Quick update on what's been going on, because I'm about to head out the door to hang out with a friend from Belhaven (Pedro!!).

It's been a good week. The biggest two things that happened, in my mind, were the first gross anatomy tests and the braces. The tests went fairly well. I did better than I thought I would do, considering how under prepared I felt the night before. I didn't get an A on the two tests combined, but it was close enough. What I did learn was that I need to review for a little while longer in the lab before the practical. Personally, I think I should be doing better on the practical portion than on the written (should be easier, if you're prepared!).

The braces haven't been as bad as I thought. Of course, a heightened sense of self-consciousness accompanied them, but I'm pretty much used to them now. It's funny, everyone has been sharing with me their stories with braces. One thing that frustrated me a whole lot was that I got a loose bracket last night (Friday), which means that I can't get in to get it fixed until Monday. I hope this doesn't happen much, because I was trying so hard to follow every single little rule they told me to (not eating cookies and chips is difficult!). I think I just brushed my teeth a little too vigorously. It's annoying because the bracket is still connected to the wire, but it keeps moving and flipping around. Oh well. Two years from now, I'll probably laugh when I remember how much this annoyed me.

Other than that it's been a fairly relaxing week. After anatomy, my brain was fried, so I haven't really been doing much of anything with regards to school since then. We basically have a three-day weekend (only one class on Monday), so I hope to get a decent bit accomplished.

We had our class elections this week, and I think we have some great officers. I gave my little presidential spiel, and I was honest with the class. I told them why I wanted to do the job, but that, if elected, I would only be able to serve a two-year term because of my MD/PhD status. They ended up choosing someone else, and I think they made the right decision. I was bummed for about 5 minutes when I found out, but that's about it. It would've been great to serve the class in that way, but honestly, I think my heart is more with the community. The free clinic is great when I go (haven't had as much time this semester as I would've liked), but I'm looking for other opportunities. I wish there were a community-outreach-related position that I could have run for, because that's what I'd love to get people interested in. It's too easy to become wrapped up in yourself in medical school.

So that's all I have to say today. Keep voting for the Children's hospital, please (10 times a day for the next month).

http://xbox.childrensmiraclenetwork.org/default.aspx

We're in second place now. If we get a new game room, I'm going up to play video games with the kids.

Alright, an update is overdue, I admit it. It's been a while, and blogging has been on the backburner for me, primarily because I feel like I have no interesting updates. Things are going great, but it's just been the same-old, same-old stuff.

Anatomy is my favorite class right now. I enjoy studying for it, and the labs are a blast. However, I have had a minor allergic reaction to formaldehyde, which is putting a small damper on things. I'm hoping that the issue will resolve itself shortly. Our first test isn't until two Mondays from now, so I probably be getting behind on it over the next few days in order to study for the upcoming Biochem and Genetics tests (this Tuesday). And I also have to travel to Tupelo tomorrow to run a marathon early on Sunday morning.

So my free time for the weekend will probably consist of the evening off tonight (probably go to the movies), driving to and from Tupelo, and running the marathon. Other than that, I'm going to try and get some good studying in.

Biochemistry isn't too bad. It's not uninteresting material, it's just that I don't feel like it's incredibly relevant to clinical medicine. I know it will help to understand diseases, but I think I could still be a competent doctor if I understood everything from a level above the biochemical level. I need to know this stuff for the big ol' STEP test, though, so I'll learn it, and try to do so happily.

Genetics is interesting to me, despite the fact that I've only attended 1 out of the 6 or 7 lectures we've had. I've been trying to wade through the 350 or so powerpoint slides that we'll be tested on on Tuesday, trying to figure out how much of it I want to learn. I would love to learn it all, but the class as a whole is only 2 percent of our overall grade for the year (biochemistry is 20%), and that will definitely be a factor in my studying.

I've barely thought about developmental anatomy so far. We have a test in it the same day as our anatomy test, so I'll be looking at it next week as well. Again, I know I should be interested in this material, but I'm really not. I think I could do fine without knowing a lot of it.

Physiology will be starting up in the next few weeks. I'm excited about that, both because I love the subject, and because I like all the professors that I've met in the department (except for one, who won't be teaching any of our classes).

Ever since we've started school, I've had this feeling that I want to do more than just study. I want to be involved in things outside of classroom work, and I think that I might just have a chance. We had a lunch today where the M2-M4 class officers came and spoke to us about their roles on campus and within the class. It's been odd, but I've had several people ask me over the last few days if I was going to be running for president. It threw me off, but not because I hadn't considered it before. I just figured that some of the older students in the class would want to do it, and I thought I'd defer to them. But I think I've decided I'm going to run. It's no big deal if I don't get it, and I think I'll run regardless of who runs against me. I'm totally fine if people don't vote for me, but I know that it's something I would enjoy doing, and it would be a great way to serve my fellow classmates.

