Block 2 and Spring Break!

Don't know how I would survive without these two -- my roommate and tooth-brushing-bathroom-buddy, Angela, and best friend here, Robin :)

Well, the last few weeks have been fun-filled and packed with studying, as per usual. The end of March was our block week, which consisted of only 3 exams: OMM Theory, OMM Practical, and a two-part combined Doctoring and CVRR (cardio, respiratory, renal) exam, primarily focusing on clinical aspects of heart problems (a patient presents with these symptoms, what do they have, what do you do) which I think is a lot more interesting than just being tested on the physiology of the heart (like who really cares what ions cross the heart when?). But I finished and passed and after blocks was Spring Break!!!!!!!!!!!! I drove back down to Southern California with three friends and a bird in my car, got home late that night, then got up the next morning and Mumsy and I drove to Tucson to see Holl and Kevin! It was SUCH a fun weekend and so good to see them and a great start to my Spring Break :)

So good to be reunited with my best friend!
We really love her! (you can read more about their love here!)
We even had a late-night Easter egg hunt!! :)

Seeing Hollyanne and Kevin was an awesome start to my spring break and the awesomeness continued with lots of fam time:friend time:
and just all around amazingness :)

After my awesome week at home, it was time to head back up to school and hit the books again. We have an exam next Friday on all the "bugs and drugs" related to respiratory infections, and let me tell you, there are a lot! So, as usual, my time has been pretty well consumed with studying (the other day in the library the president of the student government here looked at me and said: "wow you really live in the library, don't you?" .....yes, yes I do, thank you for pointing out what a nerd I am).

The other thing that has been taking up a lot of my time as of late is trying to raise money for my trip to Africa coming up in A MONTH!!! I can't believe it; I've wanted to go to Africa for as long as I can remember and now I'm finally getting to do it!!!!! We're going to be both rotating and observing in a hospital in Shirati, Tanzania (as well as living with host families!), in addition to doing community service projects in the surrounding villages. I'm going to be working on the Leporsy Project (just like Jesus! :)). We have lots of neat projects that we're going to be working on, but we can't do them without supplies so a lot of time this month (in addition to studying :)), has been spent working on fundraising projects. This weekend, for example, we are having a people auction to raise money (I'm part of a group of girls auctioning off a spa night :)), next weekend a dance (dancing for Africa -- YES PLEASE), then a Rubios fundraiser (EATING FOR AFRICA?? yessssss) the week after that. So a lot of effort has been towards trying to raise money for the Global Physicians Corps, which was started by a Touro student and we are a part of -- 100% of the proceeds to directly to the project, none to funding our trip, so if you would like it give, please donate here and put Tanzania/Jolie Hoppe in the purpose field. Thanks so much for your consideration! And now, to bed, then to the library all day tomorrow!!

One last thought, last week at church we sang one of my favorite songs that I had forgotten about: "Lord, You Have Come". My favorite part goes like this:

Lord, take my hands and direct them.
Help me spend myself in seeking the lost,
returning love for the love you gave me.

O, Lord, with your eyes set upon me,
gently smiling, you have spoken my name;
all I longed for I have found by the water,
at your side, I will seek other shores.

Something New -- Studying

I really do mean to post more often but I keep forgetting/getting distracted/not having time...all the usual excuses.

February was quite a month. On my last post I talked about the Respiratory and Structure exam we had that day....honestly going in, I felt more prepared than I had for any other exam in medical school thus far! Well, apparently pride really does go before a fall, because I was so confident that I knew everything that was being tested and talked about that I'm embarrarssed to say, I rushed through it and did worse on this test than I have done on any test since starting medical school! Though it was definitely a disappointment, it was a good lesson (TAKE YOUR TIME IN TESTS) and thankfully, I still passed :)

The first weekend of February was DO Day on the Hill where we went to Sacramento to talk to our state representatives to support legislation reversing the merging of the Osteopathic and Naturopathic licensing boards in California. It was a really neat thing to be a part of, and all the people I talked to seemed to be super supportive of our cause!

How could you resist that smiling face?? :)

That weekend was Nourah's birthday and a trip back to Southern California for a much-needed weekend home with the fam to celebrate my birthday and run my Half-Marathon!

The birthday glasses were obviously essential.

Sunday was my Half-Marathon! It was a beautiful day and a beautiful run (though a little boring at the end), but awesome because I had a whole cheering squad there! I feel so blessed to have people in my life who will wake up early and/or drive many hours just to see me run by and cross the finish line :) It was really really great.

