Clerkship Schedules!

Yesterday we got our clerkship schedules for 3rd year. It is really nice because it gives us something beyond the end of second year and boards to look forward to. In general I am really pleased with my schedule and got a lot of my first and second choice clerkship locations.

After I take boards, I will be spending 12 weeks doing adult medicine in Seattle at some combination of Haborview, the UW med center, or the VA. Then I do 6 weeks of family medicine i the Country doc clinic in Seattle (I am very excited about this because this clinic serves a lot of underserved populations and it was my first choice for family medicine). Then I do 6 weeks of obstetrics and gynecology in Anchorage, Alaska (should be cold, but fun!). Six weeks of psychiatry in Seattle and then 6 weeks of pediatrics in Pocatello, Idaho. I have an elective period and then I finish it off with 6 weeks of Surgery in Tacoma.

I think third year is going to be so much fun!!!

Lunch with Lynn

My Grandpa was a instructor for decades and he loved every minute of it. I think one of the most rewarding parts of teaching for him was his relationships with his students and the feeling that he made a lasting impact on his student's lives. He is retired now, but he still gets countless Christmas cards and letters from his former students (who are starting to retire themselves).

I have now been in school for 9 years (yikes! that sounds like a long time), and I think one of the things I have enjoyed the most is meeting and learning from amazing people. You really have to be dedicated to the greater good to go into teaching and I respect almost all professors immensely.


Today I had lunch with one of my professors from Skagit Valley College, Dr. Lynn Dunlap. She is an excellent teacher who puts a lot of energy into her students as well as helping design/improve Skagit's learning communities. She taught my film as literature class that I took linked with a science class at my last year at Skagit. I think the class really improved my writing/analytical skills, but more importantly it was fun (you got to watch movies and call it homework)! I have really enjoyed keeping in touch with Lynn over the years and she has become a good friend. She enjoys traveling and birding and I keep teasing her that one day I will get her to east Africa.

Family Craziness

It was beautiful weather here this weekend and I went home and saw my family on Saturday. Here are some pictures from the family visit.

Here is my 20 year old brother Tesfaye. He is going to community college and working.

This is my brother Tadele. He is in high school and on the soccer team.

This is Carmen, our Golden Retriever, who is not dead (see previous posts) and being tortured by my 9 year old sister, Rachel.
Here is Rachel taking a nap on the (still not completely house trained) puppy named Princess. By necessity, dogs learn to be kid-friendly pretty early in the house.

This is me with my 12 year old sister Sarah (yes, yes, this is the one who is beating me at Scrabble). She is a lot of fun to hang out with.

This is Monica, the little 6 year old live-wire sister, and me. She has more energy than a case full of Duracell Batteries on Red Bull. Our family has been desperately trying to find constructive ways to channel Monica's endless energy supply. One of the things we have tried is gymnastics. Although sometimes she can have trouble following directions, she has done very well in gymnastics. Despite having just turned 5 (so she is kindergarten age), she is in level 3 gymnastics with 8 and 9 year old girls.

The requirement for entering level three gymnastics is being able to do a complete back flip on the trampoline, which Monica has mastered quite well.

Other stages of the back flip.

Other gymnastics moves. Hey, I'm impressed because I can't do any of that.

Monica showing off her medal and ribbons from her first ever gymnastics competition.

The MAC imposter!

Here is a picture of my side of our med school classroom at break. I want you to look hard at the picture and see if you find anything peculiar or odd in the picture. Keep looking.

Keep looking.


Keep looking.


Do you give up? The peculiar item in that picture is a mac imposter! Specifically it is my black HP computer with an Apple sticker on the front.


So, macs have long been the oppressed minority in our society. However, with the invention of the IPOD, the Apple company has finally started to make money and now the mac notebooks are cooler than ever. I would say about 1/2 of our med school class has an Apple laptop. Which is fine, I have nothing against Apple. However, during last year and for part of this year almost every single visiting professor (who nearly always has a mac him or herself) says something to the effect of: "There are a lot of laptops out there. I am really glad to see that macs have become popular and now out number the PCs. Well, I guess they are the better computer!" (or something like that). Some professors don't go as far as to claim that macs are better, but somehow they communicate that they clearly think that macs were the cooler computer and that they would be the laptop that the more evolved and intelligent members of the human species would possess.

During a phone conversation with my older brother, Aaron, I ranted about the Apple superiority complex that many visiting professors had going on and said that I wished I could put an Apple sticker on my good old PC for just fun. A short while later, my brother was cleaning out a desk and found a couple Apple stickers which he mailed to me. The next day, my inside joke was complete. It makes me happy and I routinely burst out laughing when I think of my Apple camouflage.

I hope you all enjoy my joke too, even though it may seem strange.


My computer. There, I just cracked myself up again!




The image of the mac computer I am trying to copy. On first glance, the Apple sticker serves the purpose well.


The mac computer typical of the visiting professor.


NOTE: Please don't get me wrong, I have nothing against macs or people who own macs and I think I might want to buy one someday (if I can afford it). I am merely having fun lightheartedly mocking the superior attitude of some mac owners.