Year Two

It has been a minute since I posted anything on here! Let me recap the Summer...

I was given the opportunity to work in Philadelphia during the summer in the STEP-UP research program funded by the NIH. It was a great experience overall and I am very happy I did it because it gave me the flexibility to travel a bit as well as work and add to my CV. Considering this was my last summer, I am pretty happy with how it turned out!

In July, my person moved halfway across the country. So instead of wallowing, I spent the 4th with family in Arlington, VA and loved every minute :) Returning to work was not fun after pooltime and nap time every day! 

I worked until the first of August when I went to Kansas City, MO for the American Academy of Family Physicians National Conference. I went with a classmate (we are co-presidents of the Family Medicine Interest Group at our school) and we stayed outside the city at our other classmate's house. It was an awesome experience! The conference was cool and we have a bunch of ideas about how to get 1st year students excited about Fam Med and primary care. Hanging out with Max and his family was awesome - super nice and welcoming. Loved it. 

From Kansas City, I flew two more states over to Utah! I was only there for 6 days but it was a good visit. Saw two of my best friends a lot and got to spend lots of time with family, which is something I am seriously learning the value of being so far from home. 

I flew back to Philly from SLC and two days later started my second year of medical school at Temple University School of Medicine! I made it through the first week (barely)! I am so excited for this year to get underway - the focus of our curriculum is pathological states of everything so we learn the cool diseases an how to diagnose, treat, or manage them. 

At the end of this school year I am taking the first medical licensing exam and moving to Pittsburgh where I will be completing my clinical years of medical school. I can't believe how much has happened in just one year and how much I have learned in school and about myself. School makes everything else seem trivial but luckily I am living with two if my best friends this year (and Morty of course) so we will all pull through together. 

So that's it! You will be hearing more from me this year I hope :)

hasta pronto
L

At the Jersey Shore before moving day

Who is the real alpha?

I wanted to study. Morty had other ideas for what I should be doing.

Winner

A Circle for Valentine's Day

This story begins with me.

To get a better idea of what medicine is like in practice, I started shadowing several in the Salt Lake Valley.

This led me to the man seen below, Dr. Louis Borgenicht

  

"Dr. Lou", as he is known by his patients, is a pediatrician in private practice on 900 E 200 S. I shadowed him a handful of times and got a good dose of what I look for in a physician - using physical medicine. Dr. Lou is old-school in the best way. He doesn't jump to tests that are unnecessary, he uses experience and H&P to treat his patients, all of which love him. As I was talking with him, he recommended a book to me:

 

This book.

This book is amazing. It rang so true with everything I saw in El Salvador, about the coupling of poverty and poor health, and it inspired me to do more good as I returned to El Salvador in 2011. It follows Dr. Paul Farmer in his quest for equality and access in global medicine. It influenced me in both my essays and interviews for medical school in the fall/winter of 2011. Which led me:

 

Here, to Temple University School of Medicine. Where I study, learn, and am tested every day with something new and fascinating. Yesterday while I was waiting to enter my OSCE exam, I read an announcement on one of the many electronic bulletin boards in our beautiful building. An announcement that Dr. Paul Farmer would be the speaker for the annual AOA conference. 

 

 

     This is Dr. Farmer. He revolutionized treatment protocols of HIV/AIDS, MDRTB, and other illnesses of global public health. I have counted him as one of my heroes since I started reading about him, which was after a suggestion from Dr. Lou, who I had shadowed to get a better idea of medicine was like. It is always interesting to see how things will come full circle in our lives. I am so excited to hear Dr. Farmer speak that I almost can't take it. 

Just one more reason why I love my path, I love my school, and I love medicine. 

Happy Valentine's Day.