Monday, February 16, 2009
Musical Interlude
Two weeks ago (I know, I'm slow at getting these things on to my blog)... Two weeks ago, the highlight of my work week came in the form of a somewhat surreal musical experience. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I work in the basement of a church which serves a hot meal to homeless men and women around lunch time. When I find myself getting bored of work or if I'm having a particularly slow day, I usually find myself down in the kitchen hanging out with the chef, Mike--a really nice guy who lets me invade his sacred cooking space. The other afternoon, after lunch had been served and Mike was cleaning up, I was in the kitchen chatting and a friend of Mike's comes in. As I later learned, this guy is Brazilian and is just passing through the city. His dad is some well known Brazilian composer who went to school with Leonard Bernstein. Anyway, this friend makes a comment about us needing to hear this amazing violin he has. The next thing I know, he's playing these beautiful pieces on his violin in the kitchen. Everything else just sort of stops and I find myself totally absorbed by the music. The first piece I don't recognize at all but I'm totally enthralled by it none the less. The second, I do recognize but it is being played in a way that I've never heard before. With additional notes, riffs and key changes. Surprisingly, the acoustics in the kitchen were pretty good and I'm not sure how long I was standing just listening but the whole experience was breath-taking. I would venture to say that this guy's playing was genius-- but what do I know about violinists? Suffice it to say that it made my week and it is not something that I think I'll forget any time soon.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Post Obamanation Inauguration Blog Post
It's been more than a week now since I got back from my fantastic trip to DC for the inauguration of our 44th president. That it has taken me this long to write about it is not at all a reflection of the experience--I had an amazing time--but more a function of actually being super busy at work this week and lazy at home. I also want to post some pictures with this, but they'll have to wait.
Celebrating Barack Obama's election on the National Mall with just under 2 million other Americans was truly spectacular. So many moments made the experience unforgettable and the occasion we were celebrating is so momentous that I still don't think it has really sunk in for me. Barack Obama is the president of the United States. I just have to keep reminding myself.
Some highlights:
Waking up in Takoma Park with a bunch of friends at 3:45am, eating "breakfast" and piling on layers upon layers of clothes, grabbing blankets and our premade snacks and walking to the metro. We got on the train with the other early birds and headed into the city. The metro wasn't as crowded as I had expected and most people looked pretty tired (with the exception of the girl who got on the train yelling "Happy Obama Day!").
We walked to the Mall from the L'Enfant station (a good decision). There were tons of people at the station all walking to the mall. When we got to the mall it was already packed from the Capitol to 6th street. We found a spot close to a jumbotron and set up our blankets. The mood was excited, the air was electric, it was freezing and it was 5am.
A few hours later, the sky started to light up. Bodies that had previously been bundled up under blankets hiding from the cold began to stir. American flags were being passed around, the porta-potty traffic had begun and pictures actually started to turn out well. My toes at this point were moving between frozen and numb.
At some point the jumbotrons started playing the concert from Sunday. Flags were waving in time with the music, everyone sang along to "Lean on Me," and there was dancing and singing to "Shout"--it was fantastic.
Pretty much everyone I encountered the whole day was in a great mood. Everyone was cold but everyone was just so excited to be taking part in such a great celebration that no one minded. There were no incidents that I'm aware of and there were zero arrests the whole day. DC was just full of people rejoicing.
Following the replay of the concert, some time around when my feet started being painfully cold, congressmen, senators, dignitaries and ex-presidents (Bill looked amazing as usual) started arriving at the Capitol. My favorite part of this was seeing Dick Cheney being wheeled in his wheel chair (apparently he hurt his back moving boxes). It was just such a perfect image of a man fallen from the power he stole and abused.
Obama's arrival. The crowd goes wild. So many flags, so much cheering, hugs, smiles and tears. A woman in front of us had brought her two little kids. They were both freezing and bundled up. They were young enough that they may not remember this moment, but their mom made sure they were there. I'm glad I was.
Aretha Franklin sings in an amazing hat, Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman play, Justice Roberts messes up the oath, Obama laughs it off and delivers an inspired and inspiring speech. I'll end with some of my favorite quotes.
"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. ...
"Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply. ...
