Join me as I attempt to document many of life's pleasures and gifts. I hope this will be a place we can look back on a smile at the photos and memories we create with every waking moment...
Black bag ball is an annual dance affair for medical students. Lucky for me, I get to attend for 8 years straight. Booyah. This year, I threw on my rehearsal dinner dress and asked Ilinca to be my arm candy as my plus one.
My PLUS ONE!
Apparently white was a popular color...
After spending a few moments getting fancy, we made our way over to Josh's place in Lawrenceville. They sure know how to put on a party - the place was so welcoming and cute! As people started funneling in, the time started ticking before we had to catch our rides downtown. No limo this time. This year Black Bag Ball was at the Fairmont in downtown Pittsburgh - a fancy little place down there. The theme was the "Great Gatsby' which explains all of the fancy outfits and flashy headbands.
Apparently not a fan of having their picture taken...
I of course live for the dance floor so I made a few rounds on the wood floor to tear it up a bit, but most of the time was spent in line waiting for a drink or some food - unfortunately. Usually I can't breath because I'm dancing too crazy. Regardless, it was a darn good time and I wish we could get fancy every six months for a sponsored med school prom!
It was a day of science in Pittsburgh, we had our annual Immunology retreat! I mainly just wanted to showcase the members of my lab. My brain hurt at the end of the day, but it was a good day to see familiar faces from the department. I just wanted to give you a quick sneak peak, I'm not about to drown you in science...
My partner in crime - Gerard!
Yep that's me - way overdressed for the occasion, whoops.
To celebrate a great start to the summer and the beginning of our complete lab family, we joined the Biswas lab in a summer lab adventure! We even had to apply sunscreen... yeah, in Pittsburgh.
After a short day of work, we jumped in the respective mini-vans and headed off to the river waterfront to board the Pittsburgh Gateway Clipper. On the boat, we headed up to the top deck to take in the city from the water. It was a perfect day for a boat ride, and the tour wasn't half bad either. Quite informative. I still don't know anything about Pittsburgh.
One of the many Pittsburgh bridges!
After a round through the rivers, we met up for a beverage at Hofbräuhaus for a stein of German beer and enjoyed some traditional German food as well! It was a great afternoon to get to know everyone and bond over our fine city!
One of my favorite places in the Burgh, PNC Park! Too bad there's no tailgating like Miller Park!
This year our MSTP retreat was in the rolling hills of West Virginia. We switched up the location to have something a little closer to home, and to try something new. The format was a bit different too, and included five minute talks from students to give a pitch about their research. I was able to give one of these talks on Friday before heading out to the retreat location, which was a good experience and exercise to develop my research "story".
We had a good time with the MSTP gang at the retreat. The first night was a blast as we enjoyed a barbecue and listened to the fourth year medical students talk about their journey through the MD/PhD program. This is probably my favorite part of the retreat, because it gives me hope as they all say that the time flies by too fast and warn students to enjoy their graduate school years. This is what I intend to do, and I already feel life is flying by too fast!
Annie and I roomed together and had a good time catching up and hosting a little gathering for the rest of the gang, as evidenced by the extra chairs that ended up outside our room. It helps that I spent some time with my family learning our favorite Old Fashioned recipes.
Fiesta remains.
All in all it was a fun retreat, and a continuation of great traditions!
I look forward to next year's adventure!
I crammed and finished my surgery shelf, had a day to myself and then it was directly to lab without a break!
The moment I walked into lab it felt like the clock was ticking, yet I had endless time to get things done. For that reason the first few weeks are painfully difficult to focus on the project/thesis at hand. Additionally, I kept getting to lab WAY too early and couldn't convince myself that it was normal to sleep past 4:30AM.
I decided to do my PhD research in the McGeachy Lab, and I couldn't be happier. The atmosphere and environment is collaborative, fun, and a place I can see myself talking too much to my awesome coworkers! The transition was easy in some ways and difficult in other ways - since it is such a drastic change in pace and thought processes from the clinical world.
I will surely keep you updated with the progress of my research as the years go past!
