So last night I was using the internet to learn, yet again, and I came across this amazing site about amino acids, any science/literature nerd will agree that their lives are now complete:
Amino Acid Tales
And now for something a little less awesome and much more awkward. The following video clip is how one of our anatomy professors tried to teach us about systole and diastole...
...it was a sad day.
Back to studying for tomorrow!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
It never ends...
...it just keeps coming and coming. Last Friday was Antillean Day so we had the day off, which in med school doesn't necessarily mean a day off, it's just another that can be spent studying and I'll give you one guess who did that. There were a bunch of parties going down on Thursday but I decided to stay in and just get some me time in, watched Volver and got some good sleep. The next day we went "hiking" on Pic Paradis, we left at 9:30am to avoid midday heat but that was difficult because the French side was packed since they apparently don't observe the day. So the drive there was fun and we didn't really know where to go (what else is new). We kept driving up until the path become dirt and rocks, where the Green Machine would not have been too happy to climb.
So anyway we are getting ready for this huge hike up the hill and it is already very humid. On the plus side for some reason there was a huge concentration of butterflies up there, which made it seem like we were on the set of some fairy movie. So we are climbing up and few minutes later we come to a view point which is BEAUTIFUL. Not only were there shadows from clouds on the hills but we could see the Caribbean Sea and pretty much the whole Dutch side of the island, along with neighboring islands (I believe two were St. Barts and Saba). We could see the school and the lagoon and the two major cities of the island, Phillipsburg and Marigot. The view was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I could study up there because it was so serene.
Now for the good part...so on the way down we met an American couple that was on their way up. They told us that some cars had been broken into and the lady that lived by where we parked had called the police. We met the French police on the way up, and they didn't speak a lick of English and closest we had was Spanish. So after a bit of confusion we learned that they were asking if we saw "a little black man." We had not and they told us not to touch the car because they wanted to get fingerprints. However we did not leave anything in the car and even left the doors unlocked incase of something like this. Either way they let us go after checking everything out and we went on our merry way, although this did give us a taste of what people had warned us about.
To be continued....after the anatomy review....maybe....
So anyway we are getting ready for this huge hike up the hill and it is already very humid. On the plus side for some reason there was a huge concentration of butterflies up there, which made it seem like we were on the set of some fairy movie. So we are climbing up and few minutes later we come to a view point which is BEAUTIFUL. Not only were there shadows from clouds on the hills but we could see the Caribbean Sea and pretty much the whole Dutch side of the island, along with neighboring islands (I believe two were St. Barts and Saba). We could see the school and the lagoon and the two major cities of the island, Phillipsburg and Marigot. The view was absolutely gorgeous and I wish I could study up there because it was so serene.
Now for the good part...so on the way down we met an American couple that was on their way up. They told us that some cars had been broken into and the lady that lived by where we parked had called the police. We met the French police on the way up, and they didn't speak a lick of English and closest we had was Spanish. So after a bit of confusion we learned that they were asking if we saw "a little black man." We had not and they told us not to touch the car because they wanted to get fingerprints. However we did not leave anything in the car and even left the doors unlocked incase of something like this. Either way they let us go after checking everything out and we went on our merry way, although this did give us a taste of what people had warned us about.
To be continued....after the anatomy review....maybe....
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Post Block 2
This is what Indian medical students do after AUC block exams:
The crew went out to Orient Bay Beach after the exams and we hung out there for a few hours just relaxing. Ms. Georgia and the Patel went parasailing; Roommate, The White Guy, and RT jetskiied; and Loud-mouth and I (surprised to see Loud-mouth didn't refer to me?...so am I) wanted to try the water trampoline but they brought it back as we were about to go. The video clip above is me and RT doing a Kaho Na Pyar Hai dance, to follow the Hrithik headshot. As you can tell we had a blast and it definitely helped us de-stress.
In the evening a bunch of us went out to Lady C, a pretty cool boat-shaped bar that goes into the lagoon. We were the first few people there and started out by celebrating South Dakota's and Ms. Georgia's birthdays with Duck Fart shots (Bailey's, Kahlua, and Crown Royal...don't knock it before you've tried...it's simply the best drink you'll ever have). We got a few rounds and met some wealthy people who owned a nice boat and made friends with them. It was pretty dead there so we decided to meet our other classmates who were probably at Sunset Beach Bar, sure enough it was pretty much an AUC party. The night was awesome and consisted of dancing, sweating, and more dancing. Oh also we beer bonged before going out, which was definitely an experience (drinking a whole beer within a few seconds). All in all it was a great way to celebrate!
