Why am I so damn far behi- ...oh, right.

Boards studying is in full-swing and, as the name implies, I'm bored out of my mind. So, as much as I just wanna finish getting thru First Aid once (for the love of God), it's time for a blog-update. Feel like wasting some time, too? Leave me a comment here. It makes me feel all warm & gooey inside...my pants.

Seeing as I haven't had a drink or any fun for what feels like an eternity (over a week, at least!), I feel the need to continue re-living my uber-fun spring break. I might as well get the most out of it, considering it's one of the reasons I'm this far behind every other med student in the world in terms of Boards studying. (The other reason is that my reading skills are on par w/ a comatose dyslexic.)

So, being that we don't have the nightlife of NY, we're forced to be pretty creative fucks down in San Diego. On my 2nd night, we decided to play beer-pong, only like ping-pong. Beer-ping-pong, anyone?



If u've ever been next in line for a beer-pong table, u know how frustratingly long a game can go when both teams are shooting as if they're trying, by any means necessary, to avoid hitting a cup. (Holla at yo' boy, Brianne!) Well, now multiply THAT by the fact that accuracy drops past 0% when u're using ping-pong paddles, & u'll understand why we felt we needed to speed the game up by the end of it. So, it suddenly became a 7-person, 4-balls-in-play, cardboard-paddles-work-too, manic free-for-all.



Why on earth we thought getting that many drunkards involved would actually speed the game up is beyond me. In any case, afterwards I decided to take a ghetto-version of trip to ghetto-Tijuana, so I had my boys pour vodka and rum down my throat. Someone blow a whistle!



Mmm, I can taste the lovely combo now....tastes like losing about 20 points on the Step 1...


Of course, no SD trip of mine would be cumplete w/out a visit to Islands!



The next day, we enjoyed another Akshay-Approved classic: drunk bowling. Man, even tho I always had to set it up, and it always felt like ppl were doing me a favor by going, I really miss the drunk bowlings we used to do in NY. Some of the greatest times were during bowling, like when I hit a score-monitor w/ a bowling ball, and who could forget, "Rohit vs. the Machine!". I might have to upload those vids when i have time.

We also took a group-pic of all the kings of 1109. People often don't understand our reverence for 1109...it's sorta like the '60's folks, we have pictures we'll never be able to show & memories we'll never be able to properly explain from that magical time & place, u just sorta had to be there to get it.



Speaking of kings, when Bro & I are in town u KNOW a game of King's Cup is goin' down. We rounded up the cards & burrs and had a jolly-good time. After sitting on the sidelines and watching us get drunk every night for 4 days, my boy Sonny (who had given up alcohol for Lent) realized even Jesus would have been playing if he'd been there and so he joined in the festivities. Good call, Sonny. Easter was only 2 days away, anyways.



And the "King's Cup" was a metal pot, just to add some class to the mix:



"Drink up, Phan! No, u're not done yet...keep drinking!" *Sigh*, friendship at its best.



So by the end of the night, 1 kid got pseudo-gang-raped, 1 kid broke his Lent, and 1 kid ended up puking all over a car, the road, and the carpet. Something tells me I'm gonna be a great doctor one day.

Fools & nuggets

Well, I'm halfway thru my last-ever set of exams...for classes taught in a classroom. But my last-ever set of exams, period? Not even clizzose.

When ppl in other fields think of the medical profession, many think "Yea, it seems hard getting into med school, then you have to take a bunch of tests, but then u cum out being a doctor." That is true, in only the loosest sense. When students apply to med school, they don't always realize what they're signing up for. A life of hoops, my friend...a life of hoops. Now start jumping.

I'll walk u thru it. 1st, to get into med school you need to take an exam (MCAT), fill out apps, get letters of rec, and interview. Then u get in (whoo-hoo!).

Med school's a 4-year program (for most of us, at least), w/ the 1st 2 years being taught in classes and the 2nd 2 years being tautght in the hospitals. Our 2nd year of med school is cumming to a close this week. We had a general "diagnosing test" last Friday, a test on the Musculo-skeletal system yesterday (which, for some reason, I thought was harder than most ppl I've talked to), tomorrow is a test on Hematology, and Friday will be the last test of Microbiology & Infectious Disease. The names of the subjects change, but really it's just the same exact cycle for 2 years...skip classes, take the exam. Good riddance.

But, after that? Well, there's the mac-daddy big-swinging USMLE Step 1 exam, aka "the Boards." And then? Next year we take brutally hard "Shelf Exams" (don't ask me why they're called that) after each rotation in a hospital.

Then? We get to RE-apply to get into a residency program...this means sending in apps, letters of rec, and interviewing...just like we did to get into Med School in the 1st place! Now we have to do it to get OUT? Son of a bitch...

As u can guess, it isn't over then, either. I didn't mention the Step 2 exams, and a year after med school there's still the Step 3 exam. Wanna further specialize (called a "fellowship")? Start applying to programs AGAIN. U get the idea...

And yea, u're a "doctor" during residency, but u get paid like u work at American Eagle (sorry, Keif...love u!). Then, when u're finally 31 years old (if u went straight into med school after college...NOT the norm), when all ur college friends have had houses and cars & have been clubbing for years now, when u have a ball-n-chain by ur side (& prolly even some mini-ball-n-chains biting at ur ankles), u make ur first real paycheck and arent' someone's bitch. Congratulations, doctor...have fun spending that money on diapers & down-payments. And since the average work-week for docs is about 50-60 hrs a week, "free time" = "sleep time." U baller, u.

My points, if I have any? Being a doc is NEVER primarily about the money. There's more cash to be made, a lot quicker, in other fields like finance & law. Remember, u're broke till u're 30. For some, it's about prestige. For some, it's about helping ppl. For some, job security. For most, it's a mix of these things. Finally, NEVER go into medicince primarily for the bitches. Lemme repeat: BROKE TILL U'RE 30.

It's a good thing I'm a simple man w/ simple pleasures. Case in point, my 3rd day of spring break. I get into sweet-(adopted)-home San Diego, meet up w/ 2 of my brothers-from-another-mother, and we rush to the most important event of the week in SD: McDonald's $1 6-piece Tuesdays! Cheers, bitches:




That's all me and Bwo right thurr:




Then it's time for vodka shots & Boone's Farm. Ahh yeah...San Diego livin'...