update

Sorry for the lack of updates. I spent Thanksgiving in Philly with a bunch of very great friends. We cooked a Thanksgiving dinner that was more delicious than any thanksgiving dinners I've had before, and I've had...15... OK not as experienced as other diners, but it was good. I made mac and cheese and we had rosemary bacon wrapped turkey, green beans, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes and pumpkin and apple pies. It was so delicious. Then I caught up with an old friend on friday and my thanksgiving friends went to NYC Saturday and Sunday. I spent way too much money and flirted way more than is considered appropriate I guess. But it was really fun! Driving in NYC is a different experience. It's a city where turn signals are optional and you change lanes whenever there's a space and you do it with gusto or people will honk you to death. It was GREAT!

So we finished gross anatomy end of October. We ended it with a disection of the head starting with decapitation and then cutting it in half, front to back, a cut on the midsagittal plane. Gruesome to some, another day in gross lab to us. I haven't been back in gross lab, but I hear our cadavers are still there. We're supposed to give them a nice send off at the end of the year. After gross, we had neuroscience for a month and now we're on physiology for another month.

The other day we had a lumbar puncture demo and I got to do an LP on a simulator dummy. It was really fun. I use to not care about doing procedures or giving shots, but the skill required for LP made it really fun. I'll be going into the simulation lab tomorrow to try to save a patient with heart problems from dying. We'll be working with a full sized dummy. It's the first time the simulation center will be used, it's brand new, just completed last month!

Anyways, I'll hopefully be coming home later in the month, I haven't bought plane tickets yet. Still hoping they'll fall in price! I'm shorting plane tickets HA!

Chinatown clinic

So yesterday was an interesting day at clinic. The usual suspects were mostly not present because of exams and other things going on. So it was just me and another girl who were the "veterans." It was pretty hectic with a lot of people coming in for flu shots and a ton of 3rd years, very few mandarin speakers and a lot of indonesian speakers. That's usually a good thing, but there was a majority of mandarin speakers yesterday coming in for the flu shot so we were short interpreters. I took charge of the front desk and helped coordinate where everybody should be going and what they should be doing. So I was running around half the night, juggling a dozen different things and I loved it. I may be exaggerating slightly. It was exciting and the night passed quickly. I had such a good time I sort of wish every night was like that. I guess I got a taste of a little power and am loving it. But that's the nice thing with Chinatown Clinic, it's the ONLY Drexel clinic that's entirely student run. Students get the supplies, students run the clinic every Wednesday, students see patients, students draw blood, students do EVERYTHING.

There's a change in leadership at the clinic each time a 2nd year passes on to 3rd year and they're not able to maintain a regular commitment to the clinic. At that time, responsibility falls to the incoming 1st years and new 2nd years. All I know is there's a lot to learn about the clinic and we're not exactly in an open sharing environment, meaning we have to ask for the info, otherwise they're not given.

I'm pretty excited about taking on more responsibility at the clinic. Clinic's probably pretty high up on the list of things that are fun about med school, next to friends, fun and food. The 3 F's of med school.

Sold my car and my motorcycle

I've sold my S2000 and my motorcycle. The car went to my friend and the bike went to a friend of a friend. I will miss them, my car most of all, it was my first car and the best mistake I've ever made.

It's a very sad day for me, although my friend said I can buy the car from him later on, but hey I gotta look on the bright side...now I can eat! Just kidding...sort of

Preventing smelly hands post-gross anatomy lab

two words: double glove!

What else can I say, it works! Makes the gross anatomy lab experience much more pleasant.

my brother

I really have to thank my brother for finding the boarding house and also for insisting that I not come home. I don't think I thank him enough. I owe him a lot, for taking care of dad while I went off to school and for the recent stuff. I just wanted to remind myself of this in the future, with this post. I gotta always remember that he's there too. And of course thanks to my aunt and uncle for their continuing support. I love my family, as broken up as it is.

dad's moved in

So yesterday morning at around 5AM, my dad decided to go for a walk and he got on the freeway. The cops said he was almost hit by cars and they drove him home. My brother moved him out yesterday to the boarding house. I just talked to him today and he seems to like it. At least that's what he says. It's probably the food, food always wins a Siem over.

Actually, I called him earlier and he was being bathed by the staff there. It's a small house, there's room for 5 residents downstairs and the staff sleeps upstairs. There's 3 Philipino ladies staffing it. The other residents are Philipino women too in varying stages of dementia.

Now I gotta find a place for myself. I'm out of my current place at the end of the month and I haven't been able to find a new place to live. I'm moving closer to campus for cheaper rent and closerness.

more dad issues

My brother and my dad have been having problems. One major theme is time and the difficulty of taking care of someone with dementia. Getting him to eat/finish his meals, showering, changing, etc. I think he's getting worse at his activities of daily living. He's down to 129lbs from 150 when I left him last year. That's a lot of weight to drop in 1 year. I'm worried about malnutrition. His diabetes is under control at last checkup. But no one checks his blood sugar regularly so I don't know how he is until his next checkup in december.

I was struggling over what I should do. At first I was going to go back and take over caring for him, but I couldn't defer my acceptance to Drexel and I couldn't get a refund on my tuition. The other option I am considering is for him to move into a boarding house. It's more expensive and he'll still need to go to day care a few days a week. But it's better than the other option of him moving here with me. It's more dangerous here. He will get lost and wander to a neighborhood that's not so nice. He'll lose his keys and won't know what to do. Day care is also more expensive here and once our money runs out, I don't think he can get medical from CA to help him here and I haven't looked into how PA Medicaid will work if he's not a resident.

The boarding house is nice, it's run by Phillipinos and they seem to make good food so at least he'll be fed well and they'll make sure he eats. They'll also accompany him if he decides to go out for a walk or if he wants to go to the mall or something. The rooms are simple rooms, they look a bit depressing. But the house seems nice in general. I had my friends go and take a look at it last weekend.