The crew went out to Orient Bay Beach after the exams and we hung out there for a few hours just relaxing. Ms. Georgia and the Patel went parasailing; Roommate, The White Guy, and RT jetskiied; and Loud-mouth and I (surprised to see Loud-mouth didn't refer to me?...so am I) wanted to try the water trampoline but they brought it back as we were about to go. The video clip above is me and RT doing a Kaho Na Pyar Hai dance, to follow the Hrithik headshot. As you can tell we had a blast and it definitely helped us de-stress.
In the evening a bunch of us went out to Lady C, a pretty cool boat-shaped bar that goes into the lagoon. We were the first few people there and started out by celebrating South Dakota's and Ms. Georgia's birthdays with Duck Fart shots (Bailey's, Kahlua, and Crown Royal...don't knock it before you've tried...it's simply the best drink you'll ever have). We got a few rounds and met some wealthy people who owned a nice boat and made friends with them. It was pretty dead there so we decided to meet our other classmates who were probably at Sunset Beach Bar, sure enough it was pretty much an AUC party. The night was awesome and consisted of dancing, sweating, and more dancing. Oh also we beer bonged before going out, which was definitely an experience (drinking a whole beer within a few seconds). All in all it was a great way to celebrate!
The second round...
So we had our second block exams this past Monday. Upper semester students and professors claimed that this was the hardest block, mostly due to covering Head and Neck in Anatomy since there are a million things to learn and memorize. The whole block was quite amazing even if there was a lot to cover, most of the material was interesting at the very least. Most of the Anatomy was just understanding innervation of the head and neck and how vastly complicated it is, and tying the Embryology aspect into really helped understand why the order of organization is so chaotic. The Molecular and Cell Biology was purely memorization since there is not much logic to the rules of replication, transcription, and translation of genetic material, regardless it just somehow makes sense to me (either the Cell Biology course I took sophomore year at BU was that incredible or my memory is better than I thought). The Histology lectures were haphazard at the very least but Dr. Gilloteaux is amazing, if not just through his accomplishments, then definitely through is ability to teach material he is so passionate about.
I studied a lot through out the block, although I could have paid more attention to Histology, and I did much better than I thought I would after the exams. I vastly improved from the first block overall but I stayed fairly stagnant in the written portion of the Anatomy exam. I think that was partially due to the professors stressing certain material in the lectures and testing on much of the information that was barely touched. In all honesty I can't be too upset because we had the notes and all the information was in the lecture notes. Either way I think I have figured out a better way to study for Anatomy and will implement it this round to see if that works better (and hopefully not worst).
And now a little bit about dissecting:
The dissecting has been awesome! We got to do a butterfly flap through the skin, which is cutting medially and having double door type flaps to either side along with a lateral cut from left to right to separate an upper and lower portion. We were instructed to leave the fat on...only to later find out that the reason for that was to get experience cleaning it off the muscle layers. Although it was time consuming we had ~12 people in group so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Then yesterday after we finished cleaning up we dissected and reflected the pectoral muscles and unfortunately the group members dissecting around there cut into the subclavian veins. We were able to find and dissect around a lateral nerve on one side, only to find out that the TAs would chomp through our beautiful work with power tools and rib cutters to open up the thoracic cavity. Of course lab had ended when they finished that but we did get a sneak peek at the organs in the thorax, which was amazing. The last two days have been great because we have been able to learn how to use all our tools and have gotten a million tips from TAs and professors, which have their ups and downs, but I think starting around the thorax was nice since the structures are very large and easier to dissect before going into the micro structures in the head and neck regions.
Just an aside I will be trying to do some more photography and will hopefully post more pictures soon...thanks for tuning in!
I studied a lot through out the block, although I could have paid more attention to Histology, and I did much better than I thought I would after the exams. I vastly improved from the first block overall but I stayed fairly stagnant in the written portion of the Anatomy exam. I think that was partially due to the professors stressing certain material in the lectures and testing on much of the information that was barely touched. In all honesty I can't be too upset because we had the notes and all the information was in the lecture notes. Either way I think I have figured out a better way to study for Anatomy and will implement it this round to see if that works better (and hopefully not worst).
And now a little bit about dissecting:
The dissecting has been awesome! We got to do a butterfly flap through the skin, which is cutting medially and having double door type flaps to either side along with a lateral cut from left to right to separate an upper and lower portion. We were instructed to leave the fat on...only to later find out that the reason for that was to get experience cleaning it off the muscle layers. Although it was time consuming we had ~12 people in group so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Then yesterday after we finished cleaning up we dissected and reflected the pectoral muscles and unfortunately the group members dissecting around there cut into the subclavian veins. We were able to find and dissect around a lateral nerve on one side, only to find out that the TAs would chomp through our beautiful work with power tools and rib cutters to open up the thoracic cavity. Of course lab had ended when they finished that but we did get a sneak peek at the organs in the thorax, which was amazing. The last two days have been great because we have been able to learn how to use all our tools and have gotten a million tips from TAs and professors, which have their ups and downs, but I think starting around the thorax was nice since the structures are very large and easier to dissect before going into the micro structures in the head and neck regions.
