Woo Hoo!!

I matched!
I matched!
I matched!

And I find out where I'll be indenturing myself for the next 3 years this coming Thursday! I'm hoping I get in somewhere in my top 5 ranked hospitals and hoping against hope that I get my number 1 ranked Hospital!

I'll let you all know accordingly.

That is all.

This calls for some F-U-N music!!!
Song of the day: "Undercover Martyn" - Two Door Cinema Club

Massachusetts: Day 1, noonish

Overslept, but then again, I was up plenty late last night. I hope I don't oversleep in the next 2 months.

As I said, the only snafu last night was the futon not unfolding. Otherwise everything else has been pretty nice up here.

Living by myself these past few weeks (my sis and BIL were vacationing in the the Philippines) has made me realize how much I enjoyed being independent, having my own place to stay. Being here in my friend's condo is making it even more apparent. Aside from the usual headaches of owning your own place (rent, upkeep, utilites, etc), that feeling of independence you get is well worth the price - "a man's home is his castle" is definitely true.

It's peaceful up here. The weather has been very nice and cool. Chris's place has lots of windows and the rooms get really good light, which makes me happy. It's a 3 story condo so I get a very cool elevated view of the street below. Him and his wife Allison have similar tastes as I do (we were all friends in college), so I feel very at home in their condo. There's plenty of eccentricities around this place: books, instruments, electronics, artwork, and lots of gadgets that I need to familiarize myself with (especially their fancy coffee maker), but that's what makes this place fun.

It's a little lonely being here on my own, but never sad. I've been doing lots of remembering, random rehashing of good times in the past few years. Lots of speculation of the near future as well (Step 2, Residency Applications, Interviews, Matching, the "single"ness ). It can get distressing at times, but I think it's a potent impetus for me to get my things in order for now. It also makes me feel busy so I'm not bored.

I'll go food shopping today and later on, take a drive to the hospital that I'll be working in tomorrow so I can better orient myself. For now, It's study time, coffee, and Miles.

Song of the day: "It Never Entered My Mind" - Miles Davis

Hmmm

The wind is absolutely ridiculous today and tonight.
It threw a branch at my windshield on my way to the movies this evening! Good thing my windshield is branch resistant.
Saw Ironman 2 with baby brother and nephew. Awesome boys night out. This was a much needed break from doing double duty all week (studying for Peds SHELF exam while reviewing Head and Neck anatomy for the sake of tutoring 1st years effectively does not a happy 3rd year med student make).
I am currently gutting through a mildish stomach ache. I don't know if it is some sort of a viral thing caught from the pediatrics office or some other place (despite my constant hand washing, picking up bugs comes as second nature to me), or the beef w/ broccoli this afternoon, or the pack of Haribo Gummy Bears I scarfed down during the movie...whatever it is, I am not a big fan at the moment.
Peds week has moved from the ER to the office. And I like it! The doctors are nice, the nurses are great, and the babies are ridiculously cute...even when they're sick! One of the docs told me that I work well with kids and that I seem to like what I'm doing and that I should consider Peds as an option. Once more, indecision rears its ugly head. Ugh, why can't I just stick to one thing?
Mom's day tomorrow. The fam is taking my mom and mom-in-law (well, my sister's mom-in-law) to Arthur's steakhouse. Should be delicious and fun.

I still can't sleep. Now I have this song running through my head.

Song of the day: "Sara Smile" - Brian McKnight (Hall & Oates Cover)

Onward...

OK...time for an update.
Finished Psychiatry about a month ago. Rotation itself was good and interesting. The doctor I was rotating with, despite giving me high marks in individual aspects of the rotation, only gave me a regular pass grade, and she had no bad critiques to back her grade. The messed up part about that was I couldn't even argue because her resident and another student were there as she discussed my grade with me.
Suck.
Next was geriatrics. Lots of old people. Lots of pathology, and kinda sad...lots of talk about dying, hospice, cancer...but lots of good too. I talked to a bunch of senior citizens at the long term care facility I was assigned to and they had wonderful stories to tell, the lot of them that could still talk and tell their stories. Lives long ago filled with stories of love and war, of family and loss, of friendships and everything else in between. And when I was at the hospital, I also learned a lot. And got pimped a lot. I hate getting pimped.
Which leads me to my latest rotation, Internal Medicine. Week one is finished. Quite busy, quite tiring, but good. The only annoying part about this rotation is getting up @ 5:30am to be at the hospital by 7am. Am not a morning person at all. Hopefully I get used to it by the time I do surgery. So far, not as much pimping as possible, but there's lots to learn and re-learn all the time, and it just feels like there's no break. 18 months from now, I graduate and start working as a doctor...scary.

