Residency Symposium.

Last weekend (and this week!) was a busy one and that's why I'm just now getting around to writing a blog about it.

We had the memorial service for the families of the people who donated their bodies for us to use during anatomy. It was done well. It was nice to see all of the families and friends that were affected by our very first patients, our very best teachers.

On Saturday was the Residency Symposium that the AMA puts on at UNMC every other year. It was pretty overwhelming. For anyone that knows me even a little bit, you'll know that I tend to get myself over-involved. The morning lectures were all about building your résumé by getting involved in different extracurriculars. Unfortunately it made me feel like I wasn't involved enough (but let's be honest, that couldn't be further from the truth) and that I'd never get into a residency program. I can only imagine how my classmates were feeling as the end of the school year was looming over their heads with finals and a paper left to write. As bummed as I am to not be in school right now, I have to say that it's really nice not to be stressed to the max currently.

Throughout the afternoon at the symposium, we had small groups with different specialities to learn all about their residency training. I went to the med-peds (you get board certified in both internal medicine and pediatrics), neurology and infectious disease talks. They were pretty great, although I have to admit that they pushed me back towards wanting to go into neurology more than anything. We shall see...who knows what the future holds.

No one can predict where healthcare will be in the next 10-15 years, so it was sort of hard to give us cold, hard facts about what to expect. I personally find this unknown exciting, but I'm sure that many others find it frustrating and annoying. The one thing that we do know, is that how we practice medicine and how we train our doctors is changing.

There is all sorts of research and talk about changing the way in which we train future medical professionals. There are several residency programs that are moving more towards a skill-based assessment of residents instead of a temporally based one. Eventually this shift will work its way down to medical schools too. Eventually the way students learn in the pre-clinical years will be different too. Medicine is reforming. And it's about time. We have taught our doctors in the same manner for 100 years now. And medicine is vastly different now than it was in the early 1900s.

I was a speaker earlier this spring who told us that the only thing you have to do to become a doctor is to stay out of trouble and pass 6 large multiple choice exams (MCAT, USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK, USMLE Step 2 CS, USMLE Step 3, and your respective boards), but that we have doctors who are terrible clinicians because they haven't learned all of the skills they need to by the time they finish their residency or they struggle interacting with humans. There was an interesting article in the Times about this earlier this spring.

So all in all, the residency symposium was good, albeit overwhelming. I know now what things I need to work on still to make my application all the more strong. Lucky for me, I have a whole extra year to make and implement those changes!

research

Well I've started a lit review and worked a little bit with the data for my first research project over the past few weeks. The purpose of the study was to see if people with mild cognitive impairment (like in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease) had any idea of their deficits and to find a good tool for clinicians to use to screen patients. There's quite a bit of literature out right now on the topic actually. I'm coming into the study after the data collection, so now I'm just trying to figure out what the data is telling us. So far, I don't really have any results, but hopefully I will soon!

Obviously the night wouldn't have been complete
without an awkward prom picture with my
 beautiful date/roommate, Megan!

This week has been quite the busy one! It all started last weekend with medical school prom. Yes, you did read that right. We had prom.

And it was awesome! I had a wonderful time going out to dinner and dancing the night away with my friends.

This week I also headed down to Lincoln (the NE state capital), to lobby with the legislature for a couple of bills that a group at the med center had decided we were passionate about. Medicaid expansion was being debated that day on the floor, so it was very interesting to hear both sides of the argument. The bills we specifically talked about were increased cigarette tax, comprehensive sexuality education in schools (if you know me, you know that I'm very obviously passionate about this issue!), the anti-discrimination bill based on sexual orientation and marital status, and increased funding for the university system.

It was a good time! It was nice to be able to stay in the state and feel like my voice was heard. Actually, I definitely felt like my voice was more clearly heard than it was when I went to DC in undergrad to talk about sex ed. Part of that may have been because I was associated with a graduate school program at UNMC and some of that may have just been because my local senator is WAY cooler/nicer than the guy I talked with in DC.

This weekend should be a busy one too. Tonight we have the memorial service for the families of our cadavers from anatomy. Tomorrow is a residency symposium that UNMC puts on every few years. I will be going to sessions about neurology, infectious diseases and pediatrics, I think. I'm sure there will be an overwhelming amount of information and I'll probably just start freaking out about not being able to get into a residency program, but hopefully it's helpful information! Another blog update to come after the craziness of the weekend...

Notice the pause.

Sorry about the lack of postage in the past few weeks. Even though I'm no longer in school (for the time being), I've actually been quite busy! More on that a little later though.

Lately I've been listening to this guided meditation that focuses on breathing. It talks about the pause that we have between breaths when we are breathing deeply. After listening to this several times, I realized that my life is currently in the pause.

The pause is a great place to be, really. It's the in-between place. The moment of calm between the turbulent exhale and the brisk inhale. During this pause, the body is still functioning; homeostasis is occurring. Life goes on.

Right now, I'm between things. Between my M1 years. Between bouts of healthy remission of disease. Between the exhale and the next inhale. But I'm still functioning! I'm working several days a week in Hastings and I've started working on a research project.  I've also been quite busy with the Do JuSTIce program. As of this week, I officially took over as the UNMC President of the program. It's the program that goes into Douglas County Department of Corrections and tests/treats for chlamydia and gonorrhea. I've still been going to dance class several times a week. I also am involved with the group that is lobbying with NE senators on issues of healthcare. And last, but certainly not least, I've been focused on getting healthy (which really does take more energy than one might imagine). Homeostasis is occurring; life is going on.

Tomorrow is another sushi night (yay!) and Saturday is our medical school prom. I have a stunningly hot date (Megan!) and am excited to wear a fancy dress and hang out with my friends. This weekend I will also get to see my wonderful god-kiddos, Danni and John, when my family celebrates a belated Easter. Homeostasis is occurring; life is going on.

Notice your pause. Live fully in each moment. Focus on your breathing.