I think it's real easy for people to get down on themselves, focusing only on negative things (particularly in trying times). I'm not a particularly negative person, but I want to try something crazy. I want to put down on paper (or blog, rather) why I like me. I want to write out 15 reasons why I think I am awesome, and try to not come across as cocky. What if everybody liked themselves simply for whom they are? I suppose I'd have to think more about it to give a real answer, but here goes.
1) I drive a stick.
2) I got into med school.
3) I have saved lives.
4) I followed my ultimate childhood dream and entered the Air Force.
5) I can live like a king on $20,000 per year.
6) I have successfully lived in suburban, rural, and urban environments.
7) I really really like country music.
8) I am still passionate about emergency medicine, even after watching a 3 month old infant die on Christmas Day.
9) I have watched Elton John, Van Halen, and Tom Petty play live.
10) I got a full-ride to med school.
11) I look really good in a suit.
12) I have worked 24 hours straight and more than 100 hours in a week regularly.
13) I know where to find the best pizza in the world.
14) I don't know the last time I turned down a challenge without a really good reason.
15) God loves me for me, despite my best efforts.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
When you have a free $2500
I've spent the past week or so in deep thought about the best way to spend my summer. I already have some great plans: open water swim race in P-cola in May, Air Force training through June, Denver in the beginning of July, possibly teaching wilderness medicine for 2 weeks in Kentucky in July, and Washington for climbing/touring last week in July. Tons of fun, I know.
I have looked into the possibility of a mountaineering course, just to hammer out the essentials (i.e. crevasse rescue, running belays, etc.). I found one that works out perfectly, running from Aug. 1-13 with Mountain Madness. It seems perfect.
I got to thinking, however, if this would be the best use of my money. It is expensive, but I have the money available. It is something I really want to do. Am I being selfish, though? With the price of this class I could build a couple wells in Africa, or buy vaccines for kids, or any other number of things to more directly help the world. I was very back and forth for the past week.
Two things helped me to get closer to make a decision. First one. I was at Kensington for their Wednesday night service, and I just had a feeling along the lines of, "if you don't learn this now, when will you learn it?" I wouldn't go so far as to say that God spoke to me (but I'm not one to rule that out), but it was just an overwhelming feeling that this mountaineering matters somehow. Somehow it is a big deal in my life and potentially for the rest of the world.
Second one. Back in 2004 when the Tsunami hit southeast Asia I was at Boston University. I was about halfway through my sophomore year, and beginning to feel like this college thing was going to last forever. When the Tsunami hit I really wanted to do something to help, but didn't have any way of helping out. I felt like I was sort of wasting my time and school, setting myself up for a comfortable middle-class lifestyle where I don't really help anybody. A real wise person by the name of Jesse helped me out. He pointed out that when Paul went through his conversion on the road to Damascus he spent years in meditation and studying before he started his ministry. Even after literally speaking to Jesus about what to do he had a lot of preperation to take care of. What Jesse was getting at is that sometimes it's not as simple as throwing yourself into the disaster zone. I was likely getting ready for something else in Boston, and that something was more important to my story. So how does that apply to me now? I'm not sure. But I do know that mountaineering evokes a certain passion in me that I can't deny (ask me about my conversation with God at Thunderstorm Junction). John Eldgredge seems to support the idea that pursuing a passion will make the world a better place, which is why I think charities after Hurricane Katrina to get musicians' their instruments back are a good thing -- indirectly they push other people to pursue their passions. To summarize, I think that maybe (just maybe) paying for this class will be like the fishing idea -- teaching a man to fish vs giving a man a fish. With skills in mountaineering I would have access to parts of the world that do not get tourist doctors. I would be able to raise HUGE amounts of money with climbs (possibly into the millions for big mountains). I'm sure I can't even fathom the good that God might be planning with all this.
I can't deny the fact that my $2500 could help some people live, and people may die (or at least certainly maintain a poor lifestyle) as a result of me paying for this class; but I feel like that's a pressure I can't put on myself. That would create guilt for every expense beyond survival (heating for a house, renting a movie, etc.). Not worthwhile or correct.
So I think I'm going to sign up for this class. Anybody want to join me?
I have looked into the possibility of a mountaineering course, just to hammer out the essentials (i.e. crevasse rescue, running belays, etc.). I found one that works out perfectly, running from Aug. 1-13 with Mountain Madness. It seems perfect.
I got to thinking, however, if this would be the best use of my money. It is expensive, but I have the money available. It is something I really want to do. Am I being selfish, though? With the price of this class I could build a couple wells in Africa, or buy vaccines for kids, or any other number of things to more directly help the world. I was very back and forth for the past week.
Two things helped me to get closer to make a decision. First one. I was at Kensington for their Wednesday night service, and I just had a feeling along the lines of, "if you don't learn this now, when will you learn it?" I wouldn't go so far as to say that God spoke to me (but I'm not one to rule that out), but it was just an overwhelming feeling that this mountaineering matters somehow. Somehow it is a big deal in my life and potentially for the rest of the world.
