I recently decided to bite the bullet and, on a partial whim, apply to Irish medical schools. I say partial because I had been considering it for a while, but was never completely decided as to whether I would or not. I then chose to just do it without fully thinking it out.
"Why," you may ask. Honestly, it's more or less why not. Going into college the number one thing I wanted to do was study abroad. You don't even understand. From my freshman year of high school I couldn't wait to study abroad in Australia. I can't fully describe how hurt I was to find out that I was never going to be able to because of CHEMISTRY AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY. (no, I don't hold a little grudge... it's a huge one) I'm the master organizer and planner, and to see some of my friends go abroad without ever seeing how it would be effecting their graduating on time killed me.
I got over it eventually. I took my short trip to London and of course my recent trip to Italy. (which is unfortunately no more than a distant memory now) You know what this accomplished? Nothing more than make me even more bitter. Bitterness is something I really need get over. This is what the old woman at work keeps telling me everyday. She's right, I know this. But since when is bitterness ever logical?
So anyway, I filled the application and sent it in. It's a very simple process thanks to our friends at The Atlantic Bridge Program. But then today I decided to see what kind of information I could muster from SDN about the schools. Long story short, these schools are by no means easy to gain admission to. And no offense to our northern friends, but why the hell do so many more Canadians gain admission to these schools than Americans?
I'm not going to allow myself to think too much about these applications. This is mainly because I hear from these programs much later than the DO schools. (First notices come in late April/early March) So it's not like I'm banking much on them. I have a much better chance at gaining admission to a DO school than these Irish schools. It'll really be a last minute change of plan if I did get into them, which now that I think about it will probably cause a huge shock to my system. At first I was having slight panic attacks at the idea of going to school in another country, but I'm over that now - mainly because I probably won't be going anyway. I'm just going to have to continue getting my travels done in the more traditional vacationing style. I wonder how long it'll be before I have the time and financial stability to do that. Me thinks at least 20 years from now. Crap.
In other news my applications have finally been sent out to the schools from the application service. My letters of recommendation? Who the hell knows. I keep e-mailing my advisor/head of the committee but I never get any responses. I can't wait to hear what his reaction is when he hears about my applying to the Irish schools. He's probably going to think I'm crazy and wasting money. You know the more I think about it the more I realize I did just waste 225 dollars. Ugh, this is why I'm never impulsive. I always wind up regretting my impulsive decisions, hence the severe lack of them.
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Now playing: Amy Winehouse - Footballers Wife
via FoxyTunes
Monday, August 06, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
How I Know I'm Not a Sadist
Today I had to go to the dentist to have a cavity filled. This annoys me enormously because anyone who knows me well can tell you that I brush for an obscene amount of time. Regardless, I don't have any real beef with going to the dentist. Now I can't remember the last time I had a filling done, but I don't have any horrible memories about having them done.
That changed today.
The dentist didn't do anything wrong, and the procedure didn't hurt. I just found myself surprisingly bothered by the noises. There were two main tones. A high pitched eeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeee noise, and lower grumbling of the same type of noise. I personally didn't really mind the lower toned of the two, but the high pitched one killed me. That might also be because the only time I did feel something was during the higher pitch. It may have just been the vibrations, but I could have sworn I felt a tingle once - which prompted my going "uuurrrrrgh!"
I had been thinking about doing a dentistry internship next semester to fulfill my last requirement, but after this I think I would rather not know what is going on in my mouth. But what I do know is that I could never go into dentistry simply because of the sheer anxiety I would put people through.
That changed today.
The dentist didn't do anything wrong, and the procedure didn't hurt. I just found myself surprisingly bothered by the noises. There were two main tones. A high pitched eeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeeeeeeee eeeeeeeee noise, and lower grumbling of the same type of noise. I personally didn't really mind the lower toned of the two, but the high pitched one killed me. That might also be because the only time I did feel something was during the higher pitch. It may have just been the vibrations, but I could have sworn I felt a tingle once - which prompted my going "uuurrrrrgh!"
I had been thinking about doing a dentistry internship next semester to fulfill my last requirement, but after this I think I would rather not know what is going on in my mouth. But what I do know is that I could never go into dentistry simply because of the sheer anxiety I would put people through.
Food: Love/Hate Relationship
I've recently decided to start working out and eating right with the goal of looking hawt. And by "hawt" I mean not being a gangly 6'4, 200lbs twig with sags. I'm sorry for that image. So for the past month or so I've been lifting - eww, I hate saying that - every other day and been doing high reps and increasing weight and decreasing reps with each set.
I've now started following the advice of a book that I bought quite a while ago. I'm finding it hard to see how its plan is going to work. It tells me that I should only do one set of the heaviest weight for a maximum of 10 reps. If I can do 10 reps, then I should add more weight. I know this is the general theory for putting on muscle mass, as opposed to endurance. I feel like that's not enough work, but I'm going to go with it. It also has me only working out every other day, which I know is common work out protocol per muscle group.
I'm also going to follow its diet plan, because as we all known diet is really 80% of the equation. Since I want to ultimately gain weight - targeting about 20lbs. - I need to eat more than I burn. How many calories does it require me to eat a day? 3700 Calories!!! I don't know if I'm capable of that. I don't think I even eat 2000 Calories a day. We'll see how it goes, but I'm worried that I'm just going to get fat.
From a scientific point of view it all makes sense, as far as I know. Keeping a constantly supply of carbs (which turn to glycogen) available to the body so that metabolism stays high, and the body doesn't go to the muscles for energy. And also just making sure that I get enough protein to repair the muscles after working out.
I guess this will be another thing that I update about. (Whether you like it or not) I swear if you fail me Men's Health I'm going to kill you.
I've now started following the advice of a book that I bought quite a while ago. I'm finding it hard to see how its plan is going to work. It tells me that I should only do one set of the heaviest weight for a maximum of 10 reps. If I can do 10 reps, then I should add more weight. I know this is the general theory for putting on muscle mass, as opposed to endurance. I feel like that's not enough work, but I'm going to go with it. It also has me only working out every other day, which I know is common work out protocol per muscle group.
I'm also going to follow its diet plan, because as we all known diet is really 80% of the equation. Since I want to ultimately gain weight - targeting about 20lbs. - I need to eat more than I burn. How many calories does it require me to eat a day? 3700 Calories!!! I don't know if I'm capable of that. I don't think I even eat 2000 Calories a day. We'll see how it goes, but I'm worried that I'm just going to get fat.
From a scientific point of view it all makes sense, as far as I know. Keeping a constantly supply of carbs (which turn to glycogen) available to the body so that metabolism stays high, and the body doesn't go to the muscles for energy. And also just making sure that I get enough protein to repair the muscles after working out.
I guess this will be another thing that I update about. (Whether you like it or not) I swear if you fail me Men's Health I'm going to kill you.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Long and Bumpy Ride
How silly of me to think that just because my application was submitted things were going to go smoothly.
I submitted my application about a week ago and I had never seen the transcript status change. It didn't even say that they had received it. So I shot an e-mail over to them asking, more or less, "WTF?!?!" They responded today simply saying, "Thank you for the correction - your account has been updated."
How long had my stuff been sitting there in error?!?!?! How much time was wasted when my GPA could have been calculated??? Uggggggghh. I guess I'm going to keep a sharp eye on these people, and basically anyone who has anything to do with my getting into medical school.
I swear to God that if this application isn't sitting in a pile at each of the schools I've applied to by September 1 heads are going to roll. Hear that advisor??? GET THE GOD FORSAKEN RECOMMENDATIONS SENT!!!!
I submitted my application about a week ago and I had never seen the transcript status change. It didn't even say that they had received it. So I shot an e-mail over to them asking, more or less, "WTF?!?!" They responded today simply saying, "Thank you for the correction - your account has been updated."
How long had my stuff been sitting there in error?!?!?! How much time was wasted when my GPA could have been calculated??? Uggggggghh. I guess I'm going to keep a sharp eye on these people, and basically anyone who has anything to do with my getting into medical school.
I swear to God that if this application isn't sitting in a pile at each of the schools I've applied to by September 1 heads are going to roll. Hear that advisor??? GET THE GOD FORSAKEN RECOMMENDATIONS SENT!!!!
Monday, July 23, 2007
omgomgomg
A coach where I work got a little worked up over something I didn't think was that big of a deal. He came into the trailer I work in - it's worse than it sounds - and asked me what he thought the deal was with his doctor asking him to come in to talk about lab results. It was a regular physical blood workup and they they didn't say it was urgent or anything. He was convinced that he had leukemia. I tried to reassure him that if it were something like that then he would probably feel sick, or they would tell him to come in right away. I said that it was more likely something like high cholesterol or high blood sugar.
After he got off the phone he looked visibly shaken. You could hear it in his voice. I felt so bad for him that he was getting so upset about it. The nurse insisted that it was nothing terrible and that the doctor does check ups with patients after blood work all the time. He was still convinced of leukemia. I guess I can see where he was coming from because I was convinced that my blood work was going to say I was diabetic just a couple of weeks ago.
After he got off the phone he looked visibly shaken. You could hear it in his voice. I felt so bad for him that he was getting so upset about it. The nurse insisted that it was nothing terrible and that the doctor does check ups with patients after blood work all the time. He was still convinced of leukemia. I guess I can see where he was coming from because I was convinced that my blood work was going to say I was diabetic just a couple of weeks ago.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
End of Another Love
I can happily announce that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was totally fulfilling, and enormously entertaining. I hold tight to not talking about the book with people who have not read the book in attempts to keeping the ending under wraps for as long as possible. If you want spoilers then just go to Wikipedia jerks and quit bugging me.
I will say this though, JK Rowling did the impossible and made me tear up. I even shed one.
I will say this though, JK Rowling did the impossible and made me tear up. I even shed one.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
And the waiting begins...
You'll notice (I hope) that there is now a check mark next to "application." I finally finalized my personal statement, which I no doubt put too much effort into and have submitted my application to the AACOMAS.
What's next? Well my application is now being processed by the AACOMAS and once they verify that the courses I inputed are correct they will calculate my official cumulative and science GPAs. They will then send out my application to the schools I designated and I then hopefully will receive secondary applications from those nine schools. They should have the primary within 3-6 weeks. Hopefully 3, since I'm still fairly early applying.
My advisor also told me that the pre-health committee has finally started writing my letter of recommendation. I'm hoping that they'll finish that before the AACOMAS finishes processing my application. They send those directly to the schools I'm applying to.
I'm a little nervous because in the status of my application it says that they haven't received my transcripts from any of the schools I attended, even though I sent them out weeks ago. I'm going to assume for now that this isn't updated automatically and someone needs to physically verify that they have the transcripts from the right schools. I mean they didn't even know what schools I attended until I submitted this application.
My breathing is still calm. It's too early to start hyperventilating.
What's next? Well my application is now being processed by the AACOMAS and once they verify that the courses I inputed are correct they will calculate my official cumulative and science GPAs. They will then send out my application to the schools I designated and I then hopefully will receive secondary applications from those nine schools. They should have the primary within 3-6 weeks. Hopefully 3, since I'm still fairly early applying.
My advisor also told me that the pre-health committee has finally started writing my letter of recommendation. I'm hoping that they'll finish that before the AACOMAS finishes processing my application. They send those directly to the schools I'm applying to.
I'm a little nervous because in the status of my application it says that they haven't received my transcripts from any of the schools I attended, even though I sent them out weeks ago. I'm going to assume for now that this isn't updated automatically and someone needs to physically verify that they have the transcripts from the right schools. I mean they didn't even know what schools I attended until I submitted this application.
My breathing is still calm. It's too early to start hyperventilating.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Freaking Cell Phones
I have such a love/hate relationship with Verizon Wireless.
I love it because I get reception almost everywhere I go, and very rarely ever have a dropped call. I also love it because basically everyone I know has Verizon, so I never need to worry about my minutes. I can honestly say that I do not keep track of my minutes at all.
I hate it because they don't let me do with my phone what I want to do. Specifically, they don't let me make my own ringtones. They tell you that your phone can play mp3 files, and it can. You just can't use those mp3 files as ringtones!!! I use to be able to use Mobile17 for all of my ringtone needs, but now Verizon has put a limit on how long they can be - 10 seconds. I mean granted I almost always pick up my phone within 10 seconds, but it cuts down on how cool it is. I wanted to hear the whole thing, not just the first 10 seconds over and over.
My contract ends in January '08. I really like the iPhone, but I don't trust AT&T Wireless. They don't have as stellar a reputation as Verizon in terms of service, and I've also heard really bad things about their wireless internet. And if I'm going to have a monthly subscription of $60 this internet better be sweet. But I also hear that an upgraded iPhone is on its way soon, and that AT&T is working on rectifying the slow internet problem. So I guess I'll see in January what I'm going to do about my cell phone.
Comment as you will. (Or should I say, won't)
I love it because I get reception almost everywhere I go, and very rarely ever have a dropped call. I also love it because basically everyone I know has Verizon, so I never need to worry about my minutes. I can honestly say that I do not keep track of my minutes at all.
I hate it because they don't let me do with my phone what I want to do. Specifically, they don't let me make my own ringtones. They tell you that your phone can play mp3 files, and it can. You just can't use those mp3 files as ringtones!!! I use to be able to use Mobile17 for all of my ringtone needs, but now Verizon has put a limit on how long they can be - 10 seconds. I mean granted I almost always pick up my phone within 10 seconds, but it cuts down on how cool it is. I wanted to hear the whole thing, not just the first 10 seconds over and over.
My contract ends in January '08. I really like the iPhone, but I don't trust AT&T Wireless. They don't have as stellar a reputation as Verizon in terms of service, and I've also heard really bad things about their wireless internet. And if I'm going to have a monthly subscription of $60 this internet better be sweet. But I also hear that an upgraded iPhone is on its way soon, and that AT&T is working on rectifying the slow internet problem. So I guess I'll see in January what I'm going to do about my cell phone.
Comment as you will. (Or should I say, won't)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Getting Hopes Up
You know this always, always, always happens to me. I'm getting my hopes up. After years of thinking that I wouldn't get in anywhere I'm starting to think that I might be able to get into my top choice school. It's not my top choice because of rank or anything, but because of location - about a 15 minute drive from my hometown, which is also the area I would like to do residency and live. Ugh.
