Holy blog-fail, Batman!

Wowza! My mother called it when she said I wouldn't keep up with my blog... SORRY!

Things got SO busy! Luckily, I have Google calendar to remind me of all the fun things that've happened!

Firstly, I passed my first set of exams! That was a big mental obstacle to get over, so I'm glad I got it out of the way. I did much better than expected on one exam, and worse than expected on the other. Oh well, P=MD (pass = MD). -- I'm sure that quote gives you all hope for the future of medicine!

The weekend between the Molecular Mechanisms exam and the Anatomy exam was spent studying, a lot! After seeing the amount of time I spend on school work here, I feel like I NEVER studied in undergrad! Of course, it's all relative... I did take a break on Saturday to go to the Columbia undergrad campus.  I met my good friend Alex Andrews, from Yale, for lunch -- she was in the city visiting a friend. We went to Mel's Burger Bar which was delicious and hit the spot. Apparently they're known for their spiked milk shakes, but I had a day of studying ahead of me so I couldn't partake...  I moved on to Uris Hall on the undergrad campus where a HUGE cohort of med students were studying. I re-discovered that I cannot study in libraries and trekked back to Bard Hall, home sweet home...

Monday brought the Anatomy exam, which my group passed like superstars, which we are! I'm, again, so happy that I love my lab group. They've become some of my closest friends here, especially Tiffany:

She's an MD/PhD (MuD PhuD) from MIT who's an expert at the concept of building light sabers! (Don't ask... :P ) I'm trying to convince her to live in towers next year instead of down at the undergrad campus near her lab... We'll see how convincing I can be.

That night we all let loose and went out together as a class to celebrate the end of the first exams! I went straight from musical rehearsal to Patrick Ryan's with my friend Zahrah and her boyfriend Billy to watch the Packer v. Bears game. He's a Packer fan as well and I think Zahrah, who's not really into football appreciated having me there to talk football so she didn't have to! Luckily, everyone showed up before the end of the game and I didn't have to suffer the indignity of watching the poor Packers lose... It was a fun night that ended with the realization that limbo-ing in heels after a beer or two few is a VERY bad idea. Ow...

On Tuesday, my friend Divya and I attended the Yale Club reception for young alums that just moved to the city. It was fun to see all the people that are now living here that I didn't even know about. My friend Laura Rapin organized the event as the current event planner at the Yale Club, so I got to see her too! The rest of the week continued relatively uneventfully aside from TONS of rehearsal, until Saturday!

On Saturday, a group of us decided to partake in the Improv Everywhere event down in Midtown. If you don't know what that is, YouTube it! It was SUPER fun and made me feel like a real New Yorker! I can be seen here slow dancing with a stapler in Office Depot. Also check out this video at time 3:02! SO MUCH FUN! After this, my friend Eric and I moved on to a bar called Mad River which I later found out is the official University of Wisconsin bar in NYC! My friend Margot was having her birthday party there a bit later, but we wanted to go early for a drink. It was cool to see so many Wisconsin people in one place (outside of WI of course...).  I did do SOME work that weekend...

I decided to join study groups for both my testable courses. I was asked to join a study group of 3 guys in my class for Molecular Mechanisms which has been going well. If nothing else, it forces me to keep up with my work. For anatomy, my friends Elana, Eric and I have formed a group to go over the big concepts. I'm not sure how successful this has been and I'll let you know when I get this exam's results back...

The following week began the Histology portion of our block. We learned a LOT about immune cells and the example of Lymphoma slides came up in about every class. Now I want to see what MY slides looked like! I really like the course director for that block, so I enjoyed what we were learning a lot! 

Whoops! I forgot to mention about Student Council! I ended up not getting elected as President, which is really the best of all worlds, because I was elected to the Dean's Advisory Committee -- a similar position, without all the meetings/work! I'm really enjoying working with my committee, which includes Divya, and the rest of the committee. I guess Mom was right when she guessed that a tall, white boy would get elected! Just kidding! (sort of). I'm very happy in my position and have already worked to get a few things changed :)

Thursday night we had Bacchus, the wine-tasting club. The picture of Tiffany and me is from that night! It was fun and I intended to go to sleep right after to be sure I was rested for the next day, but ended up staying up despite not leaving Bard. I made a few more close friends with late night chats on the roof lounge, though, so it was worth it!