After my week of construction, it was time to get back to business full force and start my clinical clerkship. WILD. I cannot believe how fast the first two years of medical school went. I remember the first few weeks of anatomy, where I was bored and terrified all at the same time. That was an adjustment, whew! Now, here I am, starting my third year... with my surgery clerkship. Awesome. There were many reasons why I decided to do surgery first... I wanted to be fresh off the boards, I wanted an excuse for not knowing where the bathroom is, or how to use the electronic charts... and, I wanted a ride to work every morning with my soon to be husband... It was a good choice, and I got lucky to be on two excellent services with Zimms giving me tips along the way to learn the ropes.
My "first day of school photo" ... for 19th Grade.
I started out my rotation with two weeks of anesthesia at Magee Women's Hospital. There I had the chance to learn the basics of what Paul does everyday. We went to the simulation center a lot, and I intubated a few really expensive simulation people and managed some airways. I also made sure that I "stayed off the teeth" like Paul suggested, and pulled toward the corner of the room to get a good view! :) It was a lot of fun, and I was able to work with some of Paul's classmates and colleagues. One day I even had the opportunity to work as Paul's assistant down in labor and delivery. He was at Magee for the month doing epidurals and C-sections... luckily it was the same day I was there observing as a medical student. It was odd, hilarious and awkward all at the same time - but we made it through and followed him around for a day. Funny funny.
My next rotation was Endocrine Surgery. I was terrified of the OR in general, but I absolutely loved it when I walked in and learned how to scrub. It was a blast. The surgeries were fast paced yet had impressive detail. I loved getting in on the mix and finishing a few stitches. We even went a week without an intern which meant that I was really getting to have some fun trying to help the team and felt that I was able to learn a lot.
The last piece of my clerkship was spent on Colo-rectal surgery, which I had specifically requested. I was looking forward to seeing a lot of IBD related cases, colectomies, and J-pouches! It again, was great! My residents were awesome which makes any service that much better. It was nice to talk to patients about their care and check in to see how their bowels were feeling. I really enjoyed it!
For as much as I loved surgery, Paul was getting a little nervous that I was falling a little too hard for the demanding specialty. We'll have to see how our lives unfold, but for now... it was AWESOME.
(haha, I had to post this... found this in my blog post drafts... Update: I passed.)
Thank you for coming along on this journey through my first two years in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, I have reached the point in school where I must prepare for my USMLE Step 1, which is known as our first Board exam. I started studying in February, and will take my exam on April 22nd. My new best friends have become coffee (well I guess that isn't new) and my trusty First Aid (see below).
I want to write to say thank you for the encouragement, and well...
HOLY CRAP WISH ME LUCK!
Love,
Alyce
Look at me, I'm in color!... and full of errors. Doohh.
After my recent
return to Pittsburgh, Lyssa and I were chatting on the phone about the possibility
of me coming to see her school and her class.For some reason, it worked out just perfectly because I was flying into
Wisconsin on Tuesday afternoon and if I hurried on home, I could make it to her
classroom in the early afternoon.AWESOME!After my GI exam, I was
scrambling around to try to get stuff done in time to have dinner and leave
bright and early Tuesday morning.The
3:30AM alarm came too quickly and soon I was in the car on the way to the
airport slugging coffee like it was my job.
A photo I used in my presentation, my big brother inspires me.
Toothbrush on endoscopy to freak out the kids!
I made most of my presentation on the plane on the way to
MKE and was rummaging around Google for some gross medical facts and weird X-rays
for the kids.Haha, I was cracking up
with all the random stuff I found and even managed to download a video of an
endoscope where they removed a mouth moistening sponge from a patient’s
stomach.I was kind of nervous about
the presentation, so wore my short little white coat and brought each kid a pen
shaped like a syringe full of liquid and some stethoscopes to play with.The talk went pretty well and I was able to
witness the energy of a classroom full of 7th graders in action. Wheww!!It gets even wilder once you gross them out a bit! It was really quite impressive to see Lyssa in
action as “Ms. P”!