My friend just told me that this guy from my college (and high school) got into said school with a 24 on the MCAT. Granted, I also think he had a considerably higher GPA than me, but hopefully the MCAT proves I'm capable. I also just realized that my personal statement makes me sound like I'm perfectly fitted for one of their customized curricula.
Just watch. The same thing that happened with every single one of my Organic Chem tests is going to happen. I'm going to get my hopes up and end up falling exactly where I would have predicted before the test.
In other news, I'm super excited about my upcoming senior year. My fall semester schedule is so clutch.
Monday: night class - Ireland: History/Politics
Tuesday: 9:30 - Bioethics; 11:00 Vertebrate Physiology
Wednesday: 2:00 - Vertebrate Physiology Lab (yay mice!)
Thursday: 11:00 - Vertebrate Physiology; night class - Human Nutrition
Friday: 9:30 - Bioethics
The one thing that obviously sucks is that I have only one class on Friday. And of course it's the morning after the biggest drinking night. And also it's my capping class... We'll see how that goes. But other than that my day normally doesn't start that early, and I have a TON of free day time. Plus, I'm super excited for every single one of my classes. (DORK!)
Oh, and also my apartment is fucking nassssssty. I'm so pumped to live there with only one roommate. (Who also happens to be one of my best friends at school and my roommate for the past 2.5 years) It's going to be sick.
You know, sometimes it's nice to get your hopes up. Because in the long run I think I would still feel like shit if I didn't get what I wanted, regardless of whether I thought I would or not.
My friend just told me that this guy from my college (and high school) got into said school with a 24 on the MCAT. Granted, I also think he had a considerably higher GPA than me, but hopefully the MCAT proves I'm capable. I also just realized that my personal statement makes me sound like I'm perfectly fitted for one of their customized curricula.
Just watch. The same thing that happened with every single one of my Organic Chem tests is going to happen. I'm going to get my hopes up and end up falling exactly where I would have predicted before the test.
In other news, I'm super excited about my upcoming senior year. My fall semester schedule is so clutch.
Monday: night class - Ireland: History/Politics
Tuesday: 9:30 - Bioethics; 11:00 Vertebrate Physiology
Wednesday: 2:00 - Vertebrate Physiology Lab (yay mice!)
Thursday: 11:00 - Vertebrate Physiology; night class - Human Nutrition
Friday: 9:30 - Bioethics
The one thing that obviously sucks is that I have only one class on Friday. And of course it's the morning after the biggest drinking night. And also it's my capping class... We'll see how that goes. But other than that my day normally doesn't start that early, and I have a TON of free day time. Plus, I'm super excited for every single one of my classes. (DORK!)
Oh, and also my apartment is fucking nassssssty. I'm so pumped to live there with only one roommate. (Who also happens to be one of my best friends at school and my roommate for the past 2.5 years) It's going to be sick.
You know, sometimes it's nice to get your hopes up. Because in the long run I think I would still feel like shit if I didn't get what I wanted, regardless of whether I thought I would or not.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Growing Up
I saw my internist today; NOT my pediatrician. It's so nice not to be the oldest person in the waiting room.
I really need to start remembering to not piss before going for my physical. I got into the bathroom and what a surprise, nothing. Wait no, it wasn't a surprise at all.
I then had my first EKG ever. That was pretty neat. They said it was normal. I guess I'm suppose to be happy about that, but it wasn't much of a learning experience. BUT I did have a heart murmur, which means that I get to go in again Tuesday for an echocardiogram. (!!!!!) I'm not at all worried about that, but at least it's another procedure that I've never had before.
I had a total n00b moment though. When the desk woman told me I had to schedule an echocardiogram I said, "But I already had that today, an EKG" And she rightfully reminded me that an EKG is an electrocardiogram. OMG the embarrassment. How could I forget such a thing. I literally turned red I think.
In other news, I've corrected my personal statement. I'm sticking more or less with the second one. And I took out anything that made is sounded like I struggled in my classes. (My transcript will do I fine job showing that) I'm justing waiting for my advisor to read it over and give it the okay. That'll only take a month....
Hope everyone had a great 4th!
Ciao!
I really need to start remembering to not piss before going for my physical. I got into the bathroom and what a surprise, nothing. Wait no, it wasn't a surprise at all.
I then had my first EKG ever. That was pretty neat. They said it was normal. I guess I'm suppose to be happy about that, but it wasn't much of a learning experience. BUT I did have a heart murmur, which means that I get to go in again Tuesday for an echocardiogram. (!!!!!) I'm not at all worried about that, but at least it's another procedure that I've never had before.
I had a total n00b moment though. When the desk woman told me I had to schedule an echocardiogram I said, "But I already had that today, an EKG" And she rightfully reminded me that an EKG is an electrocardiogram. OMG the embarrassment. How could I forget such a thing. I literally turned red I think.
In other news, I've corrected my personal statement. I'm sticking more or less with the second one. And I took out anything that made is sounded like I struggled in my classes. (My transcript will do I fine job showing that) I'm justing waiting for my advisor to read it over and give it the okay. That'll only take a month....
Hope everyone had a great 4th!
Ciao!
Friday, June 29, 2007
PS DEUX
I don't like this one either. But it might give a better sense of who I am. Personal statements blow ass. This is a rough rough rough draft. Someone please just let me borrow your life story cause mine is boring and uneventful and I have nothing extraordinary to offer the world.
I started college undecided between touchy-feely, subjective psychology and cold, hard, “we’re right, you’re wrong” biology. Fortunately though my freshman adviser had a stroke of divine intervention and placed me in Human Biology and that is where the stress began. But I knew that this was where my true passion lay; not with theories saying that all my problems are because of my mother, but with theories blaming them on my genes – only half my mother’s fault. This didn’t mean that I intended on applying to medical school. I had simply decided that I didn’t want to coast through college.
The following semesters I found myself in the School of Science, a place filled with anxious students and the signs of sleep deprivation covering their faces. I soon looked liked them too. The classes were unlike the others I had taken. Here you sat in a room and had theories, mechanisms and formulas driven into your head for 75 minute increments. Half of me hated it because there were never any class discussions or chances to apply our knowledge to real life scenarios. But the other half loved it because what I was learning was so fascinating and made me much more aware of the world around me. It was just a matter of figuring out what to do with this knowledge.
The summer after freshman year I was invited to shadow my dermatologist. I figured I’d try it out to see what medicine was all about. Before this I had never considered medicine. Medicine was for the Type A gunner students who effortlessly memorized the sedimentation values of antibodies and structure of intermolecular bridges in proteins. While shadowing I saw a marble sized hemangioma removed from a little girl’s head, basal cells sliced off and warts attacked by liquid nitrogen and acid. It was love at first sight. Even the mundane diagnosis and treatment of eczema awed me. This was what I needed to do. Not necessarily dermatology, but take my love for biology and apply it to real life problems.
School started again and I was no longer a pathological masochist. I had a purpose for the pain, and it was medical school. I was determined to do whatever it took to get there. To get through my classes I would focus on the clinical aspects of my classes to get through them. Even in classes like organic chemistry I wouldn’t try to memorize reactions. Instead, I would analyze what needed to be done, consider the conditions needed to accomplish it and work my way through from there. And for better or worse, it worked.
Still I needed to get my fix of the real stuff. Seeing patients was like a drug addiction. To fill this need I continued getting any clinical experience I could. The summer after sophomore year I worked with an orthopedist and during junior year I worked at the local ER and a family medicine practice. Going in and hearing a patient’s problem got my brain working in ways that that the classroom never did. And I was surprised that I was actually able to make sense of the situations and ask the physicians intelligent questions. It was nice to see that performance in a didactic lecture class didn’t necessarily predict my clinical abilities. I also loved getting to know the patients. I would ask them plenty of questions, which not only provided me with more information to work with, but would also to them to ease. Many of the patients seemed to gravitate towards me, as opposed to the doctors, especially the elderly women brought to the ER against their will.
So here I am ready and willing. There is no story about saving children in Africa, or watching a loved one battle a chronic illness. It’s simply me. I’m the guy who will talk your ear off the second he hears you’ve got a cough. I’ve done my research and know what’s required of me in medical school, residency and beyond.
I started college undecided between touchy-feely, subjective psychology and cold, hard, “we’re right, you’re wrong” biology. Fortunately though my freshman adviser had a stroke of divine intervention and placed me in Human Biology and that is where the stress began. But I knew that this was where my true passion lay; not with theories saying that all my problems are because of my mother, but with theories blaming them on my genes – only half my mother’s fault. This didn’t mean that I intended on applying to medical school. I had simply decided that I didn’t want to coast through college.
The following semesters I found myself in the School of Science, a place filled with anxious students and the signs of sleep deprivation covering their faces. I soon looked liked them too. The classes were unlike the others I had taken. Here you sat in a room and had theories, mechanisms and formulas driven into your head for 75 minute increments. Half of me hated it because there were never any class discussions or chances to apply our knowledge to real life scenarios. But the other half loved it because what I was learning was so fascinating and made me much more aware of the world around me. It was just a matter of figuring out what to do with this knowledge.
The summer after freshman year I was invited to shadow my dermatologist. I figured I’d try it out to see what medicine was all about. Before this I had never considered medicine. Medicine was for the Type A gunner students who effortlessly memorized the sedimentation values of antibodies and structure of intermolecular bridges in proteins. While shadowing I saw a marble sized hemangioma removed from a little girl’s head, basal cells sliced off and warts attacked by liquid nitrogen and acid. It was love at first sight. Even the mundane diagnosis and treatment of eczema awed me. This was what I needed to do. Not necessarily dermatology, but take my love for biology and apply it to real life problems.
School started again and I was no longer a pathological masochist. I had a purpose for the pain, and it was medical school. I was determined to do whatever it took to get there. To get through my classes I would focus on the clinical aspects of my classes to get through them. Even in classes like organic chemistry I wouldn’t try to memorize reactions. Instead, I would analyze what needed to be done, consider the conditions needed to accomplish it and work my way through from there. And for better or worse, it worked.
Still I needed to get my fix of the real stuff. Seeing patients was like a drug addiction. To fill this need I continued getting any clinical experience I could. The summer after sophomore year I worked with an orthopedist and during junior year I worked at the local ER and a family medicine practice. Going in and hearing a patient’s problem got my brain working in ways that that the classroom never did. And I was surprised that I was actually able to make sense of the situations and ask the physicians intelligent questions. It was nice to see that performance in a didactic lecture class didn’t necessarily predict my clinical abilities. I also loved getting to know the patients. I would ask them plenty of questions, which not only provided me with more information to work with, but would also to them to ease. Many of the patients seemed to gravitate towards me, as opposed to the doctors, especially the elderly women brought to the ER against their will.
So here I am ready and willing. There is no story about saving children in Africa, or watching a loved one battle a chronic illness. It’s simply me. I’m the guy who will talk your ear off the second he hears you’ve got a cough. I’ve done my research and know what’s required of me in medical school, residency and beyond.
Pending...... The Remix
I've taken those two people's suggestion to heart and have decided to re-write my personal statement. I'm still going to try to show the path I took to get to this point but show a little more of myself.
I'll get back to you.
I'll get back to you.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Call It Like You See It!
Here's my personal statement. It's just under the character limit. My biggest concern is whether this is the best place to explain my "C" in Physics1. My advisors told me I definietly should explain it and this is really the only chance I get to. I didn't feel like I had to leave anything out in order to fit it into my statement.
I started college undecided between touchy-feely, subjective psychology and cold, hard, “we’re right, you’re wrong” biology. Fortunately though my freshman advisor had a stroke of divine intervention and placed me in Human Biology and that is where the stress began. But I knew that this was where my true passion lied; not with theories saying that all my problems are because of my mother, but with theories blaming them on my genes – only half my mother’s fault. This doesn’t mean that I was considering applying to medical school. I had simply decided that I didn’t want to coast through college.
Later on my freshman year I realized that I loved applying what I knew to problem solving situations. I guess it gives me a sense of satisfaction taking what I have learned in the classroom and using it to answer someone's questions or explain to someone what is going on in their own body. Medicine started to seem like a good fit for me the more I thought about it. It would provide me a problem solving based job that I find interesting, challenging and most importantly, satisfying.
The summer following my freshman year I started to get some clinical experience to see if medicine was what I envisioned. My dermatologist offered me the opportunity to shadow her in the office to see what a typical day was like. After the first day I was hooked. I loved going in to see patients and hearing about their problems, while also trying to figure out in my head what was going on and what treatment plan would help them. That summer I learned that medicine was definitely the field I wanted to pursue. I also realized that I would probably want to go into a primary care field because they would see the widest variety of pathology, as opposed to specializing.
After freshman year I found myself becoming more fascinated by the many different aspects of medicine. Immunology alone increased my knowledge of medicine by well over 100%, and at the same time made me aware of much I have to learn. But even during my Emergency Medicine internship I found myself able to apply what I learned to my case studies. For instance, when one patient came in with a foot that was swollen and red the physician approached the situation as a clot in the leg or foot, but I asked if could also be an allergic reaction since it was localized. He said that it was definitely something worth looking, which got me overly excited even though it was such a minor suggestion and most likely in the back of his mind anyway.
Another thing I learned about myself during my internships is that I like working with people. Meeting complete strangers and listening to their problems is something I enjoy. I would often find myself asking lots of follow up questions. I like getting to know the patients and their lives, because not only does it give your more information to work with, but it also helps the patients feel more comfortable in what can often be a stressful situation. I have even had patients and physicians compliment me on bedside manner, especially the elderly patients who look to me as the good guy, as opposed to the physician, but I probably just remind them of their grandchildren.
Ever since I decided on pursuing medicine I've been doing research on what to expect in medical school, residency and beyond. As of now I could see myself going into a primary care field such as Internal Medicine and working as a hospitalist, but I've learned there is much about medicine that I do not know about that I'm open to anything. I feel I have a thorough understanding of what medical school and residency entails and the dedication that is required, but I think that as long as I go in with the right intentions and mindset, then it is all worth the effort and something I can succeed at.