The problem is now to convince my dad to move. He fell down the stairs the other day and he had bruises and lacerations on his face from it. It's not healthy where he's at and my brother doesn't have the time to care for him anymore. The last resort is to move him out here. Maybe I'll defer med school after 1st year and come back later when I'm able to. It's hard right now.

first solo SP patient and first interview of med school applicant

Alright, first I have to vent. The school is arguably sort of in the middle of nowhere. There's no place close by to get coffee, food, drinks (alcoholic and otherwise) nearby. So late at night, when we're hungry or thirsty, our only option is delivery (very limited) and the water fountain, which tastes like dirty lake water on a bad day mixed with sewer run off after a category 4 hurricane. So when the year started, apparently they had some dispute with Pepsi, resulting in empty drinks machines lining the hallways. Well those were finally recently gotten rid off and now we have empty space where there once were drinks vending machines. Now they're saying they have coke providing new drinks machines on Wednesday, but Wednesday rolls around and still no machines. If that's not bad enough, there's a lack of food and coffee late at night. It blows, but other than that, things are cool. I heart complaining.

I had a couple of firsts today. The solo patient interview was great. It was nerve racking at first, I was really nervous when they told us to stand outside the door of the exam room and wait for a bell to tell us to go in. But then I calmed down when it all started. I had to do all those things I mentioned below and I had to do it in a way that wasn't rushed, that was empathic to the patient and cover all of the points within a set amount of time. So I did all of it, although it wasn't the smoothest. The patient didn't say a lot so that threw me off, I think we were all expecting them to give us a whole bunch of complaints and a really complex medical, family and social histories. But it wasn't and it was great. They tell you to make it like a conversation and you would think that would be easy, but it's not. There's so much you have to keep track of, the patient's story, the bits of info you need to get, the time you're spending to get it, being nice to the patient and attending to their needs. Just takes practice to get real good at it I think. We get a video and feedback tomorrow. This one wasn't graded and only we get to review the video. Next one is in October which we will get small group feedback.

So this week, my school started interviewing med school applicants for the 2014 class and we as students get a chance to sign up and interview them. Each applicant gets a faculty interviewer and student interviewer. In addition, we get a free lunch so there's a ton of people lining up to do this thing. I wanted to do it but I came to late to sign up and spots were all filled for this week. My friend had to drop out of her interview appointment to study so I took her place. I interviewed this guy and he seemed interesting. As you can imagine, the cream of the crop usually gets 1st cracks at interviews during the 1st week, so these guys are the "hot shot" applicants. I don't know their stats but he seemed like a real smart guy, a real contender, a strong applicant. Of course, I'm sitting there selling the PIL program the whole time cuz I think we are the bomb and very few schools have a program like ours. It's based on a Harvard or Stanford program or was it Yale, one of those. So I'm sitting there thinking if these hot shots come here for PIL, their hotness will rub off on the school and it will gain more fame and thus more $$$$ to get us high tech stuff like vending machines with drinks in them! Anyway, I've got 3 interviews lined up with more Hot Shots next week. More Hot Shots = More $$$ = Vending Machines w/ cold Drinks!

Anyway, had a good day today. Ended the day with some homemade mac and cheese with a couple of friends and Grey's Anatomy, which sucked by the way and I don't even really watch that show. Can't wait for the weekend for some R&R and some studying.

disclaimer: in case any faculty from my school reads this, I take seriously every interview and cherish the opportunity to welcome new blood to our school's already diverse and talented crowd of young minds. But I was serious about the vending machines...need them....now!

first solo standardized patient session today

I'm having my first solo standardized patient interview today. I'm supposed to get the chief complaint, history of present illness (HPI), past medical history, family history, social history, and a review of systems. In that order, roughly. I'm pretty nervous about it, but I should be ok, I've been interviewing patients sort of at the clinic all year so I should be ok. It's the first time we're wearing our white coats as well. I'll post again later today about the experience as well as the geriatric mentoring session we had last Friday.

updates

Sorry for the radio silence the past weeks. So I had my first mid block exam on Monday and Tuesday. It was in Gross Anatomy and Microanatomy. I did really well in the multiple choice sections. I'm waiting for grades for the essay sections and the written portions of the practical to be graded. The grading goes Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, High Satisfactory, Honors. I've done nothing much other than study lately. We've gone out regularly with friends or had BBQ's or house parties every weekend and have been generally having fun through all the stress.

I went to chinatown clinic last night and we had this little girl come in with her mom who was there for a checkup. The kid was Indonesian and she was asking me about medicine as a profession. I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up (she was 8) and she said a doctor, but she thought she could only be a nurse instead. So I told her that she could be whatever the heck she wanted to be. I told her there were plenty of women docs and that the medical student who was caring for her mom was going to be a doctor and that there was a woman doctor who went to an Indonesian medical school working at the clinic. She was totally surprised, I guess she thought only guys became docs and girls became nurses. So I introduced her to the girl med students and the indonesian woman doc and she had a good time. That was memorable. Her mom said that she liked taking care of and helping people, sounds like she's a good fit for the profession.

I'm going to a home for seniors tomorrow to interview/have a chat with them. It's not a medical interview, it's just practice talking to people and connecting with them. Personally, this is the part I really like, it's why I go to the Chinatown clinic every week.

A little about med school life. So I spend most of the day from 9 AM to 10PM at school and I usually pack a lunch because the food sucks there and it's expensive. But some days there are after school activities such as interest groups for medical specialties. It's there to get students acquainted with the fields of the medical profession they're interested in. They get people to come in and talk about that particular field (plastic surgery, internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics etc). But the best part is they give you free food. It's not usually the healthiest selections though, more often than not it's pizza. But hey it's free and they say that on any given day in a hospital, there is a free lunch to be had.

