Guess who's going to be a doctor?!

ME
ME
ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got a call from the Chairman of Admissions at Loyola University School of Medicine in Chicago, congratulating me on my acceptance!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow. this is by far one of the best days of my life. I'll write a more coherent post when I'm not so darn excited!!!!!!!! I'm shaking!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again-the powermat is awesome

Please watch this video. It's so cool. My house will totally have powermat kitchen counters.

2nd Quote of the Day

A wise person once said "When one bases his life on principle, 99 percent of his decisions are already made."

Quote of the day

Science is not a monument of received Truth but something that people do to look for truth.

Dr. Phil: Exposed

I've always wondered what tv personality Dr. Phil's credentials were, so after seeing a commercial for his talk show, I decided to look him up on wikipedia.

Wow. What a load of interesting controversies. I definitely will not watch his show ever. Or take anything he says seriously.

Of note: As of 2008, he is not licensed to practice psychology in Texas, California, or anywhere else because a girl claimed he had a sexual relationship with her while he was her psychologist and he has not met the Texas' Board requirements to undergo ethics class, physical and psychological evaluation and supervision for 1 year.

Also -sounds like he's a crock and has stolen his material from Thelma Box and her "Pathways" seminars.

If you ever watched Dr. Phil before, do me a favor and make sure to switch the channel the next time he comes on.

View from Alta Plaza Park

STR: Recognizing the sign of a stroke

S *Ask the individual to SMILE.
T *Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)
(i.e. It is sunny out today.)
R *Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.

If you ever see someone fall and you're concerned they might have had a stroke, if they are unable to do any of these 3 simple actions, do not hesitate and call 911 immediately. Urgent medical action can make the impact of a stroke much much less. Thanks to Kitty for sending this information along!

The wonderfulness of teaching

Recently we hired someone to help with the day-to-day operations of BreastCancerTrials.org that I've been managing up until now, and I get to train her! So she gets to watch a video on BreastCancer101, I get to teach her about trialCODE and how to code the clinical trials, etc etc. What I didn't realize was how much my energy would be renewed in the process. I'm realizing how much I've learned in the past 18 months, about the FDA, NCI, NIH, pharmaceudical companies, academic medicine, clinical trial design, cutting edge therapies in breast cancer. Taking a step back, I'm truly amazed. What I also didn't expect was to think about all the ways that we can still improve upon BreastCancerTrials.org, as I'm explaining our systems and software to her, I'm realizing how much work we still have to get done before the website is where we want it to be.

Just thought I'd share.

Guess what I have in common with Barack Obama?

We're both left-handed!

Since WWII there have been 6 left-handed presidents:

Harry Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush., Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama.

“Generally speaking, left-handers have more of a symmetrically distributed brain and right-handers are more asymmetric,” he says. “For right-handers, language is on the left side, for left-handers it’s more likely to be on both sides, or on the right side. The thought is that this has given rise to a different way of thinking, a different cognitive style. Maybe this difference provides lefties with a social advantage.”

As for our new president, he joins a slew of celebrated lefty leaders, movers and shakers including Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Henry Ford, Helen Keller and Mahatma Gandhi, prompting at least one right-handed researcher to wonder whether there may just be a left-hand path to greatness.

“It is an interesting question as to why left-handedness has stayed around,” says Geschwind. “If it didn’t give us some advantage, it would have been wiped out. But it’s been around for as long as recorded time. You see it even in cave drawings. It might be interesting to develop a scale that looked at social cognition and leadership abilities and then look at handedness to see if lefties are better at social tasks.”

Always proud to be a south-paw!

Strong Arms

I have strong arms. I'm proud of my strong arms and frequently wear tank tops that show off my buff arms. Never before have I had a non-athlete female role model who has such strong arms. Most female politicians look more motherly than athletic, I get a 1960s vibe from them. I mean, clearly they are strong, given their status as Speaker of the House or Secretary of State, but they just don't look strong. Most are short and petite. But here we have our first lady, Michelle Obama, she stands 6 feet tall in heels, and her arms are toned, lean, and mean.