I would like to take this time to explain one of the grades on my transcript. The reason that I had taken Physics I at ********* University was because I anticipated a heavy course load my junior year with Organic Chemistry I+II, Physics I+II and the MCAT, so I wanted to lighten my load. Unfortunately, ********* University's pre-medical students take algebra-based physics, as opposed to *My School*'s required calculus-based physics. The calculus-based physics at ********* is intended for their engineering students, and is closer to an applied calculus class, than the physics found on the MCAT. So I would like to highlight the "A" that I received in Physics II at *My School*, which was designed to prepare the students for the physics on the MCAT.
I started college undecided between touchy-feely, subjective psychology and cold, hard, “we’re right, you’re wrong” biology. Fortunately though my freshman advisor had a stroke of divine intervention and placed me in Human Biology and that is where the stress began. But I knew that this was where my true passion lied; not with theories saying that all my problems are because of my mother, but with theories blaming them on my genes – only half my mother’s fault. This doesn’t mean that I was considering applying to medical school. I had simply decided that I didn’t want to coast through college.
Later on my freshman year I realized that I loved applying what I knew to problem solving situations. I guess it gives me a sense of satisfaction taking what I have learned in the classroom and using it to answer someone's questions or explain to someone what is going on in their own body. Medicine started to seem like a good fit for me the more I thought about it. It would provide me a problem solving based job that I find interesting, challenging and most importantly, satisfying.
The summer following my freshman year I started to get some clinical experience to see if medicine was what I envisioned. My dermatologist offered me the opportunity to shadow her in the office to see what a typical day was like. After the first day I was hooked. I loved going in to see patients and hearing about their problems, while also trying to figure out in my head what was going on and what treatment plan would help them. That summer I learned that medicine was definitely the field I wanted to pursue. I also realized that I would probably want to go into a primary care field because they would see the widest variety of pathology, as opposed to specializing.
After freshman year I found myself becoming more fascinated by the many different aspects of medicine. Immunology alone increased my knowledge of medicine by well over 100%, and at the same time made me aware of much I have to learn. But even during my Emergency Medicine internship I found myself able to apply what I learned to my case studies. For instance, when one patient came in with a foot that was swollen and red the physician approached the situation as a clot in the leg or foot, but I asked if could also be an allergic reaction since it was localized. He said that it was definitely something worth looking, which got me overly excited even though it was such a minor suggestion and most likely in the back of his mind anyway.
Another thing I learned about myself during my internships is that I like working with people. Meeting complete strangers and listening to their problems is something I enjoy. I would often find myself asking lots of follow up questions. I like getting to know the patients and their lives, because not only does it give your more information to work with, but it also helps the patients feel more comfortable in what can often be a stressful situation. I have even had patients and physicians compliment me on bedside manner, especially the elderly patients who look to me as the good guy, as opposed to the physician, but I probably just remind them of their grandchildren.
Ever since I decided on pursuing medicine I've been doing research on what to expect in medical school, residency and beyond. As of now I could see myself going into a primary care field such as Internal Medicine and working as a hospitalist, but I've learned there is much about medicine that I do not know about that I'm open to anything. I feel I have a thorough understanding of what medical school and residency entails and the dedication that is required, but I think that as long as I go in with the right intentions and mindset, then it is all worth the effort and something I can succeed at.
I would like to take this time to explain one of the grades on my transcript. The reason that I had taken Physics I at ********* University was because I anticipated a heavy course load my junior year with Organic Chemistry I+II, Physics I+II and the MCAT, so I wanted to lighten my load. Unfortunately, ********* University's pre-medical students take algebra-based physics, as opposed to *My School*'s required calculus-based physics. The calculus-based physics at ********* is intended for their engineering students, and is closer to an applied calculus class, than the physics found on the MCAT. So I would like to highlight the "A" that I received in Physics II at *My School*, which was designed to prepare the students for the physics on the MCAT.
Yummies
Today I ordered a Panini called "The *insert letter(s) here*-COM." (COM = College of Osteopathic Medicine) I won't lie. The name was part of the reason I got it, but the grilled chicken, ham, fresh mozzarella and baby arugula helped.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Results are in...
I got my MCAT score the night I returned from Italy. I got a 25-O: 8P, 8V, 9B, which is funny cause I thought I did the worst on the biological science section.
This was the score I was kind of worried about getting cause it's leaving me in limbo, yet again. It's not so low that I fold in the cards and do PA school, but not so great that I'm confident about getting in anywhere. My perfect GPA friend gets mad when I say something like this because she got a 20 on the MCAT and has to take it again. But I remind her that she has practically a perfect GPA. I need to remember to ask her if she would swap scenarios. That would be an interesting answer. My current GPA is about 3.1-3.2 cumulative and 3.0 science.
I'm hoping to have my applications done by next week once the grade from my abroad class is in. I have about 8 schools on the list right now, but I don't think I'm going to share what schools I'm applying to because lately it seems best to stay as private as possible in the medical blogging world.
I'll keep everyone updated, as always.
This was the score I was kind of worried about getting cause it's leaving me in limbo, yet again. It's not so low that I fold in the cards and do PA school, but not so great that I'm confident about getting in anywhere. My perfect GPA friend gets mad when I say something like this because she got a 20 on the MCAT and has to take it again. But I remind her that she has practically a perfect GPA. I need to remember to ask her if she would swap scenarios. That would be an interesting answer. My current GPA is about 3.1-3.2 cumulative and 3.0 science.
I'm hoping to have my applications done by next week once the grade from my abroad class is in. I have about 8 schools on the list right now, but I don't think I'm going to share what schools I'm applying to because lately it seems best to stay as private as possible in the medical blogging world.
I'll keep everyone updated, as always.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
All Good Things Must Come to an End
No, I'm not back from Italy yet, but I will be soon enough.
When I return I figure out the fiath of my medical career, kinnda. I also will be starting work again. Except this summer I don't get to watch tv or enjoy AC or work with my friend. This might suck a little.
Why am I always lookng for the negatives?
Time to go back to marvelling at Venice.
When I return I figure out the fiath of my medical career, kinnda. I also will be starting work again. Except this summer I don't get to watch tv or enjoy AC or work with my friend. This might suck a little.
Why am I always lookng for the negatives?
Time to go back to marvelling at Venice.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Trying to Ruin a Great Trip
I'm having such a blast in Florence. I think this is going to end up being my favorite place that we visit.
But I just tried to check my MCAT scores....
Thank God they're not up. But even if they're bad I think I'll be okay cause of closure knowing that I'm going for PA school only. But lately I've been thinking about how I want to be a doctor...
STOP!!!!
ITALY ITALY ITALY ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But I just tried to check my MCAT scores....
Thank God they're not up. But even if they're bad I think I'll be okay cause of closure knowing that I'm going for PA school only. But lately I've been thinking about how I want to be a doctor...
STOP!!!!
ITALY ITALY ITALY ITALY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Tuscania
I'm reporting from a small town called Tuscania. It's very, very small. There isn't much to do, and therefore, not much to report.
We went to Assisi yesterday which is a cool town, though someone should introduce them to a thing called level ground. I should really start some kind of insurance company there based around winter driving...
No one here really speaks any english, which is kind of nice and also not, especially when ordering food. I blindly ordered my salad and dessert yesterday and was 1 for 2. The salad ended up being green beans, carrots and potatoes, which was delicious. The dessert I thought I was ordering was strawberry cheesecake. The dessert I got was starwberries... They were okay, but strawberries are one of the many, many foods that irratate my thorat. Thankfully, they didn't. But when we were dividing up the bill someone just decided just to charge everyone 5 euro for their dessert, thus making those the most expensive quater cup of strawberries I've ever had. Whatever, when in Rome... Wait, no, that doesn't apply on a multitude of different levels.
We went to Assisi yesterday which is a cool town, though someone should introduce them to a thing called level ground. I should really start some kind of insurance company there based around winter driving...
No one here really speaks any english, which is kind of nice and also not, especially when ordering food. I blindly ordered my salad and dessert yesterday and was 1 for 2. The salad ended up being green beans, carrots and potatoes, which was delicious. The dessert I thought I was ordering was strawberry cheesecake. The dessert I got was starwberries... They were okay, but strawberries are one of the many, many foods that irratate my thorat. Thankfully, they didn't. But when we were dividing up the bill someone just decided just to charge everyone 5 euro for their dessert, thus making those the most expensive quater cup of strawberries I've ever had. Whatever, when in Rome... Wait, no, that doesn't apply on a multitude of different levels.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
When In Rome
I'm here in an internet place on my last day of Rome. It's 10:30AM and the bus isn't picking us up until 2PM. booo. It's also pouring but that's okay cause everyone went to a canonization (make a saint) mass at the vatican so there isn't anyone to hang out with anyway. Well, 3 others didn't go either because we're just far too cool for that. The funny thing is I'm probably the most Catholic of everyone in the group in the sense that I know the most about Catholicism.
Yesterday, we did the Scavi Tour, which is a tour that takes you under St. Peter's to see all of the popes' tombs and you see where St. Peter was buried. The whole experience was actually touching and a real "religious experience." We had a brother (from another mother, of course) give us the tour and he was very good. Our agnostic professor said that he sounded like he was trying to "save our souls" and he was, which was good since he was studying to become a priest. He actually restored my faith in the Roman Catholic organization and faith in general. Not that I was ever really anti-catholic or religion. At the site of St. Peter's bones he had lead us in prayer with the Our Father. Our Jewish professor had said that if he had been in that tour group he would have been kind of upset by that. This comment really pissed me off. I know that in America you can't get away with having in any kind of public setting, but guess what we're not in America. You're in the freaking Vatican, a country dedicated to Catholicism. Just because you're an art historian doesn't mean that you're entitled to walk through these doors and start saying what pleases and displeases you. Sorry that all these great works of art just happen to be there. Had we been in a Buddhist temple or Muslim mosque no one would ever say something like that. Ugh, just the little things that really piss me off.
Anyway, I've been having a ton of fun, but I'm definitely ready to move on to our next place, Tuscania. Rome is nice, and I like the old stuff, but the transportation systems blow, it's impossible to get around without getting lost and the waiters have had real attitudes with us. Granted, we've also had some great waiters who are nothing but entertaining.
The other night we tried to find this restuarant area on the Tiber that our professor suggested to us. To make a long story short, we were walking for 3 hours and end up just going to a place that was right down the street from our hotel. We were so tired and hungry at that point that all 7 of us were in a deep deep state of drunk-tiredness. We couldn't stop laughing at the stupidest things. And of course I had tears rolling down my face the entire time. It was actually a good night in all. But the story is going to end with the casterization of that professor by the 5 girls that he made walk miles and miles in uncomfortable shoes.
I've had enough of blogging and going to find other things to do with my 2euro/hour internet time.
Caio!
(Excuse mispelling and all that. I'm not going to read over it and I don't have built in spell check :-/)
Yesterday, we did the Scavi Tour, which is a tour that takes you under St. Peter's to see all of the popes' tombs and you see where St. Peter was buried. The whole experience was actually touching and a real "religious experience." We had a brother (from another mother, of course) give us the tour and he was very good. Our agnostic professor said that he sounded like he was trying to "save our souls" and he was, which was good since he was studying to become a priest. He actually restored my faith in the Roman Catholic organization and faith in general. Not that I was ever really anti-catholic or religion. At the site of St. Peter's bones he had lead us in prayer with the Our Father. Our Jewish professor had said that if he had been in that tour group he would have been kind of upset by that. This comment really pissed me off. I know that in America you can't get away with having in any kind of public setting, but guess what we're not in America. You're in the freaking Vatican, a country dedicated to Catholicism. Just because you're an art historian doesn't mean that you're entitled to walk through these doors and start saying what pleases and displeases you. Sorry that all these great works of art just happen to be there. Had we been in a Buddhist temple or Muslim mosque no one would ever say something like that. Ugh, just the little things that really piss me off.
Anyway, I've been having a ton of fun, but I'm definitely ready to move on to our next place, Tuscania. Rome is nice, and I like the old stuff, but the transportation systems blow, it's impossible to get around without getting lost and the waiters have had real attitudes with us. Granted, we've also had some great waiters who are nothing but entertaining.
The other night we tried to find this restuarant area on the Tiber that our professor suggested to us. To make a long story short, we were walking for 3 hours and end up just going to a place that was right down the street from our hotel. We were so tired and hungry at that point that all 7 of us were in a deep deep state of drunk-tiredness. We couldn't stop laughing at the stupidest things. And of course I had tears rolling down my face the entire time. It was actually a good night in all. But the story is going to end with the casterization of that professor by the 5 girls that he made walk miles and miles in uncomfortable shoes.
I've had enough of blogging and going to find other things to do with my 2euro/hour internet time.
Caio!
(Excuse mispelling and all that. I'm not going to read over it and I don't have built in spell check :-/)
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
Ciao!
Today I leave for Italia at 5PM. I shall return July 16th.
I hope you all enjoy the next three weeks as much as I will. Maybe I'll get to post while there.
PEACE!
I hope you all enjoy the next three weeks as much as I will. Maybe I'll get to post while there.
PEACE!
Friday, May 25, 2007
Who Knew That Pandas Could Lurk
It all makes sense why I was actually getting comments, because Dr. Panda wrote an entry for me. I'd like to give him a big thanks because I really value his very objective - albeit sometimes brutally honest - opinions.
And to anyone who was tricked by him to check out the site, WELCOME!
To sum myself up for new reader:
- wants to be a doctor way too bad
- doesn't have the GPA for it
- probably doesn't have the MCAT for it either, but it's yet to be seen officially (Coming June 16)
- is now considering a career as a Physician Assistant
- Oh, and I watch too much TV and too many movies
And to anyone who was tricked by him to check out the site, WELCOME!
To sum myself up for new reader:
- wants to be a doctor way too bad
- doesn't have the GPA for it
- probably doesn't have the MCAT for it either, but it's yet to be seen officially (Coming June 16)
- is now considering a career as a Physician Assistant
- Oh, and I watch too much TV and too many movies
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
What's going on around here?!?!?!
Tonight I opened my application for PA schools on CASPA. What is going on?!?
