National Student Research Forum

Oh. That's me. In front of a poster. 

I spent half of my week in (sometimes) sunny (but always hot and humid) Galveston at the National Student Research Forum. Both stressfully and luckily for me, I presented my poster right away on Thursday morning after arriving late Wednesday night. No time for nerves! I think it went alright. Here's a picture of me looking awesome in front of my poster....

We hung around for several hours to listen to some speakers and also to listen to CeCelia do her oral presentation. She is from Maine, goes to Brandeis now for her Masters degree, but spent a month in Nebraska with Dr. E doing research in the same clinic I worked in. I actually collected data for the second trial of her longitudinal study last summer while I was working in clinic. Anyway, she killed her oral presentation and I was super proud of her (Go CeCelia!).

After the speakers, we headed to Gaido's for dinner. It's a family-owned restaurant that has been in Galveston for over 100 years and it's SUPER delicious.

Cajun crawfish fondue

Goat cheese beignets

This was my meal. Grilled scallops
and blackened shrimp.

We had a breakout session on grant writing (like to the NIH) that we went to. The speaker said "The most important part of grant writing is actually writing well". And then she suggested that many of the applicants aren't able to do that and that might be why they don't get the grants. In that moment I was SO proud of my liberal arts education at Hastings College and especially proud of my degree in religion. Newsflash, science isn't everything! The humanities matter too. Later she was talking about in research they'd like you to have a straight trajectory of research interest. It's interesting to me that I have been inundated with the exact opposite information at UNMC (which is apparently not true for my Uni of Texas Med peers).

Once again, I am so proud to be part of the UNMC family.

We are good physicians, but first we are good people. We are frequently encouraged not only to do well in our course work, but also to do good within the community. To have something that makes us interesting outside of classes. Whether it's volunteering at the NE Humane Society or running marathons (PS GOOO Suzanne for rocking the Boston Marathon on Monday!) or even involvement in extracurriculars at school. And I think this is so, so, so important for taking care of patients. Just one more reason that UNMC is an amazing school!

Enough blabbering about my love for UNMC. We also headed to the beach, stopped for Rita's ice (they use margarita machines to shave ice and mix it with ice cream flavors...holy yum!) and I even did some studying by the pool. PS has anyone ever had their pen explode on them on an airplane? I have. Conveniently it was purple ink and I could not figure out how to get it off. I looked like a purple people eater during my presentation...maybe the judges thought I had a strange skin disease...?

Beach!

Water was pretty warm...
not Jamaica warm, but I didn't freeze!

Rita's shaved ice

Purple people eater...!

...or a skin disease? 

The poster. 

AMA Research Symposium

Hello all! Writing to you from a very cloudy and drizzly Maryland. Yesterday was my poster presentation. Based on how late my sleepy head slept in, I guess it exhausted me just a little! Well here are some photos of my trip! I'm SO thankful for Dr. E and my dear Uncle Dale for hanging out with me and keeping me calm when I got really nervous! I did eat a whole lot of food and I'm not sorry about it at all! Anyway, enough of me talking...pictures!  

This is the sign that my Uncle was holding when he picked us up!
The HFL is the fantasy football league that my dad (and friends) have been in since before I was born!

Singapore Rice Noodles. 

Sushi!
Spicy crunchy scallop and spicy tuna (they were serious about the spicy). 

I was gifted a sushi-making kit! 

National Harbor

National Harbor

PEEPS! 

"The Awakening" sculpture.
Yes, this is an awkward angle to take the photo, sorry about it!

"The Awakening"

Close up. "The Awakening"

It's blurry, but it's blue crab and corn chowder.
Yum!

This is about 1/8th the size it originally was, but crab cakes!

Fish tacos. 

3 berry cobbler.
It was SO big! And SO delicious!

Upside-down apple pecan pie. 

Oh here is me at my poster. It's beautiful!

This is me presenting my poster to a resident. It's a little blurry, but you get the gist!

Night two. Sushi again.
I'm not sorry about it. Judge if you want.
Eel avocado, lump meat crab, fatty tuna. 

Chocolate Fondant.
Soooooo good! Sorry about it dad (oh wait, no I'm not!)

There are still some photos floating around of all of the Nebraska AMA people and then also of Dr. E and I in front of my poster, but the is the bulk of the photos from the weekend. I'm off to Charlotte, NC in a bit and then finally on to Nebraska later tonight! What a quick and exhausting trip! I'm now going to listen to the lectures I missed while I wait for my plane. Adios for now!