On Friday, my friend from Yale, Quinlan O'Connor came to visit me! He's in law school in D.C. so I was SUPER excited to see him! We headed down to the East Village to meet up with Saqib, a friend from Yale. It was a blast and we got together with them again the next morning. Vidur, another friend from Yale was in town, so he, Quinlan, Saqib and I all went out to "Boozy Brunch" at a place called Sweetiepie! Quinlan and I then caught the train to New Haven for the night. We stayed with our friend Haza who's finishing up his last year at Yale and got to see TONS of friends in the younger classes. It was fun and overwhelming. "My freshman" are now all sophomores and were stressing about midterms, so I continued some of my Freshman Counselor duties! It was, overall, a whirlwind. We got up EARLY the next morning to head back to NYC and I spent the rest of the day working.

That night I had another visitor! Jenny Landau came again, only this time to interview at Columbia! We had SO much fun! Her roommate from Yale had just moved to The City and we all met up and got dinner at Malecon an AMAZING Domincan restaurant in The Heights. Jenny's interview went great on Monday, and I found out I could write a letter on her behalf. Rest assured that I wrote a gushing letter about how great I think she is! I would love it if she joined me here next year!

We had Musical Monday where a bunch of students performed classical music, including an opera piece and the night ended with lots of rehearsal. As you can see, I've been busy and so I don't have too much time to cook. Luckily the meal plan has started and we get dinner Monday, Tuesday and Thursday! I always take salad for lunch the next day as well. It is good and cheap = ideal! 

That Thursday we had our "Patient as Professor" presentation where 7 or so of us talked about our personal experiences in medicine, either as a patient or caregiver. It was a nice thing, and people really seemed to appreciate it. I usually don't talk too much about my own experience (at least the non-medical aspect of it) so that was an interesting experience. 

The weekend was a busy one! I spend Saturday night from 8pm until 3am in the Labor and Delivery ward at Columbia Presbyterian!  After being told I had chosen a bad night to come -- no one was going to deliver,  the babies all started coming. I watched two emergency Caesarean section births. There ended up being four that night! I also was able to "participate" in a vaginal birth. I got to help count for the pushing, which isn't much, but made me feel important. Birth is NOT a pretty process. Luckily the room we were in had an AMAZING view of the NYC skyline -- though I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who noticed! :) It was a cool experience, but I don't think I'll be rushing to be an Ob/Gyn anytime soon...

Sunday morning I woke up early to meet my "Home Away from Home" mentor. I signed up for a program through the Alumni office to be assigned an alumnus to serve as a surrogate family. I was assigned an amazing woman, a 1952 graduate of P&S. She was one of 10 women in her medical school class. We were matched up based on a mutual interest in music -- though I think she misinterpreted my interests as being in classical music. In any case, rather than inviting me to her home for dinner -- like many in the program do -- she offered me a chance to go to a concert at Lincoln Center! I think I got the best deal! We went to see a Norwegian duo, a violinist and a pianist, who were amazing (at least from an untrained ear). We then went to get some brunch/lunch at her favorite restaurant down there, Josephina. We had a lot in common and a lot to talk about. She has invited me to attend another concert in the series in the spring, a guitarist! I'm very excited!

The following week was pretty uneventful. I hosted a few interviewees -- none as cool as Jenny -- and did a few tours -- always fun -- but most of my time outside class was spent at rehearsal. The show, Crazy for You, is a very chorus-heavy show, so even a small part requires LOTS of rehearsal and, get this, DANCING! I am truly an awful dancer, but luckily the choreographer has put me in the back for most dances. I must be doing ok, though, because I've had a few people ask me if I can teach or review dances with them! Weird!  I've also been getting a lot better at harmonizing now that I'm cast as an alto! It's been a LOT of fun and keeps me sane. The upperclassmen are really understanding of the first years when we get stressed and they are super supportive. It's been really nice to meet so many different people outside of my class and even in other CUMC schools!  I also have been trying to go to the Pilates/Yoga classes I signed up for, but end up having rehearsal during many of them. I really enjoy them though, so I think I'll keep signing up! I am able to sell any tickets I can't use, so it works out. On Friday, the Wellness office held a pumpkin decorating event! I had so much fun! It is so nice to escape to  mindless things every once in a while. Check out my pumpkin: 

I made it Thanksgiving themed due to the fact that we had an exam the day after Halloween and I didn't feel much like celebrating it!

