Antagonist, Inverse Agonist, Same But Different

We have our first exam coming up this week, on six full weeks of material. The two-day test will cover biochemistry, anatomy, histology, pathology, and a bunch of other –ologies I don’t understand either.

Yes, I’m writing this to procrastinate, no, it’s not a good use of my time, and no, grandma, I don’t need a brownies care package. Your last one turned me prediabetic as it is. Thanks though. Continue reading

#Shredded

Yesterday, the dean of the medical school (and the second-in-command of the entire medical center) invited all the first years over to his house for a “picnic.” This is an annual tradition at my medical school and is a well-attended, casual affair. In the original invitation (which we received on Day One of orientation), the message states, “You Will Swim.” Continue reading

The First Patient! (Sort Of)

When my grandfather attended medical school back in the day, students had very little (if any) hands-on training with patients until the third year, when they rotated through the hospital wards. Medical schools now recognize the imperative to expose their future doctors to doctoring early and often and many advertise “PATIENT CONTACT ON DAY 1!!” as a selling point for their institution, right next to the pictures of smiling attractive young people in white coats fluidly wielding their stethoscopes. Continue reading

Med School Begins! …Kind Of

The last time I posted, I was living in a different city, gainfully funemployed, and still technically a premedical student. Three weeks ago I moved in to another apartment (that’s five moves in three years, if you’re counting) and two Wednesdays ago started medical school.

So this blog will change a little bit, from highlighting the weirdnesses of being a postbac/applying to medical school to highlighting the trials of learning to be a doctor. Scary, but awesome. As I did with the premedical stuff, I’m going to try to be funny (current hit rate: around 20%) and I promise not to complain too much about how much work we have, because again we all know people that do that and they suck. Continue reading

A Lifetime Prescription

My dad spent last week, beginning the day before Father’s Day, sailing around the eastern shore of MD as a “crew” on a sailboat owned by his obsessive-compulsive friend. It’s called the Delmarva Rally.

When he told us that he was going to spend a week – a week! – on a forty-foot sailing boat with no running water, six middle-aged strangers, and one captain who orchestrated watch rotations with an Excel spreadsheet, I thought he was kidding. Continue reading

Go To Hell Duke

Today, March 9, 2013, is officially Beat Duke Day. For those of you unfamiliar with the greatest rivalry in college sports (and to some people, the greatest rivalry in all sports), tomorrow night my beloved Tar Heels take on the darker, more evil shade of blue from the University of New Jersey at Durham – better known as Duke University.

Yes, it may be a game of basketball where grown men and women cheer wildly as overgrown 19-year-olds bounce an orange ball and run back and forth for two hours. Or, as I would argue, you can see it as a fundamental battle between the light… and darkness. Continue reading