"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.... Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead...our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint. "
A new era has begun. I'm expecting positive change. So far things have been going well--from repealing the Global Gag Rule to appearing on Al Arabiya to signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to describing an eight-day visit to the Middle East as a mission of listening "because all too often the United States starts by dictating"--Obama is changing the world. Today, I'm happy to be an American and I'm hopeful for our future.
Celebrating Barack Obama's election on the National Mall with just under 2 million other Americans was truly spectacular. So many moments made the experience unforgettable and the occasion we were celebrating is so momentous that I still don't think it has really sunk in for me. Barack Obama is the president of the United States. I just have to keep reminding myself.
Some highlights:
Waking up in Takoma Park with a bunch of friends at 3:45am, eating "breakfast" and piling on layers upon layers of clothes, grabbing blankets and our premade snacks and walking to the metro. We got on the train with the other early birds and headed into the city. The metro wasn't as crowded as I had expected and most people looked pretty tired (with the exception of the girl who got on the train yelling "Happy Obama Day!").
We walked to the Mall from the L'Enfant station (a good decision). There were tons of people at the station all walking to the mall. When we got to the mall it was already packed from the Capitol to 6th street. We found a spot close to a jumbotron and set up our blankets. The mood was excited, the air was electric, it was freezing and it was 5am.
A few hours later, the sky started to light up. Bodies that had previously been bundled up under blankets hiding from the cold began to stir. American flags were being passed around, the porta-potty traffic had begun and pictures actually started to turn out well. My toes at this point were moving between frozen and numb.
At some point the jumbotrons started playing the concert from Sunday. Flags were waving in time with the music, everyone sang along to "Lean on Me," and there was dancing and singing to "Shout"--it was fantastic.
Pretty much everyone I encountered the whole day was in a great mood. Everyone was cold but everyone was just so excited to be taking part in such a great celebration that no one minded. There were no incidents that I'm aware of and there were zero arrests the whole day. DC was just full of people rejoicing.
Following the replay of the concert, some time around when my feet started being painfully cold, congressmen, senators, dignitaries and ex-presidents (Bill looked amazing as usual) started arriving at the Capitol. My favorite part of this was seeing Dick Cheney being wheeled in his wheel chair (apparently he hurt his back moving boxes). It was just such a perfect image of a man fallen from the power he stole and abused.
Obama's arrival. The crowd goes wild. So many flags, so much cheering, hugs, smiles and tears. A woman in front of us had brought her two little kids. They were both freezing and bundled up. They were young enough that they may not remember this moment, but their mom made sure they were there. I'm glad I was.
Aretha Franklin sings in an amazing hat, Yo Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman play, Justice Roberts messes up the oath, Obama laughs it off and delivers an inspired and inspiring speech. I'll end with some of my favorite quotes.
"On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. ...
"Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions, who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short, for they have forgotten what this country has already done, what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose and necessity to courage.
What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them, that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long, no longer apply. ...
"As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals.... Our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead...our power grows through its prudent use. Our security emanates from the justness of our cause; the force of our example; the tempering qualities of humility and restraint. "
A new era has begun. I'm expecting positive change. So far things have been going well--from repealing the Global Gag Rule to appearing on Al Arabiya to signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to describing an eight-day visit to the Middle East as a mission of listening "because all too often the United States starts by dictating"--Obama is changing the world. Today, I'm happy to be an American and I'm hopeful for our future.
Monday, January 12, 2009
GW Interview Reflections
I had my second medical school interview on Thursday at GW--some reflections:
Last year when I was selecting medical schools to apply to, GW seemed like an obvious choice for three reasons. First, I spent a year and a half volunteering at GW's hospital and really enjoyed the people I worked with there and the work I was doing. Second, GW is in DC and I, obviously, love DC and would really enjoy to spend my medical years in such an awesome city. And third, by the numbers, GW looked like a school I might have a hope of getting in to.
Needless to say I was really excited when I got my invitation for an interview, but leading up to it, I realized I didn't really know too much about the school. Walking into an interview knowing nothing about a medical school beyond it's location is a huge problem, particularly when they ask you (which they will) something along the lines of, "Why do you want to come to GW?" I did some "research" on the bus on the way down--pretty much just read some general stuff about the school on their website and came up with a few specifics I could talk about when asked.
