Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot And Never Brought To Mind

   Another year has come and gone.  It seems like each year of my life keeps going by faster and faster.  2013 was the year I turned 25 - a quarter century of life - and I can't believe how far I've come so far.  This last year was a year of self-realization, hard work, tangible progress, and self-rediscovery.  But most of all, 2013, especially towards the end, was a year of recharge, which was much needed after my 2012.

The year BF and I raised our puppy, Melvin

The year of many puppy dates with our friends

The year J visited me several times :)

The year we went camping in Oregon - for the 3rd time

The year of "google hang-outs" with old UCLA dorm friends

The year I attended a special MSFC conference

The year I visited H in Atlanta

The year I visited E in LA

The year I saw all my Gphi girls in LA

The year I re-discovered my creative side

The year I hosted an MSFC potluck at my house

The year BF and I rocked our sub-i's :P

The year I took and passed Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS

The year I traveled all over for interviews... including the Bay Area

... and Chicago

... And Philly

... and Boston

The year I worked my butt off creating an original research project, while simultaneously also working on someone else's project

The year I visited my sister in SF

   What a great year 2013 was! I can't wait to see what's in store for 2014.  

I Must Be A Masochist

   TGS2CKIO. (Thank goodness Step 2 CK is over).  The actual test was a bit harder than I anticipated, but if I score anywhere near my practice test score, I'll be happy.  Unlike Step 1, however, the 9 hours seemed to fly by.  At least it's over! And I am so glad BF and I got it out of the way, especially while all the material from third year was "fresh" in our minds.  Fingers crossed while I wait for my score!

   Since the test, our week off has been a whirlwind.  I jet-setted off to Atlanta for a special Medical Students For Choice conference, which was inspiration and re-charging as always.  I got to meet some  really incredible med students, some of which even have blogs too!  Check them out if you're interested in reading other medical-related blogs!

• Dr Coffee's Brain Banter
• Spelled Like Latte-Man

My last minute packing list, with an extra addition

   And while I was in ATL, I got to visit my sorority friend H, who works at the aquarium and gets to ride dolphins! Amazing.  She even took me to the aquarium and I got to see the spectacular dolphin show she performs in!

ATL

   When I got back from Atlanta, BF and I went wine-tasting in Napa with our moms, which was super fun.

   And Melvie learned how to swim!

  This week break went by way too fast, and we already start up again tomorrow.  My first acting internship (aka "AI" - a fourth year elective where you work your butt off) is the Surgical ICU.  I know, I know.  It's quite ironic that I chose to subject myself to this particularly brutal AI, especially considering what a tough time I had on my surgery rotation.  But my main goal is to learn how to take care of really sick patients, and I'm even hoping to get a letter of recommendation out of it, if all goes well.  I also think I'm in a much better place to handle it, now that I've built up a much thicker skin than when I started out third year.  The schedule is gonna be the roughest I've had to far - Q3, which means you work a 24-30 hour shift, then a 12 hours shift, then repeat.  Over and over and over.  For a month.  So, I'm pretty scared, but I'm hoping it will all be worth it in the end.  

I'm Going To Atlanta, Y'all!

   I recently applied to be able to attend this special MSFC Activist Leaders Institute conference.  It's held on a weekend in May, in Atlanta, and if picked to attend, all expenses are paid.  If you know me well, you know how much I love MSFC, and how involved I've been with our school's chapter.  This next year, my hopes are to become more involved on a broader, national level - and I think this conference is the first step in achieving that goal.  Not to mention, I always love learning more about reproductive rights issues, and there is always more to know about ways to advocate for women's health issues.

   Anyway, I was ecstatic to find out yesterday that I got picked!  I am so excited for this opportunity, and I absolutely can't wait!  It's the weekend after I take my Step 2 CK, so I'll be free and ready to mingle with other passionate and intelligent women's health leaders.  Eeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!

   Now enjoy some photos of genital baked goods that appeared at a "genital bake-off" that BF and I held a few months ago...

Uterus cupcake

Vagina cupcake

Uterus ganache made by my friend, E (complete with IUD in place)

I Wonder What An IUD Looks Like On MRI

   One of the surprise perks of being a leader for my school's chapter of MSFC was getting a free one-year membership to the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals.  And what's so great about being a member of ARHP is that you get to read the medical journal Contraception online FO FREE!  Let me just get one thing straight really quickly - I hate reading medical journals.  They are super dry, overly-detailed, and they just pile up and take up space in my room (*cough* JAMA *cough*).  But I love reading Contraception.  Maybe this is a hint that I am meant to go into OB/Gyn, the fact that I actually enjoy reading about it over and over.
   Anyway, I just got a letter asking if I want to renew my membership.  It costs $50 for students, but if I pay that, I think I actually get a PRINT copy of the journal... Tempting.  Very tempting.  I'm honestly considering renewing for $50.  Especially considering I will be saving a lot of money pretty soon... (more to come on that)
 

Hey, look - it's MY brain! (Also, notice how lumpy my skull is...)

    I saw this article, about the MRI safety of intrauterine devices.  Just a few weeks ago, I got an MRI as a control subject for some psychiatry study on campus.  I didn't get paid or anything, but I got to look at my brain FO FREE, so I said, "hey why not?!"  (Btw are you beginning to see a theme here about me loving things 'FO FREE'?)  So yeah, I got a kick out of it because it was completely relevant to me and my beloved Mirena, but just one week too late!


   I probably will end up coughing up 50 bucks... if only to amuse myself like this again.

