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