least all of what we are learning now (pathology, virology and pharmacology) is all directly applicable to medicine. Last year, it's a little hard to keep perspective when you're learning about random biochem pathway A rate-limited by Joe Synthetase 78 - it was almost like a bunch of hand-waving magic. This year - talking about heart attacks and lung disease we can actually imagine and think about what caused it, how to treat it, and maybe how to prevent it. Plus, I've seen some of this stuff with my rescue background which makes it that much more interesting - really helped during the cardiac pathology section!

Got a little something coming up in April - USMLE Step 1 ("the boards") which I don't really feel like talking about because it eats up my already non-existent free time and social life. I'll get into specifics later - basically it's a titanic test on the first 2 years of med school. Scary! But we start Year 3 in May - we're all counting down!

But my whole life isn't just study study study, I made time to travel out to Arizona last week for the BCS National Championship Game between Auburn and Oregon (my brother in law went to Auburn) - had a fantastic time, Auburn won at the last minute (see celebration picture!). It's the second time I've been to Glendale where the stadium literally looks like an alien mothership in the middle of the desert (went 2 years ago to see Texas play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, another great game!). Definitely had a few highlights - Coach Jeff Fisher's awkwardly firm handshake and Nick Saban's "yessssssss" to an Auburn turnover coming out of the bathroom behind me were two of them.

I really liked the Auburn fans - didn't fall to the level of "yeah bro SEC 4 lyfe!" like some of the other teams in their conference do. They were doing it all for themselves and for the personal glory - it's not like the rest of the SEC was cheering for them anyways (see: Nick Saban's reaction above). Seeing people shaking Oregon fan's hands saying "hey man, great game it was fun" was something else. BCS games are such a blast, it makes me wish that much more that UVA's football program was worth something more than the small vial of hypnotiq sitting on top of my desk (first cheap thing I see around me). We're getting better with our new coach (top 25 recruiting class!), but it's gonna be a while. Plenty of time to get into the swamp of UVA athletics another time.

Anyways, I'll try to update more often. At the very least it'll be a nice study break!

It's Been a While

Whew I really haven't been very good at updating this blog! I'll try to do better.

With exams coming in two weeks things are starting to heat up again around here. All the classes seem to love to pile on the lecture material just before the exam - which is kinda rough. Anatomy has slowed down quite a bit fortunately, we have our last dissection (male/female reproductive tracts) on Friday. I was a little put out when I heard that we wouldn't be actually dissecting the head and neck in January-February and we would just be looking at already-dissected cadavers that the teachers and 4th years already did in advance. With my background with Operation Smile and my interest in that part of the body, it was a little disappointing. I was really happy when our anatomy teacher told us that we could volunteer to help dissect that portion if we wanted (on our time) next semester - I'll definitely be taking advantage of that opportunity!

We had been warned that Biochem was going to get rough about this time with Amino Acid metabolism, and boy was that accurate. The material is pretty indepth and doesn't have a whole lot of connection to what we have already done - so there is a TON of learning needed on my part. I was completely lost during lecture today - I'll be taking a lot of time to get this stuff straight by the exam. Since CTS is going over stuff I'm already familiar with (eyes and ears thanks to a Bio class I had last year), I'll be putting that aside for now. It also helps that the vast majority of that exam comes from the practice quizzes - awesome.

I've decided it's about time I start to jump on the shadowing train to get some exposure to some of the stuff I'm interested in. We have about 2 or 3 different presentations at lunch a week about the different specialties in medicine. So far the best I've seen were the Emergency Medicine, Orthopedics, ENT, and Plastic Surgery (today) talks. It also seems like I'm not the only one who has gotten this idea as many people are trying to get in touch with these doctors - I'm sure a few of them (like the pediatric surgery attending here) are deluged with e-mails! I'll try and do what I can now to get in touch with them. I may have to use some of my connections back at the Beach for some other not-so-obvious options and connections to get some time in here.

A theme of many of these talks has been the importance of research. All of these specialties seem to be pretty competitive, and they have all stressed how important it is. Fortunately the research doesn't have to be in a particular field, it's more of just having the experience and the connection formed with the physician running the experiment. It definitely is looking like I'll be spending my summer here or (maybe) back home doing something. A friend up here enlightened me of some possibilities back at the Beach as well. Good thing I don't have to worry about that until January/February!

Halloween up here lived up to my undergraduate experience and then some - I went as Indiana Jones. I didn't have any luck finding the lost ark of the covenant, or the lost offense of the UVA football team either. Definitely had a great time at the med school's Halloween party - great turnout! Well that's enough for now, I've got to hit the Biochem again!

Elevation

U2 was absolutely incredible. Maybe when I figure out how to upload pictures to this thing, I'll put one up. The stage was unbelievable - it was an open stage (can see from all sides of the stadium) that looked like a giant claw. It was quite the scene - the lights and video screen really drove it home. I don't think I've ever seen Scott Stadium as crazy as during "The City of Blinding Lights." Maybe when we rushed the field against Florida State 4 years ago... but probably not.

Exams ended up last week, I was really surprised with my performance. Actually, the class as a whole did amazing - everyone I talked to is really happy with how they did. So starting this week we have part 2 of the semester that runs until Thanksgiving.