So that's what I've been doing. School mostly, but also a healthy chunk of free time as well. Definitely enough to keep me sane. Plus, keeping up with the exercise and the 8 hours of sleep per night is invaluable.

I wrote this all very quickly, and I'm too lazy to proofread it right now, so I apologize for the inevitable errors that this blog entry is sure to contain.

So long.

Oh, and an addendum. I went to the orthodontist, and apparently I need braces. I know it's ten years late, and I'll be like a little kid, but whatever. My bite is slightly off on the left and right sides, and if I don't do something about it, apparently the enamel will wear on one side and create a lot of problems later on. So those are going on in 10 days. On the positive side, the orthodontist I happened to go to is a very strong Christian and I know his son, who plays soccer for Belhaven. He said that because I'm medical student, he's giving me a discount. And it's an incredible one.

So, medical school has begun, and it's not too bad. I'm actually starting to enjoy myself. There were a few moments here and there over the last few days where I thought to myself, "What the heck am I doing? I have nothing to look forward to over the next two years except studying. And lots of it." The few times I have felt like this have been immediately after finishing up looking at a book for a few hours. But then I get outside, or go for a run, or do pretty much anything except study, and my perspective returns and all is right in the world again.

It's just been a small adjustment getting back to studying after a year off. Today was great. There was a lecture on biochemisty where a ton of material was covered quickly, and I left feeling slightly confused. However, as soon as I looked at the slides myself, things began to click (maybe it was because I started remembering this stuff that I learned years ago), and I began to have fun. We still have a good bit of material to learn that will be included on our test next Wednesday, but I'm feeling much better about it.

On another note, I'm going to go to the Jackson Free Clinic again this Saturday. I'm looking forward to that. I've decided that I'm going to try and go as much as I can. I'd love it if I could make it over there almost every week (excluding the weekends prior to gross anatomy tests).

So that's how med school has been going thus far. I've been sleeping 8 hours a night and running and working out every day as well. Things are good. Praise God!

I love it how my dad always lets me know when it's time for me to update. It just requires a bit too much effort for me to do this on a regular basis, and there is always something more interesting to do.

It's been a fun week. I worked out a whole lot, which included a few miles of swimming, around 40 miles of biking, 65 miles of running, and three or four hours of weights. That may seem a bit much, and I'll be the first one to admit that, but I justify it by saying that once school starts I won't have the luxury of doing anything near that. I want to keep running, of course, and going to the gym, but it'll probably be more like 3 or 4 miles here, 6 miles there, etc. Just working around classes and studying. I'll still be doing marathons, so I can't slack off completely. This week I'll have a lot of free time, so I want to try and run 80 miles with no biking or swimming. That'll be an all-time high for me.

I capped off my summer lab rotations with a bang. Three out of five of the days I had to stay until 8 PM observing pig surgeries, which were interesting to say the least. I was the lab of a cool, young, Argentinian researcher, and I had a great time hanging out with him and his co-workers. He was friendly, knowledgeable, and willing to teach, even if he was a bit intense during the surgeries. I guess that comes with the territory. One second everything is honky-dory, and the next second things are going wrong and everybody is stressed and freaking out. Oh, the life of a surgeon. It does give you a bit of an adrenaline rush, though, and I like that.

So, my last week of freedom before I hit the grind. I'm looking forward to orientation. I fully expect the sessions to be soporific, but it'll be a nice time to get to know my classmates. And there will be free food, which is always good. I've ordered all the books I think I need, and most of them should be coming in tomorrow or the next day. I hope I'll actually use most of them so I don't feel like I've wasted a small fortune on paper.

I just realized that I totally neglected to tell you all about an incident that happened to me in Chicago last week, that, had it occurred in the company of anyone but close friends, would have been the most embarrassing moment of my life.

So I fly in to Chicago very early last Monday morning, after having only slept a few hours. My good friend who I would be staying with picks me up and we have a blast hanging out all day. Fast forward to midnight, and my friends start watching the movie Pulp Fiction in their dining room. Understandably, I'm worn out, so I lay down on their couch, thinking I'll fall asleep to the sound of the movie. I'm in the living room, which is attached to the dining room but separated by the bar/sink/counter portion of the kitchen. That may sound vague, but basically I was around the corner from the computer on which they were watching the movie.