Second one. Back in 2004 when the Tsunami hit southeast Asia I was at Boston University. I was about halfway through my sophomore year, and beginning to feel like this college thing was going to last forever. When the Tsunami hit I really wanted to do something to help, but didn't have any way of helping out. I felt like I was sort of wasting my time and school, setting myself up for a comfortable middle-class lifestyle where I don't really help anybody. A real wise person by the name of Jesse helped me out. He pointed out that when Paul went through his conversion on the road to Damascus he spent years in meditation and studying before he started his ministry. Even after literally speaking to Jesus about what to do he had a lot of preperation to take care of. What Jesse was getting at is that sometimes it's not as simple as throwing yourself into the disaster zone. I was likely getting ready for something else in Boston, and that something was more important to my story. So how does that apply to me now? I'm not sure. But I do know that mountaineering evokes a certain passion in me that I can't deny (ask me about my conversation with God at Thunderstorm Junction). John Eldgredge seems to support the idea that pursuing a passion will make the world a better place, which is why I think charities after Hurricane Katrina to get musicians' their instruments back are a good thing -- indirectly they push other people to pursue their passions. To summarize, I think that maybe (just maybe) paying for this class will be like the fishing idea -- teaching a man to fish vs giving a man a fish. With skills in mountaineering I would have access to parts of the world that do not get tourist doctors. I would be able to raise HUGE amounts of money with climbs (possibly into the millions for big mountains). I'm sure I can't even fathom the good that God might be planning with all this.
I can't deny the fact that my $2500 could help some people live, and people may die (or at least certainly maintain a poor lifestyle) as a result of me paying for this class; but I feel like that's a pressure I can't put on myself. That would create guilt for every expense beyond survival (heating for a house, renting a movie, etc.). Not worthwhile or correct.
So I think I'm going to sign up for this class. Anybody want to join me?
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Some thoughts
My last post was October, and it was entitled something about not updating this daily. I suppose I won't update it monthly either.
The things I've learned over the past few months: who you're with is more important than what you're doing; I love mountaineering as much as I hoped I did; joining the military is a scary and big commitment, but either way I'm in.
I spent most of this past year working, when I wanted to celebrate my year of freedom. I don't regret anything, but I wish I had traveled a bit more. I do plan on going down to Pensacola one more time before med school to race an open water swim. I'm also going to Mississippi for Officer School for the Air Force for a month, and I do plan on going to Washington to do a bit of climbing. It should be a good summer.
The things I've learned over the past few months: who you're with is more important than what you're doing; I love mountaineering as much as I hoped I did; joining the military is a scary and big commitment, but either way I'm in.
I spent most of this past year working, when I wanted to celebrate my year of freedom. I don't regret anything, but I wish I had traveled a bit more. I do plan on going down to Pensacola one more time before med school to race an open water swim. I'm also going to Mississippi for Officer School for the Air Force for a month, and I do plan on going to Washington to do a bit of climbing. It should be a good summer.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
I never said I'd update this daily.
I've been thinking a lot about climbing and adventuring lately, and I want to get some of my thoughts down in words.
There's something about the treeline. I felt it climbing Olympus. I felt it on top of Marmot Basin. I felt it on Mt. Marcy. You feel like you're breaking some rule -- a rule that everybody knows but yourself. It's the reason that natives of the Karakoram don't climb (that's the region of the Himalayas that has the biggest mountains in the world).
Climbers are always superstitious. Usually for good reason, too. When I was on Marcy I made some comment about being stronger than the mountain, and throughout the rest of the day little things kept going wrong for me (stuff falling off of my pack, little things breaking, etc), that didn't happen to anybody else. I'm not akin to superstitions myself, but it was still strange.
I just got my hands on some new gear that I'm pretty excited about. I got a new jacket, pants, and a hat. The more I buy, though, the more I realize how much I need still. It's dang expensive, too. If I climb for a while (through to my 50's or so) I bet I'll spend about $300,000 on the sport. If I get any good, though, I'll get a lot of that covered through sponsorships and stuff like that.
It's funny though: in spending a lot of money on this stuff I really don't feel any buyer's remorse. I did when I bought my bike, and I do whenever I go out to eat, but I'll gladly drop $200 on a jacket (even when it's a "worse case scenario" jacket that I hope I'll never have to use). I think it'd be real cool to mix medicine and climbing. For one, I could always be an expedition doctor and get on with big-time climbs. Big-time mountains are almost always surrounded with vulnerable/indigenous/exposed populations. I think it would be real cool to go work with some of those populations, too (kind of like how Greg Mortenson got his start in Three Cups of Tea). It's an idea, but who knows. I guess I gotta get into med school first.
I've been training real hard. I can run 10 miles pretty well now (I have no idea what my time is), so I've been throwing in a ton of hills. We have a hill in downtown GR that rises about 250 ft. in about half mile, so it's pretty steep. I try to run that five times within a 5 mile loop (thus giving me about 10 miles). I find that I love that hate the hill all at the same time. My knee hasn't bothered me in a really long time, so I figure I'm doing things right. I started lifting, too, so that should help me out a bit. Hopefully it will all put me on top of Mt. Elbrus.
There's something about the treeline. I felt it climbing Olympus. I felt it on top of Marmot Basin. I felt it on Mt. Marcy. You feel like you're breaking some rule -- a rule that everybody knows but yourself. It's the reason that natives of the Karakoram don't climb (that's the region of the Himalayas that has the biggest mountains in the world).
Climbers are always superstitious. Usually for good reason, too. When I was on Marcy I made some comment about being stronger than the mountain, and throughout the rest of the day little things kept going wrong for me (stuff falling off of my pack, little things breaking, etc), that didn't happen to anybody else. I'm not akin to superstitions myself, but it was still strange.
I just got my hands on some new gear that I'm pretty excited about. I got a new jacket, pants, and a hat. The more I buy, though, the more I realize how much I need still. It's dang expensive, too. If I climb for a while (through to my 50's or so) I bet I'll spend about $300,000 on the sport. If I get any good, though, I'll get a lot of that covered through sponsorships and stuff like that.
