4th Year: July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan February05
3rd year: Family Peds Medicine(1) Med(2)
Med(3)
Surgery(1)
Surg(2) Surg(3) Psych Ob/Gyn
Index
FAQs
Other Interesting People: GabeL
Jenny
Kissaknee Lucas Yolanda
February
28, 2005 (later)
Some Regular Wedding Photos:
One of Yolanda’s cousins.
Kelvin’s Wedding from MY
Perspective:
“OMG! What am I doing?!?!?!?”
"Dude, just chill out!...
uh... are you feeling better yet?... 'cause, uh… all this man-touching is making me queasy..."
“Ahhhh… feeling much better now…”
“WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! I don' wanna give
a speech!!!!”
“Just gimme a sec and I’ll be good to go.....”
My anti-Kelvin-and-Yolanda-PDA
posse—Jian, Donna, and Julia. What would I have done without them?
Really guys…
it’s just gross. =P
Me + Jenny +
Connie (matron/maids of honor) at the LA reception. They were too awesome…
But really, I
don’t know why you guys were getting all excited—I didn’t
drink that much…
Two and a half days
of non-stop schmoozing, smiling, and physical labor? This is AWESOME!!!!
February 28, 2005 (early)
Post-Reception #2:
Just got back
a little while ago from K+YW’s reception in LA. Pretty much what I expected. A lot of fob Taiwanese stuff going on + good food. As usual
the shark fin soup and lobster were tasty. I decided since people at my table
were going to speak in Taiwanese most of the evening that, in order to make my
boredom feel shorter, I’d drink as much wine as possible… only got
through 3 glasses—I was distracted by my DJ + slideshow duties…
But, I’m
sitting here waiting for K+YW to get back from LA. Gotta
sort out all the AV cables from today and they’ve got to pack for their
honeymoon… they’ve got an early flight today. Anyways, totally
against my instincts, I’m going to stay at their place during their first
night at home as a married couple to help them out a bit… plus, I didn’t
want to bother those guys I was going to crash with like at 2:00 or 3:00am.
That would kind of suck.
The wedding was
great. Everything ran smoothly. Everyone seemed happy enough. Definitely happy for the two of them that things went well.
I was pretty nervous
about my best man speech, but apparently it went okay from what friends tell
me… no standing ovation… or girlish sighs and shrieking… oh
well. Speaking in front of all those people really got my adrenaline flowing
though… my hands were shaking pretty good
afterwards…
I’m exhausted.
I had less work to do than I expected, but KW still made me run around to run
random errands all through the weekend… plus, on Saturday, I had a
semi-official best man duty of mingling with as many guests as possible…
there was meeting all the family and talking up Kelvin… then the wedding
+ reception… then the coffee “after-party” social…
then, after that, ended up hanging out with a bunch of people… really
fun, but again… just no time for me to rest/chill. Then, Sunday, church,
track down and pack up AV equipment, pick up JH, head to LA, set up AV stuff,
try to mingle and talk up Kelvin with random Taiwanese friends of
Yolanda’s parents, and drive back and wait for those two to show
up…
I think I represented
Kelvin well-enough over the weekend… that’s the main thing, right?
Not to be a total a** causing the in-laws to have second-thoughts? =)
Worst thing about the
wedding was since I didn’t want to puke, I held off the food and hors d’oeurves before my speech which meant I totally missed out on the chocolate
fountain… so sad.
Best thing about the
wedding was I got to meet a bunch of Yolanda’s random friends—just
a lot of neat, fun, interesting people… sounds kind of lame, but
I’ve experienced a serious dearth of meeting neat, fun, interesting people
since moving to Toledo… this weekend was really refreshing in that
way… although… when I told a certain med student (AHEM!) to stop
studying so much, she replied “yes, sir”… How insulting!
Well, can’t do anything about it—she can totally kick my a**.
Second best thing was
that I got a hand massage over the
weekend… dude, it felt awesome…
I’ll post some
pictures later after I wake up sometime this afternoon.