Just an aside I will be trying to do some more photography and will hopefully post more pictures soon...thanks for tuning in!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
About time...
I am finally getting a chance to write some more not due to being busy (rest assured that I am) but actually because the internet has been VERY unstable.
We got our first block exam results back on the 18th and in the morning I got my Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) score back which I was thrilled about. [I'll refrain from publishing actual numbers since people get really antsy about them.] So I was having a good morning up until we got our Anatomy and Histology scores back. I passed both written and practical but I was really anticipating higher scores than I actually had. But after going over the exams I realized what happened, there were only two or three questions that I had no idea about but the rest were either tricky questions or mainly dumb mistakes (doubting my gut instinct/running out of time on the practical). I should definitely do much better this block since I am not sick (and will hopefully remain that way) and since I know the style a bit better it should be easier. But then again we have different professors for this block so the questions will be different.
Also there is A LOT of more material to cover this block, mainly in Anatomy and Histology. We are covering cranial nerves and doing head and neck which has a ton of detail that we have to know. And in Histology we have the correct professor, who is actually quite eccentric and excited about the subject, which definitely helps but then again he covers so much material in one lecture that it hurts my brain. So I don't know how they will pose the questions and such but we'll find out...
Either way besides the boring stuff here are some more pretty pictures from the island:
The following is a nice little panoramic of Mullet Bay Beach after the our first set of blocks:
This one is sunrise after a night of rainy weather, shot from my balcony:
We got our first block exam results back on the 18th and in the morning I got my Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) score back which I was thrilled about. [I'll refrain from publishing actual numbers since people get really antsy about them.] So I was having a good morning up until we got our Anatomy and Histology scores back. I passed both written and practical but I was really anticipating higher scores than I actually had. But after going over the exams I realized what happened, there were only two or three questions that I had no idea about but the rest were either tricky questions or mainly dumb mistakes (doubting my gut instinct/running out of time on the practical). I should definitely do much better this block since I am not sick (and will hopefully remain that way) and since I know the style a bit better it should be easier. But then again we have different professors for this block so the questions will be different.
Also there is A LOT of more material to cover this block, mainly in Anatomy and Histology. We are covering cranial nerves and doing head and neck which has a ton of detail that we have to know. And in Histology we have the correct professor, who is actually quite eccentric and excited about the subject, which definitely helps but then again he covers so much material in one lecture that it hurts my brain. So I don't know how they will pose the questions and such but we'll find out...
Either way besides the boring stuff here are some more pretty pictures from the island:
The following is a nice little panoramic of Mullet Bay Beach after the our first set of blocks:
This one is sunrise after a night of rainy weather, shot from my balcony:
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Another day in paradise...
That shot was taken off my balcony at around 6am. You may ask what I was doing up so early, in fact I was up around 5am. Again you may ask why? I actually went to bed around 7pm yesterday because I had a headache and felt slightly febrile and I did not wake up till around 5am. I actually felt worst than the night before but my headache was gone, which was a definite improvement because I cannot deal with having a headache. Joint pain, fever, nasal clogging, and even chills I can deal with but headaches really mess me up.
Either way we actually had internet access in the morning so I decided to look up symptoms for Dengue Fever, since they mentioned it is prevalent on the island during orientation, yes I know it was a smooth move on the part of administration. Either way I did the stupidest thing a young doctor in training could do, I self-diagnosed myself. I checked out some WebMD and Wikipedia entries about Dengue and learned that there are two types, Dengue Fever and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever. The later is the really bad one, if you couldn't tell from the name, it involves bleeding from orifices and usually lays people out for a good week and has a 1-2% fatality rate if Dengue Shock Syndrome occurs. I checked said orifices and I came up clean. The virus is passed through mosquitoes that bite during the day, in contrast to malarial mosquitoes which bite at night. Since we have all gotten bitten up by a ton of mosquitoes I was starting to get scared. That and I was exhibiting the classic symptom of biphasic fever.
So after the mistake of self-diagnosis (kind of like how most of us thought we had serious psychological issues when taking personality psych classes) and the initial scare, thanks to the internet, I went to go workout and do the cross training portion of my marathon training schedule.