It's funny though: in spending a lot of money on this stuff I really don't feel any buyer's remorse. I did when I bought my bike, and I do whenever I go out to eat, but I'll gladly drop $200 on a jacket (even when it's a "worse case scenario" jacket that I hope I'll never have to use). I think it'd be real cool to mix medicine and climbing. For one, I could always be an expedition doctor and get on with big-time climbs. Big-time mountains are almost always surrounded with vulnerable/indigenous/exposed populations. I think it would be real cool to go work with some of those populations, too (kind of like how Greg Mortenson got his start in Three Cups of Tea). It's an idea, but who knows. I guess I gotta get into med school first.
I've been training real hard. I can run 10 miles pretty well now (I have no idea what my time is), so I've been throwing in a ton of hills. We have a hill in downtown GR that rises about 250 ft. in about half mile, so it's pretty steep. I try to run that five times within a 5 mile loop (thus giving me about 10 miles). I find that I love that hate the hill all at the same time. My knee hasn't bothered me in a really long time, so I figure I'm doing things right. I started lifting, too, so that should help me out a bit. Hopefully it will all put me on top of Mt. Elbrus.
Friday, August 7, 2009
A month recap
The past month has been a blur. They say history can't be fully understood until everybody affected is dead. I'm not dead yet, but I might be able to understand the past month or so.
It began with a backcountry trip to Canada, my first time leading a trip of this sort. Here are some pictures:
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Reeds Lake
I just got back from the Reeds Lake Run, a pretty big 10K in East Grand Rapids (around the same lake that Paul and I did the triathlon at). My goal time was sub 45 min. with the full expectation that I wouldn't even come close, but it turns out I was just above 47, so I am very pleased. A bunch of paramedics I work with ran, too, and I think I beat them all, which is a little ego boost there. All in all, real fun run.
I got word from University of Tennessee already. As it turns out they are only accepting in state applicants. Kudos to them for not putting that fun tid-bit in any of their information.
I'm starting George Washington University's secondary application today. Let's hope that goes well. I don't know how much longer I can get denied from stuff -- jobs, schools, etc.
I had a cool idea the other day. I was thinking that when my lease is up I should close all of my bank accounts and just drive around until I run out of money. That would be a cool adventure.
I got word from University of Tennessee already. As it turns out they are only accepting in state applicants. Kudos to them for not putting that fun tid-bit in any of their information.
I'm starting George Washington University's secondary application today. Let's hope that goes well. I don't know how much longer I can get denied from stuff -- jobs, schools, etc.
I had a cool idea the other day. I was thinking that when my lease is up I should close all of my bank accounts and just drive around until I run out of money. That would be a cool adventure.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
The next big thing.
Plans are set for the next workout. We're going to do an "out and back" of the Musketawa Trail, which links Muskegon and Marne. We're gonna bike 25 miles out and walk 25 miles back. I think I'm gonna do some other stuff to make it a 24 hour event...maybe some swimming, just for giggles. My wrist is still bothering me from last time, so hopefully that clears up.
We've also made some plans for climbs. Mt. Katahdin in November, Mt. Elbert in March, and Mt. Elbrus sometime at the beginning of 2010. Elbrus is the big one as far as cost and training goes, but I've got a year and half to get ready for it. If all goes to plan (which it certainly won't), I maybe be standing on the top of Europe sometime soon. Sounds good to me. I still think it's goofy that I spend so much of my time with guys in their 40's.
I had a real cool day yesterday. A new friend and I went to the zoo in GR (my first time there), did some culinary exploration on the east side of the city, then went to a production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" (or whatever it's called). It was a great day, one of those days that feels like a 15 hour vacation. I wish you could consistently plan stuff like that.
I'm reading a bood about a guy who walked the Appalacian Trail (real funny book by Bill Bryson), and I gotta say that it's turning me off from the trail. It's hard to put my finger on why, but I"m just not feeling it as much anymore. Maybe I'll change my mind after my big July hike with Derek. It's strange how it's so hard to decide on adventures when I have absolutely no parameters or limiting factors. I can do anything and I can't think of anything. Maybe I should just walk to Mexico or Alaska or something like that. Who knows what I'll do.
We've also made some plans for climbs. Mt. Katahdin in November, Mt. Elbert in March, and Mt. Elbrus sometime at the beginning of 2010. Elbrus is the big one as far as cost and training goes, but I've got a year and half to get ready for it. If all goes to plan (which it certainly won't), I maybe be standing on the top of Europe sometime soon. Sounds good to me. I still think it's goofy that I spend so much of my time with guys in their 40's.
I had a real cool day yesterday. A new friend and I went to the zoo in GR (my first time there), did some culinary exploration on the east side of the city, then went to a production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" (or whatever it's called). It was a great day, one of those days that feels like a 15 hour vacation. I wish you could consistently plan stuff like that.
I'm reading a bood about a guy who walked the Appalacian Trail (real funny book by Bill Bryson), and I gotta say that it's turning me off from the trail. It's hard to put my finger on why, but I"m just not feeling it as much anymore. Maybe I'll change my mind after my big July hike with Derek. It's strange how it's so hard to decide on adventures when I have absolutely no parameters or limiting factors. I can do anything and I can't think of anything. Maybe I should just walk to Mexico or Alaska or something like that. Who knows what I'll do.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
A silly way to live life
I'm just about recovered from my workout. Just a little bit of soreness to get over. I think I'm going to try for 8 miles this afternoon.