Both Michelle Obama and Jill Biden have athletic, toned arms. Not too skinny or limp, but rock solid. I appreciate that. I also appreciate that both women aren't afraid to show 'em off. Here's a great shot of the beautiful mixture that is Michelle Obama, a strong woman with fabulous arms looking gorgeous in her gown. Even with the beautiful dress, you know she's independent, she's not afraid to pick up her own suitcase or open her own door. With those arms she's going to be the best 1st lady we've ever had. I truly admire Eleanor Roosevelt, but Michelle, I hope you surpass all of our expectations and those solid, post-title IV arms tell me you are going to do exactly that.

It's Official

Barack Obama is the President of the United States. How sweet it is.

I really liked his Inaugural speech, here are some of my favorite lines...

"Greatness is never a given. It must be earned"

" As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."

"Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more."

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist."

and of course, the most historic line....

"A man whose father less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath."

Here's the full speech if you are interested. A must see.

Leaving Chi-town!

Fogo de chau was unbelievable today! Flying home now, checked-in
virtually with my iphone!

Life is good

Sent from my iPhone
-Julia

Sledding!

HOW MUCH FUN!!!

Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

Winter Wonderland

Spent the day in downtown Chicago with Jon. Went to the Art Institute, strolled through Millenium Park and shopped on Michigan Ave! It was a whopping 20 degrees, a real heat wave...

Here's our ticket for the Metro

Burr!

-15 Degrees outside.
Sent from my iPhone
-Julia

Bulls Cavs Game

All tied up to start the 4th quarter!

BCT.org in UCSF 2008 Year in Review

Here's the link, we're under the Cancer heading.

....The past year at UCSF has seen a steady stream of research breakthroughs, exciting innovations and inspiring accomplishments that have helped further the University's mission of advancing health worldwide™ as a global leader in patient care and scientific discovery....

The UCSF Center of Excellence for Breast Cancer Care launched a free, web-based service that helps patients around the country find out about and sign up for clinical breast cancer trials. The site, BreastCancerTrials.org, funded by a $2 million grant from the Safeway Foundation, is the first national service of its kind.

Depressing facts of the day

1. Approximately 85-90% of women who develop metastatic breast cancer are expected to die within 5 years of their diagnosis....

2. Median survival after the development of metastatic disease is only 18-24 months nationwide.

Citation: American Cancer Society, Facts and Figures 2007.

Medical Specialty Aptitude Test

For kicks I took the free online Medical Specialty Aptitude Test on the University of Virginia website...After answering 130 questions, here are the top 5 specialties that fit me best:

1. General Surgery
2. Emergency Medicine
3. Pulmonology
4. Orthopaedic Surgery
5. Obstetrics/Gynecology

LeBron James!

This is pretty awesome...

I am staying with a student host next Thursday before my interview at Loyola in Chicago. I called her up today and it turns out she has an extra ticket to go see the Chicago Bulls play the Clevelend Cavs that night...Which means I get to go see LeBron James play!!!!! (In Michael Jordan's old stomping grounds no less)

So excited!!

Wireless Charging System

Someone recently scoffed at my idea that we don't need all these cords to charge our various electronics (ipods, cell phones, digital cameras, camcorders etc). Well to that person I say HA! Look at this really neat device:
It's the Powermat wireless charging system and it'll be selling for $99 next Fall. I'm going to hold out for version 2 though because I don't want to have to use their special case on my electronics. I love inventors that care about solving design and storage issues that irritate me. Not only does it get rid of all those obtrusive cords but it also keeps all my little gadgets in one place, even with a place for keys and a wallet. Brilliant. No more scrambling around last minute for everything!