We've already had to start looking into summer options, which is a bit stressful, but I'll let you all know what I'm going to be up to! I'm hoping to end up around here doing some sort of research. Summer in the city with no class would be great. 

This brings us to last week, which started with a bang -- or rather a bomb. We had our second Molecular Mechanisms exam, which I felt alright after, and then began our Pharmacology block. Most of us haven't paid much attention to Pharm yet, because we had an Anatomy exam yesterday covering the Head and Neck! Who knew there we so many damn arteries and nerves in the head and neck! Luckily, there are also some fun mnemonics (offensive though they may be!). My favorite involved the functional components of the cranial nerves: Some Say Marry Money But My Brother Says Big Boobs Matter More :)  I even decorated my door with a skeleton which was labeled with many mnemonics we have learned so far. It seemed appropriate given the exam being the day after Halloween!

We also had "Coffeehouse" last Thursday, our variety show like the one we had during orientation. Only this time, we had first years performing! The a cappella group sounded great and we had a first year band! My friend Eric also played bass with some second years to perform one of my favorite songs by Mumford & Sons. I'm super excited to go see them live on the 15th -- Mumford and Sons, not Eric's band -- I can see them whenever I want! Despite the impending exams, more than a few first years made it downstairs to witness the glory and even to grab a beer afterward. That was way fun!

Unfortunately, Halloween in the city, which is supposed to be quite the spectacle, was off-limits due to major studying, but I took some time to watch the Packers and the Hawkeyes win (oh, and the Vikings lose)! Football makes for a great study break, though the lack of enthusiasm from my classmates is disheartening. It's not nearly as fun to shout and throw things at the television when you're alone in the room... 

Yesterday was the second Anatomy exam. It was very difficult. I am still trying to figure out the balance between my two courses. It seems if I am comfortable with one, I am behind in the other. I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually -- just in time to switch courses! AH!

Last night we all went out to celebrate again! This time we ventured down to Midtown to go to The Mean Fiddler. We all decided to go in costume and had our own Halloween. Whatever, we make our own calendar! Here's a picture of me with two of my lab group members -- Daniel was lame and didn't come:

I was Tinkerbell!

Whew! That was a LONG one! I'm so sorry for being so delinquent, but bear with me, I'll catch you up eventually! This week I'm looking forward to LOTS of rehearsals. I'm also starting my new clerkship. I am already done with the nephrologist! My new one is in Emergency Medicine. Here's a description:

"EMERGENCY MEDICINE

Supervisors: Joshua Stillman, MD and Attending Physicians of New York Presbyterian Hospital

Emergency Room 

Students: 10

Students will work in pairs and participate in clinical rounds with an emergency medicine attending

physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital. A didactic session will follow rounds. The clinical cases in

the emergency room will provide the basis for the discussion. Students will observe physical

examinations and observe how physicians access information, evaluate psychosocial problems, and refer

to other members of the health care team."

It should be very exciting! Well, I'm off to make some dinner -- no meal today due to a University holiday? Apparently voting day is cause for a day off...

Please let me know how you're doing and/or ask any questions you might have! Miss you all!

Hayley

Preparing for our first test-week...

Once upon a time, at midnight on a Saturday night, a girl sent out a study guide when she should have been out with her friends. This is the beginning of the story of a medical student, tonight = me. :P

The past two weeks have been some of the biggest roller coaster days of my life, and that's saying a LOT! I go between being stressed, impressed, intimidated, and confident at the drop of a hat (where does that phrase come from???) and can't quite keep up with it all! Each day has more up time than the last, however, so I'm counting on the pattern continuing!