I worked a shift on an ambulance yesterday, and I realized that I have comfortably nestled into a working lifestyle. I'm either at work or I'm not. I work out a bit, I read a bit, and that's about it. It's a very silly way to live. I can't wait to pick back up with school, with progress.
It's not that I'm not stimulated. I've got a great job, I read great books (more on that later), and I do awesome stuff. I just hate the segmentation of it all. Working vs. not working. I plan on breaking it up with some trips and such. I've got an 11 day walk across Michigan planned for the beginning of July. Tim also thinks I'll be able to get a job with the organization he teaches Wilderness Medicine with (Wilderness Medical Associates). He says they just want experience (wilderness and medicine), which I have both. It sounds like fun. That would sure look good on a med school application, too.
I made the mistake on Sunday of picking up some light reading: Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller. I read half of it about 2 years ago, but I decided to pick it back up after a little discussion about it with a friend. The problem, though, is that I was right in the middle of a dense Russian lit book. I forgot how nice it can be to just read, and not worry about dense and heavy topics. After reading the first two chapters of Miller's book I promptly returned The Idiot to the library and continued with the light reading. I hate leaving books partially read -- I'll have to pick it back up later.
I worked a shift on an ambulance yesterday, and I realized that I have comfortably nestled into a working lifestyle. I'm either at work or I'm not. I work out a bit, I read a bit, and that's about it. It's a very silly way to live. I can't wait to pick back up with school, with progress.
It's not that I'm not stimulated. I've got a great job, I read great books (more on that later), and I do awesome stuff. I just hate the segmentation of it all. Working vs. not working. I plan on breaking it up with some trips and such. I've got an 11 day walk across Michigan planned for the beginning of July. Tim also thinks I'll be able to get a job with the organization he teaches Wilderness Medicine with (Wilderness Medical Associates). He says they just want experience (wilderness and medicine), which I have both. It sounds like fun. That would sure look good on a med school application, too.
I made the mistake on Sunday of picking up some light reading: Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller. I read half of it about 2 years ago, but I decided to pick it back up after a little discussion about it with a friend. The problem, though, is that I was right in the middle of a dense Russian lit book. I forgot how nice it can be to just read, and not worry about dense and heavy topics. After reading the first two chapters of Miller's book I promptly returned The Idiot to the library and continued with the light reading. I hate leaving books partially read -- I'll have to pick it back up later.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The wall begins at 75 miles
I had a huge workout yesterday. It started at 8:30 AM with medical coverage on my bike for a 5K down in Cutlerville. Nothing much happened. I then jumped up to Rockford with Tim and Mike and the real pain began at 1:00 PM. We rode over 30 miles up the White Pine State Park Trail (7 miles paved, the rest two-track gravel) to Morley, the trucking capital of Michigan! We ditched the bikes and hiked 2 hours north to about Stanwood (around 7 miles), did an about face, and returned to the bikes at Morley. After a quick 5 min. break we were riding south again with legs burning and butts aching. We rode back into Rockford around 11:00 PM with fireworks welcoming us back (I hear they were actually for the summer celebration carnival, but I'm gonna go ahead and pretend they were for us). In the end we did about 85 miles.
My goal for this past week was to hit the wall: that point that marathon runners always talk about when you run out of carbohydrates and your body slowly switches over to fat metabolism. I guess the more you do it the faster your body makes the switch, which is why seasoned marathoners don't ever hit it anymore. I hit the wall at about mile 75. My feet were numb, my legs were filled with lead and jell-o, and my fine motor skills simply didn't work anymore. It was surprisingly relaxing, though. I am accustomed to acute stress situations (with school and stuff everything would always culminate at once), and this stress of hard work was great. With only two thoughts in my head (how much pain I was in and how I just needed to keep pedaling) I found an incredible peace. Suddenly concerns about med school, job stuff, and life were gone. All that mattered was that I keep pedaling. Who would have thought so much suffering could bring so much peace. Life has a strange duality to it sometimes.
After the worst night of sleep in my life I feel pretty good now. My legs are a little sore and my right wrist is absolutely killing me (gotta be the tendons from holding onto bike grips for so long), but that is all. I think I might run a couple of miles today just to boost the ego and show the old guys what's up (i.e. Tim and Mike).
Overall, I gotta say that I'm very pleased with myself. I should have weighed myself last night. I bet I lost a couple of pounds in that crazy adventure, even though I didn't have five pounds to lose.
My goal for this past week was to hit the wall: that point that marathon runners always talk about when you run out of carbohydrates and your body slowly switches over to fat metabolism. I guess the more you do it the faster your body makes the switch, which is why seasoned marathoners don't ever hit it anymore. I hit the wall at about mile 75. My feet were numb, my legs were filled with lead and jell-o, and my fine motor skills simply didn't work anymore. It was surprisingly relaxing, though. I am accustomed to acute stress situations (with school and stuff everything would always culminate at once), and this stress of hard work was great. With only two thoughts in my head (how much pain I was in and how I just needed to keep pedaling) I found an incredible peace. Suddenly concerns about med school, job stuff, and life were gone. All that mattered was that I keep pedaling. Who would have thought so much suffering could bring so much peace. Life has a strange duality to it sometimes.
After the worst night of sleep in my life I feel pretty good now. My legs are a little sore and my right wrist is absolutely killing me (gotta be the tendons from holding onto bike grips for so long), but that is all. I think I might run a couple of miles today just to boost the ego and show the old guys what's up (i.e. Tim and Mike).
