Phlomax

Between this my last post, I completed the 5-week infectious disease sequence, which is generally regarded as the toughest sequence of M1 year. Tough because there were dozens of pathogens to memorize with associated microbiology, pathology, clinical presentation, and mechanism of transmission. Then there were just as many drugs with mechanism of action, side effects, and uses to memorize. It was still a mostly fun sequence though because it was very well taught and it was our first clinically oriented sequence. Now we're on embryology which is horribly taught but fortunately will be over soon. Last we have one week of human growth and development before summer vacation begins after Memorial Day. I'll be starting my first lab rotation with Dr. Jason Gestwicki on May 31.

A lot has happened in the last month and a half. For one, the weather has dramatically improved, which means I've been getting out for regular bike rides. Last week I did a complete tune-up of my road bike, installing a new cassette, front chain rings, and chain. I've also been training for the Dexter-Ann Arbor Half Marathon coming up on June 5. Yesterday I went out for a long run loop but drastically under-estimated the length of the loop and ended up walking 4 miles at the end.

In other news, I traveled to Kalamazoo, Michigan a few weeks ago for the Michigan State Medical Society annual meeting. "Kalamazoo" is the Indian word for a footrace in which you had to run to the river and back before a pot of water boiled. The town didn't really have anything else interesting going on. At the conference we presented a number of resolutions, including one on which I was an author stating that the MSMS should urge Michigan city governments to implement bicycle sharing programs. Such programs have been implemented all over Europe and in some U.S. cities like Washington, D.C. One program is just starting this month in Madison, Wisconsin, and since the demographics of Ann Arbor are similar to those of Madison we thought Ann Arbor would be a good spot for bicycle sharing. Even people that own bikes can use bike sharing programs because they're great for one-way trips, and the bikes are weather-proof if you don't want to get your own trusty steed dirty. There are bike kiosks situated throughout town and members can check out a bike whenever they want with the swipe of a card and return it to any other kiosk. The price is usually free for the first half hour and increases steeply thereafter, to encourage quick commuting trips and discourage long lazy day trips. Anyway, the MSMS loved the resolution and it passed easily. Next we're going to present the resolution at the AMA national meeting in June.

And the other big event was the Biorhythms Spring Show, which was Saturday. The show featured a Mance (Man Dance), African style dance, jump rope dance, bhangra, and other dances and musical performances. And there was a rap! We called ourselves Phlomax and the name of our act was Med Student Love. We used the beats to Tupac's California Love and Eminem's The Real Slim Shady to make a rap about med student life with a surprise twist at the end. We changed Slim Shady to Dean Petty, the Dean of Education for the med school who is leaving for Wisconsin this year. We had her walk on stage at the end of the performance, which the crowd loved. Unfortunately I don't have a video of the performance, but I will soon.