The Birthday Bike Ride of The Century

As a birthday gift to myself (my birthday is today), I decided to take on the NYC Century yesterday-- it's the cyclist's version of a marathon. 100 miles of pure bliss and blisters.

That day, we rode a total of 108 miles, which spanned four marvelous Burroughs of New York City: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx. From start to finish, our total ride took 12 hours-- including time for breaks and hydration-- thanks to a two-bottle hydration belt (below) I wore that enabled me to go for long periods without stopping. We rode along the ocean, through various parks, and across concrete bridges.

Before the race, I told friends, coworkers, and colleagues about the century, and I got mixed reactions: "How is that possible?" "Good for you!" "Are you sure you want to do that?" "I couldn't possibly do that myself." "You must have huge legs!" They focused on the idea of riding such a great distance.

However, I prided myself on choosing a goal and sticking with it until the end. It all started in June. I had dinner with a friend from church to celebrate his buying a brand new bike, at which I near-jokingly suggested that we ride 100 miles. Neither of us had done something like this before. We were both trying to get back into shape and lose weight. When we found out about the Century Bike Tour, we set our goal.

Then we trained. and trained. and trained. During our first bike trip around Manhattan, we covered an astonishing 33 miles, followed by a 45-mile trip up to Mount Kisko the following week. Our group grew. Another guy used an iPhone app to track our mileage and speed. I bought my first pair of  bike shorts, which left a stark tan line on my thighs a few weeks before the race. During my lunch break, I sneaked over to the gym for afternoon spin classes to strengthen my legs and keep up my endurance. 

After months of prep, I made it across the finish line at 110th street and Lenox Avenue-- and I wasn't last!

It forces me to reflect on other goals in progress: losing 20 pounds by Christmas, reading 10 books before the New Year, become a doctor. Yes, that medical journey is still in progress and doesn't show signs of stopping. I intend to cross that finish line soon.

Motivational learning

As I watch another hysterectomy, I can’t help but think of all the skills and facts I don’t know. Why does the surgeon cut the broad ligament first? Why did he make a vertical incision instead of a horizontal one? How does he select the #1 suture instead of the #2 suture? How can he stand on his feet for so long!?!

My motivation to study and learn grows every time I stand in the operating room or adjacent to patients’ beds during rounds. As my “trip” in East Africa winds down, a new motivation to study and academically succeed grows. Hit those books. Write those notes. Attend those lectures. Watch them again!

How do I maintain this energy in the middle of the school year when I’m filled with stress, fatigue, and junk food? My first year punched me in the face because I lost motivation to persevere. Though I did well enough, I could have done better, and I think the key to improvement involves reminding myself why I’m doing this. I need to get clinical exposure at least once a week throughout the school year.

Our hospital back in New York offers a plethora of opportunities to see patients – even if it is behind Plexiglas. I can watch surgeries. I can volunteer. I can shadow professors. I can conduct research. Also, a friend of mine from synagogue volunteers at the local HIV/AIDS non-profit and offered to get me in.

I never found the need to do this last year; I resorted to my usual undergrad habit of running several student organizations and planning events, which I enjoy. However, if I plan to stay sane during the trials of the next 10 months until my USMLE, I will need to switch my extracurricular priorities.

Resiliency

In between anatomy exams, I found time to watch African-American Lives, a PBS series that tracks the unknown ancestors of several famous African-Americans, including Dr. Mae Jemison, the first woman of color to go into space.

I’ve always dreamed of being an astronaut. After some investigation, I found an article of hers in the New York Times that discusses her experience as a black female in a white-male-dominated engineering program:

“Majoring in engineering, I would have maybe one of two or three African-American students in my classes. Some professors would just pretend I wasn't there. I would ask a question and a professor would act as if it was just so dumb, the dumbest question he had ever heard. Then, when a white guy would ask the same question, the professor would say, ''That's a very astute observation.''

These challenges are not uncommon among black students in higher education – even today. I, a black student, experienced similar issues in my science courses – seeing other students avoid partnering with me during projects, being talked down to by professors, hearing surprise/disbelief when I do well or understand a difficult concept. I know Dr. Jameson had it worse, and it inspires me to see her succeed despite those challenges.

Reflections on studying ahead of time...

Procrastination was in my blood – yes, was. I was in the business of saving things for tomorrow. Homework? Least save those pleasures for later. Reading? I can do that on Sunday. I have time.

However, on Sunday evening, when I’m supposed to have that time, I’m too tired; a good show comes on TV; my friends want to hang out; I discover some great music. Those problems occurred throughout high school and college, yet all that has changed. I’ve thankfully defeated the procrastination monster, but how?

Perhaps working within the trenches of the 40-hour workweek before medical school enabled me to appreciate the importance of free time? Instead of spreading out work and study along the 24-hour day interspersed with breaks, naps, and leisure, my day partitioned into 8 hours of pure work followed by 8-10 hours of nothing. I freaked out. However, I eventually found the abundant free time liberating for other activities: reading, writing, socializing, cultur-izing. Upon, returning to school, I had grown so accustomed to those little pleasures that I force myself to study ahead of time to enjoy them. I have no time to procrastinate!

Perhaps planning ahead more helps? In my two months of school, I’ve visited Michigan twice, accommodated for guests, given tours of campus, attended social functions, and planned social functions. In college, this usually happened without warning, so I had the appearance of free time, which filled quickly. Now, I have a similar amount of extracurricular and social activities; however, I now have advance notice – which reflects what happens in the real world. For example, because I knew my partner was visiting three weeks in advance, I was able to allot enough study time before his arrival. I have no time to procrastinate!

There could be other reasons: Perhaps the stress radiating from the other students keeps me in line? Perhaps the fast-paced New York City lifestyle rushes me into doing work? Perhaps my homesickness keeps me in focus? Perhaps my partner’s influence keeps me in check?

Either way, this reflects my transformation from a student into a real adult. Am I ready for this?

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.

I finally found time for this.

A Michigan wolverine has moved eastward to leave jagged teethmarks in the Big Apple. Watch out New York.

That rabid animal is me, WolverineDoc, a brand new first-year medical student who has lived the Manhattan life for a total of 10 days. I moved here from Ann Arbor to embark on a rugged journey filled with self-discovery, learning, maturity, and challenge.

I created this blog to chronicle my experiences and give myself some cathartic personal space. Hopefully, it'll bestow meaningful advice to future colleagues who are in medical school or on their way to medical school.

The name WolverineDoc has many meanings, the first being an effigy to the mascot of my alma mater, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. I, however, also value wolverines for their brute, exponential strength. They are about the size of a medium dog -- measuring 17-25 inches in length and weighing anywhere between 22 and 55 pounds; however, they've been known to hunt large moose and successfully fight off bears to defend their food. The wolverine has been described as "the fiercest creature on earth" and "a dangerous, fearless fighter."

Health care workers of today must also be fighters, especially in the United States. Daily, we're mauled by the jaws of insurance companies, new diseases, long lines, increasing costs, public policy issues, malpractice suits, etc. Future health professionals, like myself, must prepare to inherit this and continue to fight disease within a broken health care system that shows little promise of improvement.

I also consider myself a fighter. Everyone's journey to medical school involves challenges (coursework, MCAT, applications, interviews, etc.). My path to medical school, however, has been paved with hardships that venture beyond the scope of our organic chemistry lecture hall. As I post, I will spend more time to share those personal experiences. For the future, however, that fighter spirit must continue to ensure my success.

Hence, I must channel the wolverine's spirit and sinew to survive.

I've typed enough for now. Thanks for reading!