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.