Daring proposition for US medicine

President elect Obama released this video last week about jobs and the economy. The part that relates to this blog comes in right after 3:50 or so: electronically linking all of our health care. The task is massive and I am skeptical (skepticism has its place in politics as well as science) but it could change the way we do medicine. I don't see it happening before I get my PhD, maybe even my MD, but here's to hope.

Look, this blog isn't about politics. It's about science. Any soundbite by any candidate that so blatantly trivializes a key part of scientific research deserves attention by the scientific community.

BTW: if you want to be involved in science and politics,
http://sefora.org/

2nd year represented in 1 image

I took a quick break from studying to take and stitch together this shoddy panorama of our study carrel. The desks here mostly belong to MSTPs, some of whom use this space as mere storage and others who use it for daily studying. Note the piles of study materials and beverage containers. We have 2 minifridges stocked with food, juices, and beer, about a dozen different dry teas, a microwave, water boiler, rice cooker, food cabinets, etc. It's pretty much a home away from home, and many of us spend 12+ hours a day in this little room.

(We got really unlucky in the lottery for carrel space. Most carrels are much larger and have windows. We live in a closet. Although this sucks during sunny days, it does help you forget that it's 11 PM and you are still studying. A mixed blessing, for sure.)

Back to pathology...

CPR block'd!

This blog has been on my mind more than the [lack of] updates suggest. A few reasons:

I keep thinking “I should really do an entry about 2^nd year” and the madness that is CPR block

I think I want to change the kind of content that is here (more about this below)

I notice that we (or, since I am the only one that really writes here, I) get more traffic these days.

Why haven’t I updated? Mostly because I am a 2^nd year med student and my life has little time for blog updates. Sorry, that’s how it goes in CPR block. After this exam block, I will see if I can bang out an entry or two about 2^nd year. Until then, I have some thoughts about content that I would like to spew forth to see if any readers will react. Positive or negative comments are welcome.

About what am I writing? Well, I read many other med/MSTP blogs. One blog in particular irks me. Now, maybe it’s because I have a personal bias against the school/author(s) for admittedly shallow reasons… or maybe it’s because the content sucks and it comes across as pretentious, boasting, and other adjectives that convey the same point. I dunno.

At any rate, I don’t want to write about my MSTP life like the other blogger(s) go(es) on about this other school’s program(s)*. I realize that some of my previous entries, especially those written when I was still in awe that I actually made it this far, sound almost exactly like this other school’s blogger(s). This irritates me.

So, readers (that I know are out there!), what do you want me to cover here? I can bitch about the daily strife of the MSTP life, I can wax philosophical about the state of science and medicine today, or I can just answer questions about the school and programs. My goal is to be as palatable and useful as possible without having to censor myself, sound like a PR firm, or end up reading like that other blog. If you don’t give input, I will just write whatever I feel like writing. This blog might thus end up as something like a verbal colostomy bag. That’s something nobody wants.

OK, readers, what would you like this blog to become?

*To avoid digging myself into a hole, I have to be annoyingly cryptic about my trivial dislike for this other party. To the other bloggers out there that I know read this at every update- I read lots of blogs so the chances that I am bashing you are pretty slim. Most of you write well and provide a great service to those interested in your institutions. Even if I am referring to your school, my opinion means nothing; what do I know, anyway?

class show tidbits

If you want to see what antics our crazy class our class is getting into these days, check out these youtube videos. If you know the MSTs (through interviews or second looks) you will notice that we were pretty omnipresent in the class show. There are some more vids on the WUMS2011 youtube account if you care to see some more.

Oh yeah, and we got the final roster of the incoming MSTP class. I look forward to meeting the ones I haven’t yet. Alright, I gotta study for Neuroscience; final’s next week.

end of interview season!

Yes, yes… bad MSTP blogger. I haven’t written about the grandeur and glamour that is the life of an MD/PhD in a while. I kind of thought I would have time to do so while recovering from a recent surgery, but it turns out I just slept a lot.

There are some of you that I really liked and was saddened to find out that you were not offered a spot on the admissions list. Let’s just say that if I had some say, I would have changed that for a few of you. Seeing as how I enjoyed meeting you because you were intelligent, balanced, and fun to talk to, I am sure you got an offer from other great schools. The national MSTP crowd is well connected enough that I can reasonably expect to cross paths with you sometime again in our careers.