And of course what do I see as soon as I step out the door...yes a mosquito...and let's just say it's in a better place now (either that or scraped along the corner of the wall).
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Crazy news update...
It was around 9pm when I 'skyping' with my cousin Raj. We were just catching up on what's been happening and all that good stuff. Then he asked me if I had been running and I told him I am getting into a 3 day running and 2 day work out regiment, followed by a long run on the weekends (which I missed this weekend). Anyways I told him I had been running 3 miles before class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. And then we go to talking about the NYC Marathon.
Just to fill everyone in:
Raj ran the NYC Marathon last year and I have been running long runs with him since last summer, since he got me motivated to do so. So after liking the idea of running for extended distances/periods of time for no reason I decided that I would enter to run the marathon with him this year. He recruited 5 others to at least enter the lottery, no one made it, I think most of them were relieved. Feeling a little dejected we all moved on. Then about a month and a half ago one of Raj's acquaintances mentioned that he has some connections and that he might be able to get me in, we took it with a grain of salt but decided to give it a shot.
Lo and behold he checked the entrant database while we were 'skyping' and I was a confirmed entrant!! Excited? DUH! Scared even more? YES!! We couldn't believe it, first that the guy was able to pull through, and then the fact that I had just signed myself up to run 26.2 miles in NY.
Some of you maybe asking yourselves, "How are you going to do this when you are on St. Maarten?" Well I will be flying back for three days, leaving Friday midday (November 2nd at 3:30pm) and getting back Monday (November 5th at 3pm). The race is on Sunday, and I do have class Monday but I guess I'll unfortunately be missing class, to take advantage of this opportunity (if you can call it that, although I think some of you may disagree).
The good thing is I have that following Friday off so I can catch up if need be, and it is actually around the best time possible because I will have had a block exam the week before the race.
I don't really know how I feel right now, a bit of everything I guess, but more excited than anything else. I mean running a marathon is the culmination of a runner's dream. (And yes I do consider myself a runner, and probably even more so after I run the marathon)
Well the spaghetti is almost done and I am starved!
Just to fill everyone in:
Raj ran the NYC Marathon last year and I have been running long runs with him since last summer, since he got me motivated to do so. So after liking the idea of running for extended distances/periods of time for no reason I decided that I would enter to run the marathon with him this year. He recruited 5 others to at least enter the lottery, no one made it, I think most of them were relieved. Feeling a little dejected we all moved on. Then about a month and a half ago one of Raj's acquaintances mentioned that he has some connections and that he might be able to get me in, we took it with a grain of salt but decided to give it a shot.
Lo and behold he checked the entrant database while we were 'skyping' and I was a confirmed entrant!! Excited? DUH! Scared even more? YES!! We couldn't believe it, first that the guy was able to pull through, and then the fact that I had just signed myself up to run 26.2 miles in NY.
Some of you maybe asking yourselves, "How are you going to do this when you are on St. Maarten?" Well I will be flying back for three days, leaving Friday midday (November 2nd at 3:30pm) and getting back Monday (November 5th at 3pm). The race is on Sunday, and I do have class Monday but I guess I'll unfortunately be missing class, to take advantage of this opportunity (if you can call it that, although I think some of you may disagree).
The good thing is I have that following Friday off so I can catch up if need be, and it is actually around the best time possible because I will have had a block exam the week before the race.
I don't really know how I feel right now, a bit of everything I guess, but more excited than anything else. I mean running a marathon is the culmination of a runner's dream. (And yes I do consider myself a runner, and probably even more so after I run the marathon)
Well the spaghetti is almost done and I am starved!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
School + Island Life
So it seems the school wants to take it easy on us and ween us into the hell that is to come...from what everyone makes it out to be. Either way Anatomy has been pretty good...lots of vocabulary and bones/muscles/ligaments/vasculature to learn along with Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) in which we have only covered genetics so far. It has been manageable but time consuming and I am starting worry about the upcoming weeks when we add Histology and Embryology to the mix. But till then I guess I'll keep working on managing my time with what I have now and get a routine down.
So far my day is usually a variant of the following:
-Wake up by 7am, if not earlier to get in a quick run, then a cold shower (since hot water is a commodity) and breakfast before the 8am MCB class
-MCB runs from 8-9:30am
-Anatomy runs from 9:30-10:30am
-[usually Histology runs from 10:30-11:30am, but we haven't had it this week]
-Class is followed by lunch and a siesta
-Then we have Anatomy lab from 2-4pm
-Then usually reading/studying/making flash cards with multiple breaks for dinner, the occasional basketball game, or Family Guy/Scrubs
-Sometimes there is a meeting or random event that we attend (they lure us into those with free pizza and drinks)
-Then get to bed by midnight
Besides all that boringness check out these shots from the beach last weekend with "The Crew:"
Da Beach
The Crew
THE Great Wall
King of the Castle
Till next time...
