Our lab is under quarantine. Someone in another lab on our floor died, so the whole floor has been cordoned off and we all have to take antibiotic prophylaxis. The poor guy. My boss called me at home to let me know. So I guess I work from home/library on Monday, until this is resolved. Good thing I didn't leave my workout clothes at work. And glad that all the medical students are required to have vaccinations. I'm afraid all my transfected cells will die, and that's a year's work. But that is nothing compared to what the guy's family must be feeling. Oh, I hope he didn't have any children. Or parents. Or a spouse. Or siblings. Anyway, my job now is go pick up my prescription and then text or e-mail my boss to let her know she can check me off the prophylaxis list.
P.S. I have edited this to remove any identifying details, and am not authorized to discuss them publicly, but I will update family in a private email.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Change is in the Air Again!
Okay, although I am totally overwhelmed, I need to write. So much has happened this month. Much of it has been very, very good and exciting. A lot of it is scary. And no, I'm not pregnant.
Basically, next month is the culmination of the research year. Some of you have already heard that my molecular biology project was going really slowly. However, the fellowship I'm on expects us to have a finished, completed project that we did ourselves at the end of the year. So around December/January, I panicked a little bit and tried to think of something I could do that piqued my interests, aligned with my abilities, and was feasible in a condensed time frame if I worked hard. The project I came up with looked at predictors of refractory disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients, which I was totally psyched about because it was clinical, had statistics, and dealt with both medicine and health disparities/epidemiology.
I've basically been working every day for a long time on this project, and I finally have results! I love my data. But they are alarming, showing differences in outcomes based on level of education when adjusted for medication use and other factors. I am beyond excited that it looks like we have some interesting data. I just sent the dataset to my mentor, so I'm just crossing my fingers that she doesn't run my numbers and get something totally different. That would be a minor tragedy. My big boss I think was a little skeptical at first, but she seemed pleased at my lab meeting today and had some great ideas for what to do next.
So next week I have to somehow do the following: Finish and practice my talk, actually do the 10-minute talk for a symposium, present my poster, finish my resume and personal summary form for the Dean's office to kickstart the residency application process, go to a 2-hour evening journal club (which curtails my ability to speak with my husband on the East Coast, sadness), finish additional data analysis for my presentation, work on a different poster for a different project I've been doing on the side, and pack for a 3-day conference the week after that. Oh, and remember to give my little boss a birthday present. Actually, when I write it all down it doesn't feel so bad anymore. Thank you, therapeutic blogging. I was sad to miss meeting up with my Auntie from India, who was only in town tonight, due to a confluence of work-related and traffic-related factors. But she got to hang out with my dad (she's dad's brother's wife).
In the next month, I have to finish all my research because then I'm back on the wards! Here's my 4th year clinical schedule:
2 weeks of adult pulmonary medicine
4 weeks of neonatal intensive care nursery
4 weeks of child neurology
4 weeks of pediatric genetics
4 weeks of child rheumatology
4 weeks of adult internal medicine
4 weeks for residency interviews + some vacation time (or time to mourn lack of interviews!)
4 weeks of To Be Determined + some vacation time
4 weeks pediatric infectious disease
4 weeks of end of year required curriculum
I am so excited about this. If I do apply in child neurology, I'd like to fit in some adult neurology somewhere. So little time, so much to learn. Many of my old classmates are graduating soon. I'm a little sad when I think of it, but I'm very, very glad that I took a research year. Although I've been in medical school so long (6 years next year!) that when I graduate, it will be quite a shock to my system. If I had gone straight through, which is a big if, I could have been a 2nd-year resident by now. Then again, hopefully the added maturity will be a good thing when I have an MD behind my hybrid name. I should blog about changing my name. Anyhow, I am also nervous/excited because I finally was able to arrange a meeting with the child neurology department chair, whom everyone literally raves about (Pediatric department chair: "I'd trust her with my life...in fact, I have").
In fun news, I'm also doing Bay to Breakers! So are three people from my lab, one of my old friends who is coming in from out of town, and B. I'm so pleased B agreed to be my running buddy. He usually tries to do shorter distances because he needs to be able to sprint for Ultimate, but he was really nice about the 12K. I'm told the entire first half of the race is uphill. Ick. But then, I was also told that it's so crowded that you are forced to walk at points.
For those who asked, B is doing well. He and the other employees got to take a big group photo with The Boss of the House that Shall Not Be Named. Pretty snazzy.
And, just in case you were wondering about my political views, you heard it here first:
Keep your MITTens off my kittens. No more drama. Vote Obama.