I haven't ridden my bike in a while and I feel like a lazy bum. I need to get out there. I'm planning to move soon to a cheaper place. I'll be paying half of what I'm paying and I'll be closer to school/my riding spots. So we'll see how that goes.

Sorry for lack of pics lately. I'll try to fix that...

thoughts about med school

I'm having a really great time in med school. Since I took most of the classes last year, I'm pretty stress free this year. For this current 10 week block, the only new class I have is Gross Anatomy. It's a little overrated, but I appreciate being able to dig around in a cadaver's body looking for all the different muscles of the arm and hand. By the way, in case you're curious, formaldehyde is bad, but the worst part is the smell of the body grease/fat that gets all over you and it doesn't go away until late at night. It's all over your hands usually since your gloves break and the grease get in. If you're curious about the actual experience, post questions and I'll answer to the best of my knowledge.

Anyway, we had a class about giving feedback to our peers. One way PIL works is that at the end of each small group session, we set aside time to give each of our peers and our facilitator feedback. We have to learn how to give good feedback that's useful instead of "criticism." It needs to be construction, not dwell on the past and focus on improvement for the future. It gives you opportunities to confront things that you're not comfortable with and allows you to get over them. It's, of course difficult at first to know what to say or even to be that observant to see things that need improvement. Generally, my group has been pretty awesome. I'm so thankful for them and I feel blessed that I'm making good friends with them.

What else, Clinic was fun last night. We had a patient who had hyperthyroidism and had enlarged thyroids. The patient also had a really high blood glucose and she showed no symptoms. She was pretty interesting and scary at the same time since her BG was so high. My dad's was that high when he suffered his stroke. So whenever I see someone with sugar that high, I always think stroke. We've had other patients w/ blood sugars just as high in the past and we've sent them to the ED because they had symptoms, but this person did not so we administered insulin, gave her meds and sent her on her way.

Today we had a lecture on abuse and maltreatment of minors. They taught us that the abuse comes in cycles consisting of an abusive period, a "honeymoon" period and a silent period and it repeats. And also that abuse and maltreatment doesn't necessarily mean physical or sexual abuse, it could be intimidation games or neglect. That it's always the right time to approach someone about a suspected problem, because they may not be alive the next time you see them. The best way to help people is to make it so that they can help themselves. I realized that for the longest time when I was younger, I knew a kid who was scared of talking to adults b/c of problems during childhood. It took him a while to get over it. He just had an inexplicable fear of speaking and communicating w/ adults. But when it comes to interacting w/ his peers, he was OK. He got over it when he started working at a place where there were older people there and he just got practice interacting with them.

My first exam is on the 14th and 15th of September. It's the midblock exam, 5 weeks into the first block.

first standardized patient session

We had a standardized patient (SP) come in today and we interviewed her as part of our normal case study. So instead of reading about a case on paper, we got to interview a real person. An SP is someone who is trained to act like a real patient. They're actors who come in and pretend they have some sort of disease and we interview and eventually do a physical exam and they would respond to our questions as a real patient would. They would show discomfort if we make them uncomfortable and just behave like a real patient w/ real problems would. It's really fun.

Ours had some sort of arthritis in her elbow and hands and we noticed after the interview and getting the paper case that she was right on on most parts of the case except for 1 detail that she got wrong. Overall, she was very convincing and we had a good time in our first interview. She even kept opening and closing her hands as if that movement provided relief.

It was difficult to get a good flow going with 4 people taking turns to interview. The first person definitely had it easier in terms of flow and what to ask. I guess we'll try to plan out topics to cover better for next time and use our Time Out's more efficiently. We get to call Time Out anytime to discuss things w/ the student who's sitting in the interviewer's chair.

It's definitely difficult not knowing enough about history taking to know what else to ask. We kept asking for more info about one issue she was having and it just became repetitive after a while. And we asked A LOT of open ended questions and only near the very end did we start to get specific.

In terms of comforting the patient, we did the very basics, we didn't really touch on issues such as how her medical problems are affecting her work and family life, which we later found after reading the paper case that it did adversely affect it.

Don't get me wrong it was definitely fun and informative and useful. It was really helpful to have the SP there to practice on. It was also really helpful to have a physician there to talk us through it when we got deer in the headlights syndrome.


So when an SP comes in we have to dress in professional attire so here we are. I should've taken one w/ the SP and our physician facilitator. Oh well.

Dad is staying in Socal for now, maybe he'll move here later in the year, I'll have to find a new place at that time. We'll see how it goes.

the toughest part about medical school

...may not be medical school. My brother and I are having issues concerning my father. My options are mostly bleak and not very attractive. I've come up with one solution that seems perfect if it pans out, but in life rarely do great ideas come thru without any hitches. In all cases, I need to make a decision fairly soon.

I have a quiz on Tuesday, it's mostly review so I'm not too stressed. I'm thankful the the PIL program is mostly review right now. That is it's mostly microanatomy, which I took last year.

They asked me to be coordinator at the Chinatown Clinic and I think I'm going to take the job. It's not actually a job, because I don't get paid. But it should be fun, leadership position and all.

Hope ya'll had a good weekend and I'm sorry if you didn't.

2nd day, Brisbane, Australia

Back for more. My brother arrived the morning of the 2nd day after a direct flight from San Diego. We head out to an animal preserve where we are going to see koalas and kangaroos!



The place is called Lone Pine and it's by a river. Alright that sentence was really awkward, but moving on.


My first encounter w/ a kangaroo. There were a ton of kangas there just lounging around. There weren't that many hopping to and fro but when they did it was pretty cool. I mean you've seen kangaroos hop on TV and in the movies but to see it in person was cool because it's so different from any other animal you've ever seen, well except maybe for bunnies...



