Thursday, May 20, 2004

Stress Level: High

Hello.

Currently I've been spending my days and nights at the local Borders bookstore with my eyes not glued enough to my laptop screen. I'm people watching, but when I'm not, I am studying for my last exam of the second year, aka "MOD 4", which is short for Mechanisms of Disease test # 4. Imagine taking a 5 hr final that covers ~3 semesters of physical chemistry material. The catch is that all that material was presented over 2 months, and I only started studying for this exam a few days ago.

I'm taking it early, next Friday the 28th instead of Wednesday the 2nd, not out of hubris, but because I am also studying for "the boards" which is the USMLE Step 1. I'm taking that Wednesday June 16th. It's a comprehensive exam that covers all of the material of the first two years of medical school. Now if only I could get a master's degree for finishing it.

After that I will be partying/sleeping/packing for a night, and then I will jaunt through San Diego to Reno on the 15th, stay about a week, stay a week in SD, and then start 3rd year July 6th with the receipt of a shiny little pager that will no doubt be the bane of my existence. I am expecting to visit some friends, hopefully if you all could visit me in Carson as I won't have a car ?

How am I?

My most immediate sensation is itching. Yes I itch, and in more than one place, and it is probably mediated by Th1 and Th2 helper T-cells, heh. I made the mistake of leaving my combo lotion/bug repellent/sunblock in my car, and over the course of the last two days have garnered ~3 insect bites per limb, one on my face, and one on my collarbone, right where it makes that graceful curve. What a shame; of all of my bones, it is easiest to show off my collarbone without calling attention to rounder parts of me.

Other than that, I am as usual all of the following: book-hungry, food-hungry, movie-hungry, sex-hungry, and generally dehydrated. So please send me email care packages and let me know how you are doing!

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