Holiday Ski Trip

After a Christmas with minimal flurries only in special parts of Boston, I went on a family trip in search of snow.  There, I played some aggressive cards to make up for the last half of a year.  Some skiing on slushy snow happened followed by skiing on icy snow on day 2 (big dip in temperature).  Of course, few posts of mine are ever complete without mentioning food, so there is the obligatory picture of the delicious hot-pot dinner that we had on day 2.

Some snow on the ground.  Some snow from the sky.

Boston Foods

As wonderful as the food is in LA, I have mentally been compiling a list of foods that I missed eating ever since I left Boston.

My first stop was at Japonaise, the French-Japanese patisserie, in Brookline. How I have missed the butter rolls, the custard pudding, and the Japonaise (green tea mousse cake), as clearly evidenced by the inability to resist taking a bite prior to pictures.  The green latte has also been missed, although I do make it for myself many mornings.  However, I use 2% milk at home, so the occasional whole milk version is quite an indulgence (for my taste buds).  I am not sure that my pancreas agrees (more lipase please!), but I just think of it like a challenge.  I am no longer that drawn to the mochi ice cream since I know that I can order them directly from the same factory. 

Do you hear the food angels singing in praise?  If not, maybe you need a Rinne test.

NYC is The City

After a quick stopover in DC to see Grandma, it was time to hit the city, New York City.  This trip was my first time riding Megabus, which gets a plus for free WiFi and a minus for a pretty horrible bathroom.

Upon arrival, my cousin and two of her friends took me to ABC Kitchen, which is interestingly enough part of the ABC furniture store in both a financial and a physical sense.  The decor is has a Gothic theme but is spacious enough that it was not tacky.

Block 2 Exams

The lead up to these exams were much smoother than Block 1.  I have been studying using flashcards throughout the block.  However, the block exam is, as foretold, much more case-based than Block 1 exams.  I didn't discover this wonder until a week prior to exams, so that was a bit unfortunate.  I think next block, as opposed to reviewing lectures and key physiology in our weekly Friday afternoon group session, taking cases from this book will be more useful.

So much lost time...

MSTP Applicant Recruitment

It's hard to believe, but more than a year has passed since I was in the throes of putting together my applications to MD/PhD programs.  Now, I am experiencing the interview process from the perspective of a first-year student.  In fact, I am helping to organize all of our pre-interview casual get-togethers between the applicants and first years. 

After having successfully hosted three of the five sessions, I have learned a few things about myself.

Thanksgiving weekend

Thanksgiving week(end) at Auntie's was awesome!

I actually attended our Monday and Tuesday lectures this week as to not have to play podcast catch-up.  It was okay, but I didn't like how I couldn't make flashcards as fast as I wanted due to the lack of a pause/replay button. 

Neurology Mixer

Last night, the Neurology and Neurosurgery interest groups hosted a joint mixer for students and UCLA neurologists.  The chair of the neurology department was there briefly at the beginning and seems like a person who loves his job and has personal flair (read: charisma).  The two MD neurologists I talked to were both spending significant time doing research.  One was an ALS specialist and the other worked on neuromuscular disease therapy.  There was a third neurologist who was working part-time that I didn't get a chance to talk to before the evening was over. 

The ALS specialist received her MD training in Germany and then came to the UCLA to do research.  It was through that research project on ALS that she found her niche.  From then out, she did a residency in neurology.  Now, she sees patients about 20% of the time in her ALS clinic and does research on better understanding the range of ALS progression and on therapies to improve prognosis.  The neuromuscular neurologist spent more time in the clinic.  He researches the mechanisims of how Botulinum toxin improves muscular spasms at the neuromuscular junction.  He considered ophthalmology and neurology residencies but settled on neurology after clinical rotations.

The tone of the group was quite different from that of the Geriatics interest group meeting.  The neurologist were more hip.  However, they also seemed much more stressed.  I didn't find this session as helpful since these neurologists were so far removed from where I am in the process of figuring out specialization.  In addition, the neurologists I talked to were both in the neuromuscular subdepartment of neurology, which gave me an idea of what that particular niche is like at UCLA but not much a big picture.

Tea Tasting

Sometimes, a Saturday morning is meant for relaxation and enjoyment of life.  Today, a friend and I went to Valen Dolce in Santa Monica for a tea tasting. 

From left to right: Earl Grey Creme, Jasmine Rose, and Guava Ginger (white tea).

dineLA 2011 summary

The past two weeks have been dineLA, which is the equivalent of Boston's Restaurant Week.  What better time to visit some expensively priced and well known restaurants?  There were three planned outings.  Most of the MSTP year ones attended one event.  However, only myself and one other showed true dedication in attending all three!  Here are the results...

Birthday weekend extravaganza

This was an exciting weekend of fun and family.

First, Mom is finally here in LA to see me, which is the best birthday gift.  We had happy snuggly time all weekend long.  Here is some proof...