We also saw a couple w/ joeys in their pouches. That was cool, no joeys outside of their mom's pouches though. Joey, that's like a baby kangaroo and a pretty good word for scrabble!


There were also emu's there, this one's about as tall as me standing up. Unfortunately the thing just kinda sat there looking at us weird.






I'm sure you're dying to see the koalas, we were too, until we actually saw them. Koalas are very lazy creatures, they just sat there sleeping. We thought they were dead. But they weren't, they're just super lazy. They also had a couple of koalas there that were the products of artificial insemination. That was pretty cool.


Then we came across this chubby little monster. Anyone care to guess what it is? Give up? Click here for the answer. And here for a mug only a mother could love.


We also saw these two dingos there. They were both white and they were brothers. There was a zookeeper there trying to train them. Apparently they have a intense fear of ropes and they wanted to use the ropes to hang food off them during feedings. So the guy walks in and sits down in the middle and lays the rope nearby and takes out pieces of raw chicken. The dingos approach cautiously but never get close enough to the rope or the chicken. We sat there for a good 20 minutes waiting for them to get comfy enough to take the food from the trainer's hands. But they never did. The one you see here is the calmer one, the other brother in the cage next to this one was walking around the cage in an agitated way. They were really cool looking dogs.



These are a couple of the artificially inseminated koalas, apparently a first or something.


This parrot was interesting. There were a few, but we talked to two. The first one just kept saying hello when you tell it hello. It left, apparently bored as we were. The second one was more interesting. It doesn't say hello. In fact it said nothing the first couple of minutes. It was my cousin and I there and his mom called us to leave, so we walked away while saying goodbye to parrot #2. But then we hear this parroty "Goodbye." We turn around and we try to get it to say goodbye again but it wouldn't. Instead it goes "Scratch, scratch." Well what is an American to do when a parrot asks for a good scratch? You scratch. When we stuck our finger between the bars, it held its head closer to the cage. I guess he's had other suckers...err tourists scratch it before and it knows the drill. So we give it a good scratch, we pull away and it goes "Scratch, scratch." Talk about pavlov's parrot! We scratched him and we left and it gave us a nice "Goodbye" as we walked away. That was worth the ticket to Australia! I actually took a sideways video of this, but too large to post.


Artsy picture


We're far from home!


After that we went to Chinatown and found these. I'm not sure that was appropriate after the day we had. At least they didn't have any stuffed white parrots...

After that we went home and chilled there the rest of the night.

dad issues

I guess my dad is a bit jet lagged because according to my brother, he keeps getting up at midnight to go to day care. I told him to take melatonin before bed to regularize his sleep/wake cycles. Hopefully it works. There were other issues of forgetfulness that he's having and I have to talk to him and convince him it's worth him remembering to do stuff like shut off the lights, close the doors, shut off the faucets, etc. I know he can do it, it's just that vacation screws him up and makes him forget to remember to do these things. That's why it was important during the vacation for him to keep doing things to take care of himself, which I confess to doing some of that for him. Funny thing is, I can't talk to him because he broke a cover on his cellphone and the battery wont stay in so, we'll have to get that fixed.

PIL today

We had a good small group today. Another girl and I presented our learning issue which was on the meninges and the myelomeningocele, which is the sac of neural tissue that sticks out of your lower back if you have spina bifida. We created a lot of good discussion and question and answering during our presentation. Similarly, everyone else did excellent presentations and for most of us everything just snapped into place. A large part for me was the preparation that we did which was, for me, more substantial than the other days of small group. On friday, we'll start a new case (each case lasts approximately 3 small group sessions and there are 3 sessions/week).

I have clinic later today and I'll get to see the 1st years I met last year who are now 2nd years and also my old classmates from last year.

1st day, Brisbane, Australia

I went to Australia for two weeks w/ my family to visit my aunt, uncle and cousin there. I took my dad. It was his first vacation in decades! When he got back, he said he loved it. I think I found that I really love my dad on this trip. I never really had that feeling before, now I do and I hope he sticks around for a while, I'm sure he'd like to see grandkids...

Anyway, first day. Australia is divided up into states, about 6 or 7. On the eastern coast there is New South Wales to the south and Queensland to the north. Sydney is in NSW and is quite a ways south, so much so that the weather is very different from the more tropical clime of Brisbane, which is in Queensland (QLD), 12 hours north by car.



Brisbane is a coastal city w/ a river that snakes into the middle of the city. You can get to different places by river cat, a boat that drops you off at different points in the city as the river winds through it.


It's a pretty picturesque city, except for the cloud cover during our outing. It was fun seeing my family and my cousin again.


Anyway, not much happened that day, we went back home and shopped groceries and I picked up this beauty, a custard apple. It's got little custard things inside w/ seeds in the middle and there are a thousand of these little custard seed things. You just kinda suck the meat off the seed and move on to the next. It was really delicious.

Oh we also had kangaroo meat for dinner. It was pretty good, different but good. I already forgot the taste actually so I couldn't say for sure. It just tasted like meat more or less.

We came separately, my dad and I from the rest of the family. One group came a day ahead and my brother came the day after we got there. My brother would arrive the following morning. Stay tuned for day 2 w/ Koalas and Kangaroos.

I separated the albums by city, so each album has different days, the Brisbane one can be seen here: Brisbane Album

gross anatomy

My teammates and I began dissection of a cadaver today. We started on the back. We skinned the poor guy and peeled back each layer of muscle. We didn't finish so we'll have to come back and peel back more muscles. It was pretty neat and by far my favorite part. After a while, cutting away skin and fat from muscle became like cleaning meat that you would cook at home. Morbid, I know, but really that's how I got it. Can't cut into the muscle or you're gonna waste precious food. Ok ok, I'll stop. The two hours we spent with "Charlie," the name we gave our anonymous cadaver, went by quick!