And now I just want to take a few minutes to say:

-it was awesome meeting those applicants that I was fortunate enough to meet

-I am pumped to learn that there are already a good number of you signed on and committed to the program

-come to second look weekend

-no, really, come to second look weekend. It’s FREE.

Second look is absurdly fun (really, it’s ridiculous.) If you can, I suggest that you come to the one that combines the MD class with the MSTPs. If not, at least go to the MSTP only one. Even if you aren’t totally into WashU at that point, second look is a great time to network with other MSTPs, some of whom will end up here and some of whom will choose other schools.

Oh, and I am helping to plan the MD/MSTP combined weekend. Unfortunately, the MSTP-exclusive weekend falls on our spring break, so the 1^st and 2^nd years will be mostly out of town by then. I might still try to meet up with you on the Friday prior, but that’s pending.

At any rate, being an MSTP here is still awesome and I am still having the time of my life. And I can speak first hand that if you for any reason must take some time off from school (say, to get your leg repaired), the school is wonderful to you throughout the process. You don’t appreciate it until you need it.

See you in April…

One semester down...

So, we're about a week and a half into the second semester of first year, so I thought it was time to write an update. I've actually tried writing this a couple of times, but for some reason it's been hard. anyway, here it goes.

It's kind of weird reflecting on all of the things that I learned over the last six months. The amount of information that I know now and didn't before starting med school is kind of astounding. Finals at the end of the year was definitely a bit intense, but it felt great to get it done! However, after being in st. Louis for more than 7 months I can confidently say that I am so happy with my choice to come to WashU and St. Louis. I even forget sometimes how lucky we are. When I told some people over break that med school was fun, they just gave me the strangest looks because that's not a word they were used to hearing associated with first year of med school. However, I'd say that there's a pretty good consensus of happiness among the first years!

Winter break was fantastic, although a bit short. I could have used a couple of extra days. It was nice hanging with my family though and just taking it easy.

it was great coming back to school and seeing all of my friends. I really missed them over break. This semester has been pretty good so far. I definitely miss anatomy all ready as now we have a lot more time in lecture, but small groups do help break it up. Plus, I really like the classes that we have this semester. Anyway, I guess that's all. We'll see how things go this semester!

PS. A fun video that we were looking at during physio small group today. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwNi8dzj0S8

social studies

Oh… is that an MSTP thing?

So it appears that the divide between MSTPs and MS1s has been widening. I first started noticing it at the med school applicant parties. When all of the next day’s applicants are relaxing and enjoying free pizza courtesy of WUSM, the first years will descend and answer questions, eat free food, and shoot the shit. Every once in a while, an applicant would ask a question and an MS1 will finish their answer with something like “… unless you’re an MSTP, then it’s different.” This evolved over the weeks into some variants, such as “unless you’re an MSTP. They get all the money/they’re spoiled/they’re special.” Sometimes, an applicant would ask me a question and an MS1 will cut in and say something like “he wouldn’t know, he’s an MSTP.” Aggravating, huh? Really, we are just like MS1s. The only differences are that we have the option to take one different class than the MS1s do, we get paid tuition (ahem… 16 MS1s have free rides, but who thinks of that?), and that we have the occasional research talk over lunch.

Well, it went to a new level last Thursday. I was talking to a MS1 that I consider a pretty good friend. We were talking about Indian restaurants in the area, and she recommended her favorite. I said “Hey! I’m going to be there on Sunday!” Her response was “Oh, is this another MSTP lunch?”

This bothered me. Yes, some of the MSTPs are good friends. About a third of us are very, very close, at least half are good enough friends that we often will eat dinner/see a movie /etc. with each other. When we do so, however, there are usually MS1s there as well. We are by no means exclusive. Now on the flipside, the person that organized this Indian lunch on Sunday invited only MSTPs, but that’s her prerogative, not ours as a whole. In fact, last night I was hanging out with 9 people, of whom I was the only MSTP. Basically, what I’m getting at here is that there is no such thing as a Sunday MSTP lunch. It’s just a lunch among friends, but I guess some in our class feel otherwise and see the MSTPs as an exclusive group. Oh well, I guess it’s bound to happen to some extent.

