Archive for the ‘School’ Category
Japanese pens
Now that I’m a medical student in the clinical years, rounding at the hospital is a big part of my daily routine. What we do is get to the hospital early in the morning, check up on our assigned patients and see how they’re doing, and then “round” with the entire team and attending doctor. This involves stopping by each patient on the service and giving a short presentation/update so that the team learns about different patients. That’s how we gain experience and level up.
I take lots of notes during rounds, and I’ve discovered that multi-color pens can be extremely helpful so I can color-code to easily pick out specific information. American office chains like Staples and Office Max stock some multi-color pens, but color selection is limited and the pen designs are bland. This is where I turn to JetPens, an awesome online store with a great design and tons of clear product photos. If you’ve ever been to a Japanese stationary store, surely you’ve gawked at the immense selection of pens and pencils on display. JetPens is a perfect online counterpart that captures the “kid in a candy store” sensation I feel in those stores.
Med 3 July rotation: Ophthalmology
When I first started this blog as my senior year of college was winding down, medical school was just a few months away. My original vision was, sure, to have the gaming and entertainment discussion you currently see on here, but also to document my progression through med school. The first 2 years are the basic science years where we learn anatomy, biochemistry, pathophysiology of diseases, etc. Mostly lots of rote memorization so nothing terribly interesting to write about, though cadaver dissection might be something I can go into sometime.
In July, I began Med 3, which is the start of the clinical years. This is when we rotate through the various general divisions of medicine (like surgery, internal medicine, pediatrics) and actually work in the hospitals and clinics. Each rotation is two months long (though some are divided into multiple parts) and I’ve decided to write an overall impression as I finish each one.
Harvard Medical School and MIT
After helping my brother move out of his dorm and going apartment hunting, we visited Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I had already seen the usual sights two years ago on my first trip to Boston, but we went again this time largely to show my cousin around and also to occupy the last afternoon in Boston before flying home.
2009 Harvard University graduation
My brother graduated last week from Harvard University undergrad. It was a sentimental moment for many of his peers, who would be saying goodbye to Cambridge, Massachusetts. However, my brother still has 8 more years to go in the Harvard M.D.-Ph.D program so he was comically ho-hum by the whole event.
This post will be passed around to family so there’s plenty of personal photos. I don’t know if it’s that interesting honestly, but if you’ve never been to Harvard University, think of this as a quick tour.
And the achievements keep on rolling in
Yet another break in my blogging hiatus — I feel like I have a new gig doing public relations for my brother! He was selected as one of the twenty students in USA Today’s 2009 All-USA College Academic First Team. This is the self-submitted photo gallery. I’ve been trying to keep my name relatively hidden on this blog so I won’t say my/his last name outright (though I guess anybody who’s really interested can search for me considering I used to write for gaming websites). But if you’ve read my blog for any period of time, it should be obvious which one he is.
I personally feel he has the best photo out of the 20, though that wouldn’t have been my first pick out of the dozens of photos he showed me. By the way, I love the photo for the Johns Hopkins guy (my alma mater). It’s a beautiful campus but his photo perfectly captures how there’s practically more brick walkways on campus than grass! Anyway, big congrats to all. I believe this is in today’s edition of USA Today, I have to run out and buy it!
UPDATE: Ah, screw anonymity. My brother recently launched two websites and I’m going to help him out by linking them here. First is his personal professional page about his education at Harvard and research projects. The other is a company he is starting called Ivy Writing (website still under development), which helps edit applications for students applying to college/grad school. He has a lot of experience with editing and consultation already and, well, his successes so far speak for how well qualified he is for this work. His company should be launching in a couple weeks!
Congratulations to my bro!
Hey folks, I’m breaking my blogging hiatus briefly with some great news: my brother was accepted to Harvard Medical School, MD-PhD program! Not only will medical school be free for him (I’m going to be saddled with all kinds of loans when I graduate med school), but he’ll be PAID. This is awesome timing for him as well with Barack Obama’s recent legislation on stem cell research, which my brother has big dreams for. Research really isn’t my thing — I’m doing a poster presentation at a research fair in a couple weeks, but that’ll probably be my last experience with research =P
But this is great timing for me as well, a kick-in-the-pants motivator with the USMLE Step 1 less than 3 months away. I’m slipping back into blogging silence after this post, but if you haven’t noticed on the sidebar, I’ve set up a twitter account which I’ve been updating pretty regularly. Keep up with my mundane updates that way if you wish, and I’ll be returning to blogging status in June! If all goes well, I’ll find a new Wordpress design because this very stark, minimalist design is too boring for me.