As the title of this post suggests, we have our first test next week. But, before I get to that, I want to update on a few things from the past two!

The short week after Labor Day ended up being a total life-saver for our sanity. We were gasping for a break and so it happened. Somehow, just like in undergrad, I managed to fill up my time. Monday Tuesday was a full day of class with my first clerkship in the afternoon. I think we must have chosen the wrong time to come, however, because we ended up not seeing any patients... I have spoken with the course director, but more on this later.  After an evening anatomy lecture on shoulder surgery, in which I answered a question (this is a big deal :) ), came a speech by the President-Elect of the AMA, Dr. Peter Carmel. He was a good speaker, but not having been back to my room since 8:15 in the morning meant that I left a bit early -- around 8pm!

Wednesday passed rather unnoticed, which solidified my love for Wednesdays, but Thursday was another long day, with class in the morning and anatomy lab in the afternoon. I learned the name of my favorite muscle -- the brachioradialis -- sometimes called the "beer drinking muscle"! Just kidding! But my professor sure thought he was funny when he told us that. I was delirious from all the phenol stench and laughed hysterically so that he thought I was suffering from overuse of my brachioradialis... :P He then launched into some description of the arm muscles based on Greek mythology, after which my whole group turned to each other and asked if anyone knew what he was talking about... Oh well, at least one thing stuck! My anatomy group is great and many other groups have expressed jealously that we're always laughing and having fun during lab. Hopefully we're learning something, too! Oh! And my  professor ordered some nice step stools for me, and kindly suggested I carry one with me during practical exams... ces't la vie! That night I attended a lecture on opthalmology and vascular surgery, for two different interest groups. I wanted to check them all out. I ended the night with an audition for the Bard Hall Players show Crazy For You. I got the part of "Sheila", who is one of the chorus of "Follies Girls", and part of a trio. I just found out that I will be singing the low part of my trio, when I've only ever been a soprano 1 or 2... This should be interesting! It's already been fun and we've had a read-through. The two male leads are played by people in my class, one who was on Broadway, and another who is a big-time opera star! WOW!

Friday night I branched out from my normal group and made some new friends. It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to planning some Halloween festivities with a few of them for our class in Bard Hall! Saturday I studied, found out I had been nominated for Class President and Curriculum Chair, and attended two different parties! One was in the Towers, which is where I will be living next year (hopefully!) and the other ended up at Canal Room. It was fun, but really crowded and a younger, rowdier crowd than I was prepared for. They were playing 80s rock, so that was fun! Sunday was spent recovering, studying, and obsessing about whether to run for student government positions...

This week was VERY busy. It started out with a bang, too! On Monday night, I attended the cocktail party of one of the admission's interviewers, Dr. George Lazarus -- he did not interview me, but he is the father of a guy I graduated with. He and his wife, Shelly Lazarus, provided me with one of the most glamorous experiences ever! The fancy cocktail party on the Upper East Side was attended by a majority of his interviewees that attend Columbia across the years. His house is GORGEOUS and he and his wife were so welcoming and sincere. They assured all of the first-years that they would be a resource for us if we ever needed them! I became closer with one of the girls in my class and even met a third year from Milwaukee, though he plans to stay out east.

Tuesday was highlighted by the visit of one of my best friends, Jennifer Landau! She was my mentor and idol all through undergrad, but now we've switched positions; she is applying to medical school right now. She was in NYC for two interviews, though neither for Columbia. It was SO nice to see her, despite having to duck out for a few meetings. I just found out that she will be visiting again soon because she has received an interview here at P&S! She left early Wednesday morning from Bard to attend another interview, but I feel like she shouldn't bother. She will definitely be here with me next year!!! :P

Thursday was another long, 12-hour day. It was supposed to end with "Beerchus" the beer equivelant of "Bacchus", the wine tasting club I attended the first week, but I ended up feeling like I needed to get some work done instead. There's always next time, and I wasn't the only first year to back out. Before that, however, I attended a meeting for "Student as Patient as Professor", an initiative by a second year student which has been carried over since last year, to have a few first years share their personal stories of being a patient or caregiver. I told them I didn't feel like I had many lessons to teach my classmates, but they though that was interesting in itself, so I will be participating. I also met another girl who had lymphoma, which was cool. She had T-cell with only 4 months of treatment, but found out while she was studying for the MCAT. I thought mono was bad!!!

