Sharing is caring

I hated other pre-meds in undergrad. Why? All the competition drove me insane!

At The University of Michigan exists a pre-med sub-culture filled with one-ups, let downs, weeding out, gunnering, competition to the extreme. Many colleges with a large number of pre-med students (Berkley, Northwestern, UTexas, The Ivy Leagues) are blessed with this sadomasochistic sub-culture, some worse than Michigan’s, sadly.

Hence, I avoided the chaos with English, Sociology, and Psychology majors. Instead of discussing how to cheat the med school admissions process, we spoke of social justice, race, literature, music, etc. It kept me sane for five years.

I even chose my current medical school because our tour guides affirmed the “chillness" of the atmosphere here. People worked together, shared notes, loved each other, didn’t care much about who gets honors, etc. (I realize these musings are naive, but work with me here.)

Now, I’m noticing competition in the air. Everyone studies by themselves or in hermetically tight clicks. People talk of getting better quiz grades than others. Classmates hold back in lecture or small group because they don’t want to sound stupid. Though these are normal behaviors or any class in the first month, it can easily go in the wrong, competitive direction, which make me nervous. So, to subside it, I’ve decided to share my lecture notes.

Small move, I know, but I hope it encourages others to share information with each other and work together without the fear of being wrong or sounding stupid. I sent my plasma membrane notes a few days ago, and soon a typed, organized outline on lipids will reside in everyone’s mailbox.

I hope it works. Let’s see. Now on to the wonders of protein folding.

"Spring Fever"

I’ve never typed on a plane before...

I’m en route to New York City, after visiting my significant other back in Ann Arbor, Michigan, my former residence. I also visited a few friends, canoed, and copied a few opera CD’s.

My return evoked thoughts and settled uncertainties. In April, when I needed to decide between multiple medical school acceptances, I had the option to stay in Ann Arbor for medical school (and stay with my friends and family), yet I made a difficult decision to leave everything I knew for my current medical school for one overarching reason: New York City. To elucidate this desire, I will share what my friend showed me, a passage from Tom Sawyer Detective that describes “spring fever:”

“It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want--oh, you don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! It seems to you that mainly what you want is to get away; get away from the same old tedious things you're so used to seeing and so tired of, and set something new. That is the idea; you want to go and be a wanderer; you want to go wandering far away to strange countries where everything is mysterious and wonderful and romantic.”

When I first read this, I recognized the symptoms of this “fever” immediately and realized that my move to New York alleviated such ailments. I needed this. Soon, I stopped regretting my move and started to embrace the uncertainty of change.

Speaking of change, it’s time to refocus my attention on the changing confirmations of proteins within the influenza virus before I land and face a long train ride back to Manhattan from Newark.

"vissi d'arte et di medicina"

In 12 hours, I will have survived my first week of medical school!

Most medical schools are infamous for throwing textbooks, journal articles, and exams at first years until they forget about the existence of daylight. Our school, however, deliberately gives us first years an easier first semester in order to allow us to adjust to and enjoy New York City.

Hence, this week, I've taken full advantage of the Metropolitan Opera's Summer in HD festival at the Lincoln Center. They broadcast (in HD) previously recorded productions of world-class quality operas for free at Lincoln Center! I've gone four days in a row and seen Eugene Onegin (by Tchaikovsky), Macbeth (by Verdi), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (by Rossini), and Peter Grimes (by Britton). I've never seen a full opera before this week, and now I've seen four operas in a row. After the first opera I saw on Monday, I went to youtube and watched more opera scenes. I've been smitten. I've found another art form to appreciate and enjoy!

However, the time spent watching operas equals time spent not studying. I thought about tonight when a classmate texted me on my way to see Peter Grimes, "did you do the problem set...," which happened to be due tomorrow. I hadn't, so I'm working on it at 2:30 in the morning. Yes, I sacrificed sleep, but how often does one get to see the opera in high definition for free in New York? For that matter, who gets anything for free in New York?

Biochemistry can wait for culture, especially if it doesn't require money.

Now I must return to the aforementioned problem set, while listening to Leontyne Price's performance of "Vissi d'Arte" from Tosca.