I also had a clinical skills introduction lecture. That's where we learn how to interview patients for history and later, we'll learn how to do physicals. That should be fun fun.

I'll work on the Australia trip report soon as I can, w/ pictures!

Oh I had my white coat ceremony last Friday. I guess I'm officially a med student now! Don't feel any different though...

first couple of days of medical school

I just finished my second day of med school. It's been weird. There are 2 curriculums at Drexel. The standard one that everyone goes to by default and a majority stay in is called IFM. There you get lectures and notes given to you and all you have to do is memorize/understand those notes and you succeed.

The other curriculum is called PIL, program for integrated learning. In this program, you work in small groups of 5-8 people w/ one facilitator, who is faculty. Their job is to steer you in the right direction should you go into a specific topic and it is irrelevant to the case at hand. So in these small groups, you work on case files, which are patients who have problems. The whole case has been broken down into 8-9 pages of stuff. The first page may be the initial consultation. The second page may be history and physical exams. What we do in small group is explore the case in a clinical way (to get a diagnosis) and a basic science way (understand the science behind what's going on). We create learning issues that we go home and research and study and present during the next small group session. Then we discuss and learn (hopefully). We also repeat previously studied/discussed topics in future cases (hence integrated learning) so ideally you reinforce yourself throughout the year. You still get lectures, but they're minimal and usually cater towards the learning issues we've formed. So I'm in this group. We end in April and then we get to do a Primary Care Practicum, where you work along side a primary care provider and try to reinforce what you've learned throughout the year.

So that's that. I'm dissecting a cadaver tomorrow, we're going to open up the back, take out the major back muscles (traps, lats, splenius, rhomboids, semispinalis, erector spinae) and examine each one, what they do, how they do it, examine the spinal cord and vertebrae.

It's been a long day, I have mixed feelings about PIL, but I think I like it! We'll see how the year goes.

Australia pics partially up

Hi all, I finally had some time to sort through most of the pics and have uploaded some of them to my web album on picasa. The ones that are up are taken in Brisbane Australia. Trip report to come later. Enjoy:

http://picasaweb.google.com/henrysiem

ps, Drexel orientation starts tomorrow

pps, the puppies you see are for sale, leave your email address in the comments section if you're interested in buying one

Back in the USA

I'm back from Australia, I miss you all, I'm sorry I'm not around longer in Socal to visit and hang out, that's one thing I'm not excited about w/ med school. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I had spotty coverage while there and didn't have a computer w/ me all the time. I took 3000+ pictures, some will be up shortly and a full vacation report...

Meantime, I'm back in Philly tomorrow and have PIL orientation Wednesday and the full blown orientation next Tuesday. I'll describe PIL later, bedtime now and flight in the AM.

elaboration

I was reading over my recent posts and I noticed that there is a lack of "excitement" over getting in and such. So I thought I'd take this space to elaborate the gravity of my excitement. When I got the call, I was studying for my MCAT's. I don't brag, but I got a pretty good score on the first MCAT I took and unfortunately those scores expire this year and I would need a new set to reapply to med school. As you can tell, the pressure was on to either get the same score or do better. My efforts could take a turn for the worse if I got a score that was lower than previous b/c I had taken such advanced courses this past year that it was EXPECTED of me to do better this second time around. So you can imagine that I was very very relieved not to have to retake the MCAT.

So I was literally writing notes for physics when the phone rang. I had the phone number for Drexel partially memorized and was waiting for that very phone call. I think the correct description would be the weights on my shoulder dropped and I dared to feel hopeful again the moment I saw the number. When I answered and the person on the other end announced who he was (Dr. Samuel Parrish, Dean of Admissions) I was stunned and I could not believe that it was happening. My life was moving forward again. I was ecstatic! It was the best feeling in the world. Like waking up on Saturday mornings to a 3 day weekend, except a 1000 times better. Like seeing a loved one after being away for weeks. It was sublime. That's how I felt and I hope you all have experienced or will experience that same feeling many times in your lives. If you care to share your experiences, feel free in the comments section.

Washington DC crab cookout and 4th of July Sheryl Crow Fireworks

We had a get together of postbac people in Bethesda just outside of Washington DC last weekend and we had crab and a bunch of other food which we ate while we were being eaten alive by mosquitos the size of copper pennies!

The people in the photos below are incoming med school 1st years from all over the country. We had 1 from Western med in CA, another from Touro Nevada, 1 from Howard in DC and myself from Drexel. Also one 2nd year from Drexel. It was really fun to get together, kind of the calm before the storm. I don't know how successful I'll be in the coming years but I know these people will accomplish everything they've set out to do and that's exciting. Anyway, click picture above to see album.


On July 4th, there was a Sheryl Crow concert near the Art Museum (think Rocky statue) and fireworks afterwards. It was super crowded, wall to wall people. I wish they'd had it directly in front of the Art Museum which is a more open area. I couldn't get really close to the stage but it was fun nonetheless. Click picture above for album.

Anyway, I just spent the day today getting immunized and physicalized...in total sans insurance: $450. I'll be going to Aus on Sunday, look for more pics then.

I'm IN!

Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple of months. Classes ended for me end of May and I've been hanging around philadelphia for a few weeks studying for the MCAT's, my scores expire this year so if I wanted to reapply, I'd have to take them over again. But all that's moot cuz I've been accepted to Drexel University's College of Medicine Class of 2013!!! WOOHOO! Orientation starts July 29th. I'm going to Australia July 12th w/ my family to visit relatives.