I don't even know how this is happening. It's so unlike me. I've been planning on medical school for so long and now I just opened a PA application file like it's nothing. Am I really just saying "YAY PA school!!!" this easily? I don't know if I like that or not.
Part of me feels like PA is such a smarter, more practical move. Practice faster, more flexibility, less stress, fine pay (especially if I'm a surgical PA), move around specialties, fewer worries about malpractice and such.
But another part of me feels defeated, or like I'm quitting. But when I look at how hard I've been working and what it has been yielding I don't know if I can handle another 4 years of that. Granted the last 2 years of med school aren't class, but you know what I mean. And then there is the miserable, miserable thing called residency. And what is it all for?
Almost all of the clinical experience I've had has been with PAs, so isn't that what I've been enjoying? And every doctor I've worked with has been miserable and told me DO NOT GO INTO MEDICINE!!! Whereas, every PA I've met loves their work and is happy and friendly.
I worry that as a PA I will never get to see any interesting cases, but is that true? I understand that the majority of the cases I personally handle will be routine work in that specialty, but that doesn't mean I won't be exposed to the interesting cases. (double negative?) It's not like the doctor would be like "Ummm, hell no you can't even look at this patients chart you're just a PA." I'm suppose to assist him even with the interesting patients. My ability to learn isn't limited because I'm a PA. I can become just as intelligent and well informed as a physician with time, just people won't respect my judgments as much. But this is for me, not others.
Even if I did go PA that doesn't mean I can't go to medical school later. If anything, this is a good way to really get into the health care field and see if medical school is really worth it. Also if I got tired of the whole medicine thing I would probably be a decent MHA candidate, right?
I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I feel this is typical of me. I get really excited about something and go so overboard preparing for it just to either fail, or realize that I'm acting like an idiot. (i.e. Starting a blog called The Future Dr. House) My parents were not exactly supportive of the whole venture. I mean they never told me not to pursue it, but at the same time I feel like they were always pointing out the negatives. I feel I would be proving them right at my expense. Errrr, but that's not really their agenda, I hope.
Then there are my friends. Today I was hanging out with all of them and I wanted to tell them that I'm thinking about changing my career goals, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm so tired of explaining what a DO was that I couldn't even imagine explaining what a PA was. I think they had some prejudices against a DO because it wasn't an MD, and I didn't want to lose face by explaining that I wouldn't be my own boss. I may not even tell them my plans until I actually act on some of them.
Most of my friends are going into the business world. One has an internship with an investment banking firm, one with a business law firm, one as an accountant, one with ESPN Radio, and another with a commodities investor who's also going to get a job with next year. I feel like being a PA wouldn't quite rank up there with them. Granted, I would still have a masters degree, which I don't think most will achieve, but... I don't know. I guess I wanted to prove myself to them with a medical degree. I'm not even that concerned with the money aspect because if any of them ever compared me to them I would drop them so fast...so fast... well, i've got nothing, but it would be fast!
I hope no one gets offended by this entry. I'm not trying to downplay the PA profession. I have great respect for PA and hope that I can become as competent as the one's I've shadowed. You just have to understand that it's not what I've dreamed of and my friends and family wouldn't have the appreciation that they should for the profession.
This is ridiculous. Why am I even worried about my friends? What do they care what I do with my life? I don't have to prove anything to them. I think I could really really really enjoy being a PA. In fact, I get excited at the idea of it. The same way I use to be excited about being a physician, just without the hesitation.
So, if all goes according to plan I'll probably end up going to PA school, which includes getting a 20 on the MCAT. This could be a good thing cause to be honest I didn't want to start my life in my late 20's.
Time to think up a new blog.
I don't even know how this is happening. It's so unlike me. I've been planning on medical school for so long and now I just opened a PA application file like it's nothing. Am I really just saying "YAY PA school!!!" this easily? I don't know if I like that or not.
Part of me feels like PA is such a smarter, more practical move. Practice faster, more flexibility, less stress, fine pay (especially if I'm a surgical PA), move around specialties, fewer worries about malpractice and such.
But another part of me feels defeated, or like I'm quitting. But when I look at how hard I've been working and what it has been yielding I don't know if I can handle another 4 years of that. Granted the last 2 years of med school aren't class, but you know what I mean. And then there is the miserable, miserable thing called residency. And what is it all for?
Almost all of the clinical experience I've had has been with PAs, so isn't that what I've been enjoying? And every doctor I've worked with has been miserable and told me DO NOT GO INTO MEDICINE!!! Whereas, every PA I've met loves their work and is happy and friendly.
I worry that as a PA I will never get to see any interesting cases, but is that true? I understand that the majority of the cases I personally handle will be routine work in that specialty, but that doesn't mean I won't be exposed to the interesting cases. (double negative?) It's not like the doctor would be like "Ummm, hell no you can't even look at this patients chart you're just a PA." I'm suppose to assist him even with the interesting patients. My ability to learn isn't limited because I'm a PA. I can become just as intelligent and well informed as a physician with time, just people won't respect my judgments as much. But this is for me, not others.
Even if I did go PA that doesn't mean I can't go to medical school later. If anything, this is a good way to really get into the health care field and see if medical school is really worth it. Also if I got tired of the whole medicine thing I would probably be a decent MHA candidate, right?
I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I feel this is typical of me. I get really excited about something and go so overboard preparing for it just to either fail, or realize that I'm acting like an idiot. (i.e. Starting a blog called The Future Dr. House) My parents were not exactly supportive of the whole venture. I mean they never told me not to pursue it, but at the same time I feel like they were always pointing out the negatives. I feel I would be proving them right at my expense. Errrr, but that's not really their agenda, I hope.
Then there are my friends. Today I was hanging out with all of them and I wanted to tell them that I'm thinking about changing my career goals, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I'm so tired of explaining what a DO was that I couldn't even imagine explaining what a PA was. I think they had some prejudices against a DO because it wasn't an MD, and I didn't want to lose face by explaining that I wouldn't be my own boss. I may not even tell them my plans until I actually act on some of them.
Most of my friends are going into the business world. One has an internship with an investment banking firm, one with a business law firm, one as an accountant, one with ESPN Radio, and another with a commodities investor who's also going to get a job with next year. I feel like being a PA wouldn't quite rank up there with them. Granted, I would still have a masters degree, which I don't think most will achieve, but... I don't know. I guess I wanted to prove myself to them with a medical degree. I'm not even that concerned with the money aspect because if any of them ever compared me to them I would drop them so fast...so fast... well, i've got nothing, but it would be fast!
I hope no one gets offended by this entry. I'm not trying to downplay the PA profession. I have great respect for PA and hope that I can become as competent as the one's I've shadowed. You just have to understand that it's not what I've dreamed of and my friends and family wouldn't have the appreciation that they should for the profession.
This is ridiculous. Why am I even worried about my friends? What do they care what I do with my life? I don't have to prove anything to them. I think I could really really really enjoy being a PA. In fact, I get excited at the idea of it. The same way I use to be excited about being a physician, just without the hesitation.
So, if all goes according to plan I'll probably end up going to PA school, which includes getting a 20 on the MCAT. This could be a good thing cause to be honest I didn't want to start my life in my late 20's.
Time to think up a new blog.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
PSA: Favors
This is just a general public service announcement to share with people the etiquette of doing favors, which may or may not have been sparked by current events.
If you buy someone a drink and then refuse their money when said person tries to pay you back, then you are NOT allowed to later use that as a guilt trip to have that person travel out of their way to buy you Wendy's.
If you are the cause of someone constantly going out of the way to pick you up to go places (like everday of multiple multi-week trips, including during massive blizzards) and that person one day asks you to provide them with a 7 AM emergency wake up call for the
MOST IMPORTANT TEST OF THEIR LIFE (!!!), which will take you all of 30 seconds to do and then allow you to go back to sleep, then do it.
If you refuse a person said wake up call, and do cause this person to go out of their way for you as previsouly mentioned, DO NOT bitch about how this person wouldn't go OUT OF THEIR WAY to pick you up food just because you didn't like what your host was serving you. Doing so may result in the loss of many, many, many future favors done by said person for you.
If you buy someone a drink and then refuse their money when said person tries to pay you back, then you are NOT allowed to later use that as a guilt trip to have that person travel out of their way to buy you Wendy's.
If you are the cause of someone constantly going out of the way to pick you up to go places (like everday of multiple multi-week trips, including during massive blizzards) and that person one day asks you to provide them with a 7 AM emergency wake up call for the
MOST IMPORTANT TEST OF THEIR LIFE (!!!), which will take you all of 30 seconds to do and then allow you to go back to sleep, then do it.
If you refuse a person said wake up call, and do cause this person to go out of their way for you as previsouly mentioned, DO NOT bitch about how this person wouldn't go OUT OF THEIR WAY to pick you up food just because you didn't like what your host was serving you. Doing so may result in the loss of many, many, many future favors done by said person for you.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Mets and MCATs
When it's really hot outside I do really strange things in my sleep. In terms Psych. of Sleep I seem to be aroused (not like that!) while in the middle of REM sleep. So when I wake up I can't tell the difference between the brain activity of REM sleep and the brain activity of reality.
The night before my MCAT I had one of these episodes. It couldn't have been more opportune timing. First let me share a past episode that shows exactly what I'm talking about.
It's my second year of college and I'm sleeping during a particularly hot night. In my dream I'm back in freshman year of college during orientation. At freshman orientation (the real one) we were given things called "passports." You would bring your passports to different activities and get it stamped. If you had enough stamps then you could submit your passport for a prize of some sort. So in the dream I didn't have a passport and needed to print one out. At that point something woke me up, which I suspect to be the heat of the night. (that sounded dirty..) I got out of bed and walked over to my roommate's desk where he was on his computer. I then started tapping his printer telling him to "print it out, com'on print it out." He looked at me wondering what the fuck I was talking about, and rightfully so. I went on insisting that he needed to print out the passport now. He continued telling me that he has no idea what I was talking about. I then went over to my bed and sat down trying to figure out what was going on. One half of my mind was like ummm Dr. Wannabe, that was a dream. Another half was like no, that was real, I really need to print this out. This internal struggle went on for about 20 minutes, no joke. I then begrudgingly accepted the fact that there was no passport to print out. It was one of my more embarrassing moments.
Now back to the dream I had before taking the MCAT.
I'm in the car on my way to the testing center where my MCAT is held and who's in the car with me? None other the New York Met pitchers Tom Glavine and John Maine. So we're driving and we come to an intersection that I had specifically made a mental note of earlier in the day (real life). I go to cross the intersection, but not it's not that simple. This part is a little hazy, but evidently my crossing the intersection was contingent on John and Tom throwing specific pitches in a specific time interval. Needless to say they couldn't do it. My brain just wouldn't allow it to be that easy. I'm then left sitting in the car waiting for them to do it and they can't. At this point I'm panicking about getting to my test on time. I then enter this weird vortex of thought where I'm trying to figure out how they can get these pitches thrown at the exact moment they're suppose to and this is the part where I wake up. At this point I'm flipping out. I don't understand what's the matter but I know that it has to do with me not knowing baseball well enough to take the MCAT. I'm soooooo strange. Again half of my brain was like that was a dream, it's not real. The other half keep panicking about baseball and the MCAT. It's a very weird feeling when your brain is thinking two different things at the same time. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't stop thinking about baseball. The only thing I could think of doing was just getting out of bed and fully waking up. So I went on my computer for about an hour until my braing fully "restarted."
Yeah, I didn't get much sleep that night.
Oh, you want to know how the test went? Well I actually wasn't tired at all, but I sucked it up big time anyway. There were two biological science section passages that I just could not wrap my head around. One had to do with the reptilian renal system (I've never even learned about the mammalian renal system) and the other had to do with some specific protein synthesis and an experiment to see how you could inhibit it, but a certain mRNA was found to replicate DNA incorrectly or something.... I don't know.
What really sucked is that I think I did much better in Physical Science than normal and it'll mean nothing. The verbal passages weren't that hard, but there were a couple of tricky questions.
In about a month's time I'll have my results. A friend of mine just got her results today and it wasn't pretty. I feel really terrible for her because she has like a 3.85 GPA and she was convinced that this was going to happen. I haven't spoken to her since her text message ended with "don't anyone call me" and she hasn't been online, which is irregular. I don't know when she plans on taking them again or if she'll wait to apply next year. I hope she just takes them again and applies this year cause I know she's quite capable of getting a competitive score and she's worked too hard to deal with this stress. As for me... if I get a 23-24 then I'm only applying to one specific school; 25+ I'm applying to all the schools my heart desires. Lower than 23 and I don't know what I'll do, but I have a feeling that's going to be the case.
Screw it all. I'm going to Italy in 11 days and I'm not going to allow this to plague my mind.
The night before my MCAT I had one of these episodes. It couldn't have been more opportune timing. First let me share a past episode that shows exactly what I'm talking about.
It's my second year of college and I'm sleeping during a particularly hot night. In my dream I'm back in freshman year of college during orientation. At freshman orientation (the real one) we were given things called "passports." You would bring your passports to different activities and get it stamped. If you had enough stamps then you could submit your passport for a prize of some sort. So in the dream I didn't have a passport and needed to print one out. At that point something woke me up, which I suspect to be the heat of the night. (that sounded dirty..) I got out of bed and walked over to my roommate's desk where he was on his computer. I then started tapping his printer telling him to "print it out, com'on print it out." He looked at me wondering what the fuck I was talking about, and rightfully so. I went on insisting that he needed to print out the passport now. He continued telling me that he has no idea what I was talking about. I then went over to my bed and sat down trying to figure out what was going on. One half of my mind was like ummm Dr. Wannabe, that was a dream. Another half was like no, that was real, I really need to print this out. This internal struggle went on for about 20 minutes, no joke. I then begrudgingly accepted the fact that there was no passport to print out. It was one of my more embarrassing moments.
Now back to the dream I had before taking the MCAT.