Friday was a final, long day again. I didn't return to my room from 8am to 8pm, only this time it was unplanned. I stayed out for lunch so we could get an early start on non-dissecting session for anatomy, and then went straight to Clerkship. Again, this was a less-than-ideal experience. I saw my first patient with him after a total of 6 hours watching reports being entered between last time and this time. finally at 5:30 we saw a patient which lasted until 7:45pm! I learned what he expected me to learn from that experience, but it was too little, too late. I am in discussions with my course leader now to try to figure out how to find a more... fulfilling experience. The highlight of yesterday was getting a letter from my friend Sammy from home. I feel terrible because I've been so out of touch, but she's always there when I need her, or True Blood - Season 1.

Today was spent doing laundry, cooking, and studying. I'm getting the rhythm down and, despite having a test on Thursday, am not freaking out... yet! I try to keep in perspective that everything is pass/fail and I only need to get a 70% at most on an exam to pass. I feel a bit like a slacker when others talk about how they are learning this stuff so that they can be great doctors, but I know that a great doctor comes from compassion and the ability to think, not a mass of knowledge with little relevance to the topic at hand. I doubt my dad, as an ophthomologist, thinks much about what nerve innervates the quadriceps muscle (the femoral nerve, by the way). Keeping perspective is the only way I keep sane, so I'll have to deal with feeling like a slacker every once in a while.

My friend Ryan, who encouraged me to relax and not study so much in undergrad -- some of the best advice I got -- somehow managed to do the same today by incessantly texting my score of the Wisconsin game until I gave in and watched the second half upstairs. I was VERY glad I did, because it turned out to be a VERY exciting game! I had to fight (not really) with some BYU kids for the channel rights, but luckily I was the first one there and had control of the clicker -- er... remote.

As far as student government goes, I have decided to run for Class President against my better judgement. Rumor is that 7 people are running, so I probably won't get elected anyway, but I think it would be a really great way to meet new people and become involved here at P&S. Well, in addition to the musical... and tour guide... and interest groups... and Bacchus... and Beerchus... Oh well, if you want something done, ask a busy person!

Next week starts the meal plan -- 3 dinners a week -- so I won't have to spend so much time cooking (aka. won't have any excuse to procrastinate studying). We'll see how it is!

Let me know how everything is going in your lives!

Hayley

EDIT:
Please glaze over the awkward phrasing/grammar in this post. It was LATE when I wrote it and I wanted to be sure to fit it in this weekend. Next weekend will be busy studying for our first anatomy exam, so I won't probably be able to update!
Hayley

Week 1 = Survival

Well, Monday began it all, full speed ahead. Do not pass go and DEFINITELY do not collect $200. Here at Columbia we have 3 courses in our first year:

1) Molecular Mechanisms of Health and Disease: this is our "biology" course. It encompasses, cell bio, molecular bio, biochemistry, pathology, pharmacology, physiology, histology and just about every other "ology" you can think of... It hasn't been TOO bad so far, because much of it is review for a biology major such as myself, but I have to be careful not to get too comfortable and realize that new things are coming, and quickly.

2) Foundations of Clinical Medicine: this is our "soft" course. We talk about our feelings, read popular medical literature (ex. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down), learn medical ethics, and talk about our feelings some more. We even get a diary... er journal to reflect in. In all seriousness, FCM is a nice way to comprehend what it is we're all slaving away at... The first lecture, we met a patient and heard her story of life-long treatment for sickle cell disease, the good and the bad. The first small group, we wrote for a few minutes on what our first anatomy lesson was like, or other things from the first week that were tough. It is also nice because FCM falls on Wednesday and provides a nice pause from the grind so we can all try to catch up. The clerkships I mentioned in a previous post are also a part of this course. As I said, my clerkship is with a nephrologist named Leonard Stern. He is very nice and has a hugely varied practice. He has 4 different offices and invited Valerie (another girl doing the clerkship) and I to join him on any day at any office. One is even down near to FAO Schwartz! Conveniently, one of his offices is just off the lobby to my dorm building! I think I'm going to try each location out! (The two others are a hospital and inpatient location.)

