Germy

I'm sure that it is just the stress, but in today's neurocentric histology lab I got to thinking about the neurons and other tissue types in the brain, and how metabolically active they are. Perhaps, when they are being pushed (as my neurons feel now -- I've heard of meta-writing before, but this is a different kind -- the neurons writing about themselves) they steal nutrients from the pigment producing cells in the scalp causing more grey hairs to sprout forth. I'm not saying this is the case, but I like to think so. However, I think that I've done fairly well so far, as I am still, for the most part, not grey and I have not succumbed to male pattern baldness, as most of the men in my family have, or had done by my age. It may be coming soon, though. The last week or so, I've been waking up in the middle of the night thinking about what I need to do -- what notecards need to be produced and then studied, lectures to pour over and previewed. I've resiste...

First, let me address some of the concerns sent to me about my last blog post. Considering I've yet to study the GI tract of a demon, I don't know what kind of gas would be most prevalent in it's flatulence. For those of you who said that it is mostly likely methane, just like most mammals, I would argue that there is a good chance that sulfur may be in larger concentrations. Either way, it would have to be a fairly potent fart to allow a proper explosion to occur in the engine. Maybe the little guy just blew some air in my fuel line, perhaps we can just leave it at that? I'm very particular concerning pens and pencils. I don't use wooden pencils, and the mechanical pencils that I use are Zebra m-301 0.5mm . I can't go to the store and buy another type, as I feel as if I've properly explored the mechanical pencil market and made the appropriate choice. When it comes to pens, I allow a wider variety but there are some I just can't stand. The Sharpie br...

A period of my life of many firsts. Today was my first med school exam. I was up at 5:30, the coffee pot was going and I even made some breakfast (other than instant oatmeal) and I was feeling good about things. I figured I was gonna get to school early and get settled in and make sure the test taking software was working properly on my laptop, so I head out the door a little earlier than normal. Key inserted in ignition, key turned, and . . . something, but not everything you need for the engine to start. The battery was fine, the starter was trying it's best, but there was no fuel to burn in the internal chamber of the engine. Never before in 4 and a half years has the trusty Subaru not started when asked. Not even once. And today is the day its gonna pull this!? Thankfully my wife was still at home and her Camry didn't let me down, so I made it just fine to school, but still, not a good way to start the process of getting in the right mind-set. I took the test and I am, ...

Our first test is this coming Monday. The test is only 10% of our overall grade this semester, but I, and many of my peers are really getting worked up over this. Granted, much of it is because it is the first one. But I can't help thinking that in undergrad, as long as I had been keeping up (which I've been trying to do here, but with less success and much more effort) I would have no problem. I didn't ace every test in undergrad, but if there was one I needed to kill, I'd come in and destroy it. All I can think of is this: lack of planning is planning to fail. So, I'll keep this posting short. I was noticing my hands today. In the span of less than two months my hands have gone from moderately callused to soft and relatively supple. I still have man hands, but compared to when I was roasting thousands of pounds of coffee per week and making hundreds of lattes per week, my hands are starting to look like the hands of a doctor. I'm very happy about this. Whe...

The beginning of week 3 of med school is upon me. To be fair, the first week was full of congratulatory pats on the back and clapping -- and last week we had Tuesday off from classes, as it was the Fast of Tish'a B'av. So, this coming week is the first full week. Already I've come close to completely dissecting the thorax and back of a cadaver. I've been in OMM labs nearly naked with a fellow student doctors touching and looking for bony landmarks in regions not often touched or felt between the closest of friends. So far everything has been really positive between classmates, but our first exam is next Monday (a week from tomorrow) and I think that people will have a little bit of a reality check. I've seen many people looking for cohorts to go drinking and exploring the area, which is understandable at this point and due to the fact we live in the Bay area, with so much to offer. In fact, people have been so supportive with supplemental material and offering h...