All in all, my immense respect for teachers was
confirmed!I only worked with the kids
for two hours and I was ready to go to sleep I was so worn out!Haha!After school was done, Lyssa and I celebrated the success at school with
a double date with our mothers at Applebee’s.Perfect!
Zel and I with our FAST Group Bowling in Squirrel Hill!
Another FAST (Faculty and Students Together) event was scheduled perfectly between exams and Holiday chaos. This time, we had the chance to team up wither another FAST group for an evening of pizza and bowling in Squirrel Hill. Zel, Bhavana, Leben, and I worked with our faculty advisors to set up some friendly competition!
It was fun to catch up with everyone and see how first and second year of school are going. The first years were in the midst of genetics and experiencing Team Based Learning in all of its glory. I have to say that I have heard each year of medical school is better than the last, so I'm glad we're always moving forward to new and exciting things - even if that means that we are slowly approaching USMLE Step 1. Eeeeek!
Bowling was a blast. I cannot remember the last time I went bowling, but I think it was probably at Wally's Seymour Bowl. We all grabbed a pair of "vintage" shoes and started throwing towards the pins. Real bowling is much different that Wii bowling I found out rather quickly. My score was ugly.
I'm glad we were able to sneak in another event before everyone takes off for the Holidays and gets a well needed and deserved break from school. Until next time... study on FASTeeees!
As promised, I would write a post about the amazing FAST Dinner we gathered for in late September! Sunday night, we drove out into the Burgh Burbs to try some grilling and get to know our faculty advsior and meet his adorable family - who recently returned from my favorite place in the states.... Yellowstone. Ahhh, I would give anything to get a trip to Yellowstone in my schedule!
The boys flexing their muscles at the grill!
As always with any FAST gathering the laughs were abundant. I couldn't keep myself contained, and I laughed from the moment we put 4 adults in my car and made our way to the Burbs, just hoping we hadn't left anyone behind.
The famous banana cream pie, apple can't hurt either!
Drooling... double ice cream please!
The dinner was excellent, G and the boys were out flexing their muscles at the grill, while I snacked the night away. Everything was delicious.
Our next FAST event will hopefully be a bowling outing, or curling! We keep talking about how we'll have to find a time to go curling, just so we can appreciate the art of sliding a massive rock on the ice. I hope to make t-shirts, and I can promise you that a future blog post will be dedicated to these adventures!
After
getting our butts handed to us on the first Cardiology exam, we had the
opportunity to spend some time on Taylor's roof and enjoy the view of
the city. I had an applicant staying with me from Wisconsin, and we
thought it would only be fitting to sponsor brats for dinner! We
brought over a slow cooker and brought them to a boil with a fine
Pittsburgh beer. They smelled delish.
We
also had an ice cream cake that had "Eric + Taylor"... too adorable.
There were some competitive games of bags/corn hole to be had. It was
relaxing and we couldn't have asked for better weather. I have this
weird feeling that the next cardio exam we'll also need a gathering to
help us lick our wounds and take in a breath of fresh air...
This is why we retreat... to present our work and go to Bedford Springs! It was a fun weekend that started with taking our Pharmacology test early and heading over to the poster session to present our work. It is always fun to see what people are doing and it looked like the first years had a really productive summer! After the on campus portion was done, we jumped into Josiah's car and made our way to Bedford.
The first night we had a tribute to Clayton who is stepping down as the director of the MSTP. It was nice to be able to talk to him a bit at the retreat and to celebrate the many years that he's dedicated to the program. Also another fun fact, we found out only a few days before that Clayton is from Wisconsin - represent! I was seriously so thrilled to find out this morsel of knowledge.
Clayton cutting the large cakes with his photo on them!
Josiah, Zims, Taylor, Manjit and Clayton for the cake cutting!
On Saturday we spent most of the morning learning about the state of the program, hearing from graduating senior students and attending break out sessions. The afternoon was spent trying to catch up on things and to catch a few rays of sunshine. I caught Taylor heading out to the driving range to shoot a few balls!
There's really nothing more relaxing than an afternoon at Bedford Springs...
