Congrats to Stanford Med grads!!!

Mission Complete!

I took Step 1 yesterday. 8 hours of intensity! It doesn't feel real to be done, I still dreamt about questions last night, I won't know my score for at least a month. But it is done. DONE DONE DONE. I enjoyed my time studying, mostly because I had control over all of my time, no meetings, no classes, nothing to get in my way. I'm going to miss that type of freedom to design my day exactly how I like. Monday the rat race starts up again, until then, I'm going to enjoy free days I have!

SMS II

Medical school is really awesome this year. We focus on one organ system at a time, and have complete immersion: 3 hours of lecture per day, clinical reasoning sessions once a week, brush up on the related physical exam skills, and then we have practicum where we interview real patients and practice our history, physical exam, clinical reasoning and presentation skills. I absolutely love it! TAing anatomy has been really awesome too, I enjoy teaching, I enjoy dissecting, and enjoy relearning the body. It's such an honor to have all of these opportunities, I'm so grateful for all the physicians who put in so much time to teach me, the patients (alive and deceased) that are altruistic and allow me into their world. Medical school is humbling, but its also very rewarding, the more I study, the more I see my clinical skills grow and expand, that's very personally gratifying, so studying doesn't seem too bad, I actually enjoy studying for the most part this year. Still have to work on getting to bed early...I don't think it will ever happen!

New home!

Stanford Med is more awesome than ever. We have official access to our new home, the awesome LKSC 4th floor student space, including student lounge, workout center, beautiful view of the Stanford Hills, and great study spaces! I love it! Having a beautiful vista sure puts the hardcore studying into perspective...

Yet again I'm learning a new language...La lingua de corazon....
What is that I hear? A diastolic murmor? S2 split? S3 or S4? How about supraventricular tachycardia, or a right bundle branch block as seen in the V1 lead of the EKG? Or what about atherosclerosis, thromboemboli and Virkow's Triad? Any ST elevations or inverted P waves? Don't remind me of alpha vs beta, muscarinic vs nicotinic, Beta agonists, Beta blockers, nonselective, indirect, antiacetylcholinesterases, sympathomimetics, neostigmine, atropine, phenylephrine, or isoproterenol....

What does this mean for you? Exercise, eat your greens, get your sleep and stay away from insecticides. Organophosphate poisoning is bad news! Back to work, exam on Monday for me. Love this new med school home!

Stanford has a lake!

Usually Lake Lagunita is nonexistent, but after 2 weeks of rain, it's back and beautiful!

Jasper Ridge

Jasper Ridge is Stanford's private nature preserve. Several of us were luckily enough to go on a hike with Bob Siegel, one of our Health and Human Disease professors, who is a docent at Jasper Ridge. I really loved the area because it was so diverse, open areas, lakes, creeks, redwood groves. Really wonderful!

Time flies

I'm in disbelief that there are only 6 more days of class in my first quarter of medical school. Does time really past that quickly? Will I really have learnt 1/6 of what I need to learn before starting clinical rotations (answer: no, they take it easy on students during the first quarter!). I still haven't figured out an adequate schedule, a way to continue running, to study effectively, to not go crazy but also not get behind. But, I am enjoying all my classes still, I love getting to know my classmates, figuring out all that there is at Stanford. Stanford is amazing, there are so many opportunities, areas of research, talks, seminars, volunteer opportunities, it will take me at least a quarter to figure out all that is going on here before I can start to hone in on what I would like to work on, devote myself to. Tomorrow I get to learn knot-tying, Saturday I'll learn how to "scrub-in" to surgeries. Now when I look at someone's arm, I can imagine all that lies beneath, but when I look at someone's face I just see it as a normal person would see it. I'm both humbled and nervous that this ability to view the body as a "normal person" does is leaving me, week by week because of anatomy lab. It's getting chillier here in Northern California, but boy do I like it when "chilly" is 50 degrees and not 30!

The Dish

The Dish is a 4 mile trail on the outskirts of the Stanford Campus. From the southern entrance, it is characterized by the Never Ending Hill, the Glorious Downhill, and the MoJo Hill (as named by yours truly). You can find deer (as we did today), lots of squirrels, bluejays, hawks, snakes, and mice.

The Dish owns me. It is a tough run, but I feel like each week I run it, I'm tackling it a bit more than it is tackling me. I thought it could be entertaining to share some of the thoughts that crossed my mind during my run this morning...

While conquering the Never Ending Hill:
"Kill kill kill the hill. Shoot, I think my chest is tight, maybe I have hypertrophy of my left ventricle. It would really suck to have a heart attack right now. Better be safe and walk. The nurse checked my heart the other day but I don't trust her. How can I weasel my way into an ECG? Maybe some cardiovascular studies need healthy volunteers. Need to check into that. Oh stop being a wimp and just run.

While coasting on the Glorious Downhill:
OMG is that a hawk? Nope, just a rock. Wow, I'm seeing things. I hope I don't have a retinoblastoma. Nah I don't. Downhill is my favorite, I love running, I feel so free. Oh shoot, there's the steep hill. Why am I doing this again? At 8:30 in the morning? What is wrong with me? Whatever, I can do short hills, just nail it.

While climbing the MoJo Hill:
Get your mojo. Go mojo go mojo go. Almost there, last hill. I love the last hill. I'm owning this. BOOYAH.

Stethoscope Ceremony

Tonight I received my stethoscope and recited the Stanford Affirmation with my class as my official induction into medicine.

Here is an excerpt of the Stanford Affirmation:
"On my admission to the Practice of Medicine I pledge to devote my life to the service of humanity. The care of my patients will be my first consideration.....I will hold all life dear, and let knowledge, wisdom, courage and compassion guide my therapy. I will use my medical knowledge to promote human rights, social justice, and civil liberties...."

It was a wonderful evening and I'm so happy my family was able to be there. As I dive into my first preclinical year, full of molecular biology, genetics, and basic science courses, I hope to remember why I'm here, all the women and families I worked with at the BCC, and hope to begin to personify the quote Dr. Probe gave at the end of the night...

Cure sometimes
Relieve often
Comfort always

Medical School Orientation Starts Tomorrow!

Here I am, 1:30am, too excited to sleep the night before my first day of med school orientation. The theme tomorrow is "Leadership and Service", we get breakfast, lunch, and dinner, along with Welcomes and Introductions, a talk on "Advocating for Change", and a round robin discussion about community health and the Cardinal Free Clinics, with logistical stuff interspersed throughout the day.

I can't believe this day is already here. So much has happened in the past month since I finished my job at UCSF. I had a great week in Chicago, regrouped in Southern California, successfully moved in to my own place, and went on a 3-day hiking trip with other new medical students. The hike (SWEAT trip) was beautiful, we were in the Stanislaus National Forest, north of Yosemite and camped at a gorgeous lake (which I swam in!) for 2 nights. I really loved all the other folks on the trip and look forward to getting to know them better over the course of the year. Abbey and my Dad, and now my Mom too, have been helping me move in and get situated, which has been really helpful. I just need to get my internet installed and I'll be really set.

So, short story, I start orientation tomorrow and I'm stoked! And for a taste, here are two photos I took on the SWEAT trip:

Good News!

On my last day in Hawaii, I got a phone call from the Dean of Admissions at Stanford Medical School letting me know that I was accepted!

I'm still a little in shock, what good news! Go Stanford!

And a fitting quote...

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find that the harder I work, the more I have of it."

Thomas Jefferson