sleeping in...

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...)

(2 Asian engineers in the OSAP pick-up line)

Guy #1: Hey, do you know what would be a bad name to name your kid if your last name was Lee?
Guy #2: No, what?
Guy #1: Humphrey.
Guy #2: What? I don't get it...
Guy #1: HUMP-FREE-LY!!!!
*quiet old lady from the office of financial aid averts gaze*

and then a few minutes later

Guy #1: Man, I gotta pee so bad
Guy #2: So just go, right here
Guy #1: (mimics action of taking a piss) Oh yeah, I'll just go right in this flower pot
Guy #2: Hey look! They even have Purell. Perfect!

Most people have probably heard about this new show on ABC and E!, from the producer of Sex and the City (Darren Star). Anything is better than reality TV, so I decided to check it out and have seen the first 3 episodes.

The similarities with SATC are glaring: Series set in Manhattan centering on 4 powerful and stylish women who are best friends and go for regular lunch dates and after-work martinis in NYC's trendiest places while jazz plays in the background.

But there are differences:
SATC - how to navigate being single in your 30's; the women all have different careers (writer, lawyer, art dealer, PR exce)
CM - how to navigate being a woman in a male-dominated field/how to reconcile ambitious careers and your personal life; the women all went to business school together

I think SATC had a more carefree vibe. In CM, 2 of them are married with kids and they all have extremely demanding jobs (In SATC, they don't seem to explain how Carrie can afford a decent place and a huge collection of Manolos when she only writes 1 column per week! Other than Miranda, they all seemed to have fairly leisurely lives). Sometimes I think CM tries a little too hard to emphasize just how busy these women are, as they run around with their blackberrys and pencil each other into their packed schedules.

I like the fact that the show is not afraid to show strong, driven career women who are not also cold bitches and monsters (as we are used to seeing-- think "Devil Wears Prada"). A show like CM would definitely not fly 20 years ago, and it's refreshing to see how norms are changing (though a bit too slowly for my liking). These women are dedicated, passionate, and on top of their game so to speak. There are lots of feminist-y messages in the series, although they aren't always presented very subtly. For instance, in the last episode, Mia (Lucy Liu) has a short soliloquy on how society needs to change how they view women. I'm paraphrasing, but it was along the lines of, "People need to realize that a woman is not just your co-worker, she may be your boss. Women can do just as well as men -- sometimes better."

But I'm not really sure what the underlying message of CM is or how I feel about it... The catch line is: "Four ambitious and sexy women discuss their personal ups and downs as they try to have it all in New York City." Can today's modern woman truly "have it all"? After the pilot episode, the obvious answer seems to be a resounding NO. For example, in this episode Mia's boyfriend proposes to her. On the same day (lets just make the conflict really obvious here), Mia and her new fiance and pitted against each other at work, competing for the same position (one will get promoted, the other will be fired). Fiance half-jokingly suggests she step down, but of course, she doesn't. After all, men love powerful women right? 1 week later, Mia ends up "winning" the new job. Fiance brings wine and congratulates her, and then promptly dumps her. Holy Simone de Beauvoir! The moral of that story seems pretty clear: it's great to be a successful woman, as long as you don't become *too* successful. The show highlights the reality of being a high-achieving woman: lots of sacrifices and making impossibly difficult decisions about one's priorities. As Zoe states, "stay at home moms hate us, because we make them feel inadequate. Working moms hate stay at home moms because they make us feel guilty for not eliminating everything from our lives except for our children" (again, paraphrased). So it goes, for every win, there is a loss. A sobering message for sure. I suppose I appreciate this more realistic take on things, but it sure makes for depressing prime time TV!

CM also points its finger at all the gendered double standards in the business world. With women being stereotyped as being too emotional, unprofessional (e.g. if you need to stay home because your kid is sick), or slutty (using sex to get ahead), they have to work that much harder to be taken seriously. Some guys will do anything to achieve something, but if a chick does the same thing, people gossip and say she's mean or unfeminine. When Mia's fiance is appalled as the lengths she goes to to get the promotion, she just smiles and replies "I haven't done anything you wouldn't do" and you know she's right.

Where SATC focused on the love lives of the protagonists, I think that CM is more about the women as independent individuals. Sure there's romantic intrigue, but their lives don't revolve around relationships. Interestingly, one of the characters, Caitlin (Bonnie Somerville), has been involved in a same-sex relationship, right from the pilot. I can't decide whether this is just a cheap attempt to seem edgy (ah the token girl-on-girl kiss), or if it being brave and progressive. I hope the latter. So far, the relationship is depicted in a genuine way, not as a comedic interlude and without the usual dyke stereotypes. We'll see what happens... In SATC, Samantha had a brief relationship with a Portuguese, lesbian painter. But the way it was presented was very two-dimensional, a caricature with no real depth. It was never meant to be taken seriously.