February 25, 2005
Pre-Wedding:
I’m not even
getting married and this thing is exhausting… just went all day running
errands, driving, doing the rehearsal, rehearsal dinner… at least the
maid and matron of honor have been entertaining enough… ha ha… gotta spend some time
memorizing my best man speech… just have a few duties
tomorrow—carry around the rings and marriage certificate… make sure
I’ve got spare mints and tissues in my pocket for people… I think I
have to pre-round on the guests during the meal as the best man…
Kind of crazy
that KW is getting married tomorrow.
Well, the maybe best thing about it is that KW and YK will hopefully stop their
seemingly incessant sexual innuendo talk while I’m around (I get it,
abstinence makes them horny) now that they can finally have fun together…
It’s going to
be a long weekend. Wedding Saturday. LA reception
Sunday. Drive them to the airport on Monday.
February 23, 2005
Overachiever:
So I was browsing
around this radiology textbook I’m using as a reference for my rotation
when I looked at the authors… one of which was a med student… a familiar
name… the med school association seemed to click… and the timing
works out….. that I went to high school with
this dude. Man, what an overachiever. I’m jealous… I want to have
authored chapters in a major textbook with nothing more than a BS behind my
name.
Wimpy Dog:
There was some
thunder last night and Chloe got spooked pretty good.
I heard her milling around outside my door… after I opened it, she
wouldn’t leave my side… even taking out my contacts/brushing my
teeth she had to sit right against my leg… so she slept in my room for an
hour or so after the thunder had stopped… by then, not as spooked, she
decided the cold floor in my room wasn’t as comfortable as her
fake-leather chair and took off…
No turning back:
As of 9:00pm EST
tonight, the Match is closed and the next 3-4 years of my life are now going to
be determined by a magic eight ball in the hands of several drunk, partying
NRMP officials… For all the time and energy I put into my rank list I
don’t think it changed at all for the last 4-5 weeks.
My final rank list and why:
1)
Highland/Alameda
County General (
It’s
home… and a freakin’ awesome program.
2)
George Washington
(wash dc) (4)
As
far as my career, this is the best place for me to go, actually. Well-rounded clinical
training and tons of opportunities to get into areas of EM that I really
want—international, policy, education. The residents were very chill,
very cool. DC rocks, too.
3)
Drexel/Hahnemann (
I
felt one of the best clinical places to train of the 3-year programs I
interviewed at, one of the oldest and most respected programs in the country,
and really got along with the residents. The research opportunities are a bit
lacking, but I should have no problem getting into a fellowship of choice from
here. It’s a happy place. Since I know a handful of people from the
4)
As
much as I struggled with it—I’m a county doc at heart and cook
county just offers too much to rank it much lower. Outstanding reputation and
training, good research and academic resources, and… it’s a true
county hospital. Despite being a tough place to work, the 8-hour shifts make it
one of the lightest (by # work hours) programs I applied to. Philadelphia gets
the nod over cook just because of the new environs, greater number of contacts
from the area, and happier work environment/conditions… and since the
intern year at cook is not guaranteed
(although I feel like I have a good shot to get it), the risk of having to
scramble for an intern year and make an additional move is a big turn-off.
5)
Loma Linda
(riverside, ca) (3)
It’s
California, a really awesome program, and within 2 hours of my closest friends,
but as much as I tried, I couldn’t get myself to live in Riverside when
compared to the four above… maybe if I was married it wouldn’t be
so bad, but I’d rather spend my late-twenties in the city while I still
have the tolerance and energy for it than California suburbia.
6)
Henry Ford
(
If
it were any other location, this place would be in my top 3. I love Henry Ford
to death, but I want to move away... desperately. But, compared to the programs
below, it’s where I feel most comfortable with the residents, training,
and post-residency opportunities. I actually think I may fit in with the
residents here better than any other program.