So for future reference, as far as I know, there have been 7 people accepted off the wait list from my program so far and Drexel says they haven't filled up all of their spots yet, so maybe hopefully we'll get more people from my program and we can start the medical professional arm of the east coast chapter of the Bloods, no pun intended.

Hooray!

Wait listed

Drexel offered me a spot on their wait list. I submitted the paperwork for that today. I don't know what position I am and they won't tell me. I'll just have to wait and see. I missed the deadline for the SLU scholarship, it's either 5000 or 10000 depending on how needy you and your family are. I forgot to submit tax documents, but I would only have qualified for 5000 maybe and it's offered every year so I'll just be out an extra 5000 if I get in to SLU. Oh well. I hear back from SLU in 2-4 weeks.

I went to clinic again last night. It was nice seeing all the Indonesian patients again, there were 3 that I had seen and translated for before. Indonesians are so easily familiar with other Indonesians even though we are still strangers. It's really nice.

I'm keepin' the fire burning!

Drexel decision

Drexel decision letters were mailed out Wednesday and I'm now waiting on it. A couple of my friends were waitlisted and a couple were accepted. The ones waitlisted were the people I thought would've been accepted, but I guessed wrong.

Mine should be coming tomorrow or Monday then. Can you feel the tension in the air?

Funny story, St Louis University is a Jesuit institution. The Jesuits are a Catholic group started by St Ignatius of Loyola. They did work in hospital and missionary work in Jerusalem. What's that got to do with me you ask? My middle name is Ignatius, I was raised denominationally Roman Catholic and I'm wanting to do hospital type work, applying to a Jesuit school, who follow the teachings and lessons of St Ignatius. I'm not one to believe in signs (actually I kinda am), but hey...

What I learned in Chinatown Clinic...or I've lost the will to blog and the only reason for this post is I'm high on scotch

Just finished another clinic. This one's not as depressing as the last one. Lemme tell you about the last one. So there's this lady that comes in complaining of severe headaches that she's had for years and years. Well there's nothing we can do because she would need MRI's and other procedures that cost $$$. She's not insured and she's not under any kind of emergency so she can't get insured. The best that we can do is give her a free women's health checkup...very important nonetheless. But the headaches she'll have to live with or get richers or die trying...is that a song?

If she were in the OC, she'd get MSI, but she's not and we're even more cash strapped here than the OC. Oh well, another one slipping through the cracks. Thats the first time I've seen someone not be able to get care first hand. In the OC, if you're poor and you know where to go, you would probably get better care than most people who are of a higher income class. At least that's what I saw.

Today, I saw a lady have pain from a subacromial bursitis. She'd had it for a year and gone to many doctors and never got it resolved. She was prescribed anti-inflammatories and other crap that never worked. It would hurt her to look left or right and it would hurt her to sleep and sit and it would hurt her to move her arm. She said her pain level was a 10 out of 10, although it might just be her playing the system. Our doc, who happened to be a rheumatologist examines her for a second and makes a diagnoses and injects lidocaine...a few minutes later this lady starts to feel better.

I also saw today someone with Bell's Palsy and possible TIA from hypertension and also severe headaches. He was supposed to get an MRI and therapy for the bell's palsy but he didnt have insurance, luckily this crisis was an emergency and we applied for emergency medical insurance that the state offers. Hopefully he'll have lowered his blood pressure which would also hopefully lessen the headaches by next week when he comes back. Oh and possible diabetic too.

I almost had to twist the arm of the lawyer lady to come and help one indo man fill out a form for his new medicaid insurance. But she was nice about it so everyone was happy.

I had glenmorangie 12 years old today, it was smoky and smooth. Very nice scotch. I have to find foods that go along with scotches, it just screams palate cleanser and I feel water is just too plain, although it works just fine. I also saw someone at the bar order cured salmon that was sliced very thinly and arranged in circles to make it look like a flower. I hear it was very delicious.

I had my St Louis University School of Medicine interview yesterday in St Louis...where else. It was very nice, school is very pretty with lots of greens and lots of pink blossoms. The city is very nice and very spread out. Overall a positive experience.

My dad is sick, his cold isn't getting better and now his mucous is yellow and green.

I have a paper to write now and then I'll go to bed, sorry for the lack of updates, I just don't feel like writing anything and don't really have anything to say. I'll post cell phone pictures of SLU soon...my camera battery died and the charger had conveniently forgotten to pack itself in my luggage and was therefore 900 miles away in Philly...yes I blame no one but the charger.

Shout out to my cuz, his bday is today, he's turning 16...two more years until he can drive!

Fortune Cookie say....

"You will be travelling and coming into a fortune."

Daily Numbers: 9 3 0

Lotto Six #'s: 31 14 15 19 29 32

doctor murderer

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/health/24docs.html?hp?8dpc

INTERVIEW!

St Louis University in St Louis, MO wants to interview me! Gonna finally be visiting St Louis, I heard it's dangerous there, the risk of getting shot everyday is like 50%...so 1 in 2 people you see WILL get shot...from a St Louis native. Pretty excited that someone was able to look past my deficiencies...my academics...and focus on my more desirable qualities...my youthful good looks and my magical mastery of the English language. I'm gonna go visit the St Louis Arch...pics to come.

EDIT: I will add info on places to stay and things to do/see to make this blog somewhat useful...yes I feel guilty for making this blog a ranting spot seeing how poor md is such an informative place...for example, I've only found out about poor md a few days ago and already I've learned why the economy of the world is in a deep pit of despair!

new and favorite phrase

From now on when I talk about the future, I will end the sentence with a new and favorite phrase:

"...because of the fickle nature of fate/destiny/life/noun-of-my-choosing."

It is both endearing, charming, memorable, unique and wise-seeming...I know that both is used for two things, well I'm using it for five things...got a problem?...no I'm not retarded.