3) Gross Anatomy: this is, so far, my most challenging course. It is the one I discussed before, where Team Richard (<-- my anatomy table) and I battle through the emotional, physical and mental obstacle course that is anatomy. As Dr. Stern said, it really is learning a new language, "medicalese" he calls it, but it gets easier each day I use it. Repetition really is the only way to get it, but slowly I feel more and more comfortable using anatomical terminology. I spent a day with my friend Sam from Yale and she couldn't believe that I had only had two anatomy classes. She said she already couldn't understand a word I said -- that I was speaking a different language! Yay Medicalese! Gross Anatomy consists of dissections in lab, where professors and clinicians are there to help and also show us clinical procedures. So far we've seen a cricothyrotomy (emergency airway) and a tube thoracostomy (chest tube insertion)!  We also have super overwhelming lectures that are only understood the 3rd time through (luckily all lectures are video recorded), non-dissecting sessions where we look at bones and learn about bony features such as Epicondyles, and clinical correlation lectures where we learn about surgeries and specialties, so far radiology and breast surgery. To add to the load, each dissection group only does half of the dissections for the course and must go in with members from the other group sharing your cadaver  to learn what dissection they did!

Though it is only three courses, we all feel totally behind! The "all" part of that sentence is keeping me sane, as is a pass/fail grading system! Luckily, the people here are great! For example, my dissection group needed a "guide book" or a dissector, so I bought one of a second year. To repay me, I've so far gotten 3 coronas, $8, and the promise of 3 orders of french fries -- grossly to reflect how greasy our dissector is. I KNOW! I'M SORRY! I'M totally grossing you out! :)

Outside of class, last week was another busy week of opening days events. We had a "big sib/little sib" even where we met the second years we've been assigned to annoy all year. Mine's name is Maile (read: Miley) and has already had to tell me to relax at least once! Oh well! After a quick stop at the farmer's market, we had the P&S Club Fair on Tuesday, which was JUST like the Activities Bazaar at Yale, complete with the A Capella group asking everyone if they sang (inside joke for you Yalies). It was fun to see that Penis... er P&S has so many student groups, including beer tasting, wine tasting, theater, poetry, dance, singing, volunteering, rugby, etc. I put my name on a few lists, but am trying not to over-commit. Wednesday I realized how much I love FCM Wednesdays, and received my first batch of groceries from FreshDirect! Yummy produce!

Thursday marked the first meeting of the Society of Bacchus (sorry no link...), which is Columbia's wine tasting society. Our professor, Michael Gershon, led the lecture on 3 types of wine -- a total of 6 glasses, and the party then moved down to The Gin Mill where they had half priced drinks with a Columbia ID. Needless to say, we all needed the chance to let loose a bit. It was great fun, and I plan to make Bacchus one of my activities for the year.

Friday morning's lecture was given by Dr. Gershon as well, and he wasn't the slightest bit surprised to see half the class missing at 8:30am. Though I was there, I sure was glad that it was mostly review! The course director kindly advised Dr. Gershon to save the wine tastings for the weekends. : ) I learned about the Student Government at noon-time and spent the afternoon (after non-dissecting session) meeting with Dr. Stern about the logistics of the clerkship. I then auditioned for the Ultrasounds a capella group. I ended up getting "deferred" to second semester due to an abundance of sopranos both in my class and the second year class, who will be quitting at semester.  I hope to be able to do this second semester. In the mean time, the Bard Hall Players are doing "Crazy For You", a Gershwin musical this fall, so I plan to audition for that this coming week. Friday night ended with us all getting kicked off the roof deck of the 12th floor (who knew you needed a permit to be out there at night?), me "icing" the birthday boy, my friend Travis, and then to Coogan's, the local Irish Pub.