7)
Yale (new haven,
ct) (4)
I
have such a fondness of Yale because of the post-interview drinking with those
other applicants and residents. I got such a great vibe from the residents and
faculty. The program is pretty decent for being so young—their academic
job placements straight out of residency are really impressive. And
8)
Johns Hopkins
(
Great
program that would totally prepare me for the academic career I want. But, one
thing I could never get away from is that every single resident I met rubbed me
the wrong way—not that they were annoying or obnoxious… just
something didn’t click… and it was consistent with every single
one… That made me too uneasy to place this program any higher.
9)
Similar
problem as
10)
As
I mentioned before, this was a really happy place. As #10, it’s sort of
my symbolic last resort… I figure if I get really really
shafted on match day… forget my career!, I just want to go to a happy
place. Does not have the academic resources or a strong university affiliation.
It’ll be an uphill battle getting into a desired fellowship
post-residency from here (like med school to a solid residency), but at least
I’ll be happy surrounded by a lot of hot nurses/residents.
11)
Sinai-Grace/Wayne
State (
This
is past my symbolic last resort. I liked the faculty and residents a
lot—it’s a total county-feel, but other than that it really just
doesn’t have the same level of resources and opportunities and breadth of
clinical exposure that other programs have… I think part of me is tired
of feeling like I have to push and push and going waaaay
out of my way all the time do the things I want to do…
12)
Univ of
No
question, THE BEST PROGRAM I interviewed at. No where else compares. That being
said, I want to get out of
13)
USC/LA County (4)
Sorry
mom, DH, DC, JI, KW, JS, etc… this was my best chance to get back to
California, and I would have had a decent shot… and it’s not like
I’m uncomfortable at LAC, but two things… One, I’d have to
scramble for an intern year position in
14)
The
back-up of back-ups… I don’t fit in here at all—not my type
of residents or patient population… but Columbus is the most livable city
for me in
NO RANK)
NO RANK) St.
Vincent’s—another solid program, but I have to leave
My Guess:
If I am on the
receiving end of deus ex machina
(too few spots available for too highly coveted programs) à
Realistically (30
positions to fill between the two, not as common #1 choices) à Hahnemann or
If I get shafted
(Loma Linda and Henry Ford will easily fill before the match runs as far as my
#4-5) à
Yale
If I get really, really
shafted à
Pray for
me………. I’m going to be sweating it out on Match Day
March 17. Please pray that God will lead
me to, most importantly, the right Christian community… I’ve been
severely out of fellowship with other like-minded Christians for almost 6 years
and it really blows………
February 22, 2005
Lyrics in the head:
Have a couple songs I
can’t listen to enough right now. “Slave to the Wage” and
“Special K” by Placebo. “Slave to the Wage” has some
neat Siouxie motifs in it… and then
“Special K” is just a great tox song:
“No hesitation, no delay
You come on just like special K
Just like I swallowed half my stash
I never ever wanna crash”
… great intro
for a lecture on date-rape drugs or analgesic/amnestics
or conscious sedation and stuffers/packers… I have to remember this
one…
February 21, 2005
Bachelor Party Aftermath:
Our fishing trip got
canceled due to the weather, so we went to Point Loma Seafood to grab lunch,
headed to Carlsbad for karting (finished in the middle
of our group), and then hung out at a friend’s apartment complex
clubhouse to eat really awesome meat, play pool/poker, and haze KW.
I decided to play the
My cell phone battery
bit the dust in a familiar manner as my cell phones tend to migrate towards
water…
I swear if I ever end
up at any of those guys’ bachelor parties in the future, they’re sooooo dead. No more
Otherwise, it worked
out well. I got some great pictures of the hazing (including Pastor Bob
participating). The turnout was really good considering the late rescheduling.
And, I think everyone had a pretty good time.
Whew.
Two More Days:
Have some time to
make last minute changes to my rank list.
Bad Weather:
It’s pouring in
Anyways. Dunno what to do today. Didn’t expect to wake up so
early after last night.
February 18, 2005
I was thinking that
it’s too bad I can’t do residency in
Pre-Rank List Communication:
Getting emails and
calls… the emails would be nicer if they weren’t basically form
letters… kind of deflating… oh well. five more days until
it’s set in stone.