So far my day is usually a variant of the following:
-Wake up by 7am, if not earlier to get in a quick run, then a cold shower (since hot water is a commodity) and breakfast before the 8am MCB class
-MCB runs from 8-9:30am
-Anatomy runs from 9:30-10:30am
-[usually Histology runs from 10:30-11:30am, but we haven't had it this week]
-Class is followed by lunch and a siesta
-Then we have Anatomy lab from 2-4pm
-Then usually reading/studying/making flash cards with multiple breaks for dinner, the occasional basketball game, or Family Guy/Scrubs
-Sometimes there is a meeting or random event that we attend (they lure us into those with free pizza and drinks)
-Then get to bed by midnight
Besides all that boringness check out these shots from the beach last weekend with "The Crew:"
Da Beach
The Crew
THE Great Wall
King of the CastleTill next time...
Monday, August 27, 2007
I'm on the island...
So just to start off, this is probably how frequently you can expect updates to this blog. I will try my damnedest to throw up some cool updates but no promises.
So I got here without any major malfunctions:
-Flight: no major delays (actually got to SXM on expected time)
-To campus: grabbed a cab for $10 and the guy was nice enough
-Apartment: AUC guard at the gate did his job, got me to the apartment and so far so good.
First impressions:
-So the island is a bit more run down than I expected (guess I was comparing it to Puerto Rico). I really had no idea what I was getting into since this is my first visit to St. Maarten ever. But from all the TV ads and hype I thought it would be more touristy and resort-y but maybe that's just my chunk of the island that's like that (yes MY chunk...I own this place for the next two years!).
-Locals seem fairly laid back and nice so far, but then again I usually don't have a problem being in foreign places and having traveled throughout India have met my fair share of weirdos.
-The apartment is nice (no Student Village by any means [ref. to BU friends]) but I have my own room and bathroom, the place is decently furnished, we lucked out and got a balcony, we are on the second floor close to the elevator and stairs, and the place is fully air-conditioned!
Also met some other first years today and we went out for Thai at the Atlantis Casino (which is literally 500 ft. from the school). NICE!
The following are just some quick pictures of the place, enjoy!
Kitchen:
So I got here without any major malfunctions:
-Flight: no major delays (actually got to SXM on expected time)
-To campus: grabbed a cab for $10 and the guy was nice enough
-Apartment: AUC guard at the gate did his job, got me to the apartment and so far so good.
First impressions:
-So the island is a bit more run down than I expected (guess I was comparing it to Puerto Rico). I really had no idea what I was getting into since this is my first visit to St. Maarten ever. But from all the TV ads and hype I thought it would be more touristy and resort-y but maybe that's just my chunk of the island that's like that (yes MY chunk...I own this place for the next two years!).
-Locals seem fairly laid back and nice so far, but then again I usually don't have a problem being in foreign places and having traveled throughout India have met my fair share of weirdos.
-The apartment is nice (no Student Village by any means [ref. to BU friends]) but I have my own room and bathroom, the place is decently furnished, we lucked out and got a balcony, we are on the second floor close to the elevator and stairs, and the place is fully air-conditioned!
Also met some other first years today and we went out for Thai at the Atlantis Casino (which is literally 500 ft. from the school). NICE!
The following are just some quick pictures of the place, enjoy!
Kitchen:
Balcony:
Bathroom:
Bedroom:
Bathroom:
Bedroom:
Thursday, August 2, 2007
The Transition
For all intents and purposes the paperwork is all done (minus the stuff I forgot to sign...doh!).
But now I get to deal with the fun of getting my brand new MacBook Pro replaced since the right speaker blew out after about 3 weeks...nice! As you can hopefully tell I'm not too elated with Apple products at the moment since I had to go above and beyond to get the damn thing in the first place and now I get this!
On the bright side my cousin sent me for a Tarot/Reiki session and I got some awesome predictions from her. Apparently I will be more than just a doctor, since I have the soul of a healer; as a result I will become a kick ass healer. I will have a very easy life in every which way and will eventually settle in Europe because of my refined tastes (I really like that one....hehe refined). During the Reiki session the spirits asked to work on my "healing hands" and apparently I have a very giving and open heart, more so than "normal people," which was overwhelming. Although I am as skeptical as I am intrigued by all of the spiritual and mystical Asian philosophies I must admit I came out of the session VERY relaxed, light-hearted, and oddly peaceful. Maybe it was my subconscious fooling me because I would like to believe Eastern philosophies but they are just so based on having blind faith in many matters that the scientist in me just can not accept it.
