Old Columbus Town

The Oval at Ohio State

I wanna go back to Ohio State
To old Columbus town,
To the stadium to hear the band,
By far the finest in the land,
I wanna go back to Ohio State
To old Columbus town,
I wanna go back,
I gotta go back,
To Ohio

Adapted from Songs of The Ohio State University

It's hard to believe that it has been over a month since I moved from Columbus, but the start of college football season and Hurricane Ike's wrath have drawn my thoughts towards home to Dublin and Ohio State. We also just took our first exam (I passed!), so I suppose that signifies I am now officially a medical student. With that, here are some my reflections from the last couple days:

Things I Miss

The Oval- Although there is a large Quad at HMS that has had its fair share of Ultimate games, it simply does not compare to the grandeur of the Oval. Perhaps what I miss most about the Oval is its location in the flightpath into and out of CMH and watching the 737s and Embraer jets flying overhead.

High Street- It really is the central artery of Ohio State and Columbus. In addition to its numerous establishments (Larry's and Mama's Pasta and Brew come to mind), it was just so damn straight. Due in part to history, Boston has a serious problem of unintuitive street alignments and roads that change names in the middle of a traffic circle. High St. never looked so good.

Climbing, Backpacking, and Swimming- I will always remember the weekly trips to the OAC rock wall and the weekend excursions to the Red River Gorge and the Smokies as time that kept me kept me sane during these last four years. While I still miss the old Larkins pool, being able to swim in the new McCorkle pool these last couple years have forever spoiled any place that I could swim in Boston.

People- Well, duh. Of course I miss you all. This includes but is not limited to roommates who made living off campus easy, backpacking buddies who weren't afraid to climb the sheer rock cliff, Sphinx'ers who did the things that "secret" societies do, and all the students, staff, and faculty at Ohio State who were collectively an unending source of support and inspiration.

Things I Don't Miss

Losing football games- Although I was fortunate to not experience many losses while at Ohio State, whenever it did happen, I felt like a malaise spread throughout the campus for at least a week afterward. Here, I get a couple heckles but wounds heal much faster.

COTA- It gets an unfair rap, and I was a usually happy rider when in school. However, when compared to Boston's T, it is like looking at the differences between an iPhone and a pay phone.

The Olentangy and Scioto Rivers- The Charles may not be pristine, but at least it is blue and navigable by sailboat. For what Boston lacks in an Oval, it makes up with riverfront parks.

The transition from Columbus to Boston has been surprisingly easy. This is undoubtedly in part because I was able to spend time with my family here and getting to know new classmates for three weeks before classes actually began. Being able to connect with people through blogs, Facebook, gTalk (mjaung), and Skype (msjaung) have been essential too.

There are also reminders of home here. This includes fellow Buckeyes who have migrated to Boston as well as professors and classmates who are proudly from the Midwest (highlighted by a demonstration in lecture of glycolysis involving an ear of corn). However, I belive that the absolute best way to remember the past is to have visitors and make new memories in the present. Not to be confused with Back to the Future, that means come to Boston! I'll be waiting.

Disaster Diplomacy

Besides a moment of silence at the beginning of lecture today, it was sadly easy for me to forget that September 11, 2001, was only seven years ago. How can we measure how much our United States and world have changed since then? Could you imagine being one of those directly affected by this catastrophic day?

This evening, I was fortunate enough to catch wind of a panel at the Kennedy School of Government titled "Disaster Relief as Diplomacy in the Post-9/11 World." It was a panel of three academic physicians (two of which who were part of the response team at Ground Zero) and one social entrepreneur. Among them, they discussed their work which spanned from developing emergency preparedness systems in the former Soviet Union as part of diplomatic good will to using evidence-based methods to measure the true effectiveness of humanitarian aid to areas plagued with natural disaster and conflict to organizing a non-profit dedicated to "spontaneous volunteers" who respond to global disasters such a cyclone that hit Bangladesh.

I was inspired hearing about the efforts to truly improve humanitarian response to man-made and natural disasters. While they acknowledged the cynicism that can feed critiques of "dependency" and "volunteer tourism," the members of the panel demonstrated the need to strive for solutions that are effective, cross-cultural, and sustainable.

The sunrise is a new day.
--
Two pertinent links:
Hands on Disaster Response- the non-profit organization that is a pioneer in developing the best framework for supporting volunteers who wish to get directly involved in the physical and psychological relief efforts around the world

Harvard Humanitarian Initiative- a cross-institutional entity that works to provide the academic support for advocating for human rights and improving humanitarian efforts

Achieving your Childhood Dreams

While avoiding the tropical storm this weekend, I was cruising on iTunes U and found a video that I had heard/read about that is a lecture given by Randy Pausch, a professor from Carnegie Mellon University. Not giving away many details, he is young but terminally ill with pancreatic cancer, and his lecture recounts his own childhood dreams and how they came to fruition during his short life. Describing it like that, I feel that it may come across as sad and/or vain, but in fact the lecture is humorous and insightful, humane and relevant.