February 17, 2005
The House of God:
Blew through this book
in about 4 days. It’s all true. Maybe not as bad as it was 30 years ago,
but it’s all true. If the crudeness and cynicism don’t bother you,
I swear the substance of med school/internship are just like it’s
portrayed…
Relax:
Actually having a bit
of trouble relaxing… just too task-oriented… all this free time in
San Diego is great, but I still have this nagging feeling that I need to be
completing things all the time… this weekend will be busy—helping
YK move her stuff and have the bachelor party on Sunday, so gotta
finish buying stuff and organizing for that.
February 15, 2005 (later)
Now the Wait:
I certified my rank
list just a couple minutes ago. Although I can still make changes (and I’m
contemplating a couple minor ones), once Feb 23 900pm passes, it’s
absolutely set in stone. I’ll post my rank list then—don’t
want to jinx myself or make those things public before everything’s set.
Pretty difficult
process. I tiered my choices to top 3, 4 happy back-ups, 4 not-as-happy
back-ups, and 3 filler—for a total of 14 programs. Within each tier I
ranked programs by weighing how each place would work in terms of my career
goals (strength of clinical training, academic resources and training, reputation/alumni
base), location (fun place to live, geographically or pragmatically close to
home), and general gestalt (vibe from residents, faculty, and environment). In
the end, I think gestalt was probably the most important factor, followed by
location issues, and finally the academic issues… some exceptions to this
rule, but that’s generally what I was thinking… each time I look
back over my rank list, I try to ask myself the question, “If I end up
here, I am I happier getting that spot versus any other program I ranked below
them?” Not the easiest thing to answer…
One of the lingering
questions is how happy I would be in
I dunno.
February 15, 2005
Clinical Skills Exam:
It totally lived up
to my expectations as far as a big waste of $1000. Granted, the
‘simulated patients’ were pretty decent, but just I don’t
really see how it can evaluate your clinical skills… you fake your
physical exam—there’s no way the patient’s going to know how
well you listen to heart sounds or lung sounds… and then they even tell you not to exam them for real!!!—in particular the abdominal
exam, so how can they truly evaluate anything other than whether or not you
know the routine? It’s ridiculous! They expect you to take the whole
thing seriously, but then flat-out tell you to half-a** a major part of the
physical exam? The only thing that might be worthwhile is determining if you
can take a history (which is not hard—something
we learn in our first year of med
school—you have to be pretty gawd-awful to suck
at that and even my incompetent intern from my sub-I passed it) and maybe whether or not your clinical note
and diagnostic plan are good enough… no, I change my mind about
that… the only thing this exam was good for was testing restraint from
laughing at the pretend patients and indiscriminately lashing out against the
ACGME.
Even then, it’s
ridiculous. By this time in our training, we’re already differentiating
into different styles and developing certain habits. I’ve got a Emergency
Medicine/Critical Care style already which means if I’m in the room for
more than 5+ minutes, I’m wasting
time. It’s a bit easier to lengthen out my history-taking for stuff like
this, but my physical exam is concise and I look for a handful of specific
findings… if they’re there or not, I’m out of the room fast, just because of the environment
I’m training for… because in the back of my mind, there’s
always time to come back and do a thorough exam—my job as an EM/CC doc is
to make sure they’re not dying…
and if they aren’t, move on to
make sure the next dude isn’t dying… I can’t imagine the
ACGME can accurately account for stylistic differences like this in their
evaluation.
There was one patient
encounter that, I thought, had potentially multiple
life-threatening problems!!!! HELLO?!?!?!
Waaaaaay too complicated for a 15-minute history and
physical exam by a single person, quarter-page to write out the physical
findings, only 5 possible diagnoses and only 5 diagnostic tests…
ridiculous.
There was one patient
with some serious medical complaints that I swear was trying to bait me to ask
about some social problem… I didn’t bite, BECAUSE IT DOESN’T
MATTER—they could be DYING…
for me to sit there while my patient is actively dying to have a long,
heart-felt conversation about some personal “issues” just flies in
the face of reason. Once again, ridiculous.