...and when they ask how so....you respond with:

"you can't question fate man, it has no voice, like a runaway bulldozer, it cares not what it scoops."

interview day tomorrow

Pre-interview checklist:

brushed up on Obama health plan...check
brushed up on my application...check
remembered doctorship is not about the money...it's about the people...check
haircut...check
freshly shaven...check
blackheads squeezed...check
briefs so that my pants look streamlined...check
slight fever, body aches, malais...check
back coined...check
pants hemmed...check
meaty fatty breakfast planned...check
car ready to go to drive to COM campus and credit card for cab ride just in case...check

Interview is tomorrow, hopefully I can remain alert and interesting...haven't been very much of either lately...bad sign...hoping the meaty fatty breakfast will assist as it did with my exams

here's to my one and only chance to realize a dream...i'll look back one day at this post...if google is still around...and either shake my head or smile at the nervous kid standing on the precipice with the future just out of reach...its metaphorical ya dig?

vomit blogging

these late night vomit blogging binges where I vomit random thoughts over and over again have always come in 5's...that is 5 posts per late night vomit blogging binge...actually, there's only been one other late nighte vomit blogging binge (on that fateful evening in late september, if you may remember)...but it's never too late to start a tradition...

i'm thinking whether to shower right now, or go to bed and shower in the morning or go out and catch the last bar hour to fill my belly and poison my blood with that goodness of nectars...the fermented ambrosia of wheat, barley and hops and maybe some hard liquor to warm my esophagus and flood my belly with its tender loving arms...ooooh i have wine...

I don't think you could put the word vomit 4 times in a paragraph more eloquently if I may say so myself and I do...

watch redux

I'm starting a pool on the next number to fall off...you've got 1 through 11 with a logo in the 12 position, see picture above. I've got my money on a 1 falling off...

=)

the weirdness of my life

So not sure if I ever told you about my watch...well let me do so right now.

My watch has...character...why you ask...well for one when the big minute hand goes to 12, the small hand isn't exactly aligned to the hour that it's on. You see, up till several months ago, the watch had been dead (battery) for several years and all that battery gunk leaked out and stopped up the gears. When the battery was replaced and I adjusted the time, the hands skipped some gear teeth and thus you have "character"

Secondly, a couple of weeks ago, the number 5 on the watch face started falling off. Hmm, no problem I thought, I'll just have to remember that 5 comes after 4 and before 6 o'clock...simple enough even for me, right. Well then things got complicated a week ago when the 9 also decided to fall off...complicated because I have to now remember that 9 comes after 8 and before 10 you say? Please, give me more credit, I can at least remember those two things...

NO, the problem was that while on my ADL's (that's activities of daily living to you laymen), the numbers would float around inside the watch like styrofoam in a snow globe and on a few occasions would jam up the watch hands, causing delayed time...and sometimes it would even bind two watch hands together to prevent their movement....character, a heckuvalot of it!

So I got it fixed, I told the guy to remove the numbers so that it would have more "character", but instead he glued it back on...so no extra character for my watch...

the end

back to work...chinatown clinic

I'm not really sure how to make this post as entertaining as the previous one...so here goes.

Got back to volunteering at a clinic again...this time working as an Indonesian interpreter. It's really fun and eye opening as usual to see the state of health care for people here in chinatown. They have it...difficult to say the least...

There's a lot of med school students working it and a couple of doctors, it's hard to get more docs to come out I guess because they have family, as a friend pointed out earlier tonight. But after the first day, I'm looking forward to more days at the clinic...it's exciting to be back among patients and people

The doc in charge wants us to start a project...I'm not sure why, but I guess it's good to fill the time now that I only have 2 classes for the next month or so and one class from then to the end of May....at which point I will give up these shenanigans, grow up and return home to take my rightful place as BMICOO (that's big man in charge of operations to you laymen) of IHGS Inc, where I am proprietor of an organization in charge of the upkeep and maintenance of entity/entities who are under my umbrella of responsibilities.

i got hit by a car again

Well technically not again...last time I hit a car, well technically, this time a car and I came together. It was hard enough that the impact caused the car's glossy painted surface to sort of grab on, or perhaps more appropriately, bond to the skin of my knee and rip it away off my bones. Well not nearly that dramatic, but you get the picture, skin ripped apart and now big chunk missing and it won't stop bleeding. I showed that car though...it's fenders will never be the same...I've shattered its inner sanctum of steel...I've penetrated the impermeable defenses of Japanese automotive sheet metal door...I think I cracked a glass window, I have some random bruises all over my back and sides...It was a thoroughly pleasant encounter on my part, thank you, come again.

It is, by the way, on the same knee that I fell on HARD a few weeks ago while riding in the rain...just when it started to heal it breaks open again...just great

In a few weeks, if you find that I haven't posted in a week or more...expect an invitation to my funeral...which will be a cremation to limit my carbon footprint...

...OR maybe if I loose a limb or two or four...which will also limit my footprint...expect an invite to a party with free booze and alcohol!

ps, betadine is expensive...almost 20 bucks a bottle

pps, betadine isn't as painful as it use to be when it was applied during my childhood years...damn these watered down american betadine solutions!!!

reason #1213434 that Costco is GREAT!

I've been looking for a dental plan because I need dentures fixed or replaced but as you may or may not know, individual (non-employer sponsored) dental plans are really expensive and require a 12 month wait period after enrolling before being able to get dentures worked on. Well in comes Costco, who in their wisdom partners up with Delta Dental to bring you an individual dental plan that has no waiting period and pretty reasonable coverage for dentures and great for everything else. Even AARP/Delta partnership doesn't offer you this and you know how much more pulling power AARP has.

