Tomorrow is Hash Bash Ann Arbor

I won't be attending, but was intrigued.

Here are some photos from my sister Liz's visit last weekend:
These were taken during a walk over the Argo dam and along the Huron River, on a very sunny Sunday afternoon. On Saturday Liz and I attended a conference in memory of Sujal Parikh, a fourth year Michigan medical student who was tragically killed in a traffic accident last year while doing research in Uganda. The conference was called "The Social (Justice) Network"and it featured talks by professors and students on efforts to bring health care to disadvantaged people around the globe. The keynote speaker was Peter Mugyenyi, founder and director of the Joint Clinical Research Center in Kampala, Uganda. He talked about how the recent economic recession has led PEPFAR and other aid agencies to drastically reduce funding of ARVs for the treatment of AIDS in the developing world. The conference organizers hope to make it an annual tradition.

Liz's visit coincided with the final exam for our Central Nervous System Sequence, which was mostly neuroanatomy. The anatomy practical exam was especially tough, but fortunately it was the last anatomy exam ever! Our next sequence, starting Monday, is infectious diseases. This past week we learned how to do the neurology, ear nose & throat, and oral physical exams. We also learned a little about the in-depth mental status exam that psychiatrists do, and we had several interesting lectures on the Tuskegee experiments, child abuse, and LGBTQQ patients. On Thursday, our interpretive projects for the Family Centered Experience curriculum were due. My partner Kellianne and I made a video based on the everyday sights and thoughts of patients with chronic illness (my patient has type I diabetes, Kellianne's has multiple sclerosis). Kellianne happened to have knee surgery to repair a torn ACL several weeks ago, so I accompanied her to surgery to get some hospital footage. You can watch our video here. Our video project will be presented along with many others at a special reception on April 20 for the FCE families.

I'm starting to become very busy with the heap of extracurriculars I've taken on for next year. I'm a student coordinator for the Delonis free medical clinic, co-coordinator of the Students Teaching AIDS to Students program (med students teaching local high schoolers about HIV/AIDS), an editor for the Hippo med student magazine, and one of the leaders of the MedRunners group. Most exciting of all, I'm leading a group of 8 student rappers on a performance at the spring Biorhythms show May 14!