Either way my last day of work at the Sleep Lab was last Friday (7/27/07) and that really couldn't have come at a better time because the job was really starting to get at me, which had not happened to me yet. I'm glad to have gotten out of the crazy shifts and hours but I do miss my co-workers and all the fun we've had over the last 9 months.
Been in NYC celebrating my sister's 21st birthday and will be attending the Landmark Forum, which is a controversial self-help program designed to help you look into why you do the things you do. Now anyone that knows me knows that I would NEVER sign for such public sharing of my life with STRANGERS. But my cousin assured me that it would really be beneficial for me before I start my medical education/career, he also paid for the 4 day program and "forced" me to go. Although I do trust his opinions without question this tested my familial respect/obedience that I have oh so acquired from my cultural upbringing.
I am now officially tired of having a hot laptop on my lap and have pretty much run out of things to write about...I will hopefully be better about updating this blog with pretty pictures or video clips and fun stories when I get down to St. Maarten.
But before I sign off this time I must send much love to EVERYONE that I know for all the support, well wishes, sweet words, material offerings, supplies, and over all LOVE that you all have given me these past few months and weeks. Much love to you all, you really do NOT understand how much you mean to me. I will refrain from mentioning names to avoid forgetting someone and having them feel bad but you all know who you are.
Till next time take care of yourselves and THANK YOU!
But now I get to deal with the fun of getting my brand new MacBook Pro replaced since the right speaker blew out after about 3 weeks...nice! As you can hopefully tell I'm not too elated with Apple products at the moment since I had to go above and beyond to get the damn thing in the first place and now I get this!
On the bright side my cousin sent me for a Tarot/Reiki session and I got some awesome predictions from her. Apparently I will be more than just a doctor, since I have the soul of a healer; as a result I will become a kick ass healer. I will have a very easy life in every which way and will eventually settle in Europe because of my refined tastes (I really like that one....hehe refined). During the Reiki session the spirits asked to work on my "healing hands" and apparently I have a very giving and open heart, more so than "normal people," which was overwhelming. Although I am as skeptical as I am intrigued by all of the spiritual and mystical Asian philosophies I must admit I came out of the session VERY relaxed, light-hearted, and oddly peaceful. Maybe it was my subconscious fooling me because I would like to believe Eastern philosophies but they are just so based on having blind faith in many matters that the scientist in me just can not accept it.
Either way my last day of work at the Sleep Lab was last Friday (7/27/07) and that really couldn't have come at a better time because the job was really starting to get at me, which had not happened to me yet. I'm glad to have gotten out of the crazy shifts and hours but I do miss my co-workers and all the fun we've had over the last 9 months.
Been in NYC celebrating my sister's 21st birthday and will be attending the Landmark Forum, which is a controversial self-help program designed to help you look into why you do the things you do. Now anyone that knows me knows that I would NEVER sign for such public sharing of my life with STRANGERS. But my cousin assured me that it would really be beneficial for me before I start my medical education/career, he also paid for the 4 day program and "forced" me to go. Although I do trust his opinions without question this tested my familial respect/obedience that I have oh so acquired from my cultural upbringing.
I am now officially tired of having a hot laptop on my lap and have pretty much run out of things to write about...I will hopefully be better about updating this blog with pretty pictures or video clips and fun stories when I get down to St. Maarten.
But before I sign off this time I must send much love to EVERYONE that I know for all the support, well wishes, sweet words, material offerings, supplies, and over all LOVE that you all have given me these past few months and weeks. Much love to you all, you really do NOT understand how much you mean to me. I will refrain from mentioning names to avoid forgetting someone and having them feel bad but you all know who you are.
Till next time take care of yourselves and THANK YOU!
Thursday, June 28, 2007
And now the paperwork
Now I am busy getting in all the paperwork for all the different entities at the school:
So there are a million (ok more like 5) documents that needed to be filled out for financial aid. I call the financial aid office yesterday and finally get someone on the line at x1023, who turned out to be quite helpful. I asked the man if he could make any suggestions on which company I should choose for private loans and he said he was not allowed to do so but that he could give me information about the individual companies. Long story short he "informed" me that the Student Health Express loans or GRADplus loans would be best. (I ended up sticking with GRADplus since they were federally affiliated, although I may have been able to get a decent but variable interest rate due to me superior credit)
Then after figuring all that out I went to go make copies of all the Master Promissary Notes (MPN's a.k.a. legal documents by loan companies that state they can take your first born if you don't pay them and will charge you random fees whenever they please) and other paperwork. I decided to go out and trek to the lab in the 98 degree whether because I didn't feel like paying Kinko's $12 for all the copies that I needed to make. Why was I making copies of EVERYTHING you may ask? Because my father has made me a paranoid person, and also because I can't have any more problems along the way since I have very limited time to get everything in order to make sure I can start this fall.