Endings and Beginnings

I am forever finished with taking anatomy in medical school (I have this really odd feeling that somehow, someday I will regret saying that, but for now it's true!). It really is a wonderful feeling! I adore our professors; they are so much fun and are very knowledgable, but I can't handle smelling like formaldehyde any longer!

Just some anatomy/pop culture humor. I wish our anatomy was as easy at this! 

We are now beginning Cellular Processes (aka biochem). It's the bane of most med school students' existence. We shall see how it goes...

And now some biochem/psychology humor! Complex carbohydrates...baha how punny!

And now for other life updates...

• We've been having several long meetings about do juSTIce (the project I'm president of that works with the incarcerated population on STI education as well as chlamydia and gonorrhea screening) and planning for the future of the program. I'm SUPER JAZZED about the direction we're heading! There are great things happening in the realm of STI education and prevention in Douglas County--which is good because our rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea transmission are unreal! I have the most wonderful board working with me and incredible community partners to make these things happen for us! We've also had some really great feedback and questions from the inmates hearing the presentation, so we can use that information in future planning for the program. 
• Speaking of do juSTIce...some of the gang is presenting at an international conference this Friday about our program. Go us! The program really has made a huge impact since its inception in 2008. We are struggling to get all of our awesomeness into a short 20 minute presentation. 
• My poster was delivered for my other conference (the one I'm presenting at about Mild Cognitive Impairment in DC). It's B-E-A-UTIFUL!! I'm getting pumped/nervous for that presentation as well. I suppose I'll quit stressing quite a much about that one and get through this week...
• This week we also have our OSCE (Objectively Structured Clinical Examination). Basically it checks our understanding of the clinical skills practices. This is week 4 of 7 for tests/conferences. As soon as I finish the OSCE, I will have survived 1/2 of the crazy fall testing/presenting schedule! Thanksgiving break is coming up very quickly and I'm quite grateful! 
• I've been going to my preceptor regularly. I get to see all sorts of things this year and do more physical exams and patient interviews than I was able to last year. It's really great fun! I'm sure everyone that knows me is utterly surprised that I prefer being around people to being around books and studying...not! 
• Challenges: I finished last month's stretching for 15 minutes/day challenge. It was hard towards the end of the month to carve out that time because I was busy and tired, but I know that I always felt refreshed when I did. This month's challenge is a technology and social media fast. It's been sort of hard (sort of like going through withdrawal!) so far, but I am also plenty busy this month, so I imagine that I'll survive just fine. The silence of not having technology around you is actually quite deafening, if that makes any sense. More on that later though... 

Just a quick and dirty update of the things going on in my world. I'll keep y'all updated on how the conferences and the technology fast are going as the weeks progress! 

Update!

Lots of things have happened since the last post (yeah, it's only been a day and a half, but I've been busy!). Here are the highlights:

The fanny is such a fan of the 'Skers.

1. The fanny and I went on some adventures. First we went to the Husker game versus UCLA. It was absolutely gorgeous weather out, so that was nice! And I got to have a great time with Beau and Lauren. Then the fanny and I also went mini golfing. We did not do as poorly as expected, however we did not win. 
2. The beginning of Omaha Restaurant Week! Jackson Street Tavern is yummy. I recommend it! There's no photographic documentation of my dessert (goat cheese cheesecake) because I was too busy consuming it. ORW benefits the Food Bank of the Heartland, so it's nice to fight hunger while trying new restaurants. Tonight we are going to Plank to enjoy some seafood!
3. Speaking of fighting hunger...Congress is considering cutting benefits to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), so if you're into fighting hunger and activism, contact your representatives today and let them know you oppose the $40 billion cut. 



Appetizer: Bacon-wrapped shrimp
(minus the bacon) with grits.

4. I submitted an abstract to the AMA Student Research Symposium a month or so ago. I found out Friday night that I was accepted to do a poster presentation in DC at the conference! Hooray! It's nice that I will have something to show on my résumé for the time I took off from school. I'm still finishing up one of my papers, so maybe I'll get to present that one too sometime!

I had several other adventures this weekend, but y'all don't want to read the minute details about my life. Now off to study for a few hours... 

Entree: Salmon, rice and green beans. 

research!

I have only one more day at work and then I'll be heading back to school in Omaha. Where have the past 5 months gone?! I am so thankful to have the opportunity to do research in Hastings with some seriously wonderful people! Thanks for that Dr. E!!

