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.