Final Finals

   So here I am, in "med student limbo".  It's the awkward transition between second year and third year - where you've finished finals (and most likely passed), so you are no longer a second year... BUT you still have the huge hurdle to overcome (USMLE Step 1 board exam) before you are officially a third year.  So now I am an MS2.5?  It still hasn't hit me yet that second year is over.  Finals went pretty well, so I'm not worried about passing Block 5.  

   There was a really strange vibe throughout Block 5.  Nobody wanted to study for classes (which is totally normal), however, the weird part was that everyone wanted to be studying for boards.  Some of us joked around that the school must have been performing reverse psychology on us: making us so sick of Block 5, that we were itching to study for boards instead.  I'm really glad Block 5 is over, especially because I had a really hard time putting effort towards studying ortho or derm.  Don't even get me started on how ridiculous it is that our curriculum spends the same amount of time (50 minutes) presenting all of contraception as it does presenting "cosmetic dermatology".  Yep, we spent the same amount of time in lecture learning about ALL the contraception methods out there (in an outdated, inadequate lecture, mind you) as we spent learning about freaking Botox and Latisse.  Seriously?! Thank goodness for our MSFC Contraception Lecture Series that supplements our inadequate curriculum.  Anyway, I'll keep the rest of my derm-is-stupid rant to myself. 

   Second year was even better than first year, I'd say.  This year I got a lot closer to my med school friends.  It's really cool to think about the fact that these are the people that I am going to be friends with for years to come - these are my future colleagues that I will call up to ask quick questions about things outside my expertise, or to ask for quick favors.  And I'm sure they will do the same to me, and I hope they do!  

The MS1s made us a slide show and sang to us on our last day of class

Last day of class with my anatomy buddies (+ D)

Baby Z, being her usual silly self during finals week

   So now that finals is over, I am taking a few days off, except for a practice test tomorrow.  After our last final ever was over, my friends and I went beer-tasting at Sierra Nevada in Chico.  This weekend has been super fun, vegging out with BF.  Last night, I hosted a UCLA Alumni Dinner For 12 Strangers, which was hilarious and entertaining - look out for a post on that soon.  After our practice test tomorrow, my friends and I are going to make a little trip to San Francisco, so that will be our "last hurrah" before we hibernate in our study caves for a month.  I think I'm ready.  I hope I am, at least!

BF and I at beer-tasting

Sierra Nevada

Sierra Nevada

Jezebel's Woman Of The Year

No, it's not Hilary Clinton.  No, it's not Oprah.  It's Dr. X: an abortion providing physician who chooses to remain anonymous because she risks her life every day for reproductive rights.  I'm happy with that choice.  Don't get me wrong, I love Hilary and Oprah, but I LOVE repro rights!  The full article is here.

On a related note, if you would like to read a memoir written by a physician similar to Dr. X (but obviously not anonymous) check out this book: This Common Secret: My Journey as an Abortion Doctor by Susan Wicklund.  It's quite eye-opening and made me cry in the first chapter, so that's always a good quality.

I'm 3/8 A Doctor!

    I've been wanting to write a post for a while now, but Block 4 got the best of me.  It was particularly time-consuming and difficult, especially since I was feeling really burned out, but I made it through, as usual!  Block 4 was one of those "semesters" in school where you 'half' understand everything most of the semester - and it's not until the end, when you are studying for finals, that everything really comes together and that lightbulb goes on in your head.  I ended up doing surprisingly well on all my finals, so I'm feelin' good.  It's funny because during Block 4, I didn't feel like I had a lot to blog about, so I just never did, but now looking back, there are definitely some highlights I could have mentioned.  Better late than never!

    I went to Baltimore, MD with the other MSFC officers for the Annual National Meeting.  We had a blast, met a lot of extremely impressive people, and left feeling recharged and re-inspired.  One of my favorite parts about the conference was that we got to take home plastic uteri and IUD insertion kits (Mirena and Paraguard!).  You're probably wondering why anyone would be so excited about something like that, but I was so giddy, so judge all you want!  My plastic uterus has a very nice home, displayed out in the open on my desk now.

Contraception Workshop

Manual Vacuum Aspiration On a Papaya

Plastic Uterus For IUD Insertion Practice

I like this picture, even though almost everyone is blinking

Our Swag

    A few weeks ago, roomie and I had our second annual Class of 2014 Festivus Ugly Sweater Party.  If you recall from last year's party, it was so fun that someone's hair caught on fire.  If you can believe it, this year was even crazier.  It was really fun to see everyone let loose towards the end of an exhausting block and before buckling down/getting serious about finals.  For this year's ugliest sweater contest, someone suggested a Zoolander-inspired runway walk-off, and man was it a HIT!  It started out innocent enough, but shirts started to come off, etc.  It was HILARIOUS.  I hope we continue this traditional festive gathering for all four years of med school. 

They even did the Zoolander underwear trick

    Now back to some school related thoughts.  As you may or may not know, the USMLE Step 1 exam (aka "boards") is coming up for me in April.  If you don't know about this test, think about the MCAT, but on steroids.  Yep, it's like that.  At least the material on it is more interesting and relevant to my interests than some of the stuff on the MCAT (i.e. phySUCKS).  Anyway, it's a HUGE deal, and the score we get on it determines what kind of residency program we will be able to get into, so it's pretty damn important.  I have been dreading boards since we started our first year, but after meeting with one of our student advisors, I am actually feeling ready for it.  I'm not excited to devote even more of my precious time to studying, but after the advisor encouraged me, I'm feeling pretty confident that I can rock it if I put in the effort, so I'm feeling pretty ambitious at this point.  (I hope this energetic feeling stays for a while!)  Now I just need to decide on a date!  For some reason April 1 is sticking out for me - we'll see!

    That's all for now.  Look out for a "2011 Recap" post, and a "2012 Resolutions" post.