Day 2254: Madison, practice boards and life

Hello everyone!

I am taking a little break from my sleepless life to tell you about said sleeplessness, ha.

My only picture of the Capitol.

This past weekend, I was in Madison for the Wisconsin Medical Society. And I have to tell you. Politics leaves a very bad taste in my mouth. During the "ref comms" (reference committees), I was surprised to see that physicians didn't use facts or experiences to determine why they, personally, disagreed with certain resolutions but it actually came down to "I don't want to do this, so I won't." I wasn't terribly passionate about anything (when am I passionate about anything that isn't enhancing my wardrobe?) but there was one resolution I cared about -- death with dignity. A female ENT (ear, nose, throat) physician has been trying for years to get a physician-assisted suicide resolution, similar to the one in Oregon, passed here in Wisconsin. I don't get what the fuss is about. Physicians are concerned about the possible avenues this could lead to (depressed people asking for fatal doses of drugs, etc) but I feel that since we never asked to be brought in to this world, the least we could provide ourselves is a way to leave it. And if it could be a little less painful and dramatic than a handful of whatever pills you can find or, worse, a gun to the head, I think we as physicians should be able to provide people with terminal, fatal illnesses that option. Do any of you have opinions you would like to share on death with dignity/physician-assisted suicide? Disagreements are welcome!

There was a Pokemon convention below our medical one.
Obviously I enjoyed this one wayyyy more.

Okay. Politics done. Yesterday, Wednesday April 17th, I took a four-hour practice Step 1/boards exam. It was fine. We don't get our scores for a few weeks so it's hard to gauge how it was. Some of the questions were more direct than I have seen (which is good), but it was still a lot of "dammit. I have seen this before and have narrowed down the choices but still don't know which one is right!" So, we'll see. I am shooting for passing (180) but at least a 200. (The national average is 225 and I will be getting a 240 to be able to coast into urology.)

Life. I went to a SF Giants versus Milwaukee Brewers game last night with some classmates to unwind from the four-hour exam. The Giants lost at the bottom of the 9th and everyone around me was surprisingly gracious about their loss. They were pumped the Brewers won, of course, but they did say "Sorry about your Giants" which was nice. They meaning everyone except Danny haha.

Let's go Giants!

Homemade Giants fan (my scarf made me way too hot so I made
it in to a turban, haha).

Our view from the field. Brewers player Aoki on the bottom left,
and Giants player Pence on the bottom right.

Consolation fries and custard at Kopp's after the game.

My sister comes to visit tomorrow/Friday! I couldn't be more excited to see family. I love my sister to pieces of death and GAH! Can't wait! She is, of course, the best sister on the planet and said "you know you have to study while I'm there right?" What a thoughtful one she is!

Okay, I'm going to listen to a few more boards-prep lectures and then shadow a urologist (my last time this year before finals/boards/rotations!). Then, more boards-prep and then I have to head to DSW to buy a pair of shoes for Sandy's wedding in July! So much to do!

Day 2247: Politics

After a rousing back-and-forth email with my darling friend M, where I explicitly told her I'm not very political, I may or may not have forgotten to mention that I am going to the capital of Wisconsin to participate (vaguely) in some politics. I need a more ethnically apt saying for "pot calling the kettle black" ... how about "the soy sauce calling the soy paste, chunky"? Haha, no probably not.

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Anyway, I am heading to Madison tomorrow (Friday) for the weekend to participate in the Wisconsin Medical Society (WMS) Annual meeting. The WMS is great and they allow medical students to participate in resolution voting and to be a part of the whole political process. I have to tell you, preparing for this trip has not been pleasant. A lot of back-and-forth at the student meetings has shown me how catty politics can be/can make people. However, I wanted to get more involved and I thought this would be an interesting venue. I'll let you know how it goes next week!

In other news, my second micro exam grade dropped compared to my first exam, but that's to be expected since I only studied the micro pertinent to my upcoming boards. Not looking at class notes is kind of detrimental haha. Don't worry, I passed and my average is still good and dandy.

Found via Google from here.

Want to hear something hilarious? I had a passing thought that perhaps Representative Paul Ryan might be at this meeting, but it's mainly for physicians so I won't hold my breath. I wonder how much ire I would engender in all my Democratic pals if I took a picture with him. Haha. My friends would die of betrayal and Danny (and his family) would die of joy. Life is so funny.