Inside my head.

I have some issues racing through my head right now and with all the "free love" that is being passed around on Facebook I figured I would unload mine here where no one will actually read it. In no particular order here are my thoughts:

1) California needs to be split. It is not appropriate for that many electoral votes to be won in one lump sum.  I'm not trying to make the point that it would have changed the outcome and frankly I'm not that torn up with how the election turned out even though I didn't vote for the President.  Nebraska has theirs divided up by congressional district which makes so much more sense.  By reallocating them in this way it would prevent states that are 50% (4,143,362 votes) to 49% (4,096,346) with 29 electoral votes from completely going to one candidate when the state is obviously not fully behind one candidate.  On to my next issue. 

2) People that complain about their doctor for running all those test that they didn't even need because they came back negative.  First of all that "test you didn't need" just told the doctor that you don't have small cell lung cancer caused by your smoking 2 packs a day for 25 years and forgive the doctor for choosing to not freak you out by telling you that you might have cancer before the results came back.  Oh and the other point, if they didn't run that test or get that chest x-ray because they were trying to keep your costs down by not running "tests you don't need" and you ended up having small cell lung cancer a year later that is past being treatable you would jump on suing them for being a horrible doctor.  From the little experience I have now had, medicine is more like "House" than most would like to accept. There is a good amount of tests that are run to rule out the stuff that is going to kill you in the next day, then a couple more to rule out the lesser issues.  If all of those come back negative they test some more and rely on their painfully acquired knowledge to do the best they can. Now before someone (like anyone actually reads this blog) jumps all over me and tells me a medical horror story where their doctor took out the appendix when they had a toothache because he was trying to pay off his fifth summer home in Maui, realize that I am not defending them. I realize there are bad doctors out there just like there are lawyers that follow ambulances or mechanics that can always find "something wrong" with your car every time you get your oil changed.  You must realize they are exceptions to the rule.  

3) Lastly, I feel that the majority of people don't truly understand how your doctor gets paid for your visit.  Take your normal office visit.  You see your doctor for 15 minutes and he orders some tests, gives you some free samples to help cut down on your pharmacy bill, looks at little Jonny's foot fungus and Billy's skin thing all in YOUR visit (i.e for free). He then bills your insurance for what he feels his time is worth, with some adjustments for the amount of care he provided for YOU.  The insurance company (or medicare/medicaid) come back to the doctor and say we see that you are billing us for $100 for that visit; well we are going to only pay you $50.  Sitting here I can't think on another profession where the consumer tells the service provider what they feel like paying for a service.  That would be like calling AT&T after you get the bill and tell them that you saw they sent you a bill for $100 but you only feel like paying $50.  How long would your phone be on? 

I'm not a pessimistic person, but these thoughts were keeping me from studying, which I really need to do.  Thank you for your time.  Now I'm done. 

Medical school after four weeks

I realize that it has been quite a little while since I have written on here and that all my eager followers are dying to know how medical school has been treating me.  Before I begin to describe medical school in all its wonder and glory (yes, it really is glorious) I would like to thank all of my awesome professors at Utah State.  Due to their depth of teaching and desire for students to not only memorize, but internalize the material, I was prepared for medical school.  Due to the foundation I built during undergrad I have been able to succeed in medical school.
Now on to medical school. To get a grasp of what it's like, think of what it feels like to dive deep into a frigid lake (Cooper Lake for all those in the family or friends who have experienced it). When the cold water hits your body, you almost convulse and want nothing more than to bolt out and seek the comfort of a warm towel. But you can't. The laws of physics have been put into motion and you plunge deep into the lake where the water hovers around 32.00001 degrees even during the warmest of summer days.  As soon as you can, you  race back to the surface at a speed that would make Michael Phelps jealous.  You can now see the ripples on the surface quickly approaching and the suns rays teasing you with the promise of warmth.  Just as you are about to break the surface of the water, someone  shoves your head back under. Brutally. Once in awhile, you'll get your face out long enough to catch a small breath, but you're still cold.
This is medical school. You never are really "caught up" in your classes. You have a test and the next day you're buried so deep in new material it's as if you never had a break. If you work really hard, though, you might be able to keep you head above water long enough to breath a little.   

The first four weeks have been an interesting life adjustment, but everything seems to be falling into a rhythm. At least my wife still loves me and we've been able to work out a schedule that's manageable. Thanks for all your support!