In the middle of the night I wake up, fairly disoriented, but 100% sure that I am hearing hushed male voices outside of the window of the dining room. The voices are saying something to the effect of "Let's break in there and kill him" and "You ready to break the glass?" My heart starts racing, and in my groggy state I grab my phone off of the coffee table and run to the opposite side of the room, where there are stairs leading upstairs. As I run up the stairs, I'm dialing 911.

I enter one of the rooms upstairs, where the sister of one of my friends happens to be sleeping. As I talk to the police on the phone, trying to blurt out that there is a break-in in progress, I look out the window to see if I can see anybody outside of the downstairs window. I can't, but I figure they've already broken in, because I can hear the voices below us. I go to the door of the room I'm in and brace myself against it. Of course, my friend's sister is awake by now, and she is absolutely freaking out. Hyperventilating and everything. I know that we're in Wheaton, I tell the cops, but I'm not sure what the name of the street is. I ask my friend's sister - who lives there - what their address is, but in her hysterical state she can't remember. After a few seconds I somehow remember the address and give it to the emergency responder. At that moment, the battery of my phone dies. Well, that's great, I'm not even sure if they heard the address.

So this girl and I are in the room for about 30 more seconds, and I begin to think that it's a little weird that the burglars haven't come upstairs yet, because I know I can hear them downstairs. We listen more closely, and my friend's sister asks me, "Are they still watching Pulp Fiction down there?" I have no words to express how I feel over the next five seconds, but it was something like, OH, MY, GOSH. WOW. I can't believe my stupidity.

I run downstairs and see my friends chilling there watching the movie, and due to my groginess and lingering panic, my speech is incomprehensible. After a few seconds, I compose myself, and tell them I need a phone to call the cops back to tell them not to send officers. Of course, my friends are thinking I'm crazy, and one of them refuses to give me his phone because he doesn't want this going on his record. Kindly, my other friends gives me his phone. So I call the cops, and as I'm on the phone with them, about 4 police cars arrive outside of the house.

From then on it was embarrassing, about how you'd expect. After checking our IDs and getting my story, the cops just laughed when my friends told them they were watching Pulp Fiction. They thought I was a complete idiot, and I felt that way. At least they didn't give me a ticket.

So that was my story. Hopefully, it will never happen again, but hey, things could have been worse.

Other than that, nothing much of note to report on. Last week was a boring week in the lab. Not to much was going on, so I ended up reading for about 4 or 5 hours each of the days. Today was slow as well, but it looks like I'll get to learn how to do some molecular techniques later in the week, so that should be fun.

I'm sitting in the airport in Columbus, Ohio, about to board the plane to head back to Jackson. It's been quite a week, just what I needed.

On Monday morning I left Mississippi and headed up to Chicago for four days and spent time with a few friends that I grew up with in Turkey. We didn't really do anything exciting, but we enjoyed relaxing, running, playing Counter Strike, and riding on my friend's motorcycle. Good times. I have so many great memories with these guys, and it was nice to be able to speak Turkish again. These two guys are probably the most "Turkish" out of all of us American MKs that grew up over there. Hanging out with them is entertaining.

Friday morning we woke up early and drove six hours over here to Columbus for the wedding of a friend of ours who was also with us in Turkey. It was crazy and awesome to see him get married. I haven't stayed in touch with him nearly as much as I should have, but seeing each other took us back to the old days immediately. The rehearsal dinner was incredible. It was the old gang of 7 or 8 of us guys from Turkey sitting at one table, speaking Turkish, eating authentic Turkish food. After the meal we got all sweaty doing a traditional Turkish dance (Halay, tabii ki). It's funny, when I was in Turkey I didn't care much for a lot of the local things (music, dancing, etc.), but after having been in the States for these five years, I love them all. After the dinner we went out and got a few drinks for the bachelor party, and topped the night (or morning) off with a nice 4-mile run at 3:30 AM. Great times.

The wedding was sweet, with plenty of tears. Beautiful ceremony.

Now I'm heading back to Jackson. I don't feel ready to get back into the lab, but I know that if the vacation had been any longer, it would have even been more difficult. Three more weeks for me in the lab, then I start medical school! Craziness.

Had my first successful survival surgery today. It took me an hour and a half, but that included all of the suturing. I held the poor little rat and gave it some TLC for a while as it woke up. The research tech who works in the lab - who's been desensitized after doing the surgeries for two years - was looking at me like I was crazy. I'm fairly confident that the rat will still be alive and well tomorrow morning.