Finally, I think both SATC and CM try to show empowered, independent women. But it's almost like saying that this is only attainable if you are wealthy and privileged. In SATC, it seemed to imply "hey, it's okay to be single in your 30's, as long as you can afford to frequent all the hottest bars and buy tons of fabulous shoes!" In CM, I feel the women place just a bit too much of their self-worth in their financial success. That said, the designer outfits do make for wonderful eye candy! Personally, I found some of Carrie's clothes on SATC hideous, but I really like the clothes on CM.

So, that's my impression of the show, 3 episodes in. I have misgivings (don't I always?), but it's piqued my interest and I'll probably keep watching for now. It's a great break from all those pathophysiology textbooks!

Just had my scrub session this week. It's a 1.5 hour training session that med students have to do before they can observe any surgeries in the OR. Basically, we got changed into scrubs, cover our shoes, put on funny hats, etc. Then the nurse gave us a tour of the surgical ward and taught us the proper way to wash our hands and arms (up to our elbows, in a very systematic manner). I don't think my hands ever been *so* clean! After that, the nurse helps you put on your gown and gloves in such a way that you don't touch anything you're not supposed to and contaminate everything! Finally, we learned how to square off the section that is being operated on, using different cloths, and how to handle the different tools (cauterizer, staple gun, forceps, etc.).

It was sort of fun, plus I got to peek in on a few surgeries. I saw a nurse carrying a massive bucket full of blood. Wow. It's pretty intense. Next week I'll get to watch my tutor (a surgeon) in action in the OR, probably doing some sort of GI procedure.

A couple observations and random things:
- It's super-important that everything is really clean in surgery, but man, it is David Suzuki's nightmare!! You have to wash your hands for 5 minutes+ (pre-wash, then actual wash) and you can't touch the "dirty" taps, so the water ends up just running. Some sinks have the sensors, but not all of them. A lot of things (nail cleaners, gowns, gloves, cloths, shoe covers) are single-use only, creating a LOT of waste.
- I can see how surgery could a) appeal to people with obsessive-compulsive tendencies or b) bring out OCD-like symptoms that might not have been present before. I consider myself a fairly neat and detail-oriented person, but man, you really have to be anal when you're in the OR. As in, triple-checking *everything*, making sure you have sterilized every inch of the area. For instance, you're not allowed to stand with your hands at your sides because areas below your waist are not sterile. So for hours on end, you have to stand in dopey positions with your elbows flexed, hands above your waist. Your back is also technically not sterile, so to tie the belt around your gown, you have to have someone else hold the belt while you twist your body around it (rather than simply reaching around and tying it yourself).
- It's funny because surgery is obsessed with cleanliness, but I don't think it would necessarily appeal to neat-freaks because the nature of the job itself is very messy (lots of bodily fluids flying around, etc.).
- Surgeons try not to drink much because you don't want to be in the middle of a long surgery, have to pee, and then have to scrub-in all over again!
- The nurse told us one resident once fainted in the middle of a surgery -- right onto the sterile field (i.e. on top of the table)! Everyone freaked out!

I am really excited to be able to watch some cool surgeries now (and possibly even assist a little)! However, I don't think surgery is for me. All that standing without eating or bathroom breaks, and really brutal hours... Plus, it seems kind of stressful. That's why they need to be so anal about everything. Two words: organized chaos. It's really amazing to see how efficiently everyone works, though. Of course, this is all based on my very limited exposure. Mad respect to all the surgeons out there, but I don't think I could do it. It's time to start ruling out specialties anyways...

Two high school boys on the Hamilton bus:
- "... it's this band that's like metal, but mixed with like, classical music. You know, like medieval, Renaissance stuff."
- "Cool."
- "They've got a clarinet... oh wait no, I mean a flute."
- "Wicked. A clarinet in a metal band would be lame, but the flute is cool. You know what would be SICK? Glenn Gould in a metal band. I bet he'd have like, seizures or something."

My friends:
- "Or maybe I'll be really rich and become a maharajah with courtesans..."
- "You'd be making money, not going back in time."

(After a night out at Li'ly)

"Is it just me or were those hot guys totally delusional or drunk? Because there were definitely *supermodels* in the room, yet they kept dancing with US."

LOL. Love you guys.

Movies

Best
Movies set in Paris: 2 Days in Paris, Paris Je T'Aime, La Vie en Rose
Quirky Indie goodness: Juno, Waitress, Once,Lars and the Real Girl, The Science of Sleep
Canadiana: Away from Her, Bon Cop Bad Cop (for bad Quebecois slang), Lets All Hate Toronto
Foreign: Three Times, Mon Meilleur Ami, The Lives of Others, Pan's Labyrinth
Random: Stranger than Fiction, The Nanny Diaries (okay not a good movie, but somehow struck on odd chord)
Film Fest Screenings: "Wings of Defeat" (Hot Docs, about Japanese kamikaze pilots), "The Dance Lesson" (Worldwide Short Film Fest)