I was impressed by one patient faking one
particular physical sign well—I can’t publicly reveal specific
details—they threaten to blackball med students from ever practicing
medicine if they spill the beans.
But then, there was
another patient that I almost ended up busting up laughing at. He must have
been a newbie, because the scenario had him in some pretty severe pain…
and he was faking it by moaning a lot and rubbing that area of his body, but
then I must have asked some pretty tough questions because he’d suddenly stop moaning!!! and rubbing out
his “pain” to think about how to answer. You could hear the wheels
turning. Ha ha ha! Thank
goodness it was early in the day and I had some self-control… If he were
for real, I’d boot him out of the ED…
I heard some poor
fellow got failed out of his clinical skills exam because he thought the
simulated patient was being so ridiculous and outrageous and couldn’t
keep himself from cracking up during the test. Ha ha.
So sad.
After-Party:
Hung out at
Singles’ Awareness Day:
Obviously
didn’t do anything, but had an excuse to buy a friend flowers. Made me
happy—it’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that. The
roses were kind of dying (insert Monty Python, “I’m not dead
yet!” “I feel like going for a walk!”), but under the
circumstances, I got what was available… happy. =)
Courtesy Call:
Just got a call from
Yale. Blah. Still don’t know how to rank my not-top3 programs. I have
until 900pm Feb 23, but my school wants it done by the end of the week.
February 12, 2005
Chill Days:
slept in until 11:00,
bought several CDs at Leo’s Records in Encinitas, chilled in my car
overlooking Torrey Pines beach, got a couple new
books from B&N, ate some good Vietnamese food for dinner, did some reading,
and gonna watch Lost
in Translation.
Also hung out at the
Little Spark meeting last night. Pretty familiar and friendly. Amusingly, lots
of prototypical personalities there. Ah, too bad I won’t be in San Diego
for residency… it’d be fun to get involved in a campus ministry
again… definitely can do it in Oakland or Philadelphia…
Gonna wake up early to head to Shakespeare’s pub for a
British breakfast + watch the Manchester United v
Haven’t had
many introspective thoughts lately… sorry. I dunno.
Just trying to enjoy the free time and
February 11, 2005 (later)
Best Man Speech:
Ugg. I wrote out a draft this afternoon. Nervous already…
hands were shaking just trying to read through the thing…
February 11, 2005
Movies:
Friday Night Lights – not as Disney as I expected. But, still, at the end there
were some ridiculously cheesy scenes. Better than Remember the Titans… and I don’t remember Varsity Blues well enough to
compare… no whipped cream, though. Ha ha
Napoleon Dynamite
– not as funny as everyone told me it would be. Entertaining enough,
though.
Shaun of the Dead
– not as funny as the preview made it out to be. Hard to
describe—kind of a bizarre romantic comedy?
Best Man Duties:
Skipped out of
radiology today after a ½ hour ‘cause there was a mix-up of the attendings and they were going to be crazy late and busy,
so it would have been a pretty worthless day anyways. So, gonna
try to start collecting items for the bachelor party—EtOH
and plates/utensils, and check out how much pre-marinated bul-gogi
and kal-bi is… also, gonna
try writing out parts of my toast… have some bits and pieces that have
been coming together recently… I can at least get some details down on
paper… I know at least the basic meaty part of it—the sentimental
story and anecdote that will make everyone cry and all the ladies fall in love
with me. Ah jeah.
February 9, 2005
My Life is Complete:
I now have NO regrets
in life—I tried surfing today. I was totally weak sauce and only lasted
30 minutes, but I did it and will be at ease if a giant whale (or anvil) falls
from the sky and smooshes me. I got a primer from KW
a couple days ago, ditched radiology early enough to head to the beach,
visualized the whole way to the beach, jumped in the water, had perfect
learning-conditions (3-4 foot waves), and then learned that even though
it’s 80% visualization, the other 80% is not having girly-man arms. I was
pooped. Salt water tastes bad, too.
