Well, my first anatomy test is over with and out of the way. Only two more tests left (in the next five weeks!)
Today I ran errands all morning and treated myself to a movie. Now I am sitting in my bedroom trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the night. It is nights like this when I really miss my friends back in Fargo. If I was in Fargo I would tons of options. In Minneapolis I have even more options, just no one to go with. I guess it wouldn't have been so bad this weekend, except that most of my newer friends made plans already (like going home). I still don't have the guts to go into a sit-down restaurant by myself. Delivery isn't much of an option here either, since our front door is currently broken. Hopefully my landlord will fix that soon.
Well, that is all for now.

JibJab.com

This website is hilarious
Just avoiding studying.
Not much else

The first week of medical school has past by very quickly. I feel like I have been tossed into a blender. The cadevar lab is getting easy, but there are still moments when you realize that you are working on a "real" person. Embryology started yesterday. It is like a whole semester of Developmental Biology in one hour! I fought to stay awake, because I like the topic, but it was a challenge.
So far I don't have many complaints about medical school. I knew that I would have to work hard, and I was right. One tip I have, it to swim after lab, that way you smell like chlorine instead of formaldehyde.
My apoligies to my body buddy Bilal, today I sent "juices" flying into his face....yuck!
Tomorrow is the Psi Chi Party. I am going to meet some people and to not think about anatomy. I do wish that Matt, Karen, or Jenny could come next weekend to help me celebrate my first exam being finished, but I will just have to wait until Labor day.
Band started in Fargo. It is going to be weird listening to Matt talk about it and NOT be involved. It is sort of like steeping out of one life into another. I guess that is something I should get used to, because I will forever more be intwo worlds, the world of medicine, and the world of everyone else.
Back to anatomy. I have to learn the posterior thigh tonight (Gluteus maximus!)

Today was the first day of classes for medical school. I was surprised to see the dental students in lecture with us, I guess they just had lab with us. I was happy to see a few more familar faces from NDSU in the dental class:)
The first lecture was fast and went late. The same goes for the Physican and Society class (which I think I will have a love/hate relationship with).
The first anatomy lab was hard, not because of what we had to dissect, but because it was the first time. It was such an awesome and humbling experience, and no words can express how grateful I am to the brave individuals who donate their bodies to science. Your gift is teaching me what it means to be truely altruistic.
Tonight I studied some and downloaded all the radiographs to CD. It took a long time, but now they will run rather fast on my computer. Jon and Kirk were both around, which is rather different from the past two weeks or so. I am sure I will start to disappear more once school really starts rolling.
Well, I need to write in my food journal and hit the sack.

The rest of SSR was a blur. I had a good time, and it was really nice to see the gang from NDSU. I learned a lot, and hope to someday come back to the meeting.
Mom and Dad came this weekend for a visit. I had a good time chatting with them and exploring Minneapolis. I went to IKEA with them. It was way too crowded for my tastes, but the stuff was nice. I bought some kitchen stuff. We also went to the movie Collateral which was very good. Even my dad liked it!
Today I got to have breakfast with Mitch. He was in town for a bachelor party. It was so nice to get to see him once more before we are both bogged down with our respective graduate programs. I wish him the best of luck with registration and moving this week.
I start medical school orientation tomorrow morning. It will be interesting to see who is there. It is hard to believe I am actually starting.....

Crowded and poorly organized is the verdict thus far for the SSR meeting. Today during the first poster session I was unable to make it to all of my desired stops because of crowding. To make matters worse, the posters are in a tent, so reading them is very hard (unless you have night vision goggles). However, I did see some quality research from several groups which surprised me. Fetal programming seems to the the hottest topic, as the room where the minisymposium were held was beyond capacity. I retreated to the Ovarian, Breast, and Prostrate Cancer symposia, which was very interesting. I am now going to have to read further on some of the research I was introduced to today.
Reception to my MD/PhD acceptance is lukewarm. It seems as if most PhD professors hesitate to embrace their MD/PhD colleges as "real" scientists. During the trainee/mentor lucheon I got called to duty to help with seating. As a result, I got a very crowded seat at my table.
Tonight we are going to explore Stanley Park and then head to the NAKED party for some beers. I need to get more rest tonight, as Tuesday and Wednesday are very full of sessions and meetings. Today is the President's Symposium, which I am not totally looking forward to, as the subject is sex determination.
I must be going, as seating for the Symposium will be tight and I don't want to be near the aisle.

I am at the Society for the Study of Reproduction meeting in Vancouver, B.C., Canada right now. The offical meeting starts at 1 today, so I have been bumming around Vancouver for the past day or so. We are staying in the Gage Towers on the campus of the University of British Columbia. They are definately not the Hilton that we stayed in last year. The emphasis of this meeting is on sex determination this years. Not my favorite subject, but there are a few lectures on fetal programming and on ovarian, testicular, and breast cancers which should be interesting. I am also looking forward to some of the posters from gropus doing similar research to mine. I don't present until Wednesday, which is sort of nice in one regard, but also sucks because that is the last day and my flight leaves three hours after presentations end (and customs take at least two hours....)
Last night we headed to to Chinatown. Tonight I don't know what we are going to do. The weather is nice here. The ocean views are beautiful. I can definately see why everyone sights Vancouver as one of their favorite cities.