Got that done sometime around 6pm, of course it took me longer than it should since I did the obligatory crapping around the lab and talking to everyone that was around. Before I left I wanted to print out my Student Aid Report (SAR) for the FAFSA (you can figure that acronym out) and came to the realization that I never filed my own FAFSA, just my sisters. Sweet! Now I get to file that for myself before Saturday, even sweeter!
So now I am kicking myself for not remembering, but hey at least it isn't July 1st, otherwise no Stafford for me. Either way I need to get all that in before July 13 otherwise I have to come up with ~$20000 for the fall semester (wonder how much I could get for my soul on eBay...)
Housing:
I called the housing office with a few questions and have heard that they are very helpful and such...WRONG! The lady couldn't answer any of my questions but instead just told me to get my housing request form in, which makes me eligible to get on campus housing but I wouldn't find out if I actually did until 2 weeks before classes start(...welcome to paradise I guess...tents on the beach anyone?) Either way I got an email later yesterday from my Orientation Advisor (OA) about housing on the island that didn't really comfort me but at least it was honest and kept it real. Apparently she's a BU alum and hopefully will be able to help me figure out the housing situation and provide me with estimates and allay some fears of evil landlords. I feel this saga will continue for sometime...stayed tuned for more about this...
Temporary Residence:
Called Medical Education Administrative Services (MEAS) and asked the lady about the required Police Report/Letter of Good Standing from the PD, and she did not know what a CORI was (...concerned?...I am). She did not know if that would be sufficient but then said it should be because the PD in my area may have there own thing. I imagine a CORI should be more than sufficient to prove I am not running from the law.
Also while I was down at the PD I asked them about my citation for not yielding to a pedestrian in a crosswalk (yes that's what I do for fun) that I received back in Oct '06 and requested a hearing for but never heard anything back. Even after contacting the MA RMV soon after they said the court will contact me when they are ready. (Thank you civil servants for being so helpful) However this time I was able to speak to a person, instead of writing an email, and they gave me a number to call. I can't wait to see what happens when I do call them...tune in next week (or something like that)
I may sound a little perturbed, it's only because I am, probably since I am still sort of sick from whatever I caught at the New Charles River Run over the weekend but also because the weather is ridiculously hot and I hate administrative stuff. Well enough whining for now I still have a ton of stuff to finalize and the airline company to call to see if they have any special deals for students studying "abroad" and find about cargo limits and all the fun stuff for relocating my life to a tropical island (wow it really doesn't sound that painful when I put it like that)
Till next time...enjoy this link
- Financial Aid
- Housing
- Temporary Residency
So there are a million (ok more like 5) documents that needed to be filled out for financial aid. I call the financial aid office yesterday and finally get someone on the line at x1023, who turned out to be quite helpful. I asked the man if he could make any suggestions on which company I should choose for private loans and he said he was not allowed to do so but that he could give me information about the individual companies. Long story short he "informed" me that the Student Health Express loans or GRADplus loans would be best. (I ended up sticking with GRADplus since they were federally affiliated, although I may have been able to get a decent but variable interest rate due to me superior credit)
Then after figuring all that out I went to go make copies of all the Master Promissary Notes (MPN's a.k.a. legal documents by loan companies that state they can take your first born if you don't pay them and will charge you random fees whenever they please) and other paperwork. I decided to go out and trek to the lab in the 98 degree whether because I didn't feel like paying Kinko's $12 for all the copies that I needed to make. Why was I making copies of EVERYTHING you may ask? Because my father has made me a paranoid person, and also because I can't have any more problems along the way since I have very limited time to get everything in order to make sure I can start this fall.
Got that done sometime around 6pm, of course it took me longer than it should since I did the obligatory crapping around the lab and talking to everyone that was around. Before I left I wanted to print out my Student Aid Report (SAR) for the FAFSA (you can figure that acronym out) and came to the realization that I never filed my own FAFSA, just my sisters. Sweet! Now I get to file that for myself before Saturday, even sweeter!
So now I am kicking myself for not remembering, but hey at least it isn't July 1st, otherwise no Stafford for me. Either way I need to get all that in before July 13 otherwise I have to come up with ~$20000 for the fall semester (wonder how much I could get for my soul on eBay...)