Perfect Day:
In addition to
surfing, I was able to catch the last 25 minutes of the England-Holland
friendly at Shakespeare’s Pub. The match was kind of weak, but I love
it—drinking a pint of Tennant’s or London Pride and watching an
English soccer match in a British pub full of British ex-pats. Oh man, it would
be sooo awesome to be at the World Cup in 2006!
Rank List Musings:
Still unsure of how
to rank my non-top3 programs. Got a call from one program today, the program
director actually, so that was nice. But all of these places have some fatal
flaw that I can’t get over… not sure how to stratify the qualities
and drawbacks of these places… it was so easy (in comparison) with my top
3, ‘cause there’s nothing I’d be hesitant about at any of
them… bah humbug. I have two more weeks to think about it.
February 8, 2005
Ever Notice…:
… how some
people seem compelled to state the obvious to complete strangers? Once a day,
over the past two days, I’ve had total strangers go out of their way to
inform me of the absolute obvious.
Incident #1: Walking
to my car to put something away. As I click my remote door-unlock, my lights
flash on. Random person states, “Hey, your lights are on.” As I
walk away from my car, locking it, again my lights flash. Once more, random
person states, “Hey, your lights are on.”
Incident #2: Jogging
with my dog on Torrey Pines/Del Mar Beach. Pass
random people. Random person states as I run by, “If the lifeguard
catches you with the dog, you’ll get a ticket.”
To random people
everywhere who feel compelled to state the obvious to strangers, I say,
“No s***.”
Not So Fun:
My radiology rotation
blows. I’m actively fighting my
attendings to get out of there by
mid-afternoon—they’d keep me there all day if they could. Give me a
f***ing break. I can only get so much out of staring
at films for hours and hours each day. I’m not doing radiology, and
I’m supposed to be enjoying my
4th year. Someone should have warned me about this. I’m just
going to start ditching out after noon conference. It’s just counter-productive.
Overall Bad Mood:
Sleeping early
yesterday and the jog today helped, but that f***-up with my exam/hotel room,
my radiology rotation, + other stuff, has really got me in a bad mood.
February 7, 2005
ARGH!:
UGG! I am such a frickin’ loser sometimes!!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHH!!!! I
wrote down my Clinical Skills exam date wrong—Weds. When I went to print
out my scheduling permit from the online site, I found out I had rescheduled it
for MONDAY! AAAAAHHHH!!!! And it was too
late to reschedule my hotel booking which meant I just ate $70 for no friggin’ reason!!!!!
AAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!
February 5, 2005
Is that it?:
I think I might be
done with my
Toxicology:
Ended uneventfully
today. fun guys to hang out with. Generally pretty interesting stuff.
Wasn’t so thrilled about hanging around doing nothing sometimes. learned
and saw some good stuff. Didn’t fall in love with Tox
altogether as I was hoping I might.
February 4, 2005
Elephant:
Just watched this movie
with YK’s Pediatrics community group thing. It
was REALLY good. I liked the camera-work the best – some neat use of
color and light and then I thought it really helped to capture some core
teenage characteristics… It is a kind of bizarre process of retrospectively
trying to characterize that time of life…
South Beach Bar & Grill:
Got out of Tox by 100pm today, and since it was a gorgeous day, I
headed to my favorite place to eat in all of San Diego, the South Beach Bar
& Grill in Ocean Beach… had a pear cider with 3 awesome mahi and shark tacos and some chips+salsa…
with the clear blue sky, beach visible behind the bar, and that ocean
smell… I could have sat there for hours just taking it all in…
I’m really looking forward to moments like that in
World Cup 2006:
Submitted an
application for myself + my cousin. Kinda
complicated—there’s five ticket distribution phases… some
lottery-style, some first-come first-serve… so I’ll give it a go.
Going to try for
Otherwise:
Just chillin’. Brain’s on cruise control. Going out
for jobs with the dog.
February 3, 2005
Planning a Bachelor Party:
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!
I keep on telling
myself if anyone can do this with such little time, so many unknown players,
and such an unfortunate series of bad timing, it’s an Emergency
Physician-to-be…
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!