I ended up totally rocking my two interviews but even more exciting about my day at GW was how well they sold themselves. I left feeling totally excited about their program and everything it has to offer.
To start off the day, the dean of the medical school came and talked to all of the interviewees that were on campus that day. Everything he told us sounded great--from the fact that the whole 6th floor of their hospital is dedicated to teaching through standardized and robotic patients, to their unique 4th year capstone course to prep students for their residency, to their course that uses standardized students to train their teachers to give better feedback.
Most impressive though was how connected GW seems to be to Washington DC. Turns out that 4 years ago, the current dean started something called the Office of Student Opportunities (OSO) which is dedicated to getting GW medical school students involved with health care outside of medical school by taking advantage of everything that is avaliable in DC. Every first year student meets with a representative from the OSO and talks about his/her interests and then can choose a track--health policy, community health care, global health, emergency preparedness, etc. Then they help you apply for internships and other positions that are available in DC. They have partnerships with the WHO, IMF, World Bank, embassies, lobbyists, think tanks and capitol hill offices. Every year they have a student who gets to work in Ted Kennedy's office and they have a ton of international opportunities for the summer--everything from working with the UN in Geneva to working in women's health clinics in the Himalayas in India.
I was inspired to say the least. The past few months that I've spent with AmeriCorps at the Institute for Family Health have gotten me really interested in health policy and the more I read about it, the more I want to learn about how these policies get made and get involved with this process. And I've always been interested in going abroad and getting involved with medicine in underserved areas. It is so exciting to hear about all the ways I'd be able to do these things in DC and at GW.
I wont find out if I've been accepted for 6-8 weeks and I'm not sure I can answer the question "Do you like GW better than Maryland?" They're different and each has different things going for it (not the least of which is that UMD is at least $18,000 a year cheaper). Luckily I don't have to make any decisions yet, but at this moment, it's nice to be really excited about a potential opportunity.
Last year when I was selecting medical schools to apply to, GW seemed like an obvious choice for three reasons. First, I spent a year and a half volunteering at GW's hospital and really enjoyed the people I worked with there and the work I was doing. Second, GW is in DC and I, obviously, love DC and would really enjoy to spend my medical years in such an awesome city. And third, by the numbers, GW looked like a school I might have a hope of getting in to.
Needless to say I was really excited when I got my invitation for an interview, but leading up to it, I realized I didn't really know too much about the school. Walking into an interview knowing nothing about a medical school beyond it's location is a huge problem, particularly when they ask you (which they will) something along the lines of, "Why do you want to come to GW?" I did some "research" on the bus on the way down--pretty much just read some general stuff about the school on their website and came up with a few specifics I could talk about when asked.
I ended up totally rocking my two interviews but even more exciting about my day at GW was how well they sold themselves. I left feeling totally excited about their program and everything it has to offer.
To start off the day, the dean of the medical school came and talked to all of the interviewees that were on campus that day. Everything he told us sounded great--from the fact that the whole 6th floor of their hospital is dedicated to teaching through standardized and robotic patients, to their unique 4th year capstone course to prep students for their residency, to their course that uses standardized students to train their teachers to give better feedback.
Most impressive though was how connected GW seems to be to Washington DC. Turns out that 4 years ago, the current dean started something called the Office of Student Opportunities (OSO) which is dedicated to getting GW medical school students involved with health care outside of medical school by taking advantage of everything that is avaliable in DC. Every first year student meets with a representative from the OSO and talks about his/her interests and then can choose a track--health policy, community health care, global health, emergency preparedness, etc. Then they help you apply for internships and other positions that are available in DC. They have partnerships with the WHO, IMF, World Bank, embassies, lobbyists, think tanks and capitol hill offices. Every year they have a student who gets to work in Ted Kennedy's office and they have a ton of international opportunities for the summer--everything from working with the UN in Geneva to working in women's health clinics in the Himalayas in India.
I was inspired to say the least. The past few months that I've spent with AmeriCorps at the Institute for Family Health have gotten me really interested in health policy and the more I read about it, the more I want to learn about how these policies get made and get involved with this process. And I've always been interested in going abroad and getting involved with medicine in underserved areas. It is so exciting to hear about all the ways I'd be able to do these things in DC and at GW.