Block 1 Exams

Leading up the exams, this is how it ran:

Week 1 - 3: La la la, we have block exams?
Week 4: Oh CRAP, we have block exams!  How do I study for this thing that I don't know anything about?  
Week 5: Maybe I will just reread my notes...
Week 6: Nothing is staying in my brain!  I'm going to quit med school!
Week 7: Some flashcards and a five-hour group review later, survival is now a possibility.
Week 8: FLASHCARDS of doom and a second five-hour group review.

And now, it is over. 

Wellness Dinner

Tonight, we had our first wellness meeting.  We began with a large group meeting with roughly half of the class before splitting into our individual teams.  In teams of roughly 8 people and one advisor, we discusses how we wanted to participate in the 7 Cs.  Our advisor is a physician who just finished her peds residency and enjoys hiking.  She seems really open to participating in our events and giving out advice.

The 7 Cs are:
Career
Conciousness (this refers to meditation and introspection, not the state of not being passed out)
Community
Culture
Cuisine
Collaboration (hanging out with people not in our Wellness team)
Cardio

We hope to hit Culture/Collaboration/Cuisine in November or December by watching Wicked.  :)

Go Team Papaya!

Forays into the kitchen

So, apparently recipe books are useful for a reason.  And so is experimentation.

This is my take on a seafood gratin with matcha sauce.  

white-fish gratin with matcha sauce

Food therapy

What is the best way to rewind after a week of hard classes and a little sickness?  Food, of course!

Today, I had late lunch at Rocksugar Pan Asian Kitchen Restaurant at Westfield Century City.  The decor had a Thai flavor.  I was seated on the balcony next to the man-made waterfall.  Seating-wise, I enjoyed having the sound of water flow and the open air; however, since the balcony overlooks Santa Monica Blvd., traffic sounds can occasionally disturb the mood.

A rock at Rocksugar.

Politics

The beginning of the first year of medical school is not just about finding your place in a new social group or figuring how much studying is necessary.  It is politics.  Now that we have completed elections for the MD class, which was a decent enough balance between a popularity contest (do I even know and like this person?) and competency (do I trust them to do their job and promote our agenda), the MSTP class is in government mode.

multi-programs mixers

Today was the Weyburn Hop.  Essentially, various (biology) PhD students offer to host for a certain amount of time each (in today's case, 4 places of 45 minutes each) as the party moves from one apartment to the next.  Hosts offer a drink of their choice as a social lubricant, and the conversation flows.

It was a lot of fun to meet non-MD and non-MD/PhD students.  Most of the students were first year PhD candidates in some biology related field.  There were also two law students.  I didn't meet any business students.  I definitely enjoyed myself.  I learned more about life as a PhD student or a law student and enjoyed a great sangria.

All in all, a successful and relaxing Friday night prior to a (potentially) all day review extravaganza on Saturday.

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday
I tried to make flan for the first time today with the following ingredients: 1 cup sugar, 3 large eggs, 14 oz. condensed sweetened milk, and 13 oz. evaporated non-fat milk.  The result (after 60 instead of 45 minutes of baking at 350F) was a gooey mess that TASTED like super-sweet flan, but was totally the wrong consistency.  My conclusion is that the eggs were not large enough and that less sweetened condensed milk relative to regular milk is better.  The recipe also made enough for roughly 5-6 people with my level of sugar tolerance, so probably 7-8 normal human beings.  (And as I learned in class, normal being the top of the bell curve of 70% surveyed.)

I had a headache all day (caffein-addiction predisposition is showing after having morning tea everyday this week), so only some reviewing got done.  On a more productive note, I cleaned the stove, vacuumed the floors, and did several loads of laundry so that I can study in a happier environment during the rest of the weekend.

Some days are meant for sleeping

Labor Day weekend Friday started off on a low note.

The night before I set my alarm for pm instead of am.  It was only thanks to my roommate washing her dishes that I woke up roughly 25 minutes prior to the start of class.  (For reference, I usually leave my apartment 30 minutes prior to the start of my classes so that I can be there at least ten minutes early.)  While freaking out, I quickly (and at sub-dentist-approved-level) brushed my teeth.  Then, I frantically collected my Greek yogurt, squirted in some honey, and added some Ma'cha.  (remainder rated PG-13 for some blood)

Geriatric Interest Group Meeting

Today was the first meeting for the Geriatric Interest Group.

first MSTP speaker

Dr. Radu was the first MSTP speaker for our mandatory research series.  The afternoon was well spent drinking boba tea while reading his papers, allowing for active participation during the talk.  The talk itself not only dealt with new unpublished data following the published materials, but also focused on the path that Dr. Radu took in getting to the current stage of being part of a translational lab.  It was part scientific and part career development.  If all of the talks are going to be like this, I am happy to give up most of my Monday evenings.

Hollywood Bowl: Fantasia

Thanks to Auntie for getting me out of med school bubble today.  While I was initially worried about going and nearly changed my mind since it was an intense week of embryology, by the time we got to the Fantasia concert, I was so excited to be doing non-MD stuff.