Still waiting for the fun to start.

So obviously I'm still waiting to start school, but it is quickly getting closer.  For those that have been reading Whitney's Facebook posts, I am not going crazy even though we have been getting a little bit of small town fever.  To remedy this claustrophobic feeling my dear wife kidnapped me and we went on an excursion to the bustling metropolis of Columbia, MO. It sure was nice to see infrastructure again.  Whitney first baited me into enjoying the trip by taking me to Bass Pro shop, which for all those that have been to the Bass Pro in CA or the Cabelas in UT, is was underwhelming, there wasn't even a second floor or an aquarium.  My complaining aside, it was still a fun place to walk around.  We then randomly drove around without anyplace to go, just enjoying the sights.  There are actually some fairly interesting buildings both new and old.  We eventually ended up at the Columbia Mall where we walked around for a while.  I typically avoid "The Mall," but yesterday it felt so nice to see people again.  After walking around the mall and eating lunch I was ready to go home, but then Whit had one more stop in mind.  HOBBY LOBBY is seriously like crack for my wife. Anyway, it was a great and well needed trip.


My goals are still going well.  I have been slowly meeting some of the other people in my class as they trickling into town.  The ones that I have met so far have seemed nice.  It has been interesting to listen to how the different students are planning to attack the workload.  Some are planning to never go to class and just study on their own and others are planning on a mixture of class/ solo and group studying.  As for me I'm adopting the "If it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality.  I know what has worked for me in the past and I think I will be sticking to that.  I know that I can study great with one or two other people that are serious and smart, but more than that seems to turn into a social club where people spend more time chatting and not enough time actually studying.  I also will be going to classes as frequently as I can because It helps me develop the bridges between info when someone else explains stuff. I understand that there will be times that I will need to focus on one subject more than another and that might cause me to skip a class, but I will be trying to attend a good amount of them.  I am planning on keeping up with all the readings because I know that if I fall behind I will not get caught up.  I am also going into medical school with the mindset that this is my job and as such I am planning on dedicating the majority of my time to studying while here in KV.  I will also be taking part in intramural sports because I have always done better in school while playing sports.  I haven't forgot about my wife, she will get to see me frequently as well.  


As always please fill free to give me any advice that you might think will help me succeed and thank you for reading.

Life before Medical School.

I figured a good way of keeping a record of how medical school is going for me would be to keep a blog.  Then in the end of it all I will have it printed out and Bam I've got a journal of my medical school experience.  

So I have been in Kirksville (KV) for about two weeks now and have been bored for about a week.  Whit and I are struggling to find fun things to do, but we have turned our boredom into getting ready to start school (KCOM for me and Nursing school for Whit).  The past year I have not been in school and had basically turned into a scrubs living in, sleep deprived, shell of a man that looked a little like a guy that had been a good student once.  This was caused by working two jobs, both of which were in the evening and night, and not being able to sleep during the day no matter how little sleep I had been getting.  Oh Yeah and it is true what the Doctors have been saying for years, sleep deprivation, both in the chronic and acute forms, does cause the mind to slow and prevent information retention.  To top it all off I had stopped working out because I was either at work, trying to spend the precious few hours that Whitney and I were both awake together, or sleeping.  Needless to say, I needed to get my mind and body back into shape.  As many people know, the best way to get something done is by setting goals and then being accountable for finishing them.  I love my wife for many reason, but particularly for being good at holding me accountable for the goals I have set and reminding me that I need to focus on them.  She is one of the main reasons I stuck with the work load in Undergrad and I'm ecstatic to have her in my corner for Medical School.

On to the goals I have made.  Firstly I know myself well enough to know that if my body is not in shape then I'll have no luck at getting my mind in shape.  To remedy this problem I am working out at least five times a week for an hour.  This workout needs to be intense also. Thank you to all those at Body For Life for making a sweet workout routine that fulfills this requirement for me.  Next to get my mind back into shape.  I have set the goal of reading five 350 page novels prior to school starting.  So far I have read two of the books and have been working out everyday, minus Sunday, for the past week and a half.  In conclusion, I hurt.  

If anyone actually reads this blog I will be happy, but if you read it and have something to say I will be elated. So fill free to let me know what you think.