Reasons why breakfast (and lunch) are important

So I know I am someone who needs to eat fairly regularly, or at least with lots of calories. And drinking water is never my strong suit. Thus it was totally awesome when, in the middle of explaining a bisected head to a group of students I suddenly feel super hot and on my way to light headedness.

So not awesome.

Been here before though last time I think it was because I was standing for too long. This time, I am voting not drinking enough and thinking a few cookies, some fruit, and some almonds was a brilliant idea for breakfast. NOT!

Must eat better -.-

Guess what I did today!

This actually went really well! Bonus points to anyone who can tell me what this 'event' was!

Scheduling Fail

Yeah.... I scheduled my medical school interview so it wouldn't be on a day that I taught.

Unfortunately I failed to check what I was doing in class that week. Review lectures AND giving an exam that week.

Guess who is using the weekend prior to write the exam in full instead of that Monday (while not on the calendar, Monday is an in lab day all day)!

I still think its better to have my interview earlier rather than later so busy week it is!

But I still haven't found what I am looking for...

Love U2, love that song, and it so aptly applies to my day! I naively assumed that since the antibody list said my antibody of interest was in the red box in the -20 that I would find it there. Sooooooooo has not happened yet. I froze my fingers going through enough red boxes for an army and still can't find the darn antibody! So much for proper antibody organization. I may have to let some OCD go and get the best of me and reorganize all the antibody boxes.

In other news, my new set of students for this semester are making me really excited about teaching! I have doubled my class size (16!) which for me is huge and they all seem really engaged. I was particularly proud of two moments in the first two days that I have been teaching them this semester. First, I already have several students asking if I will teach the second half of this class (which I taught last semester) over the summer! Always a good way to start! Second, I was on a clinical tangent over how it can be really bad not to have pain receptors in your skin (CIPA, as found here) but could not remember the name of the disease at all. Suddenly, one of the students in the back of the room who had been looking incredibly bored perks up her head and raises her hand, asking if the disease started with a 'C'. I answered honestly with the fact that I could not remember but by the end of our break that day she came up to me with a huge grin saying that she looked it up and it did start with a 'C' and was called CIPA.

Moments like the second, where I take a student who seemed bored and not interested and manage to pull them into being interest, particularly by a clinical correlate of all things, make me enjoying teaching more than I ever thought I could!

In medical school applications news, I have been rejected by two school, invited for an interview by one (the at the top of my list at that!), and spammed the rest with update letter. I got this email back and it made me smile.

"Dear EMT GFP,

Thank you for your email and your update.  The format is perfect!  We will place an electronic copy  of your attachment with your file.

We appreciate your continued interest in the School of Medicine.

Regards,

SOM"

I love it when I can make someone's day by correct formatting! It may also speak to the number of times I have gone through this darn application process!

Sadly, the EMS front has been fairly quiet.

Ummm... Really?

One of the classes I teach has a human cadaver component. Now the students didn't get to do the dissection (personally this is the best part) but they did get extensive cadaveric viewing.

So I ask this, with a true amount of love and respect for my students:

How do you mistake a cervix for a prostate?!

I mean she still had her uterus and even if you were confused by that, she is missing a penile tissue and testicles!

Oiy...

I still do love my students! :) They did surprisingly well (minus that snafu)

I finally understand...

why professors give multiple choice tests. Even if grading them by hand (and not by nice machines) its so much easier than essay questions! That will teach me to ever ask for essay questions again despite my liberal arts science educations (and no, thats not an oxymoron).

In other news, my PI was in late last night and ended up getting caught up talking to another professor I had known previously when I happened to be exiting the building (he had left like half an hour earlier so clearly this was quiet the conversation). I of course stopped to say hi to the second since my PI was there (I do enjoy them both as people so it was not weird at all), when my PI goes and says "EMT GFP may have just gotten my $2 million in grant money because of this one key figure and has two publications from my lab, I really don't understand why EMT GFP isn't in med school yet."

It really did make me feel good, I needed a pick me up like that, though I have to say I am the worse person in the world about taking complements but it was nice to know that I have people batting for me in terms of medical school.

Finals: Its busy on the professors too!

Needless to say, its been a busy post Thanksgiving.

Several nights at the firehouse were we ran call all night (and then I went a taught the next morning. Thank you firehouse pitch black coffee!)

On top of that, I have had several experiments in lab that have lead to late nights frantically analyzing results, making figures, and proofing papers before deadlines.

Lets not even go into my frustrations with my bacteria at the moment. Needless to say, E. coli should not be this hard to grow. Its E. coli for crying out loud! It should be hard to kill these buggers! At least now they are growing on plates, now to just get them going in culture.

And last but not least, my poor students. I love them dearly but I sometimes pity them when this is just half of the review that I gave:

Bonus points for anyone who can tell me what the second pictures is explaining!

Accomplishments of the Day

Work for grant figure - completed (until we decided what to add for the supplemental)
Downloads box - emptied
Printer connection - established
To do list for lab research - growing to epic proportions
Apparatus - cleaned and detailed
Patients saved - pending...
Lecture presentation - waiting to be worked on

Yes, I live in two/three very different worlds: researcher/student , EMT, and professor :)

I love them all

Because normal is not a word that has ever applied to me

Simply put, my life is rather interesting right now.

The calls have been fairly quiet or minor. Lots of little old ladies and men needing help off the floor. I don't mind the calls as the "patients" are always so appreciative. The interesting call will get it's own post later.

Since I needed employment again, I managed to fin myself two teaching jobs at the local college. Never expected I would ever teach in any capacity other than informal instructions to my newer crew members to have them functional on the ambulance and passing their EMS courses. And yet here I am with two classes. One of my students unfortunately had to drop because she needed to take a class for her major but the email she sent me gave me a boost of confidence. I am working on perfecting my lectures but she said she couldn't wait to take the class again from me next semester as I was the first instructor on that subject to make her excited about class and want to more. That alone I feel is an accomplishment! it gives me hope that my teaching is not as bad as I may think it is.

Due to bills needing to be paid, I also have a lab job again. I am finding the topic more integrator than I expected though I have already experienced a few bumps on the way. I typically with technology and prediction programs however the ones I tried using utterly failed on me. Since my project has an extremely short deadline I had to suck up my pride in not knowing how to use a molecular biology program and ask for help for help from my PI. I felt as if I was letting him down but the networking with other labs near by quickly sorted out my technological problem and has left me with a great new contact. Turned out I was using an older program that had a particularly odd interface. I have since been shown a far superior search site. :)

In talks with my PI today he Asked if I was applying to MD/PhD programs and frankly I almost didn't know what to say. No one has ever really suggested that I go for one before. I have considered the idea before but all the MD/PhDs that I know are brilliant and I only see myself in the smart category. My GPA from undergrad is a hurdle enough as it is getting into med school so needless to say, its nice to see someone judging me for who I am now and not who I was in college. I am not a number, I am a person!

Now, let's see where this side trail in my life leads!