Gennaya and Matt ran it too :)
Cheering Squad! :)

After my relaxing weekend home, it was time to hit the books. Hard. I have spent so much time at the library, I'm pretty sure everyone knows that this table (ironically, where I'm sitting now) is MINE. The thing about spending all your time at the library is that your actual home tends to suffer and by the end of blocks, I could hardly see the floor of my bedroom since I was pretty much only there to sleep....

Case in point: my room DURING block week.
....and after Block week :)

As indicated by my room, these blocks took a lot of studying....we actually had 6 exams -- 3 theory (OMM, Doctoring, and Cardio/Respiratory/Renal), and 3 Practicals (OMM, Doctoring-Physical Exam and Anatomy Practical). It was quite a long week :( But thankfully, I passed!!!! I feel like every time I check my grade and see that I passed, its such a prayer of relief, after all the stress of exams.... The weekend after exams, Angela and I relaxed and it was AMAZING. We went to Napa and Sonoma, and caught up on the last 3 weeks of The Bachelor......so wonderfully mindless and relaxing :) The next week after blocks was also pretty chill considering we had just had 6 tests the week previous. Tuesday we went to free Pancake Day at IHOP and had cake for Angela's birthday :)

Note the BYOPB (bring your own peanut butter ;))

Wednesday was Angela's birthday, so we went out to dinner at this yummy sushi restaurant in Alameda

Practicing my cultural competency skills ;)
The view of SF (and us) from Treasure Island!

Thursday was our big game against Touro-Nevada (where we lost miserably) -- but still had fun cheering!

Cheering!

After the big game, it was time to go to the airport to fly to DC for my birrrrrrrrrrrth-dayyyyy!! :) It was SO fun to see Megy and Evgeniya (Jenny) even flew out as my birthday surprise!!!! Best birthday surprise ever!!! And my old roommate, Peaches even came down from Jersey City!!! I am so blessed to have best friends to fly out and spend my birthday with :)

Blowing out the candles on my HOMEMADE, sugar-free (Megy gave up sugar for Lent), AMAZING birthday cake!!! WOOOO HOOOO 23!!!! :D
Megy and my two birthday surprises!!! :) SPC Girls <3 style="text-align: left;">We spent my birthday in DC, but the next day we drove to Philly to see our good friends Sarah and Matt and celebrate my birthday with them too :) and eat cheesesteaks :)

Waiting for our cheesesteaks :)

Evgeniya, Me, Sarah, and Megy.
Dear Saint Peters, thanks for bringing me such amazing best friends :)

After my birthday and getting back to Vallejo (on the way to which, I was bumped up to first class! happy birthday to me! ;)), it was the usual, back to the library and intensive studying, in preparation for my next weekend where Holl came to visit!!!! SO amazing! Two weekends in a row of best friends?? I'm so so blessed :) It was so fun to have her here! Friday we went out for sushi and fro yo in Alameda, then drove through SF and the Golden Gate Bridge.... Saturday, we went wedding dress shopping at this amazing bridal salon only like 20 minutes from my house, and lunch at WHOLE FOODS (um amazing!), then spent most of our day exploring Berkeley and buying 50 cent books at the library bookstore :) That night a bunch of my friends from school came over and we played 'Apples to Apples' which I have never played before but was super fun!! And then we watched "The Hangover"...so funny! :) Sunday, Holl and I went to the Jelly Belly factory (yummmmm) and then to Napa and Sonoma, then to the airport :( all in all it was an amazing weekend though!!! But now its reallllly back to the grind. I'm spending all my time in the library so I can be super hardcore now and have the day off for St Pattys Day (Parade in SF!), then blocks are in 2 weeks! Eek!! But after that is Spring Break and I am coming homeeeeeeeee (and can drink Diet Coke again! ;)) Can't wait!!! :)

Thats all for now; hopefully its not another month til my next post ;)

Monday, February 1, 2010

Cardio, Respiratory, Renal

I feel like every time I post, I start off by talking about how busy I've been and how much more intense school is....it's all so unoriginal! But it's true, school just keeps getting more intense and life just keeps getting busier and busier. I've had two major tests already this year: a Cardio "mini" exam, on the physiology of the cardiac system, and the today a Respiratory & Structure "mini" exam.... Angela and I have spent so much time in the library the past week, I feel like we live there more than our own house! But now its back to the normal grind of studying, at least until Wednesday. Wednesday night a bunch of students from Western University (another DO school in Pomona, CA) are coming up here and maybe 2 are staying the night at our house and then Thursday classes are cancels and we are all going to Sacramento to protest the merging of the Osteopathic and Naturopathic licensing boards. Friday we are making dinner and having a bunch of people over for Nourah's 25th birthday then Saturday I am flying home!! I am so excited to be home for the weekend, and run the Huntington Beach Half-Marathon and hang out with the fam....so excited!!!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

