Good to be Back to Consumeristic SoCal

Give my regards to a friend in D.C. who is busting his Army behind doing a rotation while I sit here absorbing the wonderful, warm weather of SoCal. Here’s a photo of my backyard.

Good to be Home

God, I hate flying to Asia. The flight is always horrendously long, but the good news is that I am back home in the States and in my apartment. Nothing spell ‘loneliness’ than seeing the empty apartment and no roommates around.

Asia trip was excellent, I recommend reading our CURA blog for more info. I am so lazy to regurgitate a month trip in one blog entry. However, there are plenty of photos, and I am planning to post some here. The rest will be on facebook.

Happy Independence Day. Have a good firework show.

CURA SE Asia 2009

http://cura-se-asia.blogspot.com/

I’m currently on a medical mission in South East Asia along with five other medical students and one ER physician. Follow our journey there.

Rain on the Last Day of First Year

Despite the rain outside, everyone is in high spirit. The end of Neuroscience also means the end of first year. The word is that our class did very well on the Neuroscience Shelf Exam. I promise myself ice-cream if I can honor. So my fingers are crossed! XP

Several fun things happen this week. This shy classmate who never really spoke to me finally call my name. I’m telling you, I feel accomplished because he never really talk to me or anyone else before. I’ve also been getting random food everywhere because of all the dinner parties. Dr. Z’s dinner was especially delicious. Too bad I wasn’t able to ride on her horses. My friend’s mom’s cooking yesterday wasn’t bad either. We ended up staying up until 1am playing Apples to Apples.

Several days ago, I tried Latino/Salsa dancing. Boy, that was tough. My roommate and I were terrible at it. “Shake it!” they kept yelling at us. I’m trying! There’s nothing to shake! I’m sorry that I’m not well-endowed (T_T). Actually, I was preoccupied thinking about which muscle does what. You know you’re a full-fledged medical gunner when this happens. Hahaha.

Freedom is in the air, and with the end of first year, we have three months of vacation before coming back to start the second year (the toughest year). I will be packing for a medical mission in South East Asia. So I don’t know if I can blog often, but I will try and upload photos during my trip.

Everyone, have a good summer vacation.

Academically Exhausted

As the Neuro system course is running on full steam, the rest of the class is out of steam. I have been studying non-stop ever since Neuro. My studying schedule consist of four to five hours EVERY night and more than twelve hours EVERY weekend. I have not had a free day since Spring Break and I’m exhausted.

Last time, I did complain about not learning enough drugs during Pharmacology. Boy, I am getting what I bargained for because for the next two weeks prior to the Neuro Shelf, it will be nothing but DRUGS! I already had a lecture on Anti-epileptic drugs, and let’s say I want to choke somebody. Now, I know why those pharm students are a bunch of dark clouds, but it’s not like the med students are better off anyway.

My only motivation now is the upcoming awesome summer of review of what I learned this year. Yay.

New Studio!

I finally signed my lease this morning for a studio. Here is the layout.

It is approximately 585 sqft with washer/dryer, full bathroom, walk-in closet, balcony. The kitchen has a brand-new granite counter top with all stainless steel appliances. The bathroom is a tub/shower bathroom with granite counter top again. They really go all out with these apartments.

The walls are very thick. So I won’t be hearing my neighbors at all. My studio is on the third floor unfortunately, so moving is going to be tough. However, since it’s on the 3rd floor, I do have vaulted ceiling!

Here are some more photos of their larger 1/2-bedroom apartments.

These larger apartments are very nice, but I would need a roommate in order to be able to afford it. I’m still waiting for that friend of mine to join me soon. >_^

A Male Roommate?

This topic was brought to my attention recently. A friend of mine from Portland recently moved out of his place because his roommate was too much of a psycho for him to handle. So, he was looking for a new roommate for next year. I suppose words got around that I was also moving out, and he ’suggested’ the idea of being roommates for next year. Before you gasp in astonishment, let me tell you the pros and cons that went through my head at the moment.

PROS

Having a guy around is indeed handy especially when things begin to fall apart (car, sink, light bulbs) or hard to open (jars!). No doubt, splitting the cost of the apartment means more money in my pocket (aka less loan). In addition, it’s generally safer if creeps out there know that there is a guy living in the apartment.

CONS

People (other classmates) would begin to think that there is something going on between us. Med school LOVES gossip whether it’s true or not. That is a problem for me. Also, I’m not too thrill about being with a male 24/7 (in class and at home!), I might just end up locking myself in my room again. Finally the worst scenario is the chance of falling for each other. There is nothing worst than being forced to live with your ex~ (I’m thinking long-term here). It’s horrifying!

It looks to me like the cons outweighed the pros. So, I told him that basically I was going to live by myself. To be honest, I was a little bit shock that he did ask because he seem to dislike me from the first day we met. Something about being a Californian, but I’m sure he was just jealous of the sunshine of SoCal.

Going Solo Next Year

Living with other people really taught me some valuable lessons.

1. One is actually two. If your roommate has a special someone, be prepare to see that person EVERYDAY! Hey do you want to pay the rent as well?
2. Unidentifiable hair? Please ladies, throw away that ball of hair that clotting the drain. Who else is a red-head here?
3. I have a pet. You mean, “we” have a pet. When your roommate has a pet, be prepare to be a sub when the roommate isn’t home, and that means, taking the dog out to pee … every hour. Are you sure your dog doesn’t have diabetes insipidus?
4. Clean whenever it’s dirty. We’re all professional students here, we don’t need cleaning assignments. Bad idea, their standard of clean is completely different from yours. You lose.
5. Share and share alike. Who used all of my coffee mug?
6. Unannounced guests. You -> finished shower -> wrapped towel -> kitchen -> soda -> people?. How did you all get in here?

Luckily, I am moving out and living on my own for next year. If I have to deal with these kind of problem during USMLE step 1, I’m going to a psych ward.

Like a Pro ~

I’m feeling extremely good today despite four mind-blowing Neuro lectures this morning. The reason? I did an awesome patient interview!

This was not an actual patient interview, so I can talk about it. He came in with depression basically. His wife died seven months ago and he was having difficulty with day-to-day activities. Boy, I handled it like an Attending with inquiries regarding his background, his family, his social life, and even suicide. I scanned him for depression with the usual depressive symptoms and he scored very high.

Psychologically, I walked him verbally through from the beginning of their first date, their marriage, their children, and eventually her sudden MI. Alcohol, tobacco, and substance abuse were also asked especially after her death. Ultimately, I got him to verbally express a lot of his guilt that eventually led to acceptance. It was an excellent interview. My colleagues and the proctor were impressed. I’ve redeemed myself from many failed interviews before!

You might think it’s strange for us to do psychological assessment as well, but it’s actually very common. Your physician did get this type of training. Whether he/she practice it or not is a completely different story. Medicine is not all about management of the body. The compassion in medicine is the management of the mind, and that makes us human.

On a side note, I did forget to ask him about childhood illnesses. Darn!

Homesick? or Sick of Neuro?

I don’t usually dream, but last night was so realistic. I actually dream of going home for Easter break. It is probably my friend’s fault for bragging about going home. It is probably Neuro’s fault as well since things are getting stressful here.

But let me tell you, for that brief time, I was very ‘fulfilled’. Except, for some reason, my dog wasn’t there, and the fact that I actually missed my flight back to school. I freaked out and woke up thinking, “where am I?”

Anyway, hope your Easter weekend was fun. I prefer to be by myself, so I tell people I’m sick and decline parties. It could be karma because I’m not feeling so well now.