sleeping in...

Attending: After all, we all know what medicine is really about don't we?
Me: Uhh... helping patients?
Attending: Come on, you don't *still* believe that do you?

"For a hematologist, looking at blood smears is like listening to Mozart."

"Dr. X is so smart, every cell in his body is a neuron."

Resident #1: Did you know Toyota makes a car called the "Previa"? 
Resident #2: Yeah next, they're gonna make one called "Abruptio".

haha, nerdy medical humour...

First off, my apologies for the lack of posts lately. This year has just flown by and it's been one of the busiest! Anyways, looking back on the past year here are some of the things I will remember...

2008 was the year...

•  I went to Ghana for the IFMSA exchange

(a market in Kumasi, Ghana where I stayed for 1 month)

• I spent a day in Amsterdam (on a 12 hour layover)
• I went to PsychSIGN meetings in Washington, DC (yay pandas!) and NYC (I went into museum overload: Neue Galerie, Cooper-Hewitt design museum, Frick collection)
• I participated in the U of T Psychiatry Institute for Medical Students
• I started Clerkship with a placement in family medicine at Sherbourne Health Centre
• I discovered I’m allergic to the yellow fever vaccine!
• I went to a Raptors vs. NJ Nets game (boo Vince Carter) 
• I finally went to a film screening at Reg Hart's Cine Forum
• I went to Dundurn Castle with other volunteers from the Hamilton AIDS Network
• The new AGO opened
• Nuit Blanche was overrated and way too crowded
• I went to a live taping of SYTYCD Canada
• Starbucks opened on Locke St.
• I saw “Step up 2: the Streets” in theatres... and am not embarrassed to admit it
• I became addicted to “America’s Best Dance Crew”
• Learned Michael Jackson's "Thriller" dance
• Volunteered at HAN’s Oscar gala “Play it again, Sam”
• Went to a Pow-Wow at Mohawk College
• Choreographed “Lastima Grande” for Mac Dance and had to make those costumes by myself
• Had my birthday at Foundation Room, where the room was awkwardly racially divided:S
• Sang “Seasons of Love” and “Frobisher Bay" with fellow mac meds for various talent shows
• Heard Stephen Lewis, Dr. Denis Mukgewe, and Eve Ensler speak on sexual violence in the DRC
• Saw Second City twice (“Tazed and Confused”, “Barack to the Future”)
• I met Richard Heinzl (founder of MSF Canada) and was his guide at OMSW
• Obama won the US presidency and I cried during his speech
• Someone set fire to Brandon Hall

Best movies

• Milk
• The Band’s Visit
• 4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Rachel Getting Married
• Little Children
• The Visitor
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
• Persepolis
• Triage: James Orbinski’s humanitarian dilemma
• Be Kind, Rewind
• Dark Knight

Honourable mentions: How She Move (filmed in the Hammer, woot!), Then She Found Me, It's a Free World, The Great Debaters, Caramel, Angel-a, Charlie Barlett (gotta love any psych-related movies), Run Fat Boy Run

Worst movies

• August Rush
• Because I said so
• Penelope
• The Women
• Sex and the City

Best books

• “Underground” Haruki Murakami
• “An Imperfect Offering” James Orbinski
• "A Wolf at the Table" Augusten Burroughs
• "The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat" Oliver Sachs
• "Clinical Pathophysiology Made Ridiculously Simple" :P

Best restaurants



(c5 at the ROM)

• Le Petit Dejeuner
• Jamie Kennedy wine bar
• c5
• Jam Cafe
• Gourmet Burger Co.
• Archeo
• Terroni
• Thuet

Best dance performances


(Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater "Revelations")

• “Symphony in C” with Ethan Stiefel at NBoC
• “24 Preludes by Chopin” Marie Chouinard
• Elena Lobsanova in “The Seagull”
• Genee Intl Ballet Competition finals
• NBS in “Yondering”
• Les Grands Ballets Ohad Naharin program
• Alvin Ailey “Revelations”
• Jennifer Fournier farewell “Five Brahms Waltzes”
• ProArteDanza

Worst dance performances

• Alberta Ballet “The Fiddle and the Drum”
• NBoC “Rooster”

Best art shows


(Textile Museum)

• "Chinese design. Everday." at DX
• "Battleground: War Rugs from Afghanistan" at Textile Museum of Canada
• "Harvest of Memories: Days of the Dead" at the Gardiner Museum
• Contemporary Inuit drawings and Chinese drawings McMichael Gallery
• “Cuba: 1868 to present” Montreal Musee de Beaux-Arts
• Frank Gehry's new AGO