I'm in the car on my way to the testing center where my MCAT is held and who's in the car with me? None other the New York Met pitchers Tom Glavine and John Maine. So we're driving and we come to an intersection that I had specifically made a mental note of earlier in the day (real life). I go to cross the intersection, but not it's not that simple. This part is a little hazy, but evidently my crossing the intersection was contingent on John and Tom throwing specific pitches in a specific time interval. Needless to say they couldn't do it. My brain just wouldn't allow it to be that easy. I'm then left sitting in the car waiting for them to do it and they can't. At this point I'm panicking about getting to my test on time. I then enter this weird vortex of thought where I'm trying to figure out how they can get these pitches thrown at the exact moment they're suppose to and this is the part where I wake up. At this point I'm flipping out. I don't understand what's the matter but I know that it has to do with me not knowing baseball well enough to take the MCAT. I'm soooooo strange. Again half of my brain was like that was a dream, it's not real. The other half keep panicking about baseball and the MCAT. It's a very weird feeling when your brain is thinking two different things at the same time. I tried to go back to sleep but I couldn't stop thinking about baseball. The only thing I could think of doing was just getting out of bed and fully waking up. So I went on my computer for about an hour until my braing fully "restarted."
Yeah, I didn't get much sleep that night.
Oh, you want to know how the test went? Well I actually wasn't tired at all, but I sucked it up big time anyway. There were two biological science section passages that I just could not wrap my head around. One had to do with the reptilian renal system (I've never even learned about the mammalian renal system) and the other had to do with some specific protein synthesis and an experiment to see how you could inhibit it, but a certain mRNA was found to replicate DNA incorrectly or something.... I don't know.
What really sucked is that I think I did much better in Physical Science than normal and it'll mean nothing. The verbal passages weren't that hard, but there were a couple of tricky questions.
In about a month's time I'll have my results. A friend of mine just got her results today and it wasn't pretty. I feel really terrible for her because she has like a 3.85 GPA and she was convinced that this was going to happen. I haven't spoken to her since her text message ended with "don't anyone call me" and she hasn't been online, which is irregular. I don't know when she plans on taking them again or if she'll wait to apply next year. I hope she just takes them again and applies this year cause I know she's quite capable of getting a competitive score and she's worked too hard to deal with this stress. As for me... if I get a 23-24 then I'm only applying to one specific school; 25+ I'm applying to all the schools my heart desires. Lower than 23 and I don't know what I'll do, but I have a feeling that's going to be the case.
Screw it all. I'm going to Italy in 11 days and I'm not going to allow this to plague my mind.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Monday, May 14, 2007
Wow, I just got an A in Physics II. I didn't see that coming by a long shot. I wish I hadn't been so stupid to take Physics I last summer where I got a C+. My adviser told me to explain that grade in my personal statement, which they might actually acknowledge since I just got an A. But my Organic grade is just going to bring my GPA back to where it was if I get a C. Ugh... I hate school. But those classes are over thank God!
My mom told me not to take any more practice tests, especially not tomorrow. I think I'm going to take one more today. It's really just to help me figure out how to focus on the test and how to come up with answers. Or something... I definitely feel more use to taking them since I've been taking 2 a day for the past couple of days. My friend thinks I over did it taking that many a day and that the grades won't be that reflective. I hope she's right.
My mom told me not to take any more practice tests, especially not tomorrow. I think I'm going to take one more today. It's really just to help me figure out how to focus on the test and how to come up with answers. Or something... I definitely feel more use to taking them since I've been taking 2 a day for the past couple of days. My friend thinks I over did it taking that many a day and that the grades won't be that reflective. I hope she's right.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
All Alone
Finals Week is over, but I'm still at school.
Why?
Because I have the MCAT on Wednesday. Le Gasp!
Why?
Because I have the MCAT on Wednesday. Le Gasp!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
MP Could Take JT Any Day
With the infinite amount of time I have to waste on You Tube I've made a startling discovery that could shake the very foundation that you base your life on.
As we all know Justin Timberlake thinks he is the coolest, slickest, suavest person on the face of the Earth. And unfortunately, up until this day we've had no proof to discredit him. But my friends (THAT NEVER COMMENT!!!) I have found the evidence needed to prove that this coolness does not originate from JT, but from a much more unlikely, yet more beloved source; none other than MARY POPPINS!!!
Check out Justin's moves around 3:40 (when the timer is counting backwards - which it should)
Now, look for some similarities with Mary breaking out the moves around 5:20 (same as above)
Justin, YOU JUST GOT SERVED 17 YEARS BEFORE YOU WERE BORN!
As we all know Justin Timberlake thinks he is the coolest, slickest, suavest person on the face of the Earth. And unfortunately, up until this day we've had no proof to discredit him. But my friends (THAT NEVER COMMENT!!!) I have found the evidence needed to prove that this coolness does not originate from JT, but from a much more unlikely, yet more beloved source; none other than MARY POPPINS!!!
Check out Justin's moves around 3:40 (when the timer is counting backwards - which it should)
Now, look for some similarities with Mary breaking out the moves around 5:20 (same as above)
Justin, YOU JUST GOT SERVED 17 YEARS BEFORE YOU WERE BORN!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Awkward Turtle
Oh my goodness the people in the apartment above me are having a good time. Such a good time that everything in my room is shaking violently, including me. My friend says that means that I'm even part of it. Well at least I'm getting some!
Back when I was a naive freshman I use to wonder why the people above me would be putting their bunk beds together at the most random times during the day. They would just be continuely banging their mattress frames with hammers into the legs of the bed - for like 40 minutes. Then one day I pushed my chair from my desk to fast right into my radiator - BANG! Wait, I've heard that banging before... Why were the people upstairs banging their beds into the radiator? Ohhhhhhhhh!
Yesterday we were signing up for roommates in my abroad class. This girl that I know through a friend, we'll call Tracy, asked me if I wanted to room with her guy friend, we'll call Ken. At the time I was panic'd that I was going to be stuck with the most despised person in the class and I readily agreed. I later told my friend who I was rooming with and he told me that Tracy and Ken were actually dating. DAMMIT!!!! Well that explains the, "Ken, come over here and give me a hello-kiss." I'm going to have an awkward turtle on my shoulder every night I'm in Italy. I'm hoping Tracy brings it back to her room since she's good friends with her roommate. Then again, that's probably a reason to keep it in my room. My friends gave me some tips how to stop any unwelcomed night activities, but I feel to dirty to share them with you.
Back when I was a naive freshman I use to wonder why the people above me would be putting their bunk beds together at the most random times during the day. They would just be continuely banging their mattress frames with hammers into the legs of the bed - for like 40 minutes. Then one day I pushed my chair from my desk to fast right into my radiator - BANG! Wait, I've heard that banging before... Why were the people upstairs banging their beds into the radiator? Ohhhhhhhhh!
Yesterday we were signing up for roommates in my abroad class. This girl that I know through a friend, we'll call Tracy, asked me if I wanted to room with her guy friend, we'll call Ken. At the time I was panic'd that I was going to be stuck with the most despised person in the class and I readily agreed. I later told my friend who I was rooming with and he told me that Tracy and Ken were actually dating. DAMMIT!!!! Well that explains the, "Ken, come over here and give me a hello-kiss." I'm going to have an awkward turtle on my shoulder every night I'm in Italy. I'm hoping Tracy brings it back to her room since she's good friends with her roommate. Then again, that's probably a reason to keep it in my room. My friends gave me some tips how to stop any unwelcomed night activities, but I feel to dirty to share them with you.
Friday, April 27, 2007
Ah Crap, the Day Has Come
My most feared day has arrived, the Pre-Health Committee Interview.
This is the scenario I've had running through my head since Fall '05:
Committee Member: So Dr. Wannabe, why do you want to go to medical school...
Dr. W: blah, blah, blah...
CM: Mmmhmm... *reads transcript* Umm, have you seen your GPA lately?
DW: Yeah, I know that it's sub-average, but I really feel that I possess the more relevant clinical skills that are needed to be a capable physician.
CM: Right... We really think that it would be a waste of your money to apply to medical school and suggest that you reconsider your career aspirations. Maybe apply next year.
DW: Although I respect your opinion on the situation I don't see waiting another year helping my case.
CM: Well, have it your way. We're going to rank you: "Recommend with Reservation."
DW: *Cries a little and dies*
Dr. Wannabe then continues to apply to medical schools that summer (even though he just died in the previous scene) and is rejected by all of them. In fact, the medical schools don't even bother sending him secondaries because his money is just not good enough for them. This ultimately makes him the 1:5 student from his school that doesn't get accepted to a medical school.
This is the scenario I've had running through my head since Fall '05:
Committee Member: So Dr. Wannabe, why do you want to go to medical school...
Dr. W: blah, blah, blah...
CM: Mmmhmm... *reads transcript* Umm, have you seen your GPA lately?
DW: Yeah, I know that it's sub-average, but I really feel that I possess the more relevant clinical skills that are needed to be a capable physician.
CM: Right... We really think that it would be a waste of your money to apply to medical school and suggest that you reconsider your career aspirations. Maybe apply next year.
DW: Although I respect your opinion on the situation I don't see waiting another year helping my case.
CM: Well, have it your way. We're going to rank you: "Recommend with Reservation."
DW: *Cries a little and dies*
Dr. Wannabe then continues to apply to medical schools that summer (even though he just died in the previous scene) and is rejected by all of them. In fact, the medical schools don't even bother sending him secondaries because his money is just not good enough for them. This ultimately makes him the 1:5 student from his school that doesn't get accepted to a medical school.
Monday, April 23, 2007
It's You; Not Me.
As a science major I have been through a good number of lab partners - about 9 or so. Generally, I get along splendidly with my lab partners, even becoming friends with some of them outside of the lab. Laughing occurs often, conversations are plentiful and fun is made of lab time. Lab is a great bonding experience for two people the have never met each other. Physics lab is probably the most painful lab of them all, but my partner and I are constantly cracking jokes and needing to refocus often in order to get any work done.
One of the few times that I didn't get along with my lab partner was in Microbiology Lab. But those were very special circumstances.
Organic Chem II Lab was the first time I had a lab partner that I knew before the lab. He was friends with my former housemates, whom (who?) I happen to detest, but we had had conversations before and were friendly with each other. In fact, I was friendlier with all of my housemates friends, just not my housemates. But that's another story. I was kind of surprised that when he entered the lab he took the spot next to me because in doing so he signed a binding contract that said he was going to be my lab partner. Not really... but you get the idea. The reason it was so surprising was because I had just gone through an ugly falling out with said housemates, but I guess he didn't care about those politics.
The beginning of the semester was okay. The start is always a little shaky and awkward, but that's normal. As the semester went on the partnership seemed to become more awkward, and I have no idea why. I'm a very friendly person and always strike up a conversation - proven by past lab partners. I would try to make conversation but he never added anything to them. In reality though it wasn't that surprising. He was teammates with my former housemates and their most noteable characteristic was the inability to socialize with anyone not on the team. It is well known that this specific team was very cliquey and didn't talk to anyone outside the team.
When the day came that he left lab without saying "bye" I decided to give up on trying to make conversation, or talking to him at all for that matter. You would think that it would be hard to get through a lab without speaking to your lab partner, but let me tell you it's magical when it happens.
In retrospect I think the way I reacted was a little immature, but I honestly don't think he gave a shit and I can't think of anything else I could have done to better the situation. Luckily, he's graduating this year and I'm never going to have to worry about being paired with him again.
But the threat of the micro lab partner still looms...
PS - my schedule for next semester has been finalized
Vertebrate Physiology and Lab - Experiments with mice!!!
Science, Medicine and Ethics (Capping Course) - Ethics, we meet again. And I'm going to rape you all over again.
Human Nutrition - Maybe I'll finally be able to make sense of this field.
Ireland: History and Politics - I'm 100% Irish. Well, Irish-American.
I'm very, very excited for next semester.
One of the few times that I didn't get along with my lab partner was in Microbiology Lab. But those were very special circumstances.
Organic Chem II Lab was the first time I had a lab partner that I knew before the lab. He was friends with my former housemates, whom (who?) I happen to detest, but we had had conversations before and were friendly with each other. In fact, I was friendlier with all of my housemates friends, just not my housemates. But that's another story. I was kind of surprised that when he entered the lab he took the spot next to me because in doing so he signed a binding contract that said he was going to be my lab partner. Not really... but you get the idea. The reason it was so surprising was because I had just gone through an ugly falling out with said housemates, but I guess he didn't care about those politics.
The beginning of the semester was okay. The start is always a little shaky and awkward, but that's normal. As the semester went on the partnership seemed to become more awkward, and I have no idea why. I'm a very friendly person and always strike up a conversation - proven by past lab partners. I would try to make conversation but he never added anything to them. In reality though it wasn't that surprising. He was teammates with my former housemates and their most noteable characteristic was the inability to socialize with anyone not on the team. It is well known that this specific team was very cliquey and didn't talk to anyone outside the team.
When the day came that he left lab without saying "bye" I decided to give up on trying to make conversation, or talking to him at all for that matter. You would think that it would be hard to get through a lab without speaking to your lab partner, but let me tell you it's magical when it happens.
In retrospect I think the way I reacted was a little immature, but I honestly don't think he gave a shit and I can't think of anything else I could have done to better the situation. Luckily, he's graduating this year and I'm never going to have to worry about being paired with him again.
But the threat of the micro lab partner still looms...
PS - my schedule for next semester has been finalized
Vertebrate Physiology and Lab - Experiments with mice!!!
Science, Medicine and Ethics (Capping Course) - Ethics, we meet again. And I'm going to rape you all over again.
Human Nutrition - Maybe I'll finally be able to make sense of this field.
Ireland: History and Politics - I'm 100% Irish. Well, Irish-American.
I'm very, very excited for next semester.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Corporate America, here I come
I'm giving up. I just got back an Organic Chem test and I was left disappointed again. I studied for days like usual: rewriting each chapter's notes, then re-doing the HW and quizzes and finishing up with taking the practice test. I was scared going into the test, but felt pretty good after leaving it. But I told myself I wasn't going to get overly confident and that I probably got a 74 like usual.
The professor started class by saying how impressed she was with the results and that an "absurd" number of people got 90+% on the test. I tried really hard not to get my hopes up. This happens every time she hands tests back; she tells us how so many people got good grades. She then put the class distribution up and 14/30 PEOPLE GOT ABOVE A 90%! That was insanity. Okay, I started feeling good and even told myself to stop feeling good because I'm not going to be one of those people. Sure the odds were against me that I was one of the 3 or 4 people to get around a 75, but that's just what I do.