2010 -- Full of New Beginnings! :)

So the new year has finally started! I've been waiting for this one for awhile and I'm excited that it's finally here :)

The New Year started off with a bang as Mumsy and I were in Paris! We had an awesome time, leaving the day after Christmas and staying til the 2nd of January! It was cold but we bundled up and hit the streets of Paris and even spent New Years Eve with a bottle of chanpagne at the Eiffel Tower!! So all in all it was a super awesome week! AND we even got bumped up to Business Class on the flight home!

Ready for the New Year!
Mumsy and I and Mona!!

So we got back Saturday night and Sunday morning I went to LA to see Megan and Evgeniya and Andrew (Megan's brother) and have breakfast for Evgeniya's birthday, then Megy and I drove back up to Vallejo and Monday was back to class from 8-5 (including a 3 hour anatomy cadaver lab). Our classes this semester are Cardio, Respiratory, and Renal, starting with Cardio (which we have an exam on a week from today--eek!).

Getting ready for anatomy lab! (OK so I don't acutally where my white coat to lab--EW--but Megy wanted me to put it on for the picture :)

Tuesday Megy left :( and since then it's been back to the grind. We have much more frequent anatomy labs than we did last semester (when we did the back in August then that was it for the entire semester). Last week we opened the chest and took out the lungs and this week was the heart. Our cadaver is especially interesting for two reasons. One, he has a second vena cava on the left side (normally you just have one on the right side to drain blood from the head and upper extremities), as well as several other extra veins in other locations. In 11 years our anatomy lab instructor has only seen one other left vena cava and even then it wasn't as large as the one that our cadaver has......so our experience has been more watching a dissection of the heart and thorax, rather than doing it ourselves so that we don't mess anything up, as well as lots of photography by the doctors and anatomists. So its actually really neat. The other interesting thing about our cadaver is that he died of B-cell lymphoma and has a huge tumor on his chest that goes down through the ribs, pressing on the lungs, as well as other smaller tumors throughout his mediastinum (and probably other places too, once we dissect more). So anatomy has been really neat. We also have started to have more standardized patient encounters. Today, as a team-based learning group, we took a history and physical of a standardized patient that we're going to be seeing all semester that we can already see is going to soon present with hypertension, related to what we are studying (he doesn't acutally have hypertension that we know of, just playing a role for us to start practicing on).

In terms of non-school stuff, this has been a fun weekend....Friday night was a PJ party (thrown by the same house who had an Ugly Sweater Party--they're very creative with their party themes) and Saturday was a Winter Gala for the whole school!

At Robins house, getting ready to go to the Gala!The roomies and I (plus our friend Sibyl)!
Mumsy, I put this one up for you....this is our 'all the single ladies; if you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it' pose!!! :)

But now its back to hardcore studying (so hardcore today I didn't even come home for dinner!), and training for my upcoming Half-Marathon!

Mumsy and Dad and Unka and Aunt Diane -- can't wait to see you guys this weekend! Now to bed :)

Friday, December 18, 2009

FIRST SEMESTER OF MED SCHOOL -- PASSED!!!!!

I HAVE FINISHED MY FIRST SEMESTER OR MED SCHOOL AND PASSED!!!!!!!!!

Besides that, not a whole lot of excitement ;) After all our blocks, Megan flew in to spend some time with me and meet all my friends and roommates and then drive back down to Southern CA with me!

Our house, all decorated for Christmas!!!
Angela, Nourah, and I before our first Standard Patient Encounter!
Christmas Potluck at our house!!!!
Someone brought a pineapple!
Roommates <3
Opening Christmas presents--my roommates got me a Snuggie!!!!!!

And now I'm home, enjoying time with the fam and relaxing, and getting ready to go to Paris with Mumsy!!!! Helloooooooooo 2010 :)

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Study Study Study

The end is almost in sight!!! Two short weeks complete with 10 more lectures, one more lab, three exams and two practicals and I will be done with my first semester of MEDICAL SCHOOL! I can hardly believe it!