Best nightlife


(Muzik)

• Drake Hotel
• Rockwood
• Muzik
• This is London
• CiRCA

Best theatre


("The Odd Couple")

• Stratford “Hamlet”
• Soulpepper “The Odd Couple”
• Mac Musical Theatre “Cabaret”
• Soulpepper "A Christmas Carol"

Best concerts


(Kavakos)

• TSO Brahms violin concerto with Leonidas Kavakos
• TSO Planets & Rite of Spring
• COC Tosca
• COC Eugene Onegin
• Allison Lickley house concert
• Death Cab at Toronto Island with Young Galaxy and Rouge Wave

Best songs

(P-square)

• Chris Brown “Forever” (my current ring tone!)
• Jordan Sparks ft Chris Brown “No Air”
• Olu Maintain “Yahooze” (Nigerian)
• P-square “Do Me”(Nigerian) 
• Lucky Dube “Respect”, “Shut Up” (South African reggae)
• T.I. ft Rihanna “Live your life”
• Britney Spears “Womanizer”(haha)
• Kardinall Offishall “Dangerous”
• Usher “Love in this Club”
• Ne-yo “Closer" (lots of R & B/hip hop on the list this year b/c it's what I listened to in Ghana)
• Kanye West “Love Lockdown”
• Cat Power “Sea of Love”
• Leonard Cohen “Hallelujah”
• Imogen Heap “Speeding Cars”
• Sia “Breathe Me”
• Wolf Parade "You are a runner and I am my father's son"
• MIA "Paper Planes"
• Beck ft. Cat Power "Walls"

That's all I can come up with for now. Politically and economically, this has not been a great year (although I can now add "prorogue" to my vocabulary). But personally, it has been a wonderful year filled with lots of rich experiences, learning new things both inside and outside the classroom, and spending time with friends old and new. And for that, I am truly thankful. I hope 2009 brings more of the same, even if clerkship is going to come with a whole new set of changes and challenges. Happy new year to those reading this and hope you'll take some time out to reflect on the past year and recharge for whatever is ahead.

My friend was an interviewer for applicants to medical school this year. His standard question got good answers, but they were so boring after a while... so instead he would continue:
"Wow, great answer. That sounded kind of rehearsed. Can you comment on that?" 
He said after that the answers became far more interesting and he could better differentiate the responses of the different candidates. LOL.

2 dudes are sitting on the subway, staring at a dog someone brought on the subway:
- Man, do you know how many girlfriends I'd have if my tongue were that big?!?

(I had to cover my face with my book, I couldn't help laughing).

" Clever people are not known to be systematically less humane than others." 

From: Selecting Medical Students - British Medical Journal.

Good to know. 

Have a great weekend all!

Me (flailing melodramatically on kitchen chair): Am I doomed to eternal back pain because of my stupid scoliosis?!?
Dad: Something like that

You know you are in Mac med when you see a contest to win a free vacation and don't enter because you know you wouldn't be able to get the time off even if you won!

*Sigh*

As everyone wraps up another academic year, I'm still truckin' in the Hammer. We have classes as usual through May and June. In July I am doing a placement in Mississauga and then in August I'm off to Ghana for an internal medicine elective! And then we get a -- wait for it -- 5 day (!) summer vacation!! I haven't decided what I will do during that time. Maybe sleep.

So to those who keep asking me when I'm "off", the answer is May 2010!

What NOT to say when you are doing a pelvic exam:

- "Lets pap it up!"
- "Spread your legs"
- "I'm sticking it in now"
- "Here it comes"
- "Looks good!"
- "I'm pulling out now."

... and don't go near the patient's clitoris.

A group of clerks in the clinical learning centre:

- I'm doing my family medicine rotation. Man, we get SO many drug reps everyday bringing us lunch! No cute ones though:(
- Ew, there are NO cute drug reps. They wear too much gold. And cologne.

(resident taking a sexual history from a 60-something year old lady)

Doctor: So are you currently sexually active?
Patient: No. I'm passive. I pretty much just lie there.

RV: "Guys, did you read that review article in the NEJM? It had like, ALL this pathophys and stuff... it's SICK."
Tutor (old-school British doctor): "Hmm?" *very confused look*

LOL.

At My Thai:

20-something woman: "You know how some people just don't have a knack for politics? Well, she didn't have a knack for knowing when to stop talking."

In the student lounge:

3rd year student (clerk) - "Most days I don't feel human"

Hmm, maybe 12 hour shifts are not a good idea?