This morning I submitted an abstract to a research conference in November. I sort of felt like I was submitting my AMCAS all over again based on my stress response. I guess we'll see in a month or so whether or not "Anosognosia in Patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment" gets accepted (sounds like a super exciting read, eh?).

Back to the grind with the writing of a paper on posturography...

doings

I was really doing well with the whole blogging thing on a regular basis the past few weeks. And now I've ruined that streak. Dang it. Although it's been more than a week since my last post, I actually have been quite busy in the bustling metropolis of Hastings, so maybe you'll forgive me for not prioritizing the blogging? And now, my doings:

Reading:

• An article about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) that my Uncle Dale sent me. It talks about how alcohol damages the fetal brain (duh), but also that FAS might later affect a person's life. So alcohol consumption during pregnancy affects how the corpus callosum of the brain is formed. As it turns out, the isthmus of the corpus callosum is more narrow in people with FAS. And this information is beginning to be used within the justice system (a person with FAS is then considered to have a congenital brain defect which means they are not eligible for the death penalty in many states...or all states (?)--I'm unclear on legislation in this arena). The more we learn about the brain, the more secular implication it has. Which leads me to my next bout of reading material...



Just a little light reading...

• Another something sent to me by my delightfully nerdy family members (thanks Uncle Dick!)--The Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy. Admittedly, I haven't finished all of this one yet. It's really hard to get through. I'm not sure how people find reading these case studies enjoyable. I usually end up with a slight headache after a few pages. Logic and I apparently are not best friends. This case is about brain scans (functional MRIs, etc) and their use within the justice system. It discusses moral, ethical and legal issues. That's really I know about this one cause it's currently in Hastings and I've gone back to Omaha. 
• Blogs on blogs on blogs on blogs. I'm going through a blog obsession right now. I've read too many to count. There are some seriously brilliant people out there right now writing down their thoughts. And there are some that aren't so brilliant, but that's besides the point. 
• The book "Haiti After the Earthquake" by Paul Farmer. I've read Farmer's writing before and I LOVED it. He's practically the person I want to grow up to be (well besides the being a man part). He's a physician interested in public health. AND (although, not overtly) he embodies some pretty sweet Christian ideals. Oh and he's a fabulous writer too. The book, like the other one of his I read ("Infections and Inequalities") makes me really sad and feel quite helpless about the poor of the world who have essentially no access to healthcare, education, food, etc. The situation in Haiti was dire before the earthquake and the earthquake essentially destroyed the infrastructure that they had. There's not a whole lot of resolution within the book because the writing takes place within the year immediately after the earthquake and rebuilding takes time. It's a good read though, if you're interested in healthcare. 

Writing:

• A sermon. I preached this past weekend at the Congregational Church in Hastings. It's been a year or so since I've had the preaching hat on, so it was a nice challenge and a good experience. The people over at FCUCC are seriously nice and were willing to try a few crazy things with me!
• Posturography. I started working on my second research paper a bit more. 
• Mild Cognitive Impairment. Just putting the finishing touches on that bad boy!
• My blog...well obviously, you're reading it!

Watching:

• This Ted video...watch it. NOW. No single human should be able to make all of those sounds with their mouth! Tom Thumb, you rule!
• Listen to Your Heart. It's on Netflix. The premise is that a song writer falls in love with someone who is deaf. One of the side stories is that she ends up getting cochlear implants. The movie was close to my heart because my dad has been severely hard of hearing my entire life and will likely end up with cochlear implants at some point in the (probably) not so distant future. The actress that played the deaf girl was incredible! That's not a dialect that easily reproducible. Watch the video, but be forewarned that you'll probably need some tissues (especially you, Joe Ritzy).

Eating:

• Tsno. Tropical sno is a summer rite of passage in Hastings! Mmmmm
• Sweet corn. Yep, I'm a Nebraska girl at heart! Love me some fresh corn-on-the-cob!
• Back Alley Bakery. Lunch twice, pizza/dinner once. Yep, I'm obsessed!
• Dally's Deli. I don't think any trip to Hastings is complete without some Dally's!