...in short, I

allergic to crabs

I ate a 3 lbs dungeness crab (much like the one above, but less...saucie) the other day for dinner and I woke up the next morning at 6 AM with constricted airways and hives all over my body. I seriously was wheezing for a good hour trying to breathe. I still itch...That crab was good though. Hopefully I don't die when I eat my next crab, although the Surgeon General would say "STOP, No more crabs for you young man!"

But without crabs, life is just not worth living I tell ya...I mean look at that thing, how can something so ugly taste so good and be so deadly at the same time???? It's an amazing animal...it must be eaten...by me!

I think I'll drink some benadryl before bed next time I eat a crab.

FACT OF THE DAY: did you know that benadryl has antidepressant properties and it led to the discovery of that phenomenal pill of placidity...prozac.

2ND FACT OF THE DAY: did you know that you could have an allergic reaction to benadryl causing hives? Well you could, so if you're taking it to get rid of hives only to find more hives, well don't be surprised

...the more you know

thinking makes you lose weight

So I just finished a round of exams, 4 exams in 7 days. It felt like I was thinking so much that I lost a few pounds, or at least I was able to eat a LOT more and not gain any chub. I still don't get how people can pull all nighters and still function in the morning for a grueling exam. It's crazy man!

disappointments

It's disappointing and maddening when you find out that you can't even rely on your own family for important things. I guess the old adage is true, when you want something done, you have to do it yourself. I guess I should be glad I have a family.

Pre-exam breakfast

I've found the perfect pre-exam breakfast. Basically it comes down to a lot of fat and protein. It's not the healthiest, but it gives you enough energy while not bogging you down w/ digestion. It's eggs w/ cheese, sausage patties, a little bit of carbs in the form of some form of potato and also a little bit of fruit, preferably w/ lots of antioxidants to combat the cancer causing fried foods you're about to eat, like blue or blackberries

It sorta worked for me, it should work for that meeting to ask for a raise w/ the boss or if you have an exam.

Siem out

weird weather

Its probably a sign of the coming apocalypse when yesterday it was 50 degree shorts/sandals weather and today its 20 degrees and snowing all day.

I have 4 exams between now and next wednesday and I just got my first interview request from Drexel. I can't believe it still, it's a huge shock even though I was expecting it. I'm supposed to reply back to the email but I'm scared to, I think I need to absorb it or sleep on it and make sure it's real before I send someone a random email thanking them for giving me my imaginary interview.

Still need to get my suit to the tailor to get hemmed and such and lose 20 lbs...it's like a date...with destiny...a sexy Destiny! Gotta make sure I can see my shiny black interview shoes...

i hope i don't screw it up...still can't see anyone letting me hold a stethoscope to someone's chest...are they kidding...do they now know who I am????

In 2 wks I'll be looking at this sweating in my suit and 32 degree weather.

Snowy night

It's been snowing here, not consistently, but it snowed a bit last week and it snowed pretty heavily last night. I got a tripod for Christmas (thanks Santa! =) ):

So I took these:

REJECT-O-Meter

Updated Updated: UCI rejected me too. Ya I pretty much am done with this reject-o-meter business...some inventions are just meant for the attic/basement, never to see the light of day again. In the minuscule chance I get in somewhere I'll let you know maybe.

Updated: Got rejected from UCLA who gave me a secondary last year. I think I'm going to appeal this one because the letter was dated a little before when they received my Fall semester transcript so maybe that might push them over to giving me another secondary and maybe an interview. Keep yer fingers

Drexel INTERVIEW
Temple
Jefferson
U Penn
Penn State
Michigan State
St Louis University
Yale

UC Davis REJECTED
UC San Francisco REJECTED
Boston University REJECTED
USC REJECTED
U of Wisconsin REJECTED
UC Los Angeles REJECTED
UPDATED: UC Irvine REJECTED

If no status text after the school name, it means I have submitted a secondary but have not received an interview request. Text in Green will be ACCEPTANCE. It is still highly questionable whether I will be using that shade this year. UC's usually only send out secondaries to people they REALLY like and have a good chance of getting in.

physio...not so bad...or is it

Physio's not so bad anymore...primarily because we are leaving the realm of pulmonary (lung) physiology and entering gastrointestinal (digestive tract) physiology

Got a quiz tomorrow in physio, immunology and microanatomy, so we'll see how well Henry understands respiratory physiology...

interview

So it looks like I will be getting my very first and hopefully not final interview. It's at Drexel and I sort of feel cheated. I mean it's part of the program that I get an interview because I satisfied a few requirements. I don't really feel excited, kinda nervous actually but I'm really thankful though. I guess an interview request from another school that's not obligated to give me one will tell me that I really have a chance at getting in somewhere...anywhere...with a reasonably exciting city life.

So with that said, I'd like to introduce you to the REJECT-O-Meter ...enjoy!

UC Irvine WAITING ON SECONDARY REQUEST
UC Los Angeles WAITING ON SECONDARY REQUEST
Drexel INTERVIEW
Temple
Jefferson
U Penn
Penn State
Michigan State
St Louis University
Yale

UC Davis REJECTED
UC San Francisco REJECTED
Boston University REJECTED
USC REJECTED
U of Wisconsin REJECTED

If no status text after the school name, it means I have submitted a secondary but have not received an interview request. Text in Green will be ACCEPTANCE. It is still highly questionable whether I will be using that shade this year. UC's usually only send out secondaries to people they REALLY like and have a good chance of getting in.

missing pages?

I'm going to whine some more about physiology cuz when you can you should...wait that sounds like it will come back and bite me...oh well. I'll do this quote style

"Every time I go to physio lecture I can't help but think I'm missing lecture note pages, where have they gone?"

--Henry David Thoreauly Confused

heretical nonsense = physiology

more and more I beginning to think physiology is black magic and physiologists should face the inquisition for heresy...biochemists will be the inquisitors!