Art

Although I have always kept one foot in the arts, I have more or less spent the past couple of years completely submerged in the sciences. I'm sure many people have expressed similar sentiments, but the sciences are (though with exceptions) nice in the compact way that it is clear-cut, logical, and (more or less) straightforward. On the other hand, the arts have always been a messy sort of thing; it is open to interpretation (and proud of it) and for the same piece of work, there are probably as many explanations of it as there are pairs of eyes/ears looking at/hearing it. For someone deeply devoted to the sciences, it sometimes seems a silly thing.

But despite the fact that my day-to-day life is so detached from the arts (all the more so that I am doing research work), there come moments where the need to express is just so strong that I cannot even decide whether to draw or to write or to compose. There are moments where I find myself so moved, so touched, that I want other people to understand and to comprehend the depth of the emotion, and yet find myself so witheringly at a loss to do so. It is a hollow thing, to feel something and be unable to share it.

I spent today being rather unproductive, mostly sitting at home, watching a couple of movies that I'd planned to watch for a while (but had never gotten around to doing so). But the movies were just done so well - the strength of humanity to unite in the face of difficulty, the comprehension of loss, the bittersweetness of parting - that I ended the day feeling so saturated that I could not just sit still. These are the days where I curse my ineptness with words, my clumsy artwork, my inability to improvise...how fulfilling it must be to be able to give form to the soul! To be able to praise, to love, to cherish the human condition!

Settled!

Finally found a place to live in for next year! I'm really happy with the location, and it's also pretty spacious, so I'm looking forward to moving in in a couple of months. What's even better, of course, is that this takes off another thing on the long checklist of to-do's that lead up to actually starting med school.

Now the only things left are to sign up for a CPR course, and to get an updated copy of my health records! Relatively simple compared to the other hoops I've had to jump through so far.

Pretty tired today, so I'll leave it at that! G'night!

Housing troubles continue

My previous housing arrangements (not physical location, but rooming, etc.) have suddenly been rethought. Which means that everything is back to square one, and I have to go back to the drawing board.

Thankfully, there is one location that seems quite promising right now, but at this point, I just really, really want to get this over with. There are so many things to look forward to in terms of starting medical school, but all the logistics (not just housing, but also the mountain of other things that need to be arranged) bog down the process and really dampen some of the excitement. I understand it's a necessary evil(?), but it would be nice to get this stuff over with quickly so I can truly look forward to starting school in a few months.

That being said, work is also a bit of a drag lately. Not so much the nature of the work, but just because things aren't working out with the experiments. That's how research is though, so I'm not terribly surprised. But it'd be nice for something to finally give me results this week (fingers crossed). Also there's a presentation I have to start preparing for, but it's terribly difficult to find time for it at the moment. I'm hoping that once the housing thing is out of my hair, I'll be able to sit down and really focus on getting the presentation done.  

Medicine & Music

Music is one of my passions, so I was pretty excited when I came across this article from the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) website interviewing two individuals who had experience both with music and medicine.

The answers to the last question really make me smile.

(taken from http://bit.ly/M59I9F ) 


The Royal Conservatory’s alumni have gone on to great success in a wide range of fields, from music and the arts  to business, sports, and medicine.


Dr. Robert Hegele and Dr. Richard Hegele each obtained an Associate of The Royal Conservatory (ARCT) diploma, and both have achieved great prominence as physicians and researchers.


Dr. Robert Hegele, MD FRCPC FACP, is an endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario, as well as Director of the Blackburn Cardiovascular Genetics Lab at Robarts Research Institute and London Regional Genomics Center. 


Dr. Richard Hegele, MD, FRCPC, PhD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Patholbiology at the University of Toronto, as well as Chief of the Department of Paediatric Laboratory Medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children. 


Recently, the brothers spoke with The Royal Conservatory and described how their Conservatory music training contributed to their subsequent success in medicine.


How old were you when you started your musical training, and how did it come about?
Dr. Robert Hegele: I began piano lessons with Mrs. Ruth Ferma at age five, with prompting and encouragement from our mother in particular.
Dr. Richard Hegele: I was five years old when I began piano lessons, following in the footsteps of my brother.


What techniques did you use to stay motivated?
Dr. Robert Hegele: Motivation was difficult at times, especially when starting out. Our teacher and parents used every trick in the book to keep the momentum going (and in retrospect I’m very glad they did).  Later, preparation for competitions, recitals and performances definitely helped to focus the mind.
Dr. Richard Hegele: Opportunities for playing in different contexts (solo, ensemble) and discovering different repertoire. 


How has your musical training helped you in your career? If you still actively play, do you think your career as helped contribute to further musical growth?
Dr. Robert Hegele: Musical training helped me to develop the skills to set and work towards short and long term goals.  I wish I had more time to play nowadays, but when I can find time to do so, it’s always a welcome therapeutic diversion.
Dr. Richard Hegele: My musical training has helped my career development in many ways: goal setting, perseverance, discipline, rhythm and dexterity, and taking a long-term perspective. In addition, those three- hour theory exams prepared me exceptionally well for what I had to deal with in medical school. Today, I enjoy many opportunities to play at various functions and it is especially fun to provide piano accompaniment for my daughter Rose, an up-and-coming soprano.


What advice would you give hopeful musicians and/or medical students?
Dr. Robert Hegele: Nothing that’s worthwhile in life comes without some self-sacrifice and struggle.  Also, your ability to constructively react to failure and setbacks is in the long run more important than being able to string together a series of successes and accomplishments.
Dr. Richard Hegele: No matter how you try to cut it, success is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration.


