Oh The Glories of Living in the 3rd World...

So my dearest mother sent me a package two weeks ago via Express delivery through the US Postal Service. Last Monday, Wednesday and Friday I harassed my school's mailroom clerks to find the package. No package.
Yesterday I find out that the package, containing my favorite blue cardigan, is currently sitting somewhere in the Dominican Republic. Yes. Not the ISLAND OF DOMINICA, the Dominican Republic. Thanks USPS for being so incompetent.

Random thought of the day:
Talked to my dearest friend Eileen who is a fellow crazy adventure woman like me and is working on a Masters in Ecology in Europe. She is currently in Germany after spending the last semester in the Netherlands.
After our conversation I sent her a <3 emoticon. I was then saddened by the fact that there are no LUNG emoticons available. I just finished the cardio unit. An animated set of lungs would be way more relevant right now.

That is all for now :D

More to come later...

The Social Life of a Medical Student: Observations

Since I have some more time to blog and reflect I have come to make some new observations about the social interactions of medical students. It must be the anthropologist in me--the one who could have steered me towards a PhD in this discipline years ago--but I am constantly observing how people interact with each other. As a rule I am very open-minded in who I keep company with and try my best not to discriminate or judge my acquaintances. Sometimes I think this stems from the charming, extrovert side of my personality, other times I think it has more to do with evolution. But that's the biologist in me. In any case, I have noticed that many of my peers are a bit...how to put it lightly...socially dysfunctional.

Case 1: When I had Facebook there was a woman in my class who used to randomly comment on my wall. Had I ever interacted with her in the real world? No. I found this to be quite awkward because she seemed to be befriending me purely through social media and I wasn't sure how to interact with her social situations. Making these transitions from social media to the real world is awkward at best. I think somebody should publish an article about this phenomenon.

Case 2: I realize that we work hard (the second semesters especially) and deserve to unwind but partying and drinking to excess when you are 23 or 24 and on the path to an MD seems a bit immature. If no one has realized this already, the commitment of medical school causes people in our age demographic to mature exponentially over the years. A 23 year old medical student has the equivalent intellectual maturation, inner-drive and lame social life of any 30+ year old. :) We often complain about how we are "throwing" away our Prime years (our 20s) to the evil beast that is medical school. A common theme is: "But I'm in medical school, I don't have time to date!" "It's okay honey, medical school can be your lover."

Although I often wonder if having a significant other in your class is such a bad idea. I mean think about it. It's like having a 24 hour study-buddy, emotional and intellectual support, and most importantly someone to cook 50% of the time when you are cramming for the next Mini. It does sound great and strangely not One couple failed out or is having to repeat this semester. Hmm...


Okay back to reality...
I have realized that maintaining basic friendships is even difficult. It's quite sad really. You might run into a friend while going back to your apartment for a quick lunch/study break or in the library but the likelihood of every actually spending quality time with that person is slim. Is this the reality of the real world of "grown ups"? Is this what people in corporate America experience every day? Surely people hang out with their co-workers once and a while, even if it is to grab a beer after work. A suggestion of this sort would receive a laugh and a "uhh maybe Saturday? If I'm caught up for the week? Although I am working that clinic at 7 a.m. on Sunday morning so..."


Such is the life of a medical student.

No More Face-net

Since deactivating my Facebook account...the most mature social-networking move I have made so far...I have found many extra minutes in my day. But what do I do with these extra minutes? Of course these are times in between studying when my brain needs a non-taxing distraction. I only have 1 novel with me because: 1. I was an addicted idiot and finished the travel book and have read half of the sequel to it. Tess Gerritsen's writing is too good and suspenseful to put down, and 2. I really need to save the rest of this book for an emergency.
I find myself bumping around the web and reading random people's blogs instead. So here is a hilarious video clip from one of my favorite shows, NCIS:

NCIS Season 1

It made my day so much brighter. Now back to studying...

Back Again

So after the ordeal of having to appeal to the Dean of my university to allow me to return the decision was made to allow me to retake the final from 1st semester. Instead of staying in the U.S. to study I have decided to come back to the island for the month and a half before my exam to study and make use of professor office hours. The 3rd exam was the hardest for me last semester so I'm focusing on this one the most. After re-watching the first two lectures I'm starting to fill in the mental blanks for information that I didn't pick up the first time around. It's a good feeling to actually have time to learn the material thoroughly. I really do love the material, I mean where else can you learn so much about the most minute details of physiological and cellular mechanisms? It's so cool!
Lately I've been reading a series by Tess Gerritsen, an internal medicine doc, about a two-woman homicide detective team. One woman, Jane Rizzoli is an experienced homicide detective and the other, Dr. Maura Isles is a first-rate Medical Examiner. Gerritsen makes each character as flawed and lovable as the next. Both are strong women working in male-dominated fields and have entertaining quirks that make you wish you were best friends with them. While I love Jane's ballsy attitude and independence, Dr. Isles is who I really admire. She has a working knowledge of all technology pertaining to forensic medicine as well as the medicine docs usually practiceon the living. Rachel has said time and time again that she could see me as a Medical Examiner. While I have always been intrigued with forensic anthropology and forensic pathology...I just don't see myself spending hours with dead people. But, hey, you never know what area of medicine I will end up in. I sure don't have a clue.
There is also an amazing show loosely based off of the characters called "Rizzoli & Isles" which takes a much lighter tone than the novels. Never-the-less I'm a real sucker for TV or movie adaptations of books so I'm kind of addicted to this show now as well.
I do have to warn you that the books are not for the weak of stomach--it's a good thing that I have spent hours hovering over, cutting open and poking at cadavers because the details of the book are gruesome and intriguingly grotesque at best. Guess you kinda have to have the sick and twisted mind of a pathologist to find them interesting. :)

I'm heading to Roseau with Swati tomorrow to find some propane for her (the island has had a major shortage) and to buy basic kitchen/food things since everything in Picard is crappy and expensive.

More soon!