She hands me my test back and I see the 74% on it. I give the fuck up. I don't know what I have to do to start getting good grades. And the thing that kills me is how I see all these people who party all the time and do sooo many drugs getting 104!!!!!!!! I really don't know what these people are doing to get good grades that I'm not. Are they just straight up smarter than I am? I mean they obviously are but am I just incapable of doing well or am I just doing this whole thing wrong??? This makes my test grades 78, 75.5 and 74. At least I'm consistent...
Am I seriously applying to medschool this summer? I must have something the matter with me. My prereq grades are going to be:
General Bio 1+2: B-/B+
General Chem 1+2: C/B
Organic Chem: C+/C+
Physics 1+2: C+/C+
That's just laughable. I guess I won't be applying this summer unless I get some crazy MCAT score. (Which by the way is on May 16th) Hopefully my heavy bio-class senior year will pull my GPA up and I'll have a reasonable shot next summer. Although, judging by my B in Micro and B- in Immunology they probably won't help that much.
My friend who's the perfect premedical student is taking the MCATs today. When I say perfect I mean she has straight A's in all of her science classes. I don't know how she does it. And she has a better social life that me too. She hasn't been doing as well on the practice MCATs as she would like to though. She seems to be a consistent 23. I haven't taken a practice test in a while but I normally do better than that. So what does this mean about our class grades?
Maybe I'll just shadow physicians the rest of my life. And in my head I can be the one ordering test and prescribing treatment. I guess that's almost as good. Any takers?
The professor started class by saying how impressed she was with the results and that an "absurd" number of people got 90+% on the test. I tried really hard not to get my hopes up. This happens every time she hands tests back; she tells us how so many people got good grades. She then put the class distribution up and 14/30 PEOPLE GOT ABOVE A 90%! That was insanity. Okay, I started feeling good and even told myself to stop feeling good because I'm not going to be one of those people. Sure the odds were against me that I was one of the 3 or 4 people to get around a 75, but that's just what I do.
She hands me my test back and I see the 74% on it. I give the fuck up. I don't know what I have to do to start getting good grades. And the thing that kills me is how I see all these people who party all the time and do sooo many drugs getting 104!!!!!!!! I really don't know what these people are doing to get good grades that I'm not. Are they just straight up smarter than I am? I mean they obviously are but am I just incapable of doing well or am I just doing this whole thing wrong??? This makes my test grades 78, 75.5 and 74. At least I'm consistent...
Am I seriously applying to medschool this summer? I must have something the matter with me. My prereq grades are going to be:
General Bio 1+2: B-/B+
General Chem 1+2: C/B
Organic Chem: C+/C+
Physics 1+2: C+/C+
That's just laughable. I guess I won't be applying this summer unless I get some crazy MCAT score. (Which by the way is on May 16th) Hopefully my heavy bio-class senior year will pull my GPA up and I'll have a reasonable shot next summer. Although, judging by my B in Micro and B- in Immunology they probably won't help that much.
My friend who's the perfect premedical student is taking the MCATs today. When I say perfect I mean she has straight A's in all of her science classes. I don't know how she does it. And she has a better social life that me too. She hasn't been doing as well on the practice MCATs as she would like to though. She seems to be a consistent 23. I haven't taken a practice test in a while but I normally do better than that. So what does this mean about our class grades?
Maybe I'll just shadow physicians the rest of my life. And in my head I can be the one ordering test and prescribing treatment. I guess that's almost as good. Any takers?
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The Stress of Physics
Things that were said during Physics Lab when the room would randomly get quiet.
"Don't tell me to fucking chill out! This thing is trying to measure CO2 levels!!!"
"My balls hurt."
"I'm about to punch you in the teeth."
"Don't tell me to fucking chill out! This thing is trying to measure CO2 levels!!!"
"My balls hurt."
"I'm about to punch you in the teeth."
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Mmmm Rachel McAdams
Sunday morning I noticed that my eyes were a little red. I didn't think anything of it and thought maybe it was because I was at my friend's house who has cats to which I'm allergic. I didn't worry much because they weren't tearing, pussing, itching, nada.The redness continued through Monday to the point where Monday night I decided to stop wearing my contacts. But still no other problems other than them being red. It didn't feel any different having contacts in and I tried a new pair of contacts in case they were somehow irritating them.
That night I put some eye drops in for redness and went to sleep. Unfortunately, I don't know whether the drops did anything since I went to sleep, but they couldn't have done much because my eyes are still red but still not tearing, itching, pussing either.
I went to health services today just to have them checked out cause I don't want to wear contacts without them being looked at. After going through my story and embarrassing myself on the eye chart exam (I could only read line three with my old, old prescription glasses) and finding no foreign bodies in my eyes the doctor came to no diagnosis. The reason that this redness is so odd is because there are one other symptoms. I honestly would have no idea that they were red if it weren't for looking in the mirror.
I'm slightly concerned though because about 3 years back my ophthalmologist did a work up on me for glycoma because my eye pressure was a little elevated. The tests did not show any loss of peripheral vision or nerve damage and the next time I had my pressure tested it was fine. I know that the only noticeable symptom is vision loss, but WebMD had it listed in the differential for eye redness without the accompanying puss or irritation. I'm not giving too much thought though cause I'm young and my peripheral vision is normal.
Hmm, maybe my eyes are feeling slightly dry... that may be because I'm just paying more attention to them than normal.
Anyway, I'm suppose to go back to health services Thursday to have them checked again in case it's a viral infection that just hasn't developed the rest of the symptoms. But if it's viral there's nothing they're going to do. If the redness continues without other symptoms then she's going to refer me to a ophthalmologist. Super!... I enjoy going to doctors because I like to see how they work, but this is going to be annoying.
I have my internship tomorrow morning so I'm going to have that doctor take a look at my eyes for a second opinion. Wait, there still isn't a diagnosis. Does that make it a primary opinion?
Friday, April 06, 2007
Is Science the Same Everywhere?
I'm looking at some year long graduate programs in London and some look exactly what I want, but there is a problem. I'm deathly intimidated by the idea of taking graduate level courses in the UK. I feel like all Britons are naturally superior to me in every way. I afraid that I'll show up to an immuno class and have no idea what any of them are talking about on multiple levels.
1. They'll be talking about things of which I have no concept.
2. The accents. I couldn't even understand "Take away?"
3. Anything I say/write won't be understood because I'll format everything in the American way.
Are these even legitimate concerns?
Does an average American undergraduate education match up to a British undergraduate?
You can be brutally honest because I already think the British are way better than us.
1. They'll be talking about things of which I have no concept.
2. The accents. I couldn't even understand "Take away?"
3. Anything I say/write won't be understood because I'll format everything in the American way.
Are these even legitimate concerns?
Does an average American undergraduate education match up to a British undergraduate?
You can be brutally honest because I already think the British are way better than us.
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Happy Easter! (Unless you take offense to that; to you I offer no title.)
A quick update before I go home for a long weekend.
Failed my Physics test (below 80 is failing) in less than 10 minutes. How's that possible? We take them on the computer so you know whether you got the question wrong or not. Once I got 5/23 points taken off I stop taking it and left. Except I forgot that if you get a 50% or below you have to redo the HW. Woops. Whatever, I have all the answers for it anyway.
(In my Abroad - Lit/Art class)
Prof: (To class) Where is the weirdest place you've ever been?
Dr W: This class...
Prof #2: Hahaha, you must be a science major.
Damn straight.
Failed my Physics test (below 80 is failing) in less than 10 minutes. How's that possible? We take them on the computer so you know whether you got the question wrong or not. Once I got 5/23 points taken off I stop taking it and left. Except I forgot that if you get a 50% or below you have to redo the HW. Woops. Whatever, I have all the answers for it anyway.
(In my Abroad - Lit/Art class)
Prof: (To class) Where is the weirdest place you've ever been?
Dr W: This class...
Prof #2: Hahaha, you must be a science major.
Damn straight.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
I Don't Care If It Is the Most Populous Molecule in the Atmosphere
This is going to sound silly, but I hate Nitrogen. Yes, I'm talking about Nitrogen the element.
Every time Nitrogen is brought up in one of my classes I always get completely lost. And it's not like there is a specific thing about N that's common in the different classes when it's brought up. When I was taking Microbiology and we started talking about Nitrogen fixation I was lost for sure. This is actually one of the reasons I avoid Environmental Science classes at all cost, because N plays such a huge role in it. (Well, that and because I would start killing people when they brought up Global Warming every class.)
In Organic we're covering Amide and Amines and needless to say it's not going well. I don't know what happened. I know I'm not great in Organic, but I generally get what's happening and can figure out how to reach the answers when given them. But I'm looking at the answers to some of the reactions and I just have no idea what's going on. I look through the text for a mechanism to reference, but none of them touch on this specific issue I'm having. I don't know what to do.
Ugh, it's really upsetting that I don't like any of my current science classes. (Oragnic and Physics) I don't know why medschools make you take these classes that really have nothing to do with medicine. I know that I need a background in Organic for Biochem, but honestly do I really need all of this? And the sad thing is I'm getting terrible grades. (C's) But it's not like I don't understand the material. I do understand it, I just can't master it I guess. Should I even need to master this stuff to get into medschool? One reader told me a while back that if I can't handle this then I shouldn't be admitted. That was upsetting, but probably true. Ahh truth; it's a bitch.
When applying to schools I'd really like to say, "Hey I know I keep getting C's in these classes, but they're the one's that aren't related to medicine. And if someone is getting C's in General Chemistry or Orgo1 shouldn't their grades keep going down as the material gets harder? My grades at least stay consistent, which I think at least shows that I "get it." It's not like I'm a moron. And I generally retain what I learn long after I take the class. But why do you only want the students that are aces at Chemistry and Physics. Sure they're difficult, but do they really correlate to clinical material?
Basically I wish the "pre-med courses" meant taking classes that actually resembled medical school classes. Well next year it's nothing but science classes with strong clinical connections. (Vertebrate Physiology, Comparative Anatomy, Genetics, Human Nutrition) I became a BioMed major for these classes, not Physics, Gen Chem and Orgo. Unfortunately the schools that I apply to won't see the grades that I get in these classes because my applications will be in before I take them. Hopefully I do well in them next year and I have a better shot at getting in the second time around. Yeah, I'm planning on not getting in this time around. The question will just be what should I do with that year off?
Okay, back to freaking Hoffmann Elimination Rxn. ugh...
[Edit: PS - My favorite pen just ran out of ink. This work just got a little more painful]
Every time Nitrogen is brought up in one of my classes I always get completely lost. And it's not like there is a specific thing about N that's common in the different classes when it's brought up. When I was taking Microbiology and we started talking about Nitrogen fixation I was lost for sure. This is actually one of the reasons I avoid Environmental Science classes at all cost, because N plays such a huge role in it. (Well, that and because I would start killing people when they brought up Global Warming every class.)
In Organic we're covering Amide and Amines and needless to say it's not going well. I don't know what happened. I know I'm not great in Organic, but I generally get what's happening and can figure out how to reach the answers when given them. But I'm looking at the answers to some of the reactions and I just have no idea what's going on. I look through the text for a mechanism to reference, but none of them touch on this specific issue I'm having. I don't know what to do.
Ugh, it's really upsetting that I don't like any of my current science classes. (Oragnic and Physics) I don't know why medschools make you take these classes that really have nothing to do with medicine. I know that I need a background in Organic for Biochem, but honestly do I really need all of this? And the sad thing is I'm getting terrible grades. (C's) But it's not like I don't understand the material. I do understand it, I just can't master it I guess. Should I even need to master this stuff to get into medschool? One reader told me a while back that if I can't handle this then I shouldn't be admitted. That was upsetting, but probably true. Ahh truth; it's a bitch.
When applying to schools I'd really like to say, "Hey I know I keep getting C's in these classes, but they're the one's that aren't related to medicine. And if someone is getting C's in General Chemistry or Orgo1 shouldn't their grades keep going down as the material gets harder? My grades at least stay consistent, which I think at least shows that I "get it." It's not like I'm a moron. And I generally retain what I learn long after I take the class. But why do you only want the students that are aces at Chemistry and Physics. Sure they're difficult, but do they really correlate to clinical material?
Basically I wish the "pre-med courses" meant taking classes that actually resembled medical school classes. Well next year it's nothing but science classes with strong clinical connections. (Vertebrate Physiology, Comparative Anatomy, Genetics, Human Nutrition) I became a BioMed major for these classes, not Physics, Gen Chem and Orgo. Unfortunately the schools that I apply to won't see the grades that I get in these classes because my applications will be in before I take them. Hopefully I do well in them next year and I have a better shot at getting in the second time around. Yeah, I'm planning on not getting in this time around. The question will just be what should I do with that year off?
Okay, back to freaking Hoffmann Elimination Rxn. ugh...
[Edit: PS - My favorite pen just ran out of ink. This work just got a little more painful]
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Do You Have a Double?
I've heard theories that say somewhere in the world there is someone who looks exactly like you. But what about people who don't look like you, but are exactly like you?
When I say exactly alike I mean, mannerisms, interests, views, processes of thinking, tastes in everything. Everything is the same.
Generally, you can find people who will have a shared sense of humor, interests or affiliations. I on the other hand have found two people who are identical to each other.
Friend #1, we'll call Lee, because that's a nice stereotypical Asian affiliated name. Friend #2, we'll call Mike, cause that's a nice typical Caucasian name.
I've known Lee since high school. We're nothing alike but we get along surprisingly well. To get an idea of what he's like here are some of his interests: elitist underground indie rock, elitist (but not necessarily good) indie movies, vegetarianism, English/Philosophy major, music journalism, social liberalism, smart comedy (Arrested Development, 30 Rock, The Office). You get the picture.
Mike became my former roommate's new roommate when I left him last semester. It was about 30 minutes into meeting to him that I realized he's nothing but a Caucasian version of Lee. The first thing that gave it away was the fact he was talking about music artists that I had only heard of from Lee. I told Mike to check out Lee's Last.FM playlist and they both listen to the same exact music.