Saturday morning passed by unnoticed by most of Bard Hall, and I awoke in the afternoon to walk to the grocery store and buy some ingredients. I had received a BUSH of basil from FreshDirect and planned to make pesto to put in the freezer. It was slow going until I found that my friend Nick had an amazing Cuisinart tool which worked as an immersion blender, but more importantly a food processor! It was a life-saver and I paid him back in pesto, which was DELICIOUS! I then used my Griddler to make eggs and toast and then headed downtown to see my Yale friend, Sam, who had just returned from Haiti. She was visiting NYC with her boyfriend for a birthday party before her semester at the School of Public Health really begins. We had lemonade in Bryant Park and then walked to Rosa Mexicana for dinner. We mosied down 5th Avenue, shopping at Fossil and lusting after the live Abercrombie & Fitch window models. We even ventured into Banana Republic where I found a $60 shirt for $16!!! YAY! Finally we met up with Sam's friend a posh lounge called Cibar. They had my favorite drink, the French 75. Too bad it was $16 each! After a drink and an ice water, the group headed toward Union Square to find a club. I, unfortunately, had to get all the way back to Washington heights, so I ducked down to the L train across to the A. Unfortunately, at night these trains run infrequently so I waited for each for about half an hour. Luckily, however, 5 guys from P&S hopped onto my subway car at the Port Authority and I had someone to talk to. After leaving around 1:15am, I still didn't get home until close to 2:45 or 3!

I slept in Sunday and spent the day studying. I visited a friend's apartment in the evening, but turned in pretty early. Today was spent studying as well. I can now tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the brachial plexus, which I assume is NOTHING! : )

Tomorrow begins another week, albiet short, and new adventures.

Miss you all!

Hayley

My Clerkship Mentor

Hey all!
One of the opportunities we have as a first year is called a Clerkship, which is basically glorified shadowing. We get credit for doing this! YAY!

My clerkship advisor is a Nephrologist:

http://www.columbianephrology.org/Stern.htm

I'll let you know how it goes!

Hayley

"it's like the pope of your torso!"

Just a fun link of my professor from yesterday morning on Colbert...


http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/88460/june-11-2007/michael-gershon

enjoy!

Hayley

Orientation Week COMPLETED!

And so it begins...

It's weird to think that my goals for essentially my entire life are finally being realized. I have completed high school (more unsure for me than some others), completed college (an exciting challenge), and completed the application process for medical school! Contrary to what many expected, I chose to attend  Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. I was attracted by the students I met who were passionate about many things, especially outside their interest in medicine. There is a vibrant extracurricular life here filled with a cappella, theater, comedy, writing, art, music and more! (Who gives a f*ck about an Oxford comma?)

This recent journey started out with a long drive back out to the east coast with ALL the stuff I had just driven to La Crosse after Yale's graduation! Silly, I know... After loading up the van so that it was bursting at the seams, Dad sent Mom and me off for a 3-day driving adventure. I-80 feels like home after having driven along it so many times. We even have our favorite restaurants, hotels and rest stops along the way! (See Ambrosia Lounge)

I spent last Friday, Saturday, and Sunday moving into my 10x13 dorm room of Bard Hall. It is bigger than I expected, but I half wonder if I will be living with communal bathrooms for the rest of my life... There's only one kitchen for an 11-story building, so I got a refrigerator, George Foreman-esque grill, microwave and hot water heater. Plus I have a sink in my room which is super convenient. So far, they have been feeding us, so I haven't had to cook yet!

I stayed at the Yale Club with my mom for a few nights! It is super nice and right across the street from Grand Central Station. I even got to see some of my Yale friends for a birthday party. It's nice to know I already have a group of very close friends in the City. We went to this amazing bar called The Press Lounge at Ink48. I felt totally not cool enough to be there, but it was AMAZING!

Once orientation started, I stayed up in Washington Heights. Everyone here is SUPER nice. Mom even made friends with the security guard and got to park right outside the building one day. I've already got a group of friends to hang out with, one of which I met at revisit weekend. We're all excited to explore the city and survive med school together!