For now, I'm just content sitting here in my room, blogging, watching the history channel, and enjoying the very snowy view outside.

Song of the day: "Wintersong" by Sarah McLachlan

and...Go!

First, it was a nice, quiet early birthday celebration with family, 2 weeks ago. As usual, mom made a wonderful dinner. I overdid it with the noodles (so good) and the steak (so better). Then the gifts and the cake. It's official...I'm 29. the rents gave me some cash, which is always helpful, and my sister and bro-in-law were very generous in getting me a nice-sized flat screen TV for my room. Muchas gracias, indeed.
The rest of that weekend was spent getting some things organized for the upcoming semester. Then it was off to my roadtrip...





Left NJ last Tuesday, the 16th. Arrived in the city by 7ish and had a nice barbecue on the roof with Yoni. His apartment is in the upper west side, which had a nice urbanite feel to it. The next morning, I did a lot of walking in Riverside Park and was playing with the new camera I bought from my brother. It worked well, except for the memory card...not enough memory (sheesh). Took lots of pictures of trees. They were better looking than the architecture. Had lunch at this hummus joint by 72nd street and had Shakshuka (tomato stew with poached eggs) for the first time. Very tasty and bright. Spent the rest of the afternoon just chillin' in the apartment...I think I pulled a hammy from all that walking. That evening, saw "The Hangover" with Yoni and his friend. Pretty damn funny. Later on, it was off to a bar for some more eats and drinks with his other friend, Andy. Congrats to him for getting the GI fellowship!


The next day, it rained, and it never really stopped. So I said my goodbyes and thanked Yon for his hospitality and the use of his couch. I was finally off to Massachusetts to go see Chris and Al. They had since moved from Boston to Waltham into this huge condo. Chris and Al got me some strong plum wine and 3 one-cup sakes for my birthday. Chris and I split one of the sakes before heading out to another party in downtown Boston. Al caught up with us later that evening from her work and we pretty much played pool and had pizza and wings, courtesy of Chris's work. Later that night on the ride back home, we all decided to go for more food @ this place called Shabu Zen. Very cool Japanese restaurant that specializes in shabu-shabu (translation: swish-swish). They give you raw food so you can cook it yourself on the boiling broth on your table, very much in the style of fondue. Everything looked and tasted amazing. I went home the next day and Chris had to go to Martha's Vineyard with his workmates. It would've been a great trip for him except that it was still raining. It never stopped. Al had to go to work too, unfortunately so we all said our goodbyes and I was off, back to Jersey.
That afternoon I picked up some CDs for the ride back home to Cherry Hill and met up with my other friend, Viv, @ Eclectic in Montclair for coffees and a late lunch. It was good to catch up with her.
And so ends my abridged New England roadtrip.

Yesterday, 3rd year officially started with our orientation. Back to battle...

Song of the Day: "Nothing But A Miracle" - Diane Birch

She's So choice!

I'll take the whole week to block

IT IS OVER! Exam block 1 is dun! Yesterday, after biochem (btw, that exam did me dirty, bent me over and just went to town w/out KY), I went to lunch with my Roommate and my brother. It was so nice not having to think about any of my subjects for a while. It made the sushi taste better. Went home, crashed and got up at about 8pm. That was probably one of the most satisfying sleeps I've ever had. After holing myself in the den for about 2 weeks studying everything from histo to biochem, I was finally able to cut my hair and do some actual grooming. I got dressed, put smelly stuff on, then picked up my friends to go to Philly for some well-deserved Hookah and Salsa! Got back @ about 3am, went to the diner for some buffalo wings (so good and so cheap!), then back to the apartment to finish off the night/day with some TMNT action. Sleep was @ 6 in the mo'nin! That's right, we party gangsta style. So for today, relax, do a little food shopping, a little house cleaning, a little laundry, and reset for the next onslaught that is Cardiophysiology. Exam's on October 1st. Bring it...