Overall, I gotta say that I'm very pleased with myself. I should have weighed myself last night. I bet I lost a couple of pounds in that crazy adventure, even though I didn't have five pounds to lose.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Some may say I'm a lifer.
I spent the past couple of days up at SpringHill. I helped a friend of mine (and former boss) teach the staff about how the infirmary works, and I also helped train some of the infirmary staff. It was a lot of fun. I got some comments about how I am a SpringHill lifer, which I gotta disagree with. As far as I am concerned, my time at camp is done. I go back simply for the people. Some of my best friends live and work up there. I don't really make it a point to participate in the camp's mission or anything like that, and I really don't try to make new friends. I did make a new friend this past week, though, which I think is pretty cool.
Big day planned for tomorrow. I'm covering a 5K for work, then I'm heading up north of GR for a 100 Mile workout. Tim, Mike, and I (we 3 who climbed Mt. Marcy) are going to ride 30 miles, ditch the bikes and hike 20, then backtrack all the way back. I'm excited. It'll be a real hard day.
Big day planned for tomorrow. I'm covering a 5K for work, then I'm heading up north of GR for a 100 Mile workout. Tim, Mike, and I (we 3 who climbed Mt. Marcy) are going to ride 30 miles, ditch the bikes and hike 20, then backtrack all the way back. I'm excited. It'll be a real hard day.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Russian Lit Kick
Donald Miller says that every serious writer has a few years where they fall in love with Emily Dickinson. I've never been one for poetry, though. I have, however, fallen in love with 19th Century Russian culture. It seems like a pretty obscure time to fall in love with, but the culture just blows me away (well, the culture as described by the literature). I finished "Anna Karenina" last week, blew through 2 adventure books, and just started "The Idiot" yesterday. I'm already about 1/4 through it. It's just so dang good.
I had always thought this Russian stuff was just a phase, but I'm wondering if I'm just going to keep reading these books. The funny thing is that the more you read them the better they get (Mom, you should read "The Brothers Karamazov" if you haven't yet. "Dead Souls" is a pretty obscure and abstract book to start with.).
I figured out my next ploy to make enough money to survive: disaster response. FEMA has a contract with AMR, and whenever a big hurricane is about to hit every AMR branch sends a bunch of EMTs and Paramedics to the disaster site. Last year we sent like 12 poeple down to Texas for 3 weeks. The cool part about going down there is that you get paid 24 hours a day. I hear it's a great time, too.
I had always thought this Russian stuff was just a phase, but I'm wondering if I'm just going to keep reading these books. The funny thing is that the more you read them the better they get (Mom, you should read "The Brothers Karamazov" if you haven't yet. "Dead Souls" is a pretty obscure and abstract book to start with.).
I figured out my next ploy to make enough money to survive: disaster response. FEMA has a contract with AMR, and whenever a big hurricane is about to hit every AMR branch sends a bunch of EMTs and Paramedics to the disaster site. Last year we sent like 12 poeple down to Texas for 3 weeks. The cool part about going down there is that you get paid 24 hours a day. I hear it's a great time, too.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Finalized list
I think I've put together a finalized list of potential med schools:
Albany Medical College
George Washington University
Michigan State University
Oregon Health and Science University
University of Tennessee
University of Washington
They all seem to have what I'm looking for: small med school (preferably amidst a larger institution), a balance between clinical and research medicine (with an obvious focus on the clinical side of things), and a broad potential for future opportunities. I'm pretty excited. I was going to apply to Indiana University, but as it turns out that is the biggest med school in the country. I think I'll go ahead and avoid it. I am surprisingly excited about Albany...probably because it's so close to the Adirondacks. I think if I went to Washington I would just stare at Mt. Rainier all day. Are mountains any reason to pick a med school? Sounds pretty irresponsible to me...luckily I can back the schools up with real reasons, too.
On another note, for about 3 months now I have been calling myself a temporal thinker. To be honest I really didn't know what it meant, it just sounded right. I did a little poking on wikipedia and it turns out I actually am a temporal thinker. To quote wikipedia, "In logic, the term temporal logic is used to describe any system of rules and symbolism for representing, and reasoning about, propositions qualified in terms of time.... Consider the statement: "I am hungry." Though its meaning is constant in time, the truth value of the statement can vary in time. Sometimes the statement is true, and sometimes the statement is false, but the statement is never true and false simultaneously. In a temporal logic, statements can have a truth value which can vary in time. Contrast this with an atemporal logic, which can only discuss statements whose truth value is constant in time."
That is me through and through. I've been trying to work out the difference between relative and absolute truth for a while now, but I guess the "I am hungry" idea does it for me...it's all varying degrees.
I bet none of you really care, but I think it's cool.
Albany Medical College
George Washington University
Michigan State University
Oregon Health and Science University
University of Tennessee
University of Washington
They all seem to have what I'm looking for: small med school (preferably amidst a larger institution), a balance between clinical and research medicine (with an obvious focus on the clinical side of things), and a broad potential for future opportunities. I'm pretty excited. I was going to apply to Indiana University, but as it turns out that is the biggest med school in the country. I think I'll go ahead and avoid it. I am surprisingly excited about Albany...probably because it's so close to the Adirondacks. I think if I went to Washington I would just stare at Mt. Rainier all day. Are mountains any reason to pick a med school? Sounds pretty irresponsible to me...luckily I can back the schools up with real reasons, too.
