Hiking the High Peaks…

I had a few days off before having to start work in the lab, so Mike and I decided to do an impromptu hike up in the Adirondack High Peaks.

The winding down of third year…

About time. This year has been long, forcing me to mentally check out a few weeks ago. Sadly, it was a bit early in light of the test I have tomorrow.

With the completion of tomorrows test, I’ll be done with third year. I’m convinced that this year will go down as one of the more bizarre years. Not only for me, but medical students the world over. It’s a precipitous change from passive learning in the classroom to being thrown in the hospital and being expected to play the ill defined role of “third year medical student”. Eventually the hospital doesn’t seem so foreign, you learn your role, and hopefully you learn a bit of patient management. Although not all experiences were wonderful, I was privileged to know many of the patients, residents, and attendings I worked with. As for the assholes… I’ll just make a point of never becoming “that guy”.

So what’s next? I am going to be back in the lab for 2 months, then sub-internship during August-September, then back to the lab until February. One of the great things about this school is the fact that they let us do pretty much anything we want for our fourth (and final) year. I have been missing basic science since I left it three years ago, so I am planning on returning to it. The work is extremely interesting – still cardiology, but the focus is more on the molecular and cellular biology behind heart failure and cardiomyocyte death.

The research schedule will be much more relaxed than rotations, so I have many plans of things I want to pursue in the coming year:

1. Get back to my usual reading… there are many history and philosophy of science books that have been collecting dust on my shelf.

2. Keep up on my running fixation. Keep doing races, and get serious about running a marathon.

3. Keep riding and do a century or two this summer. Of note, my road bike is finally fixed following a minor accident. One of New York’s finest decided to turn directly into me while I had right of way. Asshole cop also left the scene without leaving any information… I think that’s hit and run where I come from. Long story short… I’m glad I have an awesome friend who is also an awesome mechanic. He replaced my drop-bars and derailleur hanger for me.

4. Maybe write more on this neglected site?

Take care everyone… and make sure to keep 12/31/07 free. I promise it’ll be an awesome party.