Listening:

• I've spent the past few days getting caught up on things in Things That Matter land. They've had some AWESOME episodes this summer! Diana Butler Bass rocks my world. And Rachel Kurtz as the new musician?! I'm absolutely in favor of this! You can also catch up with TTM land at http://thingsthatmatterland.com/. 
• Oliver Sacks on Radio Lab (have I ever mentioned that I'm a nerd?). For those of you who don't know, Oliver Sacks is a neurologist and an author. His books include "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat" and "Awakenings" (among several others). Well anyway, his birthday was recently and so they celebrated it on RadioLab (podcast from NPR). You should watch the movie "Awakenings" if you haven't already! He's done some awesomeness in the field of neurology. Happy Birthday Oliver! 

As you can see, I've been busy over the past week or so. Sorry for being such a failure at blogging! 

Do you need new shoes?

It's the middle of May and I've only written one blog post for the month. I really am slacking on this thing. Sorry about that. Even though I'm not in school (and neither are my friends...yay summer break!) I have been keeping extremely busy lately.

I've started collecting data for the second research study I'm working on. This study is a longitudinal study about Parkinson's disease and how a person's emotional well-being affects the progression of the disease. The third study will likely start data collection next week. It's about whether or not the dizzy clinic survey that the office is using is an effective tool to screen for patients who could benefit from further testing for balance issues (whether they are muscular, neurologic, inner ear, etc).

Getting things in order for data collection has been hectic and a bit stressful, but also really fun. I'm definitely enjoying seeing patients and talking with them though!

Outside of work/research, I've been keeping busy now that my friends are out of classes for the summer. We've gone to the zoo, had some BBQs and recently toured the Lauritzen Gardens to see the traveling Lego exhibit. Below are just a few pictures of the adventures.

I was struggling to get on the gorilla.
My poor legs weren't long enough!

He was trying to impress me. 

Baby African lion cubs!

Sharks!
Gooooo Dad

Lego hummingbird and flower.

Lego frog and lily pad

real tulips!

Lego rose

I'm really thankful for the beautiful weather that we've been experiencing! I'm hopeful that July and August won't me too miserable on the humidity front (wishful thinking, at best). 

I was lucky enough to see one of my favorite (not so little anymore) little girls in her dance recital last weekend. Miss Sophia has truly become a gorgeous little ballerina. I'm looking forward to causing shenanigans with Miss Sophia and Miss Olivia this weekend when we get to hang out again (no parents allowed!). I can't even imagine what adventures we will have (although I'm hoping for some running through sprinklers and a dance party)!!

Oh and an update from the last post...the 140th anniversary celebration last Sunday at First Lutheran Church, ELCA here in Omaha was awesome! Our small, but mighty choir produced some incredibly beautiful sounds! I'm so happy I was able to be part of it. 

That's probably enough of a random update. I'm hoping to get something more of a medicine-related post up sometime this week. Until then, I bid you g'day!

I'll leave you with this gem. It describes my life to a "t".

Miscellaneous

There have been so many things going on lately that don't really fall into a specific category. I'm not really sure they fall into my journey of becoming a healthcare professional either, but they are still things that I want to write about. So here's a post about the miscellaneous things in my life.

Taize. I've written about Taize before (cliff notes version: Taize is a ecumenical monastic community in the Burgundy region of France. The worship style popularized there is filled with silence and meditative musical chanting). I adore that place so stinkin' much. Among plenty of awesome things, you get chocolate sandwiches for breakfast. So. Awesome! I was hoping to make it back to France this summer, but alas, I am too sick to travel abroad. Well anyway, Brother Emile from Taize is in the US for a few months to prepare for a retreat of sorts that will be over Memorial Day weekend.

And now I finally am getting to my point...my good friends at the UNL Lutheran Center had a Taize worship service last week and invited Brother Emile to join them. It was really nice to have a mid-week reminder to slow down and be present in the moment. Taize is always refreshing and renewing to my spirit!

Brother Emile gave a little homily during the service and brought up an incredible point. He talked about another brother, Brother Roger, who was the founder of the Taize community. Brother Roger loved statements that were incomplete; statements that ended with ellipses. The one he talked about in particular, which I am continuing to consider was, "If you begin with a trusting heart, then...". If I began my decision-making process about medical leave with a trusting heart, how would it have been different? If we begin with a trusting heart when we approach those that are different from ourselves, how would our interactions be different? If we began with a trusting heart, maybe we wouldn't stereotype people as terrorists. If we began with a trusting heart...

I challenge each of you to begin each of your future encounters and decisions with a trusting heart. It may seem naïve, but in reality it's radically wise. And it's so hard to do.

Choir. Well I haven't officially sung for any reason in several years, but the church I'm currently attending is having a big celebration this month in honor of their 140th year as a congregation (holy moley, 140 years is a LONG time!). And so they've asked me to join them in the choir to sing a cantata. It's been fun to be in rehearsal again and it's nice to meet different people in the church.

