I have officially emerged from winter quarter largely unscathed. The last two weeks tested my academic endurance, with six finals, including one for the great behemoth of neurobiology. That class was my first final last week (had two finals the week before) and covered material from ~55 lectures and 20 hours of neuroanatomy lab. Yikes! I spent the most time reviewing material for that exam, partially out of necessity (we had more class time for that course than for any other) and partially because of the rumors we all heard about just how difficult that class is compared to all others we will encounter in the first two years of med school.
I made it through that exam and through three more. By Wednesday afternoon last week (post-immunology exam), most of my classmates 'checked out'. We still had our head & neck anatomy exam on Thursday, but since our grades would be cumulative with first quarter, many people were happy to start spring break early and hope they acquired enough points on Thursday's exam to skate by.
A subset of my classmates, me included, did not 'check out.' We dove head first into anatomy for another 24 hours. This subset was particularly dedicated because we are all applying to be anatomy TAs next year. The position entails the most teaching and greatest amount of one-on-one contact with first-year students, plus it is entirely hands on. That combo makes it particularly appealing for people either interested teaching or surgery. I believe my final effort for studying was worth it and now I get to wait until the end of May to find out whether I will be one of the 9 anatomy TAs for the next academic year.
At ~11:15 last Thursday, I was officially on break!! Oh, how glorious that was! We celebrated by completing nutrition modules online and drinking sangria. Alex met up with me at my classmate's apartment for some fun evening festivities and then Friday I left for Tahoe. Alex, Liana, Nicole, Nicko and I (Alex plus 3 classmates) drove up to Tahoe Friday afternoon and just returned yesterday. We had a wonderful time and I felt like I was truly on break once I put my first loaf of homemade bread in the oven!
Nicko's family has a cabin right on the Lake (facing south with an incredible view). We took over the place and spent our days skiing, baking, cooking, playing games, etc. It was so much fun and exactly what all of us needed. Even Alex needed a little break from the Palo Alto grind.
The cherry on top of the entire experience was that it snowed on Sunday night, which meant we had fresh powder to ski in on Monday. Below, you can see the view from Alpine Meadows ski resort in north Lake Tahoe.
Now, I am back in Palo Alto and enjoying the sunshine and spring-like weather. I am sitting at Philz Coffee, where they make delicious coffee by the cup (they do not serve espresso, but offer an array of light, medium, and dark roasts to suit your personality, emotion-of-the-day, the weather, etc.). I spent the morning shadowing Dr. Bachrach (the wife of one of my deans) in the pediatric endocrinology clinic at Lucille-Packard Children's Hospital. I had a great time! I was able to see a couple patients with Turner's syndrome, one with a possible growth hormone abnormality, and another with congenital heart disease combined with hypoparathyroidism. It was a very educational day and gave me a glimpse of what kinds of issues endocrinologists get to deal with. I will definitely go back to get a little more exposure to that field.
The rest of my week will be pretty low key. I have several social commitments in the next couple of days and then on Sunday, I am running the Santa Cruz half marathon with my former college classmate and rowing teammate Larissa.
I know that this break will fly by, but I am trying to savor the change of pace and the opportunity to spend a little more time with Alex. I can feel my brain sighing and I cherish the moments when I can indulge in thinking about absolutely nothing.
The winter quarter was particularly challenging because of the academics, but more than that it was challenging because it was within the last few months that it really hit me that I will be living in California for at least 3 more years. I miss my friends and I miss my family and I need to be patient with how my social network and community is growing and evolving here. It is easy to forget that the friendships I have formed here are very 'young' and that the kind of depth of relationship that I yearn for takes time and experience.
My medical school life is becoming richer and richer, but no matter what the activities are that I find myself engaging with, I keep yearning for more. I want this place to feel more like home than it does right now and I need to try to be a bit more patient!
Spring quarter will be very full - I am helping organize Admit Weekend for the incoming class (this occurs the second full weekend of April), I am co-coordinating the outdoor orientation leaders seminar throughout the quarter (this includes outdoor skills, mentorship and leadership training), I am taking on a leadership role with the medical school committee, and I am helping run the women's clinic at one of the student-run free clinics. Lots to do and lots to be energized by.
In addition to all of that, I get to start the systems-based portion of the medical school curriculum. This is very exciting for all of us, because we feel like we are on the brink of taking classes that well really teach us how to approach clinical reasoning. We are ready for it!
On a different note, I drove through tons of rain yesterday on our way back from Tahoe and I was immediately transported back to the northwest. So...to all my friends and family in that area, know that I think of you often and I hope you are all happy and healthy!
Until next time...