Okay, big deal they listen to the same music. If you're into one type of band, you're probably into most of the other ones in the same genre. We shall continue.
Lee started out as a computer science major, but quit because at his school it's part of the engineering school, which required him to take too many classes that had nothing to do with what he likes. He is now an English and Philosophy major. Mike is a computer science major, but is very into philosophy, especially existentialism, which is exactly what Lee is into. Mike is currently reading a book on World Religions, which is not required for a class.
Mike has gotten me to watch movies that Lee has been meaning to make me watch for a while.
Mike is a vegetarian. Lee has given up meat for the past few Lents and is now planning on giving it up for good, without knowing that Mike is a vegetarian.
They both have the same exact sarcastic humor that many don't appreciate, but I'm very keen to.
Both of them love to piss me off at any chance they get. And they do it in the same exact way. Mainly by taking anything I say and twisting it into something else, or proving me to be a hypocrite at any chance. (Oh wait, everyone does that.)
When I was food shopping with Mike he told me how he use to love New England Clam Chowder, but, alas, he can eat it no longer. The next day I'm on the phone with Lee telling him how I'm thinking about having NE Clam Chowder and he responds with, "Yeah, I'm going to miss that when I stop eating meat."
When I visited Lee while he studied in London I unknowingly met his twin Mike BECAUSE HE WAS STUDYING IN LONDON AT THE SAME TIME WITH OTHER FRIENDS OF MINE!!!!
Is this enough?!?!?!?
The two of them readily acknowledge the fact that they are the same person and plan on meeting over the summer. It's really really really weird. (REALLY!)
I haven't known Mike for very long but I seem to "get him" very quickly, which is saying something because he has some very... ummm... interesting idiosyncrasies. I chalk this up to being friends with Lee for so long. Being with Mike is exactly like being with Lee. I'm at the point where I predict what he's about to say/do/think (wait isn't that almost the name of a band they both like?) based off of what Lee would do. I'm almost always right. I wish that I could better explain this, but it's something that you really only notice when you know both people personally. Unfortunately, I'm the only person that knows both of them.
I wonder if there is another Dr. Wannabe out there. Maybe he goes by the name Dr. Want2B. You guys have to make sure to tells us about each other. Wait, none of you know me well enough to make that connection. Damn it!
When I say exactly alike I mean, mannerisms, interests, views, processes of thinking, tastes in everything. Everything is the same.
Generally, you can find people who will have a shared sense of humor, interests or affiliations. I on the other hand have found two people who are identical to each other.
Friend #1, we'll call Lee, because that's a nice stereotypical Asian affiliated name. Friend #2, we'll call Mike, cause that's a nice typical Caucasian name.
I've known Lee since high school. We're nothing alike but we get along surprisingly well. To get an idea of what he's like here are some of his interests: elitist underground indie rock, elitist (but not necessarily good) indie movies, vegetarianism, English/Philosophy major, music journalism, social liberalism, smart comedy (Arrested Development, 30 Rock, The Office). You get the picture.
Mike became my former roommate's new roommate when I left him last semester. It was about 30 minutes into meeting to him that I realized he's nothing but a Caucasian version of Lee. The first thing that gave it away was the fact he was talking about music artists that I had only heard of from Lee. I told Mike to check out Lee's Last.FM playlist and they both listen to the same exact music.
Okay, big deal they listen to the same music. If you're into one type of band, you're probably into most of the other ones in the same genre. We shall continue.
Lee started out as a computer science major, but quit because at his school it's part of the engineering school, which required him to take too many classes that had nothing to do with what he likes. He is now an English and Philosophy major. Mike is a computer science major, but is very into philosophy, especially existentialism, which is exactly what Lee is into. Mike is currently reading a book on World Religions, which is not required for a class.
Mike has gotten me to watch movies that Lee has been meaning to make me watch for a while.
Mike is a vegetarian. Lee has given up meat for the past few Lents and is now planning on giving it up for good, without knowing that Mike is a vegetarian.
They both have the same exact sarcastic humor that many don't appreciate, but I'm very keen to.
Both of them love to piss me off at any chance they get. And they do it in the same exact way. Mainly by taking anything I say and twisting it into something else, or proving me to be a hypocrite at any chance. (Oh wait, everyone does that.)
When I was food shopping with Mike he told me how he use to love New England Clam Chowder, but, alas, he can eat it no longer. The next day I'm on the phone with Lee telling him how I'm thinking about having NE Clam Chowder and he responds with, "Yeah, I'm going to miss that when I stop eating meat."
When I visited Lee while he studied in London I unknowingly met his twin Mike BECAUSE HE WAS STUDYING IN LONDON AT THE SAME TIME WITH OTHER FRIENDS OF MINE!!!!
Is this enough?!?!?!?
The two of them readily acknowledge the fact that they are the same person and plan on meeting over the summer. It's really really really weird. (REALLY!)
I haven't known Mike for very long but I seem to "get him" very quickly, which is saying something because he has some very... ummm... interesting idiosyncrasies. I chalk this up to being friends with Lee for so long. Being with Mike is exactly like being with Lee. I'm at the point where I predict what he's about to say/do/think (wait isn't that almost the name of a band they both like?) based off of what Lee would do. I'm almost always right. I wish that I could better explain this, but it's something that you really only notice when you know both people personally. Unfortunately, I'm the only person that knows both of them.
I wonder if there is another Dr. Wannabe out there. Maybe he goes by the name Dr. Want2B. You guys have to make sure to tells us about each other. Wait, none of you know me well enough to make that connection. Damn it!
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
I Called It
You know how I said that I wasn't going to be able to recognize my psychology group partners? Well one of them started a sheet for us to to write our names and e-mail addresses on so that we can begin to meet together and when I passed the sheet to the one guy I could definitely recognize I handed it past one of the other guys in the group before he had written his name on it. He was probably wondering what the fuck was the matter with me. It's okay though cause I recognize him sitting across from me in the SciBld. Comp. Lab. But only because I remember the coat he was wearing and book he was reading....
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sick of the Speculation
Today my friend sent me a CNN article about what may happen because of Global Warming and all of you will pay for it.
I'm sorry, but speculation is cheap. I want to see scientists do some research on proving that it is in fact greenhouse gases that cause Global Warming, instead of treating it like fact. I heard that in the 70's there was a scare that Global Cooling was occurring because they saw a dip in the average temperature for that decade. Well they saw that dip go away and now everyone believes in Global Warming.
All I see are studies after studies about what Global Warming may do, but nothing showing that it's due to us. Uggggggh. You know people, the Earth temperature has fluctuated by much more than a few degrees in the past, long before the car was invented and cows were farting. What do you think was doing it then??? What about that thing called the Ice Age? Human were around during that. How'd it happen? (Because humans killed the mastodons which were a major contributor of greenhouse gases. Duhhh.) How many times did you hear that Global Warming would increase the number of hurricanes. Well when the Atlantic had more than average the Pacific had less than average. The only reason people were making a big deal about them was because they kept hitting the Gulf Coast over and over again. PS - last hurricane season the Atlanic had like what... 3 storms reach hurricane status. Don't quote me on these numbers because they're not accurate, but the general idea is.
I'm not saying that a couple degrees change wouldn't be significant, and I'm not denying that it may be getting warmer. I'm calling into question what causes it. Generally in science before things are considered true predictions must be made and seen to occur according to the mechanism proposed. Well I haven't heard of any experiments done that show any accurate results. From what I can see there is way too little known about the complexities of the climate to make any accurate predictions about it. Hence why meteorologist only make 10-day forecasts and are still only right something on the lines of 60% of the time.
This post, as one of my friends would say, is nothing but "shambles." I'm aware that I made no arguments to disprove traditional global warming theories. That's because I honestly don't want to spend the time to do that right now. Maybe another time. I think if you go through my old posts though you'll find one that touches on some studies that suggests greenhouse gases aren't the cause of global warming.
I'm sorry, but speculation is cheap. I want to see scientists do some research on proving that it is in fact greenhouse gases that cause Global Warming, instead of treating it like fact. I heard that in the 70's there was a scare that Global Cooling was occurring because they saw a dip in the average temperature for that decade. Well they saw that dip go away and now everyone believes in Global Warming.
All I see are studies after studies about what Global Warming may do, but nothing showing that it's due to us. Uggggggh. You know people, the Earth temperature has fluctuated by much more than a few degrees in the past, long before the car was invented and cows were farting. What do you think was doing it then??? What about that thing called the Ice Age? Human were around during that. How'd it happen? (Because humans killed the mastodons which were a major contributor of greenhouse gases. Duhhh.) How many times did you hear that Global Warming would increase the number of hurricanes. Well when the Atlantic had more than average the Pacific had less than average. The only reason people were making a big deal about them was because they kept hitting the Gulf Coast over and over again. PS - last hurricane season the Atlanic had like what... 3 storms reach hurricane status. Don't quote me on these numbers because they're not accurate, but the general idea is.
I'm not saying that a couple degrees change wouldn't be significant, and I'm not denying that it may be getting warmer. I'm calling into question what causes it. Generally in science before things are considered true predictions must be made and seen to occur according to the mechanism proposed. Well I haven't heard of any experiments done that show any accurate results. From what I can see there is way too little known about the complexities of the climate to make any accurate predictions about it. Hence why meteorologist only make 10-day forecasts and are still only right something on the lines of 60% of the time.
This post, as one of my friends would say, is nothing but "shambles." I'm aware that I made no arguments to disprove traditional global warming theories. That's because I honestly don't want to spend the time to do that right now. Maybe another time. I think if you go through my old posts though you'll find one that touches on some studies that suggests greenhouse gases aren't the cause of global warming.
Facial Memory
This sucks. I have a terrible memory for faces, but I myself am very memorable. No, no, I'm not saying that to sound cocky. I'm 6'4'' and have a huge head with a prominent forehead. Actually, I look like Peyton Manning and have been told this since I was in 7th grade. Just he's 220lbs of muscle, and I'm 200lbs of anything but. Hmm, I guess if I hit the gym and put some weight on I have a better idea of what I would look like... ANYWAY...
So I'm in the Science Building Computer Lab and I'm printing something out and this girl moves around her screen so I can see her face, waves and says "Hi." I wave back and say hello, but I have zeroooo idea who she is. This happens all the time. I actually read an article about people with terrible memories for faces. It sucks. I'm totally "that guy" who everyone knows even if you haven't actually had a conversation with that person. Someone told me once when meeting them that they had seen me all over campus but never knew my name. I, on the other hand, didn't recognize him at all.
I don't even know if I could pick out three guys in my project group in my psychology class. One of them I definitely can. The other two I'm not so confident with. Hopefully we'll have to meet in groups again once more in class so we can setup a meeting outside of class. The same thing goes for my group in my abroad class. Two of the girls I would definitely recognize but the other two I'm not so sure about. And I'll be damned if I know any of these people's names.
Time to go back to studying. Got a 25 on an old MCAT today. Ehhh, not really what I want it to be, but I can't complain since I haven't actually studied outside of taking tests. And I had a ton of time left over for each section so maybe I would have scored higher if I spent that time going over it... :-/
So I'm in the Science Building Computer Lab and I'm printing something out and this girl moves around her screen so I can see her face, waves and says "Hi." I wave back and say hello, but I have zeroooo idea who she is. This happens all the time. I actually read an article about people with terrible memories for faces. It sucks. I'm totally "that guy" who everyone knows even if you haven't actually had a conversation with that person. Someone told me once when meeting them that they had seen me all over campus but never knew my name. I, on the other hand, didn't recognize him at all.
I don't even know if I could pick out three guys in my project group in my psychology class. One of them I definitely can. The other two I'm not so confident with. Hopefully we'll have to meet in groups again once more in class so we can setup a meeting outside of class. The same thing goes for my group in my abroad class. Two of the girls I would definitely recognize but the other two I'm not so sure about. And I'll be damned if I know any of these people's names.
Time to go back to studying. Got a 25 on an old MCAT today. Ehhh, not really what I want it to be, but I can't complain since I haven't actually studied outside of taking tests. And I had a ton of time left over for each section so maybe I would have scored higher if I spent that time going over it... :-/
Sunday, March 25, 2007
This Shit is BANANASSSS
Seriously, yall need to start watching Battlestar Galactica.
That was the most intense piece of TV I have ever watched in my life.
That was the most intense piece of TV I have ever watched in my life.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Not So Witty
A conversation that I thought was a lot funnier than the other person did:
Friend: She was telling me how when she was in Japan they were landing planes without wheels.
Dr W: Yeah, they're good at that. They've been doing it since WW2.
Well, I laughed...
Friend: She was telling me how when she was in Japan they were landing planes without wheels.
Dr W: Yeah, they're good at that. They've been doing it since WW2.
Well, I laughed...
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Wow
Yeah, so you know how I estimated my score on Test #3 to be a 27? Well, I actually got a 27 on Test #4, w00t! And now that I have some tests to get a good idea of what areas I'm weak in I know what to concentrate my studies on. Oh man if I start breaking 30's then I might do something crazy like apply to in-state MD schools. (I'm such a sellout as my friend tells me)
While I was in the library I noticed the person next to me studying from a USMLE and I asked him if he was a medical student, knowing damn well that he was. He had just finished his 2nd year at St. George's in Granada. He said that he liked it down there, but was doing all of his rotations locally. He didn't apply to any DO schools and says that he doesn't regret going to school abroad, but that he also knows that he's "one notch below DOs when applying to residency." He also was filling me in on how much work the first two years are. He said that biochem was rough and that I should probably take it, but at the same time he told me that the people who already took it only "kind of had a head start." Once again, I'm left in limbo on the situation. Still leaning towards no though.
Well, tomorrow starts three days of heavy drinking at night. It's going to be sweet. 5 of my friends and I are visiting a friend at his school and going to a bar for a Beer Pong Tourney. Then Friday is my friend's 21st and his family is supplying all the alcohol and food. It's going to be amazing because price is never a question with them. And then Saturday is St. Patrick's and I claim my birthright as a 100% IRISH 21 year old. SPRING BREAK!!!!!