Basically, next month is the culmination of the research year. Some of you have already heard that my molecular biology project was going really slowly. However, the fellowship I'm on expects us to have a finished, completed project that we did ourselves at the end of the year. So around December/January, I panicked a little bit and tried to think of something I could do that piqued my interests, aligned with my abilities, and was feasible in a condensed time frame if I worked hard. The project I came up with looked at predictors of refractory disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients, which I was totally psyched about because it was clinical, had statistics, and dealt with both medicine and health disparities/epidemiology.
I've basically been working every day for a long time on this project, and I finally have results! I love my data. But they are alarming, showing differences in outcomes based on level of education when adjusted for medication use and other factors. I am beyond excited that it looks like we have some interesting data. I just sent the dataset to my mentor, so I'm just crossing my fingers that she doesn't run my numbers and get something totally different. That would be a minor tragedy. My big boss I think was a little skeptical at first, but she seemed pleased at my lab meeting today and had some great ideas for what to do next.
So next week I have to somehow do the following: Finish and practice my talk, actually do the 10-minute talk for a symposium, present my poster, finish my resume and personal summary form for the Dean's office to kickstart the residency application process, go to a 2-hour evening journal club (which curtails my ability to speak with my husband on the East Coast, sadness), finish additional data analysis for my presentation, work on a different poster for a different project I've been doing on the side, and pack for a 3-day conference the week after that. Oh, and remember to give my little boss a birthday present. Actually, when I write it all down it doesn't feel so bad anymore. Thank you, therapeutic blogging. I was sad to miss meeting up with my Auntie from India, who was only in town tonight, due to a confluence of work-related and traffic-related factors. But she got to hang out with my dad (she's dad's brother's wife).
In the next month, I have to finish all my research because then I'm back on the wards! Here's my 4th year clinical schedule:
2 weeks of adult pulmonary medicine
4 weeks of neonatal intensive care nursery
4 weeks of child neurology
4 weeks of pediatric genetics
4 weeks of child rheumatology
4 weeks of adult internal medicine
4 weeks for residency interviews + some vacation time (or time to mourn lack of interviews!)
4 weeks of To Be Determined + some vacation time
4 weeks pediatric infectious disease
4 weeks of end of year required curriculum
I am so excited about this. If I do apply in child neurology, I'd like to fit in some adult neurology somewhere. So little time, so much to learn. Many of my old classmates are graduating soon. I'm a little sad when I think of it, but I'm very, very glad that I took a research year. Although I've been in medical school so long (6 years next year!) that when I graduate, it will be quite a shock to my system. If I had gone straight through, which is a big if, I could have been a 2nd-year resident by now. Then again, hopefully the added maturity will be a good thing when I have an MD behind my hybrid name. I should blog about changing my name. Anyhow, I am also nervous/excited because I finally was able to arrange a meeting with the child neurology department chair, whom everyone literally raves about (Pediatric department chair: "I'd trust her with my life...in fact, I have").
In fun news, I'm also doing Bay to Breakers! So are three people from my lab, one of my old friends who is coming in from out of town, and B. I'm so pleased B agreed to be my running buddy. He usually tries to do shorter distances because he needs to be able to sprint for Ultimate, but he was really nice about the 12K. I'm told the entire first half of the race is uphill. Ick. But then, I was also told that it's so crowded that you are forced to walk at points.
For those who asked, B is doing well. He and the other employees got to take a big group photo with The Boss of the House that Shall Not Be Named. Pretty snazzy.
And, just in case you were wondering about my political views, you heard it here first:
Keep your MITTens off my kittens. No more drama. Vote Obama.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
April Showers, a 12K, & The Match!
It has been raining a lot. My research facility is located on a hill, which means that you get pretty wet from rivulets and waterfalls as you climb up to work. I think we're getting all the downpour we missed out on this winter. I am lucky enough to own two beautiful umbrellas and good shoes, so I can actually enjoy the torrents. Usually with a hot cup of tea. I'm drinking way more tea than will be sustainable on the wards. Yes, it's almost that time -- the moment I go back to the clinical life! Yikes (Which end of the patient is up, again?). It seemed so far away all year, but now I'm only two months away.
On the Sunday after St. Patrick's Day, we ran a 12K (~7.5 miles) to benefit the Edgewood Children's Foundation called Emerald 12K Across the Bay. It was a beautiful run, staring at Fort Baker and climbing up the (steep!) hill to the Golden Gate Bridge, crossing the bridge, and then winding down past Chrissy Field and ending near Ghirardelli square. My dad walked the whole 7.5 miles!
The weather was breezy, sunshiny, and cold in the morning but perfect for running. As I crossed the bridge, I saw huge, graceful pelicans fishing at the mouth of the bay. I could see Alcatraz like a jewel in the water. It was amazing. I've never run that far before. My time was 1:20:38, for a pace of 10:49/mile. Just for perspective, the winning female runner did it at 5:32/mile. She's a year older than I am!
