04/18/2008-ish

Family & Friends,

I’m beginning this letter with the intention of having to spend several days plugging away at it. It is a few short weeks until cumulative finals start up and then immediately following that I begin my intensive study for my Step 1 board exam. All things considered, I should probably lock myself in a study room, do nothing but read my notes and consume caffeinated beverages through an IV in order to save time, but I can’t bring myself to do that, so I’ll be using this letter as a periodic sanity break, allowing myself a paragraph or so at a time.

(Several hours after writing the above paragraph)…

I guess one of the first things I can think to write about is a cool program being offered at the school that I have applied for and hope to hear back on soon. The program is being offered through the anesthesiology department and is essentially a resident assistant program where the recipient would follow an anesthesia resident and help out, learning how to do the things they do. I hope to get this position, not necessarily because I know I want to be an anesthesiologist, but because it is probably as high on the list as anything else.
One of my only major gripes with MCW is that they do not offer enough elective credits in the 3rd year for students to explore what kind of medicine they might like. Add this to the fact that in a normal 3rd year, you only spend a couple weeks in anesthesia and you can start to see why I thought it might be a good idea to grab any opportunity available to spend some time in the anesthesiology department.

(Next day)…

I don’t know yet if I will get accepted into this anesthesia program, but I have a funny story about my application.
When the big tamale of the anesthesia department sent around the email telling students about this program, he stated that "to apply, submit a CV and a cover letter to the anesthesiology department". Now, in 7 years of higher education, I have learned what a cover letter is, but exactly what a CV might be eluded me. I thought it might mean "cardiovascular" (though I wasn’t quite sure how to submit one of those). I also considered "critical value", "capitol vote" and "crunchy vacuum" as possible candidates…though none seemed to fit the context very well. Eventually I decided I’d have to do a very un-manly thing and ask what CV might mean (in retrospect, I should have just Googled it).
Knowing that first impressions are often the most important, I thought long and hard about how to ask the head of the anesthesiology department what a CV was while still sounding intelligent. After going through several options in my mind, I finally decided upon a sure-fire, no-nonsense, to-the-point approach that would let him know that he was dealing with a first rate intellectual while still gaining me the valuable information I needed ("Uhh…what’s a CV?")
Fortunately the head of anisthesia is a nice man and let me know that CV is the top secret medical ninja code name (really, it is Latin) for "Curriculum Vitae" or in other
words, a fancy type of resume that only people in academia use. And with that vital piece of information, I was able to pull together my CV without further embarrassment! (all of you who have known what a CV is since before you were potty-trained do not get to tease me about this!)

(later)…

Another topic which comes to mind as reportable is that I have joined the ranks of family members and fellow Americans with diagnosed migraine headaches 􀀯
These headaches are not new to me, I just never thought they were migraines. For the last several years I will occasionally (perhaps once a month or so) come down with a real thumper that can make me a little sick to my stomach. These headaches can last for 2 or 3 days and really put a damper on things. I never thought they were migraines because I don’t get any sort of aura with them, but it turns out migraines don’t necessarily have to start with an aura (the things you learn in medical school!)
Anyway, 2 days before my last pharmacology test I came down with a really nasty headache. 45 Excedrin and 2 peptic ulcers later I decided to go in and see my doctor. Normally I would have just gone to bed until it went away, but that was not an option 2 days before a killer exam. My doctor heard my story and without breaking a sweat, diagnosed me and gave me a shot of something, which did the job. I was able to keep studying and I even passed my exam (not always as easy as you would hope in pharmacology)! Looks like I’ll be getting a prescription of Imitrex to have on hand when the next thumper starts!

(Next day)…

It’s hard to adequately convey exactly how much time I spend in one little study room doing nothing but reading notes and books. (Well, in all fairness sometimes I make lists on the blackboard erase them and write them again, so as to memorize the list). I can say that I spend all day every day in these activities but I think it comes across as a hyperbole more than the truth…how much I wish that was true. Really, I spend all day every day in this room engaged in these mundane activities, to the exclusion of all but the most basic bodily needs (and sometimes even those go neglected). If I’m feeling particularly crazy and reckless I might venture 2 miles down the road to the public library, spend 15 minutes browsing a book selection I’ll never have time to get to and then swing by the Walgreens on North Ave for a candy bar fix before returning to my dungeon…errr…study room!
Having said that, however, I did escape my routine one night last week and had dinner with a girl from the ward. She is from the area and has family out here. We actually went to her sister/brother-in-law’s place, had dinner and played games. Most of the games we played were board games, but we did spend a little time playing a Wii. Let the record show that for the first time since the Super Nintendo came out in 1990 I want a video game system! The Wii is AWESOME! I’d never played one before and it was a riot!
Well, this letter has spanned enough days and I should finish it up and get back to my study! I think I’ll have some fairly major news to report next time I write, but for now that is all I had better say.

Hope life is treating you all well!
-Eric