Saturday evening we were addressed by our keynote speaker who Hedberg arranged to talk to us. We heard from Mario Capecchi who won the 2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work with genetic knockout mice. He gave an excellent talk and it was such an honor to listen to such an accomplished man. I had the opportunity to shake his hand and thank him for the talk. We were also fortunate enough to have breakfast with him the next morning. So neat.
Bedford Springs breakfast, simply delicious.
To wrap this post up, I want to leave you with the saying...
bagpipes can be a bit loud. definitely a quick reaction time as far as covering his ears!
This summer I was fortunate enough to work in the McGeachy Lab and to meet many new people and families in the process! She kindly hosted a backyard BBQ for the lab members in which Katherine played the bagpipes for some afternoon tunes! Paul and I ate until we could barely move. I brought over some fine Wisconsin cheese as well as my nifty travel cheese cutter. The cheese tools in my house are endless - I can't wait until the cheese serving stone that Kathy gave us for Christmas last year arrives! It will be the perfect addition to my wine and cheese parties!
The shock of the noise is over - let the dancing begin!
The BBQ was wonderful. Katherine and I learned about the ropes of graduate school from senior students in the Gaffen Lab, and Paul was able to catch a glimpse into the future that is my graduate school years! Excellent job on the bagpipes Katherine - I'll see you in lab once this school year gets rolling... or maybe after cardio, yeeesh this class is rough.
To set the stage for this blog post - I thought it was only fitting to feature one of my main men... Brad Paisley. I just can't get enough country music lately and this song sums up my expectations for this summer... sun, camping, fishing, spending time talking about nothing with friends and family...
Katie, so pretty!
Now that you have a little background music, basically, the title of this blog post says it all - we sure had a celebration! Our final exam in Psych was on Friday morning and shortly afterwards we gathered at my place for lunch, laughs, a few beverages and great times! I whipped up some homemade macaroni and cheese while Zim was working his magic in the kitchen with some homemade ricotta cheese. The two Wisconsinites make cheese dishes - weird?
It was so fun and relaxing to be able to get together without the stress of the next class or exam that was coming our way. Not to mention, it was an absolutely beautiful day outside which encouraged us quickly to move the feast out to my front yard on our little cement porch. We brought down speakers, a blanket, and freshly chopped watermelon!
Awkward family photo.
We fired up the country music and game of corn hole, apparently that's what they call it in these parts... I think we just call it bags back home, but either way, it was a blast. Eric and Taylor were taking names most of the afternoon and barely left their spot as reigning champions. I have terrible aim, so I played one or two games and apologized to my teammate...
Steph, Nancy and Annie!
We had an impromptu dance party, a photo shoot and a wonderful time. The outdoor gathering was complete only after Sean made a run to buy the boys cigars. Apparently that's the new thing?
Classic turd in the drink trick...
Gotta bust out the orange spandex on such and occasion...
This should freak you out... Sorry Anna!
Anna saved the day by bringing left overs from her work lunch - we all feasted for dinner! Then Paul came home after work and we greeted him like he was a celebrity! Everyone was shouting his name and shaking his hand, haha! I'm sure he expected that we would be having a good time, but he was definitely surprised by how excited we were to see him park that Hyundai! Paul helped me clean up and get organized because we were planning to shift locations from my front yard to Anna and Josiah's porch. Their porch is amazing! Perfect for summer evenings. That would allow Paul to get some sleep at least, since he had to get up bright and early for work the next morning.
Duerr on the banjo... like cat claws on a chalkboard...
Josiah brought out the Banjo at his place and Duerr and I talked about Minnesota, hunting, fishing and basically any other small town thing you can imagine. I believe we even talked about Lake Eva's own "redneck yacht club". Anna, Duerr and I finished strong and headed out to see what the rest of the city was up to on the fine Friday. A long day to say the least!
Sean strumming a few tunes...
It was a great start to the fun summer ahead - there were so many summer plans tossed around that I don't even know where to begin to schedule the greatness. Lyssa and I talked and brainstormed on how we can make this summer memorable! Should be a good one - SUMMER 2012!
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