I wont find out if I've been accepted for 6-8 weeks and I'm not sure I can answer the question "Do you like GW better than Maryland?" They're different and each has different things going for it (not the least of which is that UMD is at least $18,000 a year cheaper). Luckily I don't have to make any decisions yet, but at this moment, it's nice to be really excited about a potential opportunity.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Moonlight New York
I fell asleep on the bus on the way back to the city tonight and woke up right as the skyline came into view. At 6pm the city was all lit up and looking magical from Jersey. And hanging right above everything was a huge yellow moon. As we continued to approach the city, the Empire State Building, the Chrystler Building and this amazing moon all fell in to line. I couldn't believe I didn't have my camera because the sight was truly awe-inspiring. Most times the city seems at war with nature, but not tonight. After a fantastic few days in DC, I always feel a bit sad to be heading away from my friends. But tonight, I'm also excited to be heading back to this temporary home.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Beyond Dx and Rx
I’m way overdue for a blog post on what I’ve been doing with AmeriCorps since I started my job in September. I can’t cover it all in one post, but I’ll start with this.
General overview—I’m working as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Institute for Family Health in New York City. I am doing case management for four different health care sites in Manhattan which see mainly homeless patients. As a case manager for our patients, my role is to eliminate barriers to care. Basically this means I enroll people in Medicaid, deal with insurance problems, help patients get access to free or cheap drugs and help them with applying for different public assistance programs the city offers.
I really like my job. Day to day I’m dealing with patients one on one which I love doing. There are some moments when things are slow that I find myself without anything to do but those moments are more than offset by the amount of time I spend with my patients. I also really like that I’m working at the intersection of social work and medicine—it’s an area I find fascinating and the experiences I’ve had so far will certainly stick with me and hopefully make me a better doctor.
When I was at my interview at UMD I was talking with a fourth year student who was going to residency interviews for vascular surgery. When I asked him why he was interested in surgery he gave me a bunch of reasons but one really struck me. He said that as he was doing his general medicine rotation in med school, he felt like he was doing more social work than medicine—he didn’t like that he had to worry about how a patient was going to get his meds or where the patient would go after being discharged. In surgery you don’t worry about that. And that is part of the reason why I don’t want to do surgery. I am interested in and want to be part of the whole care of the patient. You can’t make someone better if that person doesn’t have access to food and shelter and treatment. I love being part of a team that has a doctor, a social worker, and a case manager—we care for the whole patient and looking at medicine from the non medical side of it has really made me aware of just how important it is for physicians to pay attention to the aspects of a patient’s care which go beyond diagnosis and prescription.
General overview—I’m working as an AmeriCorps volunteer with the Institute for Family Health in New York City. I am doing case management for four different health care sites in Manhattan which see mainly homeless patients. As a case manager for our patients, my role is to eliminate barriers to care. Basically this means I enroll people in Medicaid, deal with insurance problems, help patients get access to free or cheap drugs and help them with applying for different public assistance programs the city offers.
I really like my job. Day to day I’m dealing with patients one on one which I love doing. There are some moments when things are slow that I find myself without anything to do but those moments are more than offset by the amount of time I spend with my patients. I also really like that I’m working at the intersection of social work and medicine—it’s an area I find fascinating and the experiences I’ve had so far will certainly stick with me and hopefully make me a better doctor.
When I was at my interview at UMD I was talking with a fourth year student who was going to residency interviews for vascular surgery. When I asked him why he was interested in surgery he gave me a bunch of reasons but one really struck me. He said that as he was doing his general medicine rotation in med school, he felt like he was doing more social work than medicine—he didn’t like that he had to worry about how a patient was going to get his meds or where the patient would go after being discharged. In surgery you don’t worry about that. And that is part of the reason why I don’t want to do surgery. I am interested in and want to be part of the whole care of the patient. You can’t make someone better if that person doesn’t have access to food and shelter and treatment. I love being part of a team that has a doctor, a social worker, and a case manager—we care for the whole patient and looking at medicine from the non medical side of it has really made me aware of just how important it is for physicians to pay attention to the aspects of a patient’s care which go beyond diagnosis and prescription.
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