OpenSource Podcast Generator

This free software allows you to create your own podcast. I haven't tried it out yet, but this might be my next new venture. You can create audio/video podcasts and then upload them to itunes! I'm not sure what topic I would I would have a podcast about..Any ideas? What would you make your own podcast about?

Here's the link to the website to download the free software. If you give it a try, let me know what you think! Also, sourceforge.net is a great resource for other free, open-source software.

Love it when I find gems like this! Special shout out to the LiveSmarter blog for opening my eyes to this.

I hope doctors remember this...

“The purpose of the health care system is to produce health, not simply to finance and deliver health care,”
(John A. Kitzhaber, MD)

Day 1 in becoming an excellent chef

Sooo about this New Year's Resolution...this is going to be the hardest one! But I'm going to hold myself to it. By 2010, I will be an EXCELLENT chef. So Monday night I stocked up my pantry, this afternoon I checked out Martin Yan's Invitation to Chinese Cooking from the local library. I even picked out a recipe 'Yang Chow Fried Rice', excited by the byline "You may want to call this dish 'ultimate fried rice'"...but then what?

My only option left was to dig in and cook it. Rule number 1 in cooking according to Mr. Yan is to organize your ingredients. Chop those vegetables! Make that seasoning! Dethaw that frozen chicken! Verify that yes you do have 2 large eggs in the fridge! Check, check, check and check.

So...I did it! I had to substitute a few ingredients, (trader joes frozen mixed vegetables for peas and carrots...chicken instead of shrimp, no bacon, no pork.).... I forgot to whisk my eggs. After about 5 phone calls to my dad asking how to use the rice cooker, I still managed to leave the rice cooker on for 2 hours due to my brilliant idea to forget my keys as I headed up to play some pick up basketball at the gym. But--the house was still there, Jaline let me in, and truthfully, my fried rice turned out pretty darn good, with lots of cooking lessons learned!

UPDATED 1/8/2009: I'm on day 2 of leftover fried rice for lunch, and I think it tastes even better...perhaps because its in my new little bento lunch box that I adore.

Science magazine, Physics 1b and Me

I never thought I'd make it into Science, especially not this way!

Great picture of me and Naila huh? Taken my junior year, in a Physics 1b lecture at Harvard.

Thanks to Erika for passing on this discovery, thanks to Professor Mazur for keeping me awake and the fun times learning about magnetism, and special thanks to Jon Chase for taking this awkward photo.

Maybe in med school I should dress up for class...

UPDATE: Apparently you need a subscription to Science to view the article and photo..I'll try to post the photo in a little while.

My awesome jewelry holder!!

Thanks for the terrific Christmas present Uncle Pat and Aunt Bonnie! I
love it!!

Thoughts

Flying back to SF...sad to leave Hawaii but excited to get going with
2009. This will most definitely be a year of transition...new
president, will finish my internship this summer, start medical school
(fingers crossed), will need to move again...

A bit overwhelimg to think about, I'm both nervous and excited for all
the changes. As eloquently put in the animated movie Meet the
Robinsons, my motto for this year is to keep moving forward.

Sent from my iPhone
-Julia

A 3 hour tour....

About to embark on our whale watching adventure on the Honolulu
Starlet! Will update if we have any good sightings.

Fun fact I learned today...

I didn't know that aloha was an acronym!!!!

A - kindness (akahai)
L - unity (lokahi)
O - agreeability (olu'olu)
H- humility (ha'aha'a)
A - patience (ahonui)

Literally translated, aloha means the breath of life.

2009 Resolutions

1. Get into medical school
2. Blog every day
3. Make zero clothing purchases*
4. Limit myself to $200/month for food and beverage
5. Become an excellent cook

UDATED 1/7/2009:
6. Read a book a week

* I know this one sounds a bit extreme, but I think it is necessary. It comes with a caveat, I've been eying a jacket for several months that I have coupons for, and I'm going to buy that. I don't consider this breaking my resolution. Also, I'm not including socks and underwear as clothing purchases.