11/24/06

Thoughts \ Developed Thoughts \ Rants \ Raves \ Writing

01/06/2005 22:10 -0500 GMT

A Day in the Life

This has been a typical day in my life as a medical student, at least for this term, which is only three days old.

Last night I set my cell phone to alarm at 03:30. This morning it vibrated at that time, and I awoke. I put on some sweats and went downstairs, brewed a pot of coffee, turned on Sirius satellite radio, and got the computer going.

Sirius has a channel called first wave that plays "classic alternative." If that didn't make me feel old, the realization that all the songs they play were KROQ hits when I was in college, 12 years ago - or was it 13? OK 19 - that does make me feel old, in this medical student phase of my life. Moreover, the DJs are the same DJs that KROQ had at that time. The same guys. Jed the Fish. Freddy Snakeskin. It's a time warp, and I love it, in all it's commercial-free splendour.

I also realized, in a giddy, strange moment shared only with Maggie, that I will be 37 in three months, and holy shit, that's almost 40! Talk about midlife crisis.

Anyway, 3:40 and I'm typing away, proofreading really, a script of a lecture from yesterday. Jody Marks did an outstanding job scribing a fast-paced, six page lecture on microtubules and intermediate filaments in cells. The teacher was enthusiastic and full of information. 5:30 came fast. By that time I had looked at all the slides, listened to the online recording of the lecture, reviewed Jody's fine work, and made some small clarifications. I emailed the plump little document to the invaluable web gurus for our class, and got in the shower.

Then I bothered Maggie from slumber for a few minutes, with great joy. I packed my bags, put the remaining half-pot of coffee in a thermos, and jammed to work. I mean school.

There at 7, I got the proofed script printed and slid it under the door of the learning resource center, from which all knowledge in medical school emanates. At least that's where the transcripts are copied and generated for our reading pleasure.

In my first of many moments of feeling behind, I realized I hadn't done the assignment for our small group meeting at 1, so for thirty minutes before class, I had a look at that. Until Shaun Bhatty pointed out I was looking at next week's assignment. Another mid-life moment, thank you very much. Lectures started at 8. The coffee thermos is exercised at moments when the secretory pathways of proteins seemed momentarily dull. My best accomplishment this week is to have attended all lectures and not lost consciousness one time during all of them. That's what...? At least 20 hours of lectures in the last three days, including labs and other meetings.  Yeah, it's a full time job.

So by Friday at 10 pm I will have either scribed or proofed every day this week. That translates into a sweet $145 - nearly a car payment. It's a lot of work, and it means late nights for scribing, or early mornings for proofing. But I think it provides a nice driver for keeping my attention focused for classes, and the financial incentive is good too.

Between classes I stand, to get my flat ass of the chair mainly, and have a chat with my friends, classmates, peers, colleagues, and future collaborators. I love these guys, gender be damned. 

Four lectures later, with a mercifully shortened session that ended at 11:30, I start to hit the small group homework. Kimberly Roark, brighter than I, was working on it too, and I fumbled through as she patiently listened to my mistakes, then showed me the light.

Our small group leader was great, a Dr. McMahon. My best learning of the week thus far happened in this session. I can tell I am well-rested because I don't give a shit if I make public mistakes in these sessions. In contrast, by the end of anatomy, I was so worn that I was constantly embarrassing myself with mumbo-jumbo, hocus-pocus, erroneous thinking that I could have never participated in a small group session again and been content. I figure it's best to speak up, even if in doubt, because the risk of wrongness is outweighed by the learning. Gotta love it. Ask me about equilibrium or steady state. Go ahead.

Back to lecture, and now it's 2:40 and I could really have gone home 'cause I know I've got about four hours of scribing to do before the day's through. But I stay strong, and pay attention to Jim Collawn talking about some interesting ways that proteins "know" where to go once they are assembled. The nuclear pore is 9nm in diameter (at a minimum). The human head weighs ten poundths.

Off to home in five o'clock traffic. Got a pizza on the way, and talked to Brian in Atlanta, who went to Cozumel for his winter holiday (the bastard) and has just applied to PhD programs in environmental sciences. I think he's a shoe-in. Over 5 years working at the CDC. Strong background and passion. 790 out of 800 on the GED Quantitative section. And he runs marathons in his spare time. Great dude. We talked about Maggie and I getting over there to meet his lady and hang out. We agreed that we should make the next U2 Atlanta show our excuse for the 150 mile ride over. They're touring soon, you know. Got home, while talking to Becky Brazeel. Changes in UAB's Geographic Medicine division will leave her jobless, so I've got to see if there's anything out there I know of.

Sad news too. Sue Marchase passed away after recovering and then relapsing with CA. I was surprised and saddened. Actually I learned earlier today, from our 8 am lecturer. I just saw Sue and Dick at a schmoozer with the new Dean of Medicine early in December. I feel so bad. Sue touched so many lives and earned the respect of so many at UAB. She and Dick were inseparable, tandem great people. Now they are diminished with her passing, if only temporarily.

Maggie and I ate the pizza like it was water in a desert, and then I got downstairs, downloaded the powerpoints and the online recording and set to work of transcribing an hour of discussion about membrane potentials, their driving forces, and the ins and outs (get it?) of ion transport in cells. Very punny.

So at 9:45 I emailed the blessed thing to Ifey Ifeayni, my colleague with perhaps the most beautiful name of our class. She will proof, and we will all read over the weekend.

What did I forget? My 94 year old grandmother broke her hip (her other hip) on Monday, and she had surgery on Tuesday. I had a bad feeling about this one. Last I heard, she was not herself after the surgery, but that could be the meds. I haven't heard today, and haven't had time to find out, though I placed a call to my folks, who were probably with her. I must get there tomorrow.

I want to get to Zambia this summer. It's now a burning, smoldering, fiery urge that is starting to consume me like a good strong wanderlust, but with a purpose stronger than any adventure could bring to bear. I want to get there and start now - NOW - NOW - YESTERDAY - doing whatever I can to reverse the problem of HIV disease there. So there are a lot of irons in the fire to make that happen. There is a lot of interest in my class too, in solving HIV problems, and I love that camaraderie. Stew Hill, Katrina Julian, Kimberly Roark, Eva Clark, Brad, Brad, and others. Passion and Mission, man. Passion and mission.

I'm on the student health advisory committee for UAB. We are in our infancy, so all of us fledgling members are working to draft a mission statement and contribute our ideas of structure for the group. I was supposed to submit those today, but it will have to be tomorrow. I've done the work, but I haven't thought about it and reviewed it since I wrote down my ideas. I want to do that before sending it on.

Last night, via Groesbeck Parham extraordinaire, I received a hand-made shirt from my sister-in-law Lisa, along with a lovely letter from my mother-in-law, and some home grown goodies for Maggie. GP was hugely kind in bringing that the 8,500 miles to us. I wore the shirt to school. It's my new favorite.

So I get to sleep in now, til 6! Tomorrow it's a full day of lectures, with a highlight of service at the Jimmie Hale Soup Kitchen organized by Austin Lutz et al., at 4 pm. It will be nice to get out, and to do some good, and be reminded of the privilege we have of having days like these.