Alice in Wonderland. This past weekend I went to an incredible ballet performance of "Alice in Wonderland" with a few of my friends from my med school class. My dance teacher was actually the lead, so it was fun to see her really dance in a context outside of the studio. Watching everyone on stage got me really amped up about my recital. It's been over a year since the last time I performed anywhere.

AIDS Walk. Megan, her boyfriend, and I went to the Omaha Nebraska AIDS Project AIDS Walk this weekend. It was a MUCH longer walk than any of us expected...we actually walked all the way to Iowa! I've been involved with the walk in some context since my sophomore year in high school--many of those years helping to plan it--so it was a little bit weird to just show up and walk with no other responsibilities  The weather was GORGEOUS, which made it all the more enjoyable.

Research. I've finished the first rough draft of the introduction and methods section of one of the papers I'm working on. As it turns out, I still am excellent at procrastinating writing when I feel like it. But I think that what I have is actually pretty good. I'm not looking to publish this study, but at the very least, it's good practice for the ones we're hoping to publish!

SMDEP. I can't actually remember if I've written about this yet, but I will be a TA for a summer program for undergraduate students that are hoping to get into med school. We had an organizational meeting for all of the TAs and RAs this week. I'm getting excited for the students to get here! It means spending my summer in Sorrell (I may grow to resent this place someday...), but it should still be plenty of fun!

Celebrate Sound Walk. My parents are coming up to Omaha this weekend and we will all be walking in the "Celebrate Sound"walk. For those of you who don't know, my dad is well on his way towards being deaf (what did you say...I couldn't hear you?). We've been involved as a family in a service organization that specifically caters to those who are deaf and/or hard of hearing since before I was born (my first actual meeting was when I was like a week old!), so we'll be walking to raise awareness and some dollars for the cause. I haven't seen many of the Sertoma gang in several years, so it'll be good to see some of them again!

Wow, there have been quite a few things going on lately. Sorry for the randomness of the post, but I suppose that's how life goes. I'm looking forward to next week when all of my classmates are done with classes and can actually be fun people again (as opposed to book worms)! There may even be a zoo trip in my future as long as the weather cooperates!

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...

my reality.

I've sat in front of my computer for almost an hour trying to figure out how to start this blog post. It's actually causing some bad flashbacks of writing papers for undergrad where I could never figure out how to start. I'm just struggling to find the words right now.

So here goes...

As many of you know, I've been sick off and on this year. Well actually, mostly "on." I've been more sick than I let on to most people. Until recently, I've even been more sick than I let myself realize.

Within the past 6 months, I've been diagnosed with two autoimmune disorders. I've battled several complications with each throughout the process of diagnosis and the beginning of treatment, all the while trying to go to classes and study.

I'm not going to lie, it's been really rough. Some days I feel 100% and want to conquer the world; others make me feel as though I'm sinking in quicksand and the only thing I can accomplish for the whole day is rolling out of bed and showering before I head directly back to bed for a nap.

This is my current reality. It's neither good nor bad (okay, it's definitely a little bad), but it's real. At this point, it doesn't make sense to continue fighting my body about the healing process, so I've decided to take off the remainder of the year on medical leave. Due to the timing of when I started leave, I will have to repeat the entire M1 year beginning again in August.

I can't say that this is ever how I imagined my first year of med school going, but this is the way it is. I am really fortunate to be receiving some of the best medical care in the entire state (hooray for going to school across the street from an INCREDIBLE medical institution!) and I have the most supportive friends and family who have helped me immensely over the past 8 months.

I wouldn't say that I'm necessarily excited for the opportunity to do the entire year over (who really would want to re-listen to 92 hours of biochem lectures?), but there are plenty of good things that are going to come from this less-than-optimal situation. I have met some of the most awesome people this year and had some great experiences, I get the chance to meet an entire new class of awesome people. I get the chance to learn all of the M1 material in a depth that I could have never achieved because of being sick. While I heal, I have the opportunity to do some clinical research part-time, which is seriously awesome because it's research and I will still get some patient interaction.

I'm currently in a state of both joy and mourning over this decision. It's kind of an odd place to be, but I know that, ultimately, I can't work towards healing others, if I, myself, am not well.

I got this fortune when I was home a few weeks ago. I think reading it was
actually the moment I made my decision about medical leave.