It's been a great 2.5 week break from the Anatomy lab, but tomorrow morning we're back at it. Today group A took off the chest of our cadaver using Stryker saws and rib cutters... sounds like something out of a horror movie. Tomorrow we get to cut out the heart and open it up and explore - that should be quite the wake up call tomorrow at 8 AM!

Our football team finally recorded a win somehow this past Saturday - and our defense actually looked good (or UNC's offense is that bad). Homecoming is this weekend - wouldn't it be nice if we could keep the momentum going by getting a home win against Indiana? Hopefully it's not a pipe dream!

Where the Wind Blows

Quick post today - through 2 exams and have the last one tomorrow (CTS). Pretty happy that the vast majority of the test comes from the practice quizzes online since I really haven't had time to go over it much before yesterday's Biochem exam. The catch? There are 15 lectures on this exam, and each lecture's practice quiz has at least 30 and some have over 70 QUESTIONS!!! And most of them are "which statement is false/true?" My point - they take forever.

The first 2 exams I think went pretty well - the work I put in for Anatomy and Biochem really paid off. I was pretty tired after the 120-question Biochem midterm though.

After a solid 10-14 days of studying, I'm pretty excited about getting a break! Going home this weekend should be pretty relaxing - plus rescue is always a good time.

Finally - U2 comes to town tonight! Many of my med school buddies bought tickets but are skipping out because of tomorrow's exam. U2 is playing at Scott Stadium today - and they only have stadium shows here once every 4 years. Seeing the Rolling Stones 4 years ago was a once in a lifetime deal, I think U2 could even be better (hopefully no bomb threats this time!). Back to the grind - I'll be pretty excited this time tomorrow when I'm done!

Defcon 3

It's been a while, it's been tough to "find time" to update the blog. This week is going to be a rough one - midterm exam time. Anatomy (written multiple choice and practical "pinable structures" in the lab) on monday, Biochem on wednesday, and CTS on friday. Plus, U2 is coming to town Thursday night. Good thing almost all of the CTS exam comes straight from the practice quizzes (but there are tons and tons of questions per lecture - one had over 70!!!).

My birthday was last Wednesday - didn't get too crazy with all the work I had to do but I was able to go out and have a little bit of fun. Each year I am so surprised at the people who come out of the woodwork to write on my wall to wish me a happy birthday. It really makes you appreciate all the different people you've met along the way - and it's been awesome to get to know such a wide variety with all of the things I've done. Definitely pretty special!

Despite my best efforts to stay ahead of the material, I still can't believe how much we need to know for these exams. Many people are especially concerned about the anatomy practical - we have to go into the lab with a sheet of paper (NO multiple choice here!) and they pin a structure on the cadaver and say for example ("identify" or "what nerve innervates this" or "gives 2 actions of this muscle"). It gets especially tricky with joints (and bones of the hand/foot - yikes.....), you have to be pretty specific. "Flexion of the arm" gets me nowhere - I have to specify between the "elbow" and the "glenohumeral" joint (shoulder). The many similar names also get a bit confusing (see supraspinatus muscle and suprascapular nerve, and thoracoacromial artery/thoracodorsal nerve). On the positive side, they only pin structures where it can reasonably be identified by nearby landmarks. I'll be going in to the lab tomorrow at 9 AM (no sleeping in for this guy!) to do a full review - I hope it goes well!!!

Interspersing my other classes while studying for anatomy has been tough... I might not get a ton of sleep tonight :( But then again, it's the rest 2 nights before the main event that matters most, so I probably won't be up too late!! I'll check in again after this Anatomy exam! Good thing it's all just straight pass/fail!!

Kids

I'll try to update more frequently - tough to find time! Class attendance has started to drop off a bit - I guess people would rather sleep in and watch the lecture online (via podcasts posted online) at a more convenient time. It sounds like a good idea, but who am I fooling - I don't have near the discipline to sit down for an hour and watch a lecture online. Plus, it would be pretty easy to be anti-social and never see anyone by just never showing up to class. We have another biochem quiz this week - lots of information on it, but I'm not super worried.

I've dubbed this week in Anatomy the dreaded "quad" week - 4 labs in one week. Group A does labs 9 and 11 on Monday and Thursday, while Group B (that's me) does 10 and 12 on Tuesday and Friday. Yep, we're responsible for all of it. Don't even get me started on how Group A never has Friday lab (so they often get Fridays completely off!!) It's pretty rough, but fortunately this is the only week like this. Our lab director told our group 2 weeks ago that this is the toughest few weeks we will have in anatomy - apparently it slows down considerably after the first exam. Exams are in 2 weeks, I'm curious to see how people cope with the challenge. Could be entertaining! I've been working reasonably hard to keep up with the material to avoid cramming for the exams - not that it would be really possible anyway (at least for Anatomy and Biochem) given the unbelievable amount of information covered. We're already through Lecture 23 in Biochem - where has the time gone??

UVA football continues to redefine pathetic - one of my favorite sports writers Mike Wilbon referred to the ACC as "stinky" and to UVA specifically as the "captain of stink." Pretty accurate - Cav Man falling off his horse to start Saturday's game pretty much summed up the state of UVA football. Enough on that.

Finally, CONGRATS to Allison and John having their first child (and my 2nd nephew), Jack! I CAN'T WAIT to meet him over Fall Break in 3 weeks! Speaking of which, I need to get his present pronto! That's all I have for now, more later.