Doctoring I

Today, I was the very first student in our Doctoring (how to make patients comfortable while getting information) class to interview a standarized patient.

My patient was a 20 year old male with complaints of sore throat and mild fever.  The interview started out with him giving one word answers and leaning back in a disengaged manner.  It was a process which ended with covering most of the medical history and also history of present illness with some hopping around to fill in the blanks (need more practice!).  I was most proud of how we were actually have a conversation at the end, with a little bit of laughter and chatting.  I was happy to see that he was sitting forward, volunteering information, and making his visit easier for the both of us.  Patient review mentioned that he felt comfortable and that I was very invested in his care (super proud!).

Picking a speciality

So, there is this Careers in Medicine website that we are suppose to find useful.  It was.  First of all, I learned that Geriatric Medicine falls under Family Practice.  Uh...so no research, so no.

Then, I did all these personality/skills/values/etc tests.  It turns out that maybe I won't go into Neurology after all...

Food for one, food for all

In addition to an exciting first week of med school, this week proved to me how little tolerance I have for eating out continuously at cafeterias, fast food joints, and food trucks.  It is not that the food was particularly bad, but neither were they particularly good.  My GI tract was unhappy with the lack of homemade or gourmet foods. 

So I attempted to remedy this problem with dessert on Thursday at Mousse Fantasy/Beard Papa's on Sawtelle. While the red bean mousse turned out to complement the green tea mousse well, it was too sweet. The custard pudding tasted just like Purin (プリン), it, much like the green tea mousse, was unnecessarily sweetened by a layer of cream on top. I ended up leaving more of the cream layer and the whipped cream.  In conclusion, for the price, these desserts did not meet my requirements.  The store also did not have mochi ice cream at this particular branch, which was super disappointing.

Japanese desserts.

Medical School Week 0

Introductory week is over.  The results are:

1) Problem Based Learning is a beautiful thing.
2) More than a thousand dollars poorer.
3) Can now carry around fancy medical equipment.

Diagnostic, blood pressure, and neurology...what's missing?

4) Can now not know how to use said fancy medical equipment.

Last weekend of hurrah!

Medical school orientation starts Monday.  So this weekend was quite action-packed.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) was the outing event of this past Friday.

The museum is composed of several connected buildings.

The end of a great rotation

Alas, it is the end of a great rotation.

Yes. It is this easy to make me happy.

As I say goodbye (for now) to the lab members over our Friday afternoon snack, I can say that even though the construct portion of the rotation did not advance at all much, I still learned a bunch of valuable fly skills.

Fly brains! (Not an afternoon snack.)

Wholesome Foods for a Wholesome Person

What's better than making a ton of delicious food on a Sunday afternoon?  Knowing that you get to eat it right after.

A nice relaxed Sunday morning, then some food shopping and making.  Life is really about this.

Getty Villa

LA has some great museums. The Getty Villa is one of them. Tickets are free but need to be reserved in advance. Parking is $15 per car.

The villa itself is not large, but has some amazingly detailed architecture and a great outdoor pool garden. A great place for a photoshoot.

Shortest Presentation Ever

Yesterday, I gave my shortest scientific presentation ever during lab meeting.

Slide 1: method part 1
Slide 2: method part 2
Slide 3: OMG, WE TRIED ALL THESE THINGS BUT WHY IS IT STILL NOT WORKING???

Beverly Center

I (finally) made it to the Karen Millen in LA.  It was quite an adventure...

Harry Potter Midnight Showing

My first midnight movie has rightfully been given to the last Harry Potter premier.  Along with some other first year MSTPers, we lined up at 9pm for the 12:10am showing.  We were beaten out by a number of people, which is not surprising, since I saw two people lined up even before 9am this morning on my way to work.  With excellent company and conversation (and two large drinks of tea), time passed quickly, and soon the house lights were dimming.

Not quite a grown up, not quite a student

Working two years after college and then going back to school leaves me in this weird limbo between feeling like a contributing member of society and like a ignorant parasite of society.  A lot of this is being expressed in my daydreams about decorating my (future) house apartment.

In reality, I know that my schedule will be really busy, which translates to easy-to-clean-and-upkeep furniture.  However, too much HGTV has made me really want to create a space that expresses my personality.  Unfortunately, this does not translate to student-friendly pieces, in neither maintenance nor price.

Summer Rotation

Now that I am two weeks into my five week rotation, I am starting to get a feel for how I would fit in with the lab dynamic.  I can't say for sure that this is my thesis lab, but that is not surprising since I don't like to make decisions without trying a few options.  Part of figuring out whether I will enjoy being in the lab is observing the intellectual discourse.  Part of this involves going to lab meetings and keeping my ears open.  I also plan to attend my first journal club meeting next week.  That gives me another opportunity to feel out the lab's scientific fit while meeting other labs.  Of course, any and all interactions with lab members help me to determine how well I belong within the micro-culture.