On another note, for about 3 months now I have been calling myself a temporal thinker. To be honest I really didn't know what it meant, it just sounded right. I did a little poking on wikipedia and it turns out I actually am a temporal thinker. To quote wikipedia, "In logic, the term temporal logic is used to describe any system of rules and symbolism for representing, and reasoning about, propositions qualified in terms of time.... Consider the statement: "I am hungry." Though its meaning is constant in time, the truth value of the statement can vary in time. Sometimes the statement is true, and sometimes the statement is false, but the statement is never true and false simultaneously. In a temporal logic, statements can have a truth value which can vary in time. Contrast this with an atemporal logic, which can only discuss statements whose truth value is constant in time."
That is me through and through. I've been trying to work out the difference between relative and absolute truth for a while now, but I guess the "I am hungry" idea does it for me...it's all varying degrees.
I bet none of you really care, but I think it's cool.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
One Year
I think I made a mistake a couple of days ago: I checked out Touching the Void from the library. It's a book about the first two guys to climb an incredible route on Siula Grande in the Andes. The author ends up breaking his leg, falling in a crevasse, and crawling something like 10 miles back to base camp hours before his partner (who had thought he was dead) was about to leave to head back to England. Great book.
Hours after finishing it, though, I went into work to try to get some hours and I find Conquering the Impossible in my mailbox. This book is about a guy who attempts to circumnavigate the Artic Circle via sailboat and skis. I'm only 70 pages into it, but it's great so far. As part of his training he tried to be the second person to make a solo trip to the North Pole, without any Arctic experience. Crazy guy.
These 2 books got me thinking about adventure and endurance. In thinking about the next year I still don't know what I want to do. The one thing I know is that I'm already tired of simply having a job and filling idle time between shifts. I'm done with that.
I was listening to the radio yesterday while driving to a local fire department to inquire about jobs. The DJ had asked the question "if you had a year to do whatever you wanted, what would you do." I realized that I have a year to do whatever I want, but I couldn't narrow things down to one activity. I know what I want to do on the long-term (physician, adventure, etc.). I got to thinking about the short-term, though -- thinking about impossible mountains and incredible expeditions. If I dream as big as possible where will I end up?
Two things come to mind. If I go off to medical school in the fall of 2010 I will lose all hope in doing 2 activities that I've always wanted to do: wildlands firefighting and the Appalachian Trail. Both take up months of time, which I may never have again to the extent that I have now. Both are pretty long shots at the moment, but they are at least worth looking into.
I think my next big adventure will be a little AT test run: the Michigan Shore-to-Shore trail. It runs from Empire on Lake Michigan to Oscoda on Lake Huron: 220 miles. It'll be a good little test for the 2200 mile AT.
Hours after finishing it, though, I went into work to try to get some hours and I find Conquering the Impossible in my mailbox. This book is about a guy who attempts to circumnavigate the Artic Circle via sailboat and skis. I'm only 70 pages into it, but it's great so far. As part of his training he tried to be the second person to make a solo trip to the North Pole, without any Arctic experience. Crazy guy.
These 2 books got me thinking about adventure and endurance. In thinking about the next year I still don't know what I want to do. The one thing I know is that I'm already tired of simply having a job and filling idle time between shifts. I'm done with that.
I was listening to the radio yesterday while driving to a local fire department to inquire about jobs. The DJ had asked the question "if you had a year to do whatever you wanted, what would you do." I realized that I have a year to do whatever I want, but I couldn't narrow things down to one activity. I know what I want to do on the long-term (physician, adventure, etc.). I got to thinking about the short-term, though -- thinking about impossible mountains and incredible expeditions. If I dream as big as possible where will I end up?
Two things come to mind. If I go off to medical school in the fall of 2010 I will lose all hope in doing 2 activities that I've always wanted to do: wildlands firefighting and the Appalachian Trail. Both take up months of time, which I may never have again to the extent that I have now. Both are pretty long shots at the moment, but they are at least worth looking into.
I think my next big adventure will be a little AT test run: the Michigan Shore-to-Shore trail. It runs from Empire on Lake Michigan to Oscoda on Lake Huron: 220 miles. It'll be a good little test for the 2200 mile AT.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Anna Karenina and Memorial Day
I think I have found myself a bit of a Memorial Day tradition. For the past 4 years I have been up at SpringHill volunteering for their big family camp. It is tons of fun. I mostly go up there to hang out with old friends and meet new ones. For some reason I have gained a certain rapport at that place to the extent that I can really do whatever I want, and they still pay for my gas money to go to and from camp. Within minutes of getting up to camp I had a radio, a golf cart, and a key that would get me into (almost) any building on camp. Weird.
The weekend was a lot of fun. I hung out a lot with some old friends, met a few new ones, and learned how to waltz. This year marks my 1 year anniversary of not working at Springhill for the summer. The funny thing is that I realized that Springhill is not a deep spiritual place to me like it is for most people. I just really really like the people that work there. The place breeds a certain community that is very easy to succeed in. People just want to have fun there. I've never really understood the theological/spiritual role of a chrisitian camp, but I like hanging out with the people at springhill.
Just today I finished reading Anna Karenina. Amazing book. It's by the same guy that wrote War and Peace. The crazy thing about that book is the character development. It is about Russian nobles in the late 1800's and how one of them (Anna) cheats on her husband, and how the affair affects about 8 people involved. The funny thing is that nobody is the bad guy. Everybody clearly has strengths and weaknesses. Tolstoy somehow paints a complete picture of a circle of society that is absolutely mind-blowing. If you ever get a chance to read it, keep a lookout for the character named Alexei Alexandrovich Kareni. As far as I can tell I am him.