As a student myself on the cusp of a new future, I find it inspiring to hear about his experiences about finding his passion and making a palpable difference. I hope that you'll take the 75 minutes or so to watch it in its entirety.




As a postscript, this lecture was given almost exactly a year ago on September 17, 2007. Dr. Pausch passed away in July 2008. Also, not to plug Apple too much, but iTunes U is a gigantic collection of free lectures and documentaries from universities and institutions around the world. You can get to it directly from a link on the regular iTunes page. Check it out.

Some Stormy Seas

Update 9/7/08:

Tropical Storm Hanna passed over last night, and other than a fair amount of rain, it seems to have caused no difficulty in the Boston area. The sun's already out this morning and the pavement is dry. Here's hoping this is the end of the hurricane season for us.

---
After three weeks of practically non-stop sunshine and cool temperatures:

Thankfully, Matt and I went on our sailing adventure on the Charles yesterday when the conditions were perfect. We took out a small dinghy from the MIT boathouse and sailed around the Back Bay and MIT area between the Mass Ave. and Longfellow Bridges. Considering it was only Matt's second time out on a boat, the first time being his sailing lesson, I would say he skippered the boat commendably (I manned the sail).

Doctor School

So what does medical school actually entail? Considering tomorrow is only the end of our first week of real classes, I am no expert. However, with the aid of two curriculum presentations during our orientation and a trusty handout, here's my summary of the upcoming four (or five) years:

Year one:
Our time is spent predominantly in the classroom/lab/lecture hall taking classes in blocks of roughly 5-8 weeks. In order, these are Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Human Anatomy (with cadaver lab), Human Genetics, , Clinical Epidemiology & Population Health, Human Physiology, and Microbiology & Pathology.

These classes are supplemented by a weekly class in Social Medicine & Global Health fall semester and Medical Ethics & Professionalism spring semester.

Last, but of course not least, is Patient-Doctor 1 which runs weekly the entire year and consists of learning how to interview and compile a history of patients that takes place in hospitals around Boston.

If it sounds like a lot, that's because it is. An often-used analogy is trying to drink water out of a fire hose. Luckily, we are giving a two month summer respite that many students spend doing research, traveling abroad, or generally trying not to freak out that this is the last "free" summer ever.

Year two:
If the first year is characterized as learning about a healthy body's biology, the second year is studying everything that can and does go wrong. This, I believe is when medical students start to become hypochondriacs. We go from system to system (think head, shoulders, stomach, knees, and toes), and incorporate pharmacology into the material.

Patient-Doctor 2 is also spread out through the entire year and focuses on mastering the physical exam. This is so we can poke and prod ourselves and validate our fears that we're coming down with the diseases we're studying.

Alas, year two does not end with a vacation. Instead, in April, we take Step 1 of the Board Exams. I've been doing my best to deny the fact that we have yet more standardized tests, so you'll have to ask me later about that.

Year three:
Directly after taking the Step 1, we move from the classroom to the wards and clinics. This means we begin to directly work with real patients, under the supervision of real doctors. The third year consists of the mandatory rotations among different divisions within the hospitals including Internal Medicine, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Surgery, Radiology, Neurology, and Psychiatry. I really don't know much more except that we hardly see any third or fourth years around campus and so I assume they're working hard in the hospitals.

Year four:
The fourth year is also spent in the wards, but these are spread among required and elective rotations such as Emergency Medicine and a second Surgery rotation. Many students also use this time to do an international or domestic away rotation (apparently Cape Cod is a popular clinic placement).

Fourth year is also the time that we take Step 2 of the Boards as well as when we start the application once again, this time for residency programs where we will "complete" our medical training in our specialties.

The gap year:
Many students spend a fifth year here either pursuing a Master's degree or full-time research. The Master's of Public Health, Master's of Business Administration, and other programs are actually inserted between the third and fourth year while research is usually added on as a "second lap" fifth year. There are also a small number of students who pursue a Ph.D. while in medical school, and they are just here forever. But hey, I guess it's not such a bad place to be.

The Streets of Boston

The view of Longwood Circle from my dorm room

Amid the tumult of Hurricane Gustav, the Democratic National Convention, and the McCain-Palin ticket, life in Boston steadily swimming along. Our introductory course has sadly ended, and now we plunge into a five-week crash course review in biochemistry. With this semi-relaxed schedule, I've been able to continue my explorations of Boston and Cambridge both in groups with classmates and on lone expeditions.

Boston is truly a walkable city (especially in nice weather) because of its dense neighborhoods, multiple parks and green ways, and the generally efficient and useful subways and buses. It is amusing seeing hordes of tourists in places like the North End, Fanueil Hall, and Harvard Square as well as nostalgic to see parents helping students move back to school at BU and Northeastern. I will admit that I am only marginally a Boston resident, but that comes with time.

In the meanwhile, please allow me to entertain you with this map I made (with photos) that displays various places of interest I have visited in the past weeks. If it doesn't work, you may have to visit the website.

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