Skiing in Utah!

Aaah my first vacation since July! Horray! My parents were kind enough to invite me to go along on a ski trip to Snowbird, Utah for Thanksgiving. I mention that they were kind enough to invite me because last month they went to Mexico without me; still jealous! :) I'm really grateful that I can still go on occasional vacations with my parents. I think it's really special how well we can get along and how much fun we can still have on vacations together.

I'm also really proud of them for being adventurous and trying something new for Thanksgiving. For the past 24 years, my parents have used Thanksgiving as a time to look back at how far they have come since they first arrived in America. I always loved our traditional Thanksgivings because it was such a meaningful day in our family. That said, I'm proud that my parents are trying something new this year (and that they are letting me tag along!).

It's been four years since I've last been in the mountains. Gosh, I almost forgot how amazingly beautiful it is to be up so high. It's so exhilarating to be skiing down a steep slope again, admiring the mountains around, and contemplating the one below you. What a rush! Although I was worried it might take me awhile to get back to my technique, after the first few turns I felt like I'd been skiing last week. :)

I'm especially grateful to have a ski trip as my first vacation from med school. Ski trips are the anti-med school: working out all day, being outside, feeling athletic (and awake! and alive!), not studying anything more than a new novel, enjoying the hot springs, and going to bed by 9 exhausted from the day. It's such a nice break! Like the nerd that I am, I planned to do tons of work on vacation but I haven't felt like getting back into it just yet. Hopefully I will be more motivated later on in the week, otherwise I will have a tough week back in school!

Today is Thanksgiving. We are off to a nice breakfast, then the slopes, and we have reservations for a very fancy Thanksgiving dinner early tonight. Horray!

Horray!

BLOCK 2 IS DONE!! HORRAY!!!

I'm so relieved to be finished with exams for a few months. Overall, I think that things went well. I'm really impressed with how much I have learned about medicine so far in these few months. Despite the long hours of studying, especially the last three weeks before the exam, I really enjoyed learning for this block, as incredibly nerdy as that may be. Now that the block is done, I should "technically" "know" all there is to know about endocrinology, genetics, molecular biology, female and male reproductive tract histology and pathology, and pelvis anatomy. It's so weird to realize that my studies have a greater purpose and responsibility. I'm learning this information because it may help one of my patients in the future, regardless of the specialization that I choose. Wow! How weird!

The next block is exciting: Food to fuel. Biochemistry, anatomy of the abdomen, and nutrition. Should be very cool!

Exam on Friday :/

This week we had clinical immersion week and I got the opportunity to rotate in gynecological oncology. I spoke with a patient with ovarian cancer, saw a gruesome case of ovarian cancer in the OR, and then analyzed specimens for malignancies in the frozen specimen room for pathology. This was a great week for me. It was so important for me to take a step back from my studies and see just how much I had learned this block and how it really does apply to real patients. And as nerdy as it sounds, it was just so amazing to see a football size tumor being cut out of a patient and then looking at a slide and being able to classify it as a specific cancer. So cool!

Clinical immersion week gave a lot of meaning to my preparation for my exam: even though there are still tons more to learn, I HAVE learned quite a bit and it DOES have a profound patient application. That said, man I sure can't wait until this exam is over! I studied so much this week that I literally was eating tortilla chips towards the end because I didn't have time/energy to make a trip to the grocery store. Luckily today I was able to treat myself to a trip to stock up on food, after 8 hours of studying, that is. I planned ahead for the week and made a huge amount of soup and froze 4 containers; no tortilla chips this week unless it's a willing decision. :)

I feel really guilty about studying so much sometimes. Gosh, I'm sorry that I haven't been talking to my parents as much and that Mom's bday present didn't get there on time this year. And man, do I feel guilty for not being a better friend and keeping in better touch. Meredith, I'm sorry I haven't been calling more often! A lot of times it's not even that I'm studying continuously and pick up a phone, it's just that I am so focused on studying that I would have nothing to say if I called. I sure don't know how people go through medical school raising their own families!

I go through phases of feeling really prepared for the exam, realizing how much I've learned and then extreme phases of panic where I realize just how much I have left to learn. I hope that I can stay calm and collected with my studying: focus on important concepts and think logically; don't just memorize things that don't mean anything. Hopefully I can stick to the plan and do well! 4 hr exam on Thursday, 6 hours of exams on Friday... Friday at 5pm will feel amazing!