How many of your colleagues (that you’re aware of) are musicians?
Dr. Robert Hegele: I have noticed over the years that there’s a strong linkage between accomplishment in music and success in medicine.
Dr. Richard Hegele: Too many to count. 

House hunting continues!

The whole process is starting to feel a bit painful.

Part of the problem is probably due to the fact that this is my first time scouring for housing, and when coupled with the extremely short timeline that is the period between receiving the acceptance and actually having to attend school, it makes for a pretty hectic few weeks/months.

There is also so much more that needs to be done on top of looking for housing that things are starting to get a bit crazy. Financially, there are a lot of arrangements to be made (tuition is a pretty hefty sum)...there is also a surprisingly large amount of paperwork that must be done. I'm probably mailing something out around every other week right now.

What makes it worse is that the stuff I mailed out last week apparently still has not arrived at the other end, when it should have done so probably two days ago. The additional worry (and cortisol) is probably not doing me any good.

Coupled with some stress at work, and basically, the equation works out to me being extremely tired everyday. The plus side is that the quality of my sleep is really good, which I'm happy about. I'm a pretty light sleeper so my sleep usually isn't all that good...it's nice to really just pass out and wake up feeling well-rested.

Anyways, work again tomorrow, so another early morning! Off to bed!

P.S. Finished the first volume of 神様のカルテ and loved it! Currently reading the second one!

神様のカルテ

I read a lot of medical-related fiction (and non-fiction), and I tend to like it, so I thought I'd share some of what I read, in case others would like to pick them up.

That being said, I read in a variety of languages so I cannot guarantee that the books will be in English.

Anyways, the book I would like to recommend today is called 「神様のカルテ」(God's Chart). I actually didn't manage to find this book in the original Japanese, so I own a Chinese translation, but I do own its sequel in Japanese.

The story takes place in a small town in Japan, in a hospital that is severely understaffed and seriously overworked. It's hard to summarize any part of it without really ruining the little bits that make the story and writing so delicious, but part of what I like about this book is that it tells it like it is.

Of course, that is not to say that it is full of mundane trivia, and there is also obvious and plentiful amounts of storytelling in it. However, this is not a story about doctors who are able to save everyone. This is not a story about doctors who always do or say the right things.

This is a story, I think, about living and dying, about meeting and parting, and really, a story about ordinary miracles.

The name of the book itself comes from the idea that God may have a chart (i.e. a patient's file) that holds the medical data for everyone in the world, and that, if we were to have that chart, we would be able to save everyone's lives. However, the book states quite plainly that this is a story about people who do not have such means, and who do not possess "the hands of God"...these are people who do the best that they can to save the lives in front of them, and that is all.

Not quite done the first book yet, but already looking forward to the second, as well as the third one coming out in August!

Moving

I received my acceptance to medical school a few weeks ago while at work, and believe me, everyone in the office at the time knew about it. The build-up of tension and suspense, the whole emotional rollercoaster of receiving interview invites and rejections...it's really hard not to be a bit raucous when the email finally lands in your inbox.

Also, I couldn't believe it for the first half-hour or so, so I re-read that email ferociously. I've heard horror stories (not known whether they are true or not) where emails were sent erroneously, and then announced decisions were later retracted. Personally, I thought it would be kind of embarrassing if I let everyone and their cousin know about me being accepted, only to have to turn around and tell them it was all a big misunderstanding.

So, I calmly told myself that I would wait a bit for it to sink in before telling anyone (outside of the people at the office, of course). That didn't really last very long. I held it in for about 5 minutes before I had to call my parents and my friends to let them know.

The next few days were kind of a blur as people called and congratulated me. Despite all that though, it still didn't feel real.

Needless to say, I started to check my mail religiously, waiting for the acceptance package to come in. Four days after I had received the email (local mail here should take around three), it still had not arrived. I started having a terrible feeling = a sinking feeling in my stomach. Maybe it was a big mistake after all.

Thankfully, the package did arrive the next week (so it took 6 days). Strangely enough, it still didn't feel real (still doesn't). I had been swimming in disbelief for about a week at that point, convinced that it would really hit me once the package came in the mail, but truth be told, it still seemed like just another really, really long dream.

Since receiving the package, I've had to deal with a lot of quite realistic problems (tuition, moving, etc.). It's funny how I can handle all of this without the situation actually sinking in. At this point, I'm really just counting on it hitting home when I take Hippocrate's Oath and finally don a white coat.

So anyways, today I started looking for a place to live. This is not something I've had to deal with previously, as I attended university close to home. For someone who has not had to figure all this out before, it is a sudden attack of activity and details and things to do.

Work has been pretty tiring these past few weeks, but this really tops it all off. Took a trip to take a look at the neighbourhood today and just got back home...I can pretty much sleep for 12 hours now (though looking at the time, I'll be lucky to get 6).

Anyways, that's it for today. Cannot wait for the fall to come (because of medical school, of course, but also because the high temperatures during the summer are a bit warmer than I'd like this year)!

So it begins!

I remember starting this blog back when I was in first year university, and quickly having to set it down: the responsibilities of university were numerous, the challenges unyielding, and sleep a preciously hoarded resource. 


However, many tests, tribulations, and memorable experiences later, I've finally made it! Medical school is just a few months away! 


For anyone who has actually been reading this, you may have noticed that I removed all my previous posts. I've done it for a few reasons, but the main ones are: a) being able to see what I've written in the past is actually quite embarrassing, surprisingly, and b) I wanted to restart this blog with a new direction. 


Although part of my hopes in writing this blog are to keep a record of my own experiences, I also do it in the hopes that future and current med hopefuls will be able to get a better idea of what they are aiming for, and what they may be signing up for should they truly go on to pursue a career in medicine. 


Today is going to be a double-post, so onto the next one!