On a related note, I am now also in a hard place because of my lack of social exclusivity. The class as a whole is 123 people. I am now involved in planning a trip with some friends (mostly MS1s, to relate this to the previous story). I want to have my friends with me, of course, but there’s a problem. Because I refuse to be cliqued off, many of my friends come from separate social groups. No big deal, as most people still get along fine. The problem lies in that there are some seeds of contempt here and there. What to do when some of my friends really don’t like some of my other friends?

Oi. They weren’t kidding when they said med school = high school with smarter people.

more of the same + a random rant

So, things around here have become a bit routine. Not in a bad way for an MSTP student, mind you, but for you guys as readers. There’s little else about which to write. I mean, as L has already written, our first anatomy exam (not too bad) and first MCB (molecular cell biology, the grad school course a bunch of us take) exam (OI VEH! Don’t get me started…) have past us by, and some MSTPs are currently cranking for their MFM (molecular foundations of medicine, a.k.a. mother f*%&ing molecules) tomorrow. The rest of the MSTPs, however, are chilling until histology (Wednesday’s exam) and physiology (Thursday).

Cliff’s notes: school is moving along, and there is very little that we can write about at this point.

Oh, but it’s interview season! I can honestly say that I love seeing applicants. I take the MD applicants on little unofficial tours where I show them stuff that they don’t get so see on theirs. The MSTP tours, however, are much more thorough. I digress: what I want to get at is if you find me during your MSTP interview, I’ll talk your ear off and distract you from the stress of the whole process.

On to something totally unrelated to life here: does anyone else think that Rosalind Franklin’s status as some sort of feminist martyr is little more than BS? I only bring this up because WIRED magazine is running a thing on the most underappreciated scientists in history, and Franklin is near the top (a position dominated by Tesla, and rightfully so, in my opinion.) Yes, photograph 51 was vital to the W-C model of B-DNA, but honestly, she just took a photograph. She was a good crystallographer in that she could take a good photo, but if she was that good, couldn’t she solve the structure herself? She sat on the data. She was ready to drop the project and leave altogether because she hated working at King’s. Yes, yes, she hated it because King’s was an institution full of sexism, but that had nothing to do with Watson’s or Crick’s ideas. People just make this assumption, which I think was wrong: Franklin was a victim of sexism in science, and Franklin’s photo was used* without her knowledge to elucidate the structure of DNA, therefore she should have gotten credit as the true discoverer of the DNA structure to rectify the sexism.

I don’t buy it. I am not saying anything about her here other than that her role in this particular paper was little more than that of a technician. And at least a technician would have had intellectual input. She had none (for whatever reason: some basically hold to it that she was a hostile bitch and had no interest in any sort of contribution, others say that the man kept her down and disallowed her to add her intellectual muscle should she have it in this particular experiment.) So when I hear someone saying that Franklin is the real discoverer of the double helix, I interpret that as worse than sexism – scientific ignorance and reactionary feminism.

I’m bound to get hate mail/comments about this. Whatever, I have researched this plenty and I love the intellectual exercise.

PS I finally got a camera. Expect some more photographs of life as an MSTP, especially come spring when things really get fun/crazy.

-R

*: “used” is a very, very loose word here. She presented a lot of data to her peers at a talk prior to this, and photo 51 merely received a glanced at by Crick. That’s all he needed to do. He didn’t really use the photograph as the intellectual workhorse of the structural study.

The end of test craziness...for now!

It's been a while since I posted so I thought that it was time for an update.

Things have been crazy here lately! I just finished a take-home test that capped off my first round of tests in med school! We had anatomy on Monday (which everyone in our fantastic class passed!) and then our in-class molecular cell bio (MCB, which is a grad school class that a lot of MSTs take instead of med school biochem) exam on Tuesday followed by a take-home that's due tomorrow. I'm definitely ready for a bit of a break!

Amidst all of this test craziness it was really great to see how nice our class really is. Everyone really worked together in studying for the anatomy exam, and as many of us MSTs were left studying on Monday night we got visits by some of the med students and MSTs not in MCB that included food (cookies and apples) to help us study! It's so nice to be going to school with such considerate people!

On a totally separate note, MSTP interviews are starting this week, which is really exciting! To all of you applicants out there, good luck and don't be nervous!