Worst
Evening (trailer was better than the movie), Music and Lyrics

Dance

Best
Ballet: Balanchine's "Don Quixote", Christopher Wheeldon's "Polyphonia", Anything Jerome Robbins ("In the Night", "Glass Pieces", "West Side Story", "Opus 19/The Dreamer"), Mad Hot Ballet gala, Erik Bruhn Prize (especially "Petit Mort" with Misty Copeland and Jared Matthews), ProArteDanza
Modern: Pina Bausch Tanztheater "Nefes" (pictured below), Shen Wei Dance Arts "Rite of Spring"
Other: Alvin Ailey  "Revelations"



Worst
Matjash Mrozewski's "Wolf's Court"

Theatre

Best
Soulpepper Theatre: Top Girls (pictured below), Mary Stuart
Stratford Festival: Of Mice and Men
Canstage: Dream in High Park



Music

Best Concerts
Iron and Wine, Feist and Gonzales, Jeffrey Kahane Ravel Piano Concerto, Leila Josefowicz Prokofiev violin concerto #1, K'Naan, Tori Amos

Best CDs/songs
Patrick Watson "Close to Paradise" (pictured below), Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton "Knives Don't Have Your Back", Amy Winehouse "Back to Black", Feist "The Reminder", Gonzales Solo Piano, Once soundtrack, random Gwen Stefani and Timbaland



Books

Best
Haruki Murakami: After Dark, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles, South of the Border West of the Sun
Short stories: Magical Thinking (Augusten Burroughs), Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures (Vincent Lam) -- overhyped though

Worst
A Farewell to Arms (I kept trying, but couldn't get into it), The Camera My Mother Gave Me (Susanna Kaysen) -- not as good as "Girl, Interrupted"



Misc.

Best
Jane Goodall lecture "Gombe and Beyond" (so inspiring)
Glenn Gould "The Sounds of Genius" at the National Museum of Civilization (Ottawa)
Second City "Facebook of Revelations"
Canadian Opera Company "Elektra"

Worst
The Spiegel Show (a burlesque show... most awkward first date ever)



Food

Best
Hamilton: La Luna, Incognito, Bistro Parisien, Nina's Bistro and Wine Bar, My Dog Joe
Toronto: Fresh, Cucina, Dolce (best gelato), Thuet Bistro Bakery (but really expensive:S), Utopia, Terroni, Mercatto, Sen5es, Tequila Bookworm, Le Petit Dejeuner, Golden Thai, Balzac's Coffee, Over Easy, Epic

Worst
Spring Rolls (food quality has gone down since the chain has expanded), Marche (food is okay, but overpriced), Ki (too much attitude, and also overpriced)

Nightlife

Best
This is London (on saturdays, NOT fridays when it's all house music), Ultra Supper Club (just for its patio), Li'ly Lounge, El Convento Rico, Koi/Sizzle, Absinthe, Byzantium (amazing martinis)

Worst
Metro, Squeeze (still fun, but is it just me or are the guys there getting slimier?), Bedford Ballroom (well, it doesn't exist anymore), The Hub (my own basement feels nicer)

Etc.

Best
Finally going back to JAPAN, Interviewing Royal Danish Ballet dancers, taking the Mental Health course (health studies), getting my B.A.Sc. (!!!), going to Ottawa, presenting at a conference, working at St. Michael's Hospital, Mac Meds -- orientation week fun times, Bark Lake trip, starting up Mac's Psychiatry Interest Group, Nuit Blanche, LuminaTO, Salsa for Charity, my new apartment, my diva cup, TVO "The Agenda", family medicine placement in Brantford (my preceptor used to be a dance teacher!), One of a Kind Show, sleeping in!

Worst
crazy med school interview intense-ness, stressing about major life decisions, never-ending thesis, moving back to the Hammmmer

Today in anatomy class:

• "Blood pressure is the only thing we still measure in mm of Hg and not kPa. I have no idea why. It's like measuring your height in barley grains."
  
• "Hemorrhoids are the price we pay for standing up [i.e. humans being bipedal]."

• In small group on evidence based medicine: "You know what? I heard Up to Date ain't so up to date!"
• More evidence based medicine:
•  "If you treat a patient correctly, it's more economically efficient because the patient will not have to come back for as many visits."
• "Yeah,  well technically if the patient is DEAD they won't need to come back for ANY visits!
• In clinical skills (all said by the same classmate):
  
• "Wow, I've never had it in that deep before!" (referring to an otoscope)
• "I don't have much of a gag reflex" (tongue supressors)
• "I like to learn by sticking my fingers in things!" (disecting a pig's chest)
• This one is actually from volunteer training at the Hamilton AIDS Network: "I am a recovering Catholic."
• In professional competencies: "This patient was so uptight. I could tell that he would not be able to have that surrender that is necessary for a gratifying sexual experience..." (only in the hippie med school do the instructors take the liberty to describe their idea of good sex).
  
• Preceptor referring to a system we haven't studied yet: "Coming to an MF [medical foundation unit] near you!"

Stay tuned for more...