Housing:
I called the housing office with a few questions and have heard that they are very helpful and such...WRONG! The lady couldn't answer any of my questions but instead just told me to get my housing request form in, which makes me eligible to get on campus housing but I wouldn't find out if I actually did until 2 weeks before classes start(...welcome to paradise I guess...tents on the beach anyone?) Either way I got an email later yesterday from my Orientation Advisor (OA) about housing on the island that didn't really comfort me but at least it was honest and kept it real. Apparently she's a BU alum and hopefully will be able to help me figure out the housing situation and provide me with estimates and allay some fears of evil landlords. I feel this saga will continue for sometime...stayed tuned for more about this...
Temporary Residence:
Called Medical Education Administrative Services (MEAS) and asked the lady about the required Police Report/Letter of Good Standing from the PD, and she did not know what a CORI was (...concerned?...I am). She did not know if that would be sufficient but then said it should be because the PD in my area may have there own thing. I imagine a CORI should be more than sufficient to prove I am not running from the law.
Also while I was down at the PD I asked them about my citation for not yielding to a pedestrian in a crosswalk (yes that's what I do for fun) that I received back in Oct '06 and requested a hearing for but never heard anything back. Even after contacting the MA RMV soon after they said the court will contact me when they are ready. (Thank you civil servants for being so helpful) However this time I was able to speak to a person, instead of writing an email, and they gave me a number to call. I can't wait to see what happens when I do call them...tune in next week (or something like that)
I may sound a little perturbed, it's only because I am, probably since I am still sort of sick from whatever I caught at the New Charles River Run over the weekend but also because the weather is ridiculously hot and I hate administrative stuff. Well enough whining for now I still have a ton of stuff to finalize and the airline company to call to see if they have any special deals for students studying "abroad" and find about cargo limits and all the fun stuff for relocating my life to a tropical island (wow it really doesn't sound that painful when I put it like that)
Till next time...enjoy this link
Thursday, June 21, 2007
I've been accepted!
So it was about 2pm on Monday June 4th when I was startled by the buzzing sound of my cell phone, which was on the vibrate mode. In my daze I saw a number that I didn't recognize but answered anyway. Damn glad that I did. It was my admissions advisor from AUC calling to tell me that I had been accepted. So you may have two questions by now:
- What is AUC?
- Why the hell were you passed out at 2pm?
Now to answer the second one first because I am a rebel without a cause. I had gotten home at 8am after my 12 hour overnight shift at the sleep lab, and 2pm was prime sleep time. It was fairly muggy though and I found it difficult to fall back asleep, mostly due to the excitement. But I forced myself to pull off a few more hours so I could better reset my cycle to do day shifts after my next few days off. The quirky part of the acceptance was that I had to send in my enrollment fee before all the spots filled up so I was still slightly worried. Either way I had the interview for Ross University on the coming Thursday so I still had hope if things didn't work out at AUC; although AUC was my second choice and Ross was third. The hell with it though, at this point whoever gives me the chance to become a doctor and help people will get my money.
Now to question the first. AUC stands for American University of the Caribbean, which is a an "offshore" medical school located on the island of St. Maarten/St. Martin depends on who you ask. The U.S. considers it an international medical school although the curicculum is geared to have studnets practice in the U.S. and the clinical rotation sites are ACGME certified and blah blah blah. Basically it is the last chance of students from the U.S. who want to attend medical school and practice in the U.S., although there is a large stigma associated with having attended a "foreign" medical school. And it seems in terms of the eyes of the powers that be in the medical community the hierarchy falls as the following:
M.D. (US schools) > D.O. (US schools) > M.D. (foreign schools)
Such hierarchy exists in obtaining residencies, social status, and I'm sure employment opprotunities and pay (I'll find out soon enough). My only problem is with the first thing I mentioned - obtaining residencies - since that is the only thing that could prevent me from practicing in the U.S.
I could really careless if other physicians or institutions look down upon where I learned to be a physician, as long as I get to help those in need. And society can keep it since the only people that truly matter to me don't see me as a failure because I didn't attend an Ivy Leauge school (even though I might do that to myself from time to time).
***
June 7th: The Ross University interview left much to be desired, the interviewer was kind enough and we had a good time (translation: I talked his head for 1 hour 15 mins). The short version of the story is that with 'my grades and applying so late in the cycle' I would most likely get accepted but be deferred till the January semester. Little did he know I had been accepted to my 2nd place school for the fall.
***
June 18th: The Registrar's office contacted me and confirmed the acceptance for the fall semester. NICE! And now to get everything setup to get down there, sounds like fun.
I am sure there will be some more fun posts between now and the time I am actually down there...await some fun!
P.S. I will probably NEVER write a post this long.
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