All the food you would eat in a year

With two weeks remaining until spring break, I am still trudging/barreling full speed through medical physiology. ("Barreling" refers to the pace at which the material is presented; "trudging" is a more accurate representation of the speed with which I incorporate it into my mental framework.) The topics are very interesting, but, as with everything else, very detailed. Much to my high-school-teacher parents' chagrin, I have taken to only attending the very informative lectures given by the course director; most of the other lecturers tend to just read their slides, adding nothing. It is much more efficient for me to move through the material at my own pace, accelerating through information I know from previous courses and stopping to reference the textbook or make notes when necessary. Now that I spend much of each day in the library and fewer hours sitting in a lecture hall, I realize just how much time attending class requires! In some cases, it is totally worth it, but in others, it offers little return on the energy and mental focus invested. (Note: Brilliance in laboratory research, and even an earnest, kindhearted desire to help medical students does not guarantee clarity and effectiveness in a lecturer.)

In any case, I have adopted the strategy of focusing on the tasks I need to accomplish each day while avoiding too much thought about the subsequent and their required work. If I really start to consider how much physiology I should already know, plus how much I have yet to learn, plus all of the knowledge to be acquired during the next course, plus all of the information to learn next year, plus the fact that I will face the formidable Step I boards in June 2010 (a test of all I have learned in the first 2 years of school; very important in getting a good residency; much more on this in the future!). . . if I let myself truly consider all of that, I would completely shut down - just cease functioning. And so I don't.

However, when I related these feelings of being overwhelmed to the sage and calming psychologist who leads my mindful meditation group, she smiled and said, "But in one day, you wouldn't try to eat all the food you would eat in a year." This woman is brilliant and helps me make sense of the world.

On the bright side, I am eagerly anticipating several events. First, I will be spending 3 days in San Francisco and Monterey, CA, during spring break. I am going with two of my girlfriends from school. Of course, we are keeping the trip short because our physiology final is scheduled for after our spring break (yes, I'm serious), but I'm sure it will be fantastic.

Second, I was just selected to be one of the leaders of the Obstetrics/Gynecology interest group next year. I will be arranging speakers for several club meetings throughout the year, so I am hoping this will give me the opportunity to get to know some of the attending physicians.

Lastly, I have a really excellent gig for the summer: a fellowship doing pediatric oncology research at Children's Hospital Los Angeles!! I don't know that I will end up practicing in this area of oncology, but I'm sure it will be fascinating work and I hope to learn a lot. Also, I have never been to LA, but one of my college friends lives out there, so it will be great to get advice from him and to hang out again! Apparently living in LA really requires a car, so Tay and I plan to take some time for a road trip to get out there, and then perhaps my parents will fly out to help me drive back. (Suprise, Mom and Dad!) I don't know the specifics of my research project yet, but I am just thrilled in general. I absolutely love to travel and explore new places. Never fear, I will take TONS of pictures while I am out there.

I am also trying to work out one other potential side project, but at this point I'm not absolutely certain it will work out, so I am keeping my mouth shut (fingers still? As in, not typing?) for now.

As always, back to work....