Speaking of clinical life, the Match happened two weeks ago. The Match is a huge, nationwide event that occurs the third week of March. Medical school seniors crowd into a room, open tiny white envelopes, and find out which residency program they'll be working at for the next three (or four, or ten) years. My friends all matched! Most of them seemed very happy. E is doing internal medicine. CL is doing pediatrics, and had some great advice for me. Dee is doing internal medicine. T is going to LA to do psychiatry, which is great because his wife, K, was offered a teaching position down there (congrats you guys)! Maybe they'll go all Hollywood on me and start doctoring/teaching the stars? Mimi won her coveted dermatology spot, for those of you who were biting their fingernails. Many, many people are staying in or around the SF Bay Area, which means I might see them once every six months during their training...
The evening of Match Day, there was a class party at a cafe near the beach. I went even though I am no longer in their class, just to say congratulations. Unluckily, it was pouring rain (again). Luckily, it was indoors and we had seats by the fire. Butters brewed an awesome, hoppy beer and brought it! Dee baked a pie (her first! With homemade crust! It was delicious). There was wine and excitement and congratulations. I couldn't believe how grown-up everyone looked. I am so very proud of them and all the hard work they've invested. The matched folks graduate this May with MDs. Dear Lord, they are going to be doctors. Our 2013 graduation will be so lonely without them. Can you believe how time flies? And the handful of us that added a year are left to plunge into the breach.
Research is going...strangely. After working on a basic science project all year, I'm not sure if it's going to manifest itself or fall through. However, I've also just started a clinical project that might save my behind when the NIH people come after me for Results with a capital R. Crossed fingers. It's interesting work, looking at what types of people don't respond to treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and how their bones erode. It's actually great stuff. We'll see how it goes; the deadline is a conference coming up in May (and prior to that, an abstract due next week). I can't believe how much molecular biology and statistics I've learned this year. I hope all the clinical info regarding patients is still in my head somewhere. Unfortunately, I've had no time at all to work on my master's thesis, and I'd love to edit it and submit it. My brain is going to explode one day, wait and see. It'll be interesting. Anyhow, this week I get to teach a high schooler volunteering at the lab. She's a
bubbly senior, five foot nothing, long dark hair, wants to major in
chemistry. Rock on, my little friend.
B continues to work at the pale house in a certain capital city that shall not be named on a public blog. He's coming home weekend after next, though. Yay! Maybe it'll stop raining enough for us to go hiking. It has occurred to me that it's very late and I should go to bed (this is laughable: by hospital standards it's not even the end of the day). But I am so very happy to get a chance to sleep that I should carpe noctem. Bonne nuit.
 |
| Warming up before the race |
 |
| Beautiful views of the bay the whole 7.5 miles |
 |
| Post-race party with live band at Ghirardelli square |
 |
| Free chocolate milk from the Nesquik rabbit |
Speaking of clinical life, the Match happened two weeks ago. The Match is a huge, nationwide event that occurs the third week of March. Medical school seniors crowd into a room, open tiny white envelopes, and find out which residency program they'll be working at for the next three (or four, or ten) years. My friends all matched! Most of them seemed very happy. E is doing internal medicine. CL is doing pediatrics, and had some great advice for me. Dee is doing internal medicine. T is going to LA to do psychiatry, which is great because his wife, K, was offered a teaching position down there (congrats you guys)! Maybe they'll go all Hollywood on me and start doctoring/teaching the stars? Mimi won her coveted dermatology spot, for those of you who were biting their fingernails. Many, many people are staying in or around the SF Bay Area, which means I might see them once every six months during their training...
The evening of Match Day, there was a class party at a cafe near the beach. I went even though I am no longer in their class, just to say congratulations. Unluckily, it was pouring rain (again). Luckily, it was indoors and we had seats by the fire. Butters brewed an awesome, hoppy beer and brought it! Dee baked a pie (her first! With homemade crust! It was delicious). There was wine and excitement and congratulations. I couldn't believe how grown-up everyone looked. I am so very proud of them and all the hard work they've invested. The matched folks graduate this May with MDs. Dear Lord, they are going to be doctors. Our 2013 graduation will be so lonely without them. Can you believe how time flies? And the handful of us that added a year are left to plunge into the breach.
 |
| A beautiful gel for Western blot, loaded and ready |
B continues to work at the pale house in a certain capital city that shall not be named on a public blog. He's coming home weekend after next, though. Yay! Maybe it'll stop raining enough for us to go hiking. It has occurred to me that it's very late and I should go to bed (this is laughable: by hospital standards it's not even the end of the day). But I am so very happy to get a chance to sleep that I should carpe noctem. Bonne nuit.
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