Hello!

Hi! I'm yet another incoming MD/PhD writing about my experiences. Unlike my fellow bloggers, I am not yet in St Louis, though in a few short weeks I'll be joining them. I'm excited to move down and get started, but thought that a break was definitely necessary before getting down to business. After four fairly intense years, I enjoyed having a few months off before having to buckle down again. Though it seems like a long time, it was cool to be able to travel (Ghana for six weeks!!!), finish things up at the lab (less than productive, but that's ok), and now pack and such. Things are winding down now, I've said my good-bye's and it's time to go! Wahoo!

Also unlike the others blogging here, I'll be living in the dorms for the next year, then hopefully buying a condo or such. I'm not terribly thrilled about living in the dorms, but for convenience's sake, it'll be ok for a year. It'll be nice to save some before having to furnish (let alone purchase!) a condo, and give me some time to look around and get to know the place.

A bit about me: I grew up in Indiana and have since moved to Michigan. I graduated from Michigan State University with a Biochemistry major. I worked in a Pharmacology and Toxicology lab for my first two years at State, where we used animal models to elucidate the mechanisms of cardiovascular drugs. Next, I worked in a Biochemistry lab that used computational biology to identify drug candidates for the treatment of lymphatic filariasis. I'm interested in staying involved in pharmacological research, but I'm not yet sure what avenues I'd like to pursue.

So, that's all for now!

Greetings from Kansas!

As a fellow member of this year's MSTP entering class at WashU, I thought I would share a little bit about myself.

I'm also 22 years old, and I just graduated from Rice University in Houston, TX. I just arrived back in Overland Park, KS* today after a two day drive from Houston, and I am definitely glad to be out of the car! I was born and raised in the Kansas City metro area, but I actually spent a fair amount of time in St. Louis growing up because my mom is from there, and we have family that still lives there. I have three older siblings (2 brothers and a sister) and a dog that I might bring with me to St. Louis.

It was kind of bittersweet leaving Houston because I really enjoyed my time there, but I'm really excited about moving to St. Louis in a few weeks!

*For those that care, Overland Park is a suburb of Kansas City. I live in Kansas, but I actually live closer to Kansas City, MO than to Kansas City, KS (and yes there are two). And just because I know you might be wondering: I don't live on a farm, I don't know Dorothy or Toto, I do have indoor plumbing, and the closest I have ever been in a tornado was actually in Houston. =)

First entry!

So this marks the obligatory first blog post where you often read things like "just testing out the new blog" or "about me: ..."

I am starting this to see if we as an entering MSTP class can provide future MSTP/med school hopefuls with some info on WashU, MSTP life, medical school, St. Louis, etc. This is not affiliated with the school or any program therein, just me and (hopefully) a few more students of the incoming MSTP 2007 class. Who knows, maybe we will keep writing over the entire 8-ish years of our MSTP careers. I doubt it… I hear we will be pretty busy with all that learnin. But you can’t blame a guy for trying.

So yes, I am just testing out the new blog. How about a little about me? I’m 22 and just about to finish the last 3 finals of my tedious undergraduate career at UW-Madison. I was born and raised in the “Midwest”, but we mostly just call it the North where I come from. I grew up in what started in a smallish town and became a largish suburb before moving to Madison, WI for 4 years.

We’ll see who else I can coerce into writing here.
-R