Shameless Plug

Here's the poster we made that's hanging in the school and in the hospital to advertise some of our events.  I just wanted to share it with you all because I'm weirdly really proud of it.  And I spent the whole morning printing it.

Ahh, Busy

So much going on this week, no time for a post!

But here are some of the things I'm involved in that are coming up, and that you can look forward to (some only if you go to NJMS and some only if you're in my family, sorrrrrry):

• My review (on this very blog!) of Dr. Tony Youn's book "In Stitches," a humorous take on his journey through med school
• Lecture by Dr. Jaime Torres, regional director of Human Health Services on the future of US Healthcare (Mon, 10/24)
• Primary Care Careers Dinner Banquet (Wed, 11/16) to celebrate National Primary Care Week
• LGBT and AMSA are sponsoring a panel on what it's like to be out and in medicine (Thurs, 11/3) in honor of National Coming Out Week
• Global Health 101's major event of the year, Around the World in 80 Minutes, where students teach everyone about the healthcare system and health issues of different countries and serve food from that country (Wed, 11/2)
• Our first test for our new class today (take-home, but closed book - I really wonder how many people in the class will actually be honest with that)
• Some very fun family events this weekend! :)

Lastlyyyyy, I just started the third book in the Game of Thrones series and it has really been taking up a large portion of my non-studying time.  In fact, had I not started it, I probably would have had time for a blog post, and to finish studying for my test already, and to run a marathon, and to learn how to play the guitar, and to learn a new language, and to....



To read excerpts and learn more about "In Stitches," check out Dr. Youn's website here

To learn more about National Primary Care Week or Primary Care Progress (the organization), click on their names.

To learn more about angora rabbits, click here

AMSA study break

Now that our first physio exam is finished, I have to correct my previous post. Friday tests are infinitely better than Monday tests. Especially if the forecast for the weekend is 70 and sunny with snow for Monday. Plus, our new unit starts today at 10am and I am SO not ready to jump right back into things again. A few days off (just about the length of a weekend) would be nice.

But since we knew most first years would be spending the weekend studying, AMSA hosted a study break for everyone on Saturday night. AMSA is the American Medical Student Association, and we have a local chapter here that pretty much focuses on trying to make life better for med students.

caffeinated med students are happy med students

Nationally, AMSA also focuses on empowering med students to take action on issues like affordable health care for all, global healthy equity, professional integrity, and diversity in medicine. Therefore our NJMS chapter also sponsors other student groups on campus like the Global Health Alliance and the Intro to Health Care Reform elective.

This study break was the first event of the year run by the first-years (as the second-years get ready to hibernate and study for their board exam), and I think it was a success! We provided free coffee, hot chocolate, tea, donuts, muffins, and pastries from Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks to anyone who came by.

the spread

the spread part II

It was a great way for everyone who'd been in hiding studying all weekend to actually have some human contact (always important), and it was a nice caffeine/sugar booster to make it through the rest of the night. Maybe not the most exciting Saturday night activity I've ever been to, but it was definitely a nice way to break up the studying (plus I really enjoyed the looks of all the other customers in Dunkin Donuts as Larry and I attempted to carry out 9 boxes of coffee/hot chocolate with 200 munchkins and 50+ donuts/muffins - not an easy task).

gettin' our sugar fix

AMSA first-year reps