Seeing:

• "Chinese Design. Everyday" exhibit at the Design Exchange: small show of Chinese artists and graphic designers working from China and abroad. Some beautiful contemporary takes on the cheong sam by Vivienne Tam.
  
• Bloor Yorkville Ice Fest: this weekend! free apple cider and brownies, ice carving competitions, etc.
  
• Movies: "Persepolis", "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", "Caramel", "Across the Universe", "The Savages", "Angel-a"
  
• Soulpepper Theatre "The Odd Couple"
  
• COC "Tosca"
• Hamilton ChamberWorks - Bartok ($5 student tickets are a steal!)

Watching:

• Cashmere Mafia: it just keeps getting better!
  
• Randy Jackson's America's Best Dance Crew (so so addictive!)

Eating:

• Prime at the Windsor Arms Hotel: it's a steak house and they have Kobe beef, but I opted for the vegetarian sampler. great ambiance and impeccable service. amazing soft polenta side dish.
• Coco Lezzone for Winterlicious: good mediteranean food, chill vibe, abrupt service
• Che - Hamilton Hess Village: tuesdays are 2 for 1 burritos, very yummy and filling. plus, sweet potato fries!
• Bad Dog Cafe - Hamilton: small, cozy space fills up quickly. friendly staff and good music. has a loyal Locke St. following.
• Il Fiasco - Hamilton: fine dining without the attitude. punjabi spring rolls are delicious. appetizers are half price from 4-6.
  
• Yamato - my family knows the owners, who are in fact, Chinese. however, some chefs are Japanese and the food is quite authentic. Teppenyaki dinners get pricey, but lunch is reasonable.

Partying:

• Budo Liquid Theatre: so-so space, young crowd, too much  Souja Boy.
  
• Hamilton AIDS Network annual fundraiser Oscar gala "Play it again Sam" at Liuna Station

Reading:

• "Underground" by Haruki Murakami: interviews with survivors of the Tokyo gas attacks
• "Four Letter Word": original love letters from the likes of Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen, Douglas Coupland, etc.
  
• "Conversations with Glenn Gould": I bought this after I saw the Gould exhibit in Ottawa. He was not only a musical genius, but extremely gifted with words.
  
• Vanity Fair March 2008 annual Hollywood issue: the John Galliano dresses on the cover are stunning!

Relaxing:

• Aliviar Spa: I had a signature vegan manicure, swedish massage, and facial. All the products they use are organic and the nail polish they use is Zoya (toluene-free). Lacks some of the amenities that bigger spas have (e.g. steam room) but makes up for it with lots of attention and personalized care. Music is Jack Johnson and Emily Haines, as opposed to the usual babbling brook.
  

See, I do have a life outside medical school...

February 21 at Downward Dog Yoga:

middle-aged yogi : "Hey, remember that guy I thought was related to me? Turns out he's my DAD. Isn't that wild?"

(lecture on calcium homeostasis in bones)

Frazzled prof: I hope this presentation makes sense... I just got back from my honeymoon last night
Class: awwww
Prof: We were on the beach for a week, so I wasn't thinking about bone at all
[pause]
Class: *bursts into laughter*

Another successful Winners shopping trip at the location on Upper James in Hamilton:

1) Roger & Gallet vanilla shower cream $6
2) Elie Tahari black patent leather peep toe pumps $60
3) Billabong tank top $16
4) Matt & Nat small wallet $6
5) Calvin Klein bra $15
6) Le Tigre white mod squad jacket $40

I had to restrain myself... But here are some other things I saw...

- Vera Wang and Natori lingerie
- Matt and Nat weekend bag $60
- Michael Kors work wear
- ABS by Allen Schwartz dresses for under $200
- Escada perfumes for under $30
- Really fun kitchenware
- A lot more that I can't remember

I'm telling you guys, suburban Winners locations are where it's at! You still have to dig, but it's not like going to the ones in downtown Toronto where you know a zillion other shoppers have dug through everything before you. I am consistently impressed with the Hamilton one. The jacket I got (item #6) isn't even last season like most of the stuff at Winners, and I got it for less than 1/2 price! But I think I am most pleased with my Tahari shoes! Yes, I have a sick obsession with finding good deals...

A while ago I posted this BBC site to see if you can distinguish between a real and a fake smile.

I just came across a similar page from TimeOut New York: Who just had sex? They took photos of people either right after sex or right after going for a run. I scored 11/12 and was quite surprised (it's pretty tough to tell the difference!) -- must be my female intuition:P

(P.S. Obviously, I'm procrastinating...)