Just a few updates/photos of what I've been up to these last few weeks before I go back to notecards and bed!
Since I last posted, my friend Mike and I made "complementary" shirts to run the Mare Island 5K in:
In case you can't quite see, those are pink shirts that say "I'm with Muscly" and "I'm with Jiggly"
....if this whole med school thing didn't work out, I think maybe I should consider a job in a) persuading people to do things they don't really want to (like run in matching pink shirts), or b) elementary school teaching (thanks to my awesome puffy paint skills). But so far the med school thing is working out, and the day after out race was our third mid-block exam which I totally dominated! I think I'm (finally) starting to figure out my study groove :) This third block begins our first actual system: blood. Who knew that it was so complicated or that there are SO MANY TYPES OF ANEMIA OH MY GOODNESS. But anyways, after the midblock almost our whole class went out to a bar in Benicia to celebrate which was pretty fun...here's a picture with 5/8 of my small "team-based learning" group. We are team 1 in group A, so we like to consider ourselves "Team Awesome"....:) Actually the theory of team-based learning is really awesome, I think, and I love it when professors give us complicated cases and we have to, as a team, figure out what to do. I plan to call all these people when I have a complicated case in real life ;) Anyways, here's my team:

After midblock we also had the Turkey Bowl which seemed like a good idea (1st and 2nd year med students playing against each other in a fun game of flag football), but was ended prematurely with a fight.... But at least the "432 Kirkland Express" was there to cheer our class on!(Please note how my roomies all really creatively decorated their numbers and mine is......colored in. Perhaps creativity is not my strong point.)

But after all this excitement, the biggest excitement was by far coming home!! Thanksgiving with the fam and wedding dress shopping on Black Friday was AWESOME and a much-needed getaway :)

Happy Thanksgiving from Huntington Beach!

AH MY BEST FRIEND IS ENGAGED!!!
Time for wedding dress shopping!!!
And it even snowed!!!! AWESOME THANKSGIVING BREAK! :)

Getting back from break means we were slammed with work...and my studying has really kicked into high gear. I've spent so many hours at the library, I've started packing my dinner so that I can just stay and study and eat there and not be bothered with going to my house (a mile away).....SO HARDCORE! But Friday night I got a bit of a reprieve with an ugly sweater party hosted by some of my classmates.... So fun!
Mike and I in our ugly sweaters.....we originally bought them to wear opposite (me in the cute snowflake one and him in the Bill Cosby one), but Angela said that they would be uglier (and thus more appropriate for an Ugly Sweater Party) if we switched. So we did :)

Ugly Sweater Party 2009 -- all Future Doctors of America....

This weekend has been filled with lots of studying (as usual), church-going and....DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS! Our house is gonna look so awesome, I'm so so excited!!!

Decorating our Charlie Brown Christmas tree....
Stringing lights!
Who needs a boy? My dad taught me how to hammer and hang my own lights :)

That's about all the excitement in my life for now....just a little longer and I'm done, I can't believe it! So exciting! Just gotta get through my first Standardized Patient exam this week (Wednesday), then my exams/OMM practical next week, the Megy comes and we have our holiday potluck and then home sweet home!!! So close!
One last thing, I've been reading though Romans (love it so much) and I stumbled across these two verses on love that I really do, well love!

Love does no harm to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.....And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love
So awesome :)

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

BLOCK 2 -- Passed :)

So clearly my goal of blogging every week is failing as school gets busier and busier... But in other news: I passed all my Block 2 exams!!! Sooooo happy and thankful. I know that someday I will fail a test or several...I just don't want it to be yet!

The primary occupation of my days these past three weeks has been studying and training for my half-marathon that was this past Sunday in Florida....I have made time for some fun non-studying activities... :)

Pumpkin carving with my roommates...
and going to Halloween parties with my roommates!

In addition to those fun things, my biggest news of late definitely is a) PASSING MY BLOCK EXAMS and b) flying to Florida to run a half-marathon/reunion with my college roommates!!!
We had lots of time to relax on the beach before our big race...
..and by the pool :)
and then of course there was the half-marathon!
Which was on the beach! (well right next to it...)
And I finished!!! 2 hours and 13 minutes -- 7 minutes faster than the one I ran in May!!!

All in all it was an amazing weekend away with my best friends. And now its back to the study grind (MidBlock THREE on Monday!), then home soon for Thanksgiving!! :)

One last thing, I've been reading through the Psalms and I found one a few weeks ago that I've really been loving (I wrote it on a notecard and put it next to my bed :)) --

"I call as my heart grows faint. Lead me to a rock that is higher than I."

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