Scalpel!

There are few things in life that you remember for the rest of your life. You can't deny still remembering the first time you stole a kiss, drove a car, or was attacked in the back alleys of Guatemala (maybe that last one is just me). Or perhaps the time you made a life-altering decision to get to where you are today.

I added another item to my list today. Friday afternoon, they ushered us into the - wait for it - yup, you got it - cadaver lab. As my lab group of 8 surrounded the body bag, I was certain everyone, despite his/her best efforts to remain calm, had a heart racing 200km/hour.

As the body bag opened up, we saw the tiny embalmed body. I should say, actually, we smelled the body prior to actually seeing her. No, this wasn't a group activity. It's just nearly impossible to escape the rush of formaldehyde seeping out of the cadaver and into every nook and cranny of the students' clothing.

She was face down and most of the body was still wrapped up in yet another towel. Since we were only looking at the back, we just proceeded to unwrapping the back. I was taken aback that the skin was looking mighty preserved. I don't know why I was expecting flesh like a live person. Perhaps too much Hollywood morgue scenes. Anyway, imagine a class of 306 students and roughly 40 cadavers with skin that resembled much like the fetal pigs that you dissect in biology class.

Next step - incision. This actually turned out to the easiest part of the lab. Once the initial shock was over, removing the skin off was only 10% disgusting, 30% awkward, another 10% Texas-chainsaw-esque and the remaining 50% was awesomeness. We removed the fat and observed all the muscles of the back. Layer by layer, we checked out the structures that help us do everything from giving a high-5 to sitting up. Think about that the next time you're moving around.

It's pretty cool to have gone through all of that in the first week of medical school. It's pretty hard to not have a new appreciation for the human body. Yes, even with all the formaldehyde and sticky fat tissues.

Dr. Red Frisbee

The clock's ticking down the seconds for med school to begin in just over a week. I'm finally getting excited about it methinks.

A surprise came in the mail yesterday. A membership card for a medical association that I'd signed up for addressed to "Dr...". Sweet baby jesus! I'm definitely going to start carrying that around in my wallet. Perhaps "drop" it whilst picking up milk at my grocery store while standing in line ahead of a cute girl. Oh the completely medically-unrelated benefits of med school.

ETA: Two weeks

Two weeks down before starting the big bad med school! Looking forward to getting up 6am everyday for the next god knows how many years! ughhh.

It's weird to think about starting school again after having spent the last few years working, backpacking, and doing random random stuff thanks to the freedom from school. Now it's time to get my tetra packs stocked up for school lunches. Swweeet - capri sun's!

The prep work i've done thus far:
- student loans (being in debt is a right of passage for MD's - kinda like a bar mitzvah)
- new laptop (so sleek, so sexy)
- lost income via quitting work (refer to point one re: debts)
- vaccinations (oh and the bloodwork came back...i'm all good baby!)

Anyway - got my registration package in the mail. Seems like orientation week is going to be a hoot! BBQ's, roleplaying, and amazing races around the campus. swwwweeeeet!

And so it begins

So here I am. Today is the day it begins. My blog to document my years as I trek through med school commences here (with me sweating in the summer heat half-naked in my apartment).

All my life I’ve tossed around the idea and my fate was finally sealed May 15, 2009.

6 am-ish, an email from school #1: “Congratulations”.

9 am-ish came another from #2.

And finally one more from #3 at my work desk by noon.

Holy jebus. My entire world was spinning as I finally received confirmation of what I’d been dreaming about since sitting in my first year calculus class photoshopping photos of my professor’s head onto Britney Spears’s pre-head-shaving body.

Fast forward a month and a half. School’s been chosen and congratulatory parties have subsided. Just under 2 months before the dawn of school. I’ll be busy with work for another 5 weeks and doing a lot of life admin work in between (probably also while sweating in the summer heat again, half-naked). I fully intend on enjoying summer before I commit to many, many years of grueling work. My last chance to enjoy random weeknight shindigs, sleeping in on days that end with -y, and enjoying weekend trips to the island. Seems like this summer is analogous to an extended bachelor party before a looooong marriage to med school. And now I’ve found a spot to mark all the ups and downs of it.