I've been sick for exactly 2 weeks as of today. It sucks. I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics. The scary part of being sick this long, though, is that my job regularly puts me in environments containing MRSA, VRE, and C. diff. I had a patient the other day with all 3. Lets hope none of them work on my depressed immune system.
Being sick has hurt my workout schedule, and my bikes took a dump on me, so I haven't been working out very much. I found a great 7 mile loop for running that gets me out of the city. I'll be doing that more regularly when I get better. I also took an Appalacian Trail book out of the library. I figure if I ever have a chance to do it it will be next summer. Here's hoping. Either way, I need an adventure soon.
The weekend was a lot of fun. I hung out a lot with some old friends, met a few new ones, and learned how to waltz. This year marks my 1 year anniversary of not working at Springhill for the summer. The funny thing is that I realized that Springhill is not a deep spiritual place to me like it is for most people. I just really really like the people that work there. The place breeds a certain community that is very easy to succeed in. People just want to have fun there. I've never really understood the theological/spiritual role of a chrisitian camp, but I like hanging out with the people at springhill.
Just today I finished reading Anna Karenina. Amazing book. It's by the same guy that wrote War and Peace. The crazy thing about that book is the character development. It is about Russian nobles in the late 1800's and how one of them (Anna) cheats on her husband, and how the affair affects about 8 people involved. The funny thing is that nobody is the bad guy. Everybody clearly has strengths and weaknesses. Tolstoy somehow paints a complete picture of a circle of society that is absolutely mind-blowing. If you ever get a chance to read it, keep a lookout for the character named Alexei Alexandrovich Kareni. As far as I can tell I am him.
I've been sick for exactly 2 weeks as of today. It sucks. I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics. The scary part of being sick this long, though, is that my job regularly puts me in environments containing MRSA, VRE, and C. diff. I had a patient the other day with all 3. Lets hope none of them work on my depressed immune system.
Being sick has hurt my workout schedule, and my bikes took a dump on me, so I haven't been working out very much. I found a great 7 mile loop for running that gets me out of the city. I'll be doing that more regularly when I get better. I also took an Appalacian Trail book out of the library. I figure if I ever have a chance to do it it will be next summer. Here's hoping. Either way, I need an adventure soon.
Monday, May 11, 2009
So I saved a life...
I found out the other day that I actually had a hand in saving someone's life. Last year at the annual 25K in Grand Rapids I treated a guy who was seizing about 1/3 mile from the finish line. It was kind of cool because there was a huge crowd watching me. I didn't think much of it (seizures are real easy because you can't do much. You just let the body run its course and treat afterwards). I just kept his airway clear and kept him safe...and ambulance got there after a couple minutes and took him off to the hospital.
I talked to one of the medics who took the guy to the hospital a couple of days ago (the night before this year's race). He told me that he found out that our guy had heat stroke and was in the hospital for 4 days (or so). Heat stroke is something that is basically characterized by death. It's a level of dehydration and electrolyte imbalance that the body can not self-correct. So it's kind of cool that I had a hand in saving his life.
The race this year was totally uneventful, though. Lots of cold rain and healthy runners.
I just started the med school application for 2010. I'm thinking of applying to around 5 schools and hoping for the best. I'm going to talk to the pre-med adviser this week to hear her thoughts on the matter. Still trying to hear back from the research jobs, though.
80 hour work week last week.
50 hour work week this week.
I don't know what to do with all of the extra time.
I talked to one of the medics who took the guy to the hospital a couple of days ago (the night before this year's race). He told me that he found out that our guy had heat stroke and was in the hospital for 4 days (or so). Heat stroke is something that is basically characterized by death. It's a level of dehydration and electrolyte imbalance that the body can not self-correct. So it's kind of cool that I had a hand in saving his life.
The race this year was totally uneventful, though. Lots of cold rain and healthy runners.
I just started the med school application for 2010. I'm thinking of applying to around 5 schools and hoping for the best. I'm going to talk to the pre-med adviser this week to hear her thoughts on the matter. Still trying to hear back from the research jobs, though.
80 hour work week last week.
50 hour work week this week.
I don't know what to do with all of the extra time.
Friday, April 24, 2009
It's funny how fast you can realize something...
The summer after graduating high school I remember playing lacrosse with some guys at the Athens stadium. At the time I was planning on playing lacrosse at BU. I was playing goalie on the north end of the field when I just had the overwhelming desire to never play lacrosse again. I just realized that I was done. I have since picked up a stick every now and then, but my gut feeling was right -- my lacrosse career ended right then and there.
I had a similar type of gut feeling about 10 minutes ago. I spent the past 2 hours applying to 4 jobs (1 in Portland at OHSU's medical center, 3 at UCSF's medical center), and it hit me that I already miss school. I've heard people talk about how much they miss school, but it seems like those feelings hit about 1-3 years after they graduated. I never expected to get that feeling the day after turning in my last assignment (and a day before actually graduating).
I was walking home from applying to those jobs and it hit me that I need to get an MD/PhD. I am a man of structure. I LOVE always having work to do. I love having long-term and short-term projects that require simultaneous concentration. Even while I was in school I never wanted to be done. Just getting an MD will merely delay the inevitable. In 5-6 years I'll have the same feeling I have now. The PhD will be a license to be a student for the rest of my life. The difference in pre-PhD and post-PhD is I go from having teachers to being my own teacher.
This morning was a great deep breath. Now I'm ready for school again.