Orientation was 5 days of non-stop action from 9am to 1am every day! We had sessions on student life, classes, and team-building exercised during the day -- my team won field day games (think wheel barrow races and egg tosses) and received a neuro reflex hammer as a prize! We met with our advisory deans (a built-in mentorship program), learned about the Hippocratic Oath (which we took Friday) and were told about all the support services available at P&S (say it fast and it sounds surprisingly like penis... we all quickly figured this out and never stopped giggling about it. Future doctors of America here, aren't you proud!)

The nights were spent going to restaurants we couldn't afford, bars we weren't cool enough for, and shows we won't have time for. All together it was an amazingly fun introduction to the city. The first night I ran into a friend who is going to Columbia Law school at a bar down by the main campus in Morningside Heights (aka Harlem).  The city seemed much smaller after that. I saw In the Heights, a big Tony winner, which is about the area I'm going to be living in for the next four years. It was AMAZING! The bar we went to afterwards was another rooftop, called the Hudson Terrace, where we ran into Joe Jonas, one of the famous Jonas Brothers. That was exciting! The third night we went on a river cruise (read: booze cruise) with the dental school. We all decided Lady Liberty looks a lot stockier close-up. It was fun and the 2nd years that had been leading us around all week got to let loose with us for once! Many went on to Johnny Utah's where they had a mechanical bull. I decided I needed to slow it down and get some sleep and returned to campus with a few friends. We drove right by the Seinfeld diner on the way!

On Thursday we began the real business of medical school with our first anatomy lecture and lab. My group got introduced to Richard, our cadaver for the next semester. We got over our squeemish-ness and the phenol smell to progress in our scalpel skills. I won't give any gory details, but it was a very cool, moving experience. Each cadaver in the lab donated their bodies specifically to P&S first years to learn anatomy. This was humbling and we tried not to get detached from the significance of what we were witnessing. I hope I will becoming more relaxed as the year goes on... my shoulders were quite tense when I got out. The final night was spent at Coffee House, a talent show display of the abilities of our classmates. Though shorter than the one at revisit, we witnessed a concert pianist, a comedy routine, a broadway sing-along, and an amazing cover band. The party moved up to our 11th floor roof lounge to end the night!

Friday began with a talk titled "On Becoming a Doctor" which made us all aware of the honor and responsibility that is gained with donning a white coat. It addressed the questions we are all sure to have over the next phase of our lives and opened us up to talking about our fears and excitements. It was followed by the White Coat Ceremony which was founded at P&S in 1993. Kathy Matthews, my mom's good friend from college, flew out to attend my ceremony (and to give my mom company on the drive home). After the ceremony, Mom, Kathy, and I went to tea at the Plaza Hotel, just like Eloise! We proceeded back to the Yale Club after a short walk (Mom has SO many blisters from her week in Manhattan!). Vidur, my friend from Yale, joined us for a celebratory dinner and drink afterward! Yesterday we explored the neighborhood of Chelsea in downtown, Manhattan, especially the Chelsea Markets, which is housed below the Food Network Studios! Lots of good produce, cooking utensils, food and an Athroplogie store! Mom got gelato while Kathy and I enjoyed crepes! We then had dinner at db Bistro Moderne, home of the $32 dollar hamburger made with foie gras, black truffles, and braised short ribs. The food was amazing and we proceeded down the street to see Memphis, this year's Tony Best Musical! This was my mom's 5th Broadway show in this visit! She had made a friend with a young guy from Finland who joined us for a drink afterward. He wants to do set design and directing and is on his way to Canada for school. 

Mom was glad to get into the car this morning after having walked ALL week! She said she has blisters on TOP of her blisters! She and Kathy drove me up to Washington Heights and helped me put some finishing touches on my room. They started their drive to Maumee, OH, the stop for tonight, while I took a nice long nap! It was necessary, as you can see!!!

Please update me on your life! I hope to keep up with this blog as much as possible, but remind me if I'm slacking!

Love you all!

Hayley

View from my dorm room window:

The Hudson River at sunset from the 8th floor of Bard Hall