While I was in the library I noticed the person next to me studying from a USMLE and I asked him if he was a medical student, knowing damn well that he was. He had just finished his 2nd year at St. George's in Granada. He said that he liked it down there, but was doing all of his rotations locally. He didn't apply to any DO schools and says that he doesn't regret going to school abroad, but that he also knows that he's "one notch below DOs when applying to residency." He also was filling me in on how much work the first two years are. He said that biochem was rough and that I should probably take it, but at the same time he told me that the people who already took it only "kind of had a head start." Once again, I'm left in limbo on the situation. Still leaning towards no though.
Well, tomorrow starts three days of heavy drinking at night. It's going to be sweet. 5 of my friends and I are visiting a friend at his school and going to a bar for a Beer Pong Tourney. Then Friday is my friend's 21st and his family is supplying all the alcohol and food. It's going to be amazing because price is never a question with them. And then Saturday is St. Patrick's and I claim my birthright as a 100% IRISH 21 year old. SPRING BREAK!!!!!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Fluke?
Well, my MCAT practice tests have been going pretty well so far. I got a 22 on my first practice test, a 25 on my second, and the third one was a little weird. When I was taking it somehow I wasn't given the verbal section so I got a zero there, but I got a 9 and 10 in physical science and biological science, respectively. And I got a 7 and 10 in verbal on test 1+2, so I'm scoring test three as a 27. Holy shit, could I be knocking on 30's door?!?!?!
Today I shall shower, eat, get a haircut, go to Jiffy Lube and take test 4. I'll update you on how I do. I have a feeling I'm going to go down back to around 23.
Today I shall shower, eat, get a haircut, go to Jiffy Lube and take test 4. I'll update you on how I do. I have a feeling I'm going to go down back to around 23.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
TV, never leave me
You know I started the day maybe a little stressed out because of housing issues again and midterms and scheduling and blah blah blah. But a good healthy dose of The Amazing Race and The Real World: Denver just gave me a smile from ear to ear. They were both just absolute hilarious shit shows that I couldn't help laughing constantly throughout. The Amazing Race is made up of dwarves, gay cubans, gay old people, straight old people, boston accents, blondes and male nipple piercings just running around Chile speaking English with Spanish accents thinking that people understand them. There is nothing in the world like it. And then The Real World is just a bunch of my drunk peers having alcohol induced heart-to-hearts. Oh, and p.s., they're all super horny. Especially the girl who keep flirting with her gay roommate, who has admitted that he's never been as turned on by a girl as her. Oh, and his boyfriend is visiting and they're always talking about three ways. It's just too funny.
Well I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow I have my Psych of Sleep midterm and then a Chem Lab lecture. Then I'm studying Organic all day. Life is good. And I'm not even being sarcastic. I think I'm tired-drunk, and high off this delllllllicious Tropicana Orange Juice. NOT FROM CONCENTRATE!!!!
Well I'm going to sleep. Tomorrow I have my Psych of Sleep midterm and then a Chem Lab lecture. Then I'm studying Organic all day. Life is good. And I'm not even being sarcastic. I think I'm tired-drunk, and high off this delllllllicious Tropicana Orange Juice. NOT FROM CONCENTRATE!!!!
Friday, March 02, 2007
What's worse than taking biochem?
The answer: Taking biochem twice.
So I spoke with my advisor today to see if he thought I should take biochem or not. He basically told me that if I'm a "chem person" to go for it. And he said he basically leaves it up to the student. He told me that he loved organic and biochem, which means I don't think I'm going to take it. It's not that I don't like organic, cause I kind of do. But I'm not the heavy details type of person that's required for chemistry, whereas he's the type of person that likes to memorize the S-values for different types of white blood cells.
Not heavy on details? That came out wrong. Do you need to be that kind of person to be a competent physician, cause you basically need to be in order to be a successful science major? I hope not. I like to think that clinical skills are separate from being able to understand the placement of substituents on aromatic benzene.
So I spoke with my advisor today to see if he thought I should take biochem or not. He basically told me that if I'm a "chem person" to go for it. And he said he basically leaves it up to the student. He told me that he loved organic and biochem, which means I don't think I'm going to take it. It's not that I don't like organic, cause I kind of do. But I'm not the heavy details type of person that's required for chemistry, whereas he's the type of person that likes to memorize the S-values for different types of white blood cells.
Not heavy on details? That came out wrong. Do you need to be that kind of person to be a competent physician, cause you basically need to be in order to be a successful science major? I hope not. I like to think that clinical skills are separate from being able to understand the placement of substituents on aromatic benzene.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
House 3.0
Oh Spring Break, you're so close. I'm in desperate need of you.
Everything has been going okay lately. I've come to terms with my grades and I no longer stress over them the same way. I'm just accepting my 3.0GPA (Out of 4.0) as an inseparable part of me.
I read a short article over at www.studentdoctornetwork.net that gave some tips with how to handle a lower than average GPA. It basically said to be proactive and not try to avoid it when applying to medschools and interviewing. I was glad to hear that because I did directly address it in my autobiography and was careful not to make it seem like too negative of a point. I also showed that I did have a plan for how to solve the problem once entering medical school, which was another thing stressed in the article. Horrah Problem Based Learning-pathways!
I've also started the process of scheduling my classes for next semester. Originally I was going to have a really easy semester with Fridays off, but people are starting to talk me into taking Biochemistry. I don't know how good of an idea this is considering I have a C+ average in Organic Chem, but from what I've heard it's basically becoming a pre-req for medical schools and if you don't have a background in it then your first semester of medschool is particularly impossible.
If I take that then my cumulative transcript will include the following science/math classes:
General Bio I+II + Lab
General Chem I+II + Lab
Organic Chem I+II + Lab
Physics I+II + Lab
Biochemistry I
Microbiology + Lab
Immunology
Veratbrate Physiology + Lab (different from A+P)
Comparative Anatomy + Lab
Genetics + Lab
Animal Behavior
Science/Medicine/Ethics
Calculus I
Statistics
I'm hoping my courses at least look like a challenged myself. One day I'll post the grades next to those courses, but I'm still a little too self-conscious. I will share my latest practice MCAT score, although it's still not where it needs to be. 23. I'm content with it so far because the genius-guaranteed-to-get-into-medschool-friend got a 19 on that test. But we'll see how I do on the one she got 26 on. The school that I want to attend has an average of 24 and is PBL, so maybe my sob story will win them over because of my dedication to PBL.
Well I have to go back to finishing my Physics lab report. Thanks for the comments. It's nice to know that some people care.
Everything has been going okay lately. I've come to terms with my grades and I no longer stress over them the same way. I'm just accepting my 3.0GPA (Out of 4.0) as an inseparable part of me.
I read a short article over at www.studentdoctornetwork.net that gave some tips with how to handle a lower than average GPA. It basically said to be proactive and not try to avoid it when applying to medschools and interviewing. I was glad to hear that because I did directly address it in my autobiography and was careful not to make it seem like too negative of a point. I also showed that I did have a plan for how to solve the problem once entering medical school, which was another thing stressed in the article. Horrah Problem Based Learning-pathways!
I've also started the process of scheduling my classes for next semester. Originally I was going to have a really easy semester with Fridays off, but people are starting to talk me into taking Biochemistry. I don't know how good of an idea this is considering I have a C+ average in Organic Chem, but from what I've heard it's basically becoming a pre-req for medical schools and if you don't have a background in it then your first semester of medschool is particularly impossible.
If I take that then my cumulative transcript will include the following science/math classes:
General Bio I+II + Lab
General Chem I+II + Lab
Organic Chem I+II + Lab
Physics I+II + Lab
Biochemistry I
Microbiology + Lab
Immunology
Veratbrate Physiology + Lab (different from A+P)
Comparative Anatomy + Lab
Genetics + Lab
Animal Behavior
Science/Medicine/Ethics
Calculus I
Statistics
I'm hoping my courses at least look like a challenged myself. One day I'll post the grades next to those courses, but I'm still a little too self-conscious. I will share my latest practice MCAT score, although it's still not where it needs to be. 23. I'm content with it so far because the genius-guaranteed-to-get-into-medschool-friend got a 19 on that test. But we'll see how I do on the one she got 26 on. The school that I want to attend has an average of 24 and is PBL, so maybe my sob story will win them over because of my dedication to PBL.
Well I have to go back to finishing my Physics lab report. Thanks for the comments. It's nice to know that some people care.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Nightmare
Ever since I started college I've had a reoccurring nightmare, which is always at the top of the realistic dreams list.
I'm back in high school and in my senior year. Standing at the bus I'm extremely nervous because it's my first day back in many months. I hadn't been in school for a while because of a sickness and I was home schooled for that period. The bus arrives and I step through the narrow doorway. While on the bus I'm trying to remember all the thing that I need to do in order to be ready for school. Books, blazer, tie... Oh shit, I forgot my tie and blazer. I'm totally out of rhythm for getting ready for school.
Awesome, my bus is late. My home room teacher won't care that it's not my fault. They never give a shit what the reason is. You were suppose to be in homeroom at 8:10AM, and that's that.
Now I'm scrambling around the hallways desperate to find someone that I can borrow a jacket and tie from. Well, maybe I have one in my locker. I get to my locker... Oh fuckers. It's been 6 months and I have no idea what my locker combo is. I guess I'll have to go to the devil incarnate. I mean, the head of student affairs. He has a book of locker combos. I hope homeroom doesn't end soon.
I find Br. Damien and he tells me my locker combo, of course not without grilling me about my not being in homeroom. I start power walking back to my locker while praying to God that I have a tie and jacket in it. 31 right, 11 left, 36 right.... No jacket or tie. Cool deal. **RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING** Mother fuckers homeroom had ended and I have 3 minutes to get a jacket, tie and get to class. I start asking everyone passing me on their way to class for a jacket or tie. Finally I find a jacket too small of me and a tie that's too long. Okay time to get to class. Wait a second... What class is that?
Uggggggggh. I never received my schedule in homeroom and now I don't know where to go. Maybe the main office will be able to print one out for me. I rush over to the main office and ask for a copy of my schedule. They look at me like I'm crazy but do it anyway. I find out that I'm suppose to be in Pre-Calc for 1st period on "A" days. I really hope this is an "A" day.
I walk into the class and somehow manage to slide into my desk undetected by the teacher. It doesn't even matter though cause I've undoubtedly been marked absent and will have to go meet Br. Damien again and receive detention. Hmmm, why is the teacher attempting to teach Earth Science, and failing at doing so... I ask the person next to me what "day" it is and he tells me that it's a "C." Why, why, why, why, why... WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!!!!!! I pull the crumpled schedule from my bag to see what freaking class I'm suppose to be in. Phys. Ed. You've got to be kidding me. I have no sneakers, shorts, tee shirt and obviously no support strap, which are required for unknown reasons. They tell us that we have to wear it in case we get hit in the nuts, but lets be honest, it going to kill no matter what.
I leave the class and get on my way to gym...
The dream fades out with the impression that all of this happens again and again over the next couple of days.
I'm freaking out that I'm not going to pass my classes and I'm not going to graduate. I'm going to have to spend another year of torture at this place. Why didn't I just go to the public high school. Ugh, I'm waking up now I have to go to school. This sucks I just want to graduate. Wait, where am I? This isn't my room at home. I'm in college? If I'm in college then I graduated high school... OMG I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL!!!!! IT REALLY IS ALL OVER!!!! THANK GODDDD
I'm back in high school and in my senior year. Standing at the bus I'm extremely nervous because it's my first day back in many months. I hadn't been in school for a while because of a sickness and I was home schooled for that period. The bus arrives and I step through the narrow doorway. While on the bus I'm trying to remember all the thing that I need to do in order to be ready for school. Books, blazer, tie... Oh shit, I forgot my tie and blazer. I'm totally out of rhythm for getting ready for school.
Awesome, my bus is late. My home room teacher won't care that it's not my fault. They never give a shit what the reason is. You were suppose to be in homeroom at 8:10AM, and that's that.
Now I'm scrambling around the hallways desperate to find someone that I can borrow a jacket and tie from. Well, maybe I have one in my locker. I get to my locker... Oh fuckers. It's been 6 months and I have no idea what my locker combo is. I guess I'll have to go to the devil incarnate. I mean, the head of student affairs. He has a book of locker combos. I hope homeroom doesn't end soon.
I find Br. Damien and he tells me my locker combo, of course not without grilling me about my not being in homeroom. I start power walking back to my locker while praying to God that I have a tie and jacket in it. 31 right, 11 left, 36 right.... No jacket or tie. Cool deal. **RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING** Mother fuckers homeroom had ended and I have 3 minutes to get a jacket, tie and get to class. I start asking everyone passing me on their way to class for a jacket or tie. Finally I find a jacket too small of me and a tie that's too long. Okay time to get to class. Wait a second... What class is that?
Uggggggggh. I never received my schedule in homeroom and now I don't know where to go. Maybe the main office will be able to print one out for me. I rush over to the main office and ask for a copy of my schedule. They look at me like I'm crazy but do it anyway. I find out that I'm suppose to be in Pre-Calc for 1st period on "A" days. I really hope this is an "A" day.
I walk into the class and somehow manage to slide into my desk undetected by the teacher. It doesn't even matter though cause I've undoubtedly been marked absent and will have to go meet Br. Damien again and receive detention. Hmmm, why is the teacher attempting to teach Earth Science, and failing at doing so... I ask the person next to me what "day" it is and he tells me that it's a "C." Why, why, why, why, why... WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME!!!!!! I pull the crumpled schedule from my bag to see what freaking class I'm suppose to be in. Phys. Ed. You've got to be kidding me. I have no sneakers, shorts, tee shirt and obviously no support strap, which are required for unknown reasons. They tell us that we have to wear it in case we get hit in the nuts, but lets be honest, it going to kill no matter what.
I leave the class and get on my way to gym...
The dream fades out with the impression that all of this happens again and again over the next couple of days.
I'm freaking out that I'm not going to pass my classes and I'm not going to graduate. I'm going to have to spend another year of torture at this place. Why didn't I just go to the public high school. Ugh, I'm waking up now I have to go to school. This sucks I just want to graduate. Wait, where am I? This isn't my room at home. I'm in college? If I'm in college then I graduated high school... OMG I GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL!!!!! IT REALLY IS ALL OVER!!!! THANK GODDDD
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