I had a similar type of gut feeling about 10 minutes ago. I spent the past 2 hours applying to 4 jobs (1 in Portland at OHSU's medical center, 3 at UCSF's medical center), and it hit me that I already miss school. I've heard people talk about how much they miss school, but it seems like those feelings hit about 1-3 years after they graduated. I never expected to get that feeling the day after turning in my last assignment (and a day before actually graduating).
I was walking home from applying to those jobs and it hit me that I need to get an MD/PhD. I am a man of structure. I LOVE always having work to do. I love having long-term and short-term projects that require simultaneous concentration. Even while I was in school I never wanted to be done. Just getting an MD will merely delay the inevitable. In 5-6 years I'll have the same feeling I have now. The PhD will be a license to be a student for the rest of my life. The difference in pre-PhD and post-PhD is I go from having teachers to being my own teacher.
This morning was a great deep breath. Now I'm ready for school again.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Applying for a job?
I found the first job I would seriously consider pursuing (assuming I do end up turning down Wayne State, which I am leaning toward). It's a clinical research coordinator job at the National Jewish Hospital in Denver, doing work with COPD patients. Apparently this hospital is the #1 respiratory hospital in the country, which is perfect as I am considering critical care medicine as a strong possibility (i.e. internal medicine with a sub specialty in pulmonology). It looks like I fit all of the qualifications. Now I just need to write a resume. Weird. I never thought I'd be doing this stuff.
Biochem Done
I just got out of my biochem final. It went real well. We were allowed to make a cheat sheet, but I totally forgot about that; but I think I was better off without. The test was either random trivia (which would have been a crap shoot to have that stuff on the sheet) or critical thinking (which you either know the information to interpret or you don't). I think a sheet would have helped on maybe one question, so I guess I win overall. It's funny leaving biochem thinking that it was a pretty easy class. Lots of people told me that it was the hardest class I would ever have to take in my undergrad. For me, that title would certainly go to either second semester inorganic chemistry or first semester physics. Those classes literally brought me to tears with certain concepts (titrations and Bernoulli's Principle). Microbiology was also hard because there was so much dang information to learn in so little time. My two favorite classes were the most unlikely of all: organic chemistry and biochem. Strange.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Finals and Furanose
I went to Wayne State today for a financial aid seminar, and I realized what I am in for in med school. I have always considered myself old-school as far as education goes, and today showed me just how old school I am.
The seminar included about 30 students, many of whom had parents with them. The parents mostly asked questions about post-med school income. The students mostly asked questions about what can be paid for with their loans. Money. Understandable at a financial aid seminar.
The trouble hit when an Army officer gave a little presentation about the Army Medical Corps. It seemed a bit out of place, but it's something I'm interested in so I didn't mind. At one point she made a joke, something along the lines of "in the Army program you won't have to worry so much about making a big income to pay off debts, but you guys would do this for free anyway, wouldn't you?" I nodded my head at the remark while everybody else laughed at it. I realized just what it looks like to go into medicine for the money. Most of my clinical experience has been without payment, and I intend to keep my paid/unpaid ratio as small as possible. I think John Donne (and Hemingway, sort of) sums my feelings up well. I guess those people who are in it for the money have a miserable future and a very difficult job ahead of themselves.
I've deviated from my topic, though. Old school. To me, schooling should be focused on education. I have always had a little problem with medical school (rooting back probably before high school) because it's so vocational. You struggle through the 4 years and get wedged into a job. Law has always appealed to me because it's so applicable to everything. You leave law school educated, coherent, and intelligent. You leave med school with a job. I guess I just saw the manifestation of that today. I've looked into some MD/JD programs just for kicks, but it kind of looks like a lot of work for nothing. Since I don't intend to stop going to school maybe I could knock out a law degree later on in life. Could be fun.
Final schedule: Biochem and Capstone test Monday. Geology paper and poster due Tuesday. Shakespeare paper due Thursday. Pretty easy finals week ahead of me.
The seminar included about 30 students, many of whom had parents with them. The parents mostly asked questions about post-med school income. The students mostly asked questions about what can be paid for with their loans. Money. Understandable at a financial aid seminar.
The trouble hit when an Army officer gave a little presentation about the Army Medical Corps. It seemed a bit out of place, but it's something I'm interested in so I didn't mind. At one point she made a joke, something along the lines of "in the Army program you won't have to worry so much about making a big income to pay off debts, but you guys would do this for free anyway, wouldn't you?" I nodded my head at the remark while everybody else laughed at it. I realized just what it looks like to go into medicine for the money. Most of my clinical experience has been without payment, and I intend to keep my paid/unpaid ratio as small as possible. I think John Donne (and Hemingway, sort of) sums my feelings up well. I guess those people who are in it for the money have a miserable future and a very difficult job ahead of themselves.
I've deviated from my topic, though. Old school. To me, schooling should be focused on education. I have always had a little problem with medical school (rooting back probably before high school) because it's so vocational. You struggle through the 4 years and get wedged into a job. Law has always appealed to me because it's so applicable to everything. You leave law school educated, coherent, and intelligent. You leave med school with a job. I guess I just saw the manifestation of that today. I've looked into some MD/JD programs just for kicks, but it kind of looks like a lot of work for nothing. Since I don't intend to stop going to school maybe I could knock out a law degree later on in life. Could be fun.
Final schedule: Biochem and Capstone test Monday. Geology paper and poster due Tuesday. Shakespeare paper due Thursday. Pretty easy finals week ahead of me.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
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