Back to the Motherland

My spring break starts on Friday, but since there aren't any mandatory classes (I've stopped going to non-mandatory classes last year haha) I've decided to start my spring break early. The destination this year...Korea. I haven't visited since I was 18 (~5 years ago?) so I'm excited to go back. Even though I'm only going to be there for 9-10 days, I'm still looking forward to it. It's a family vacation because it's my grandmother's 80th birthday, so I don't expect to do any fun nightlife stuff, but I am looking forward to the relaxation (even though I have finals again when I get back) and allll the good food. I do wish I could explore the gay scene in Korea (but then again, I haven't even explored the gay scene in NY) but I don't think it would be such a good idea since I don't really know anyone in Korea and my family (other than my sister) does not know about my sexuality. Here's to my last vacation before intense boards studying begins!

Making time to workout

Yea, I know I look like a tool.

Throughout high school, I was an incredibly scrawny kid. I always wanted to gain muscle, but I wasn't too good about weight training, and was ~125 pounds throughout all four years. I spent most of my year training for and playing volleyball or running, so I guess it didn't help me to bulk up either. The summer after high school, I was determined to put on some muscle mass. My two best friends from hs were already pretty bulky so they went to the gym with me and we would train for 2-3 hours everyday during the summer.
In college, I definitely had a harder time working out, but I still made time. I gave into the whole protein powder thing, and tried to eat healthy (or as healthy as a college student can). I was able to gain a lot of weight though and was around 150.
In med school, despite the lack of time, I would always make time to go to the gym. I try to go 5-6 times a week and am still trying to bulk up (currently around 155). I'm definitely not in the best shape compared to other guys my age, but I'm definitely not ashamed of my body.

Anyways, this brings me to the main reason for my post, the frustration I feel towards people who don't take care of their bodies. It's not my place to judge, but as a future physician, I think it's incredibly important to be able to talk to patients about how to better take care of their bodies. It is not just a coincidence that Americans have the highest rate of obesity, and the second highest rate of being overweight. We live in a society that promotes living high paced lifestyles, leading us to eat fast foods, and skip exercise time. We become so complacent with our lifestyles, that we become unwilling to make changes. Instead of sitting in the house watching tv for an hour, that hour can be spent walking/running outside or going to the gym.
We are so concerned about the cost of healthcare, yet we are unwilling to make some changes in our lifestyles that can prevent the diseases that lead to hospital admissions. I understand that some people can't exercise because of other health reasons (joint pains, pulmonary issues) but I think a majority of Americans are just lazy.
(I'm sorry if this post was just me ranting, but it's because I really do care about the issue and it really saddens me when I see patients in the hospital who are unwilling to make simple changes in their lifestyles that can improve their health dramatically).

Match Day!

So today is Match Day! At noon, all the fourth years found out where they will be doing their residencies for the next couple of years. It's basically the one day that everyone in med school (including myself) looks forward to because it is the time when all the hard work during school pays off. Even though my own match day is still two years away (cannot wait!) it was still exciting to see the fourth years and their families celebrate. There were some amazing matches: plastics at ucsf, peds at children's hospital in penn, a lot of yale, etc. It also got me a littleee worried because looking at the list, I also saw that a lot of people ended up at stony brook or nearby hospitals. I mean I think it's fine if people wanted to end up here, but I know for a fact that I cannot stay at stony brook or near here for residency. I just need some city life. So I guess when the time comes, I know I won't apply or rank residencies at places I really don't want; I'd rather take a year off and increase my chances for the following year. I guess I should start working a lot harder to get where I want to be in the future.
Anyways, congrats to the class of 2012!!

Excited for next year!

Even though I still have 2 more months of second year left, and an 8 hour exam to take in June (ahh), I am definitely looking forward to next year (third year). We received our rotation schedules for next year and I got the exact order I wanted: pediatrics, internal medicine (with ambulatory), electives (hopefully anesthesiology and emergency medicine), surgery, psychiatry, neurology, and ob/gyn. I'll also be living at home (or close to home) which will be the first time since high school to do so. I was able to get most of my sites at hospitals near my house back home, and I figured it would be a nice way to save money (i can take out less loans now). I just hope I don't butt heads with my parents too much, but I figure I'll be in the hospital 10-12 hours everyday so I'll rarely see them anyways.

It does still scare me that I have no idea what specialty I want to go into, but I hear everyone figures it out in third year, and I guess I have a general sense of what interests me. I do know I will not be going into peds, ob/gyn (which is why i am starting and ending third year with them), and psych, but the other specialties still interest me.

I'm also hoping living at home, closer to the city, will be able to spark my dating life. It is seriously so difficult to meet anyone out here in LI, and even though I'll be busy with third year, it's nice to know that I'll be able to meet more guys in the city (well I'm hoping I'll be able to anyways).

But yea, I am getting ahead of myself, and I still have the boards exams to take (and hopefully rock, although the idea of failing scares me everyday).

Are you kidding me....?

Yesterday I read an article that definitely ticked me off. It can be found here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bonus-withdrawal-puts-bankers-malaise-050100338.html

When I think of a disaster, the last thing that comes to mind is having a salary of $350,000. Perhaps I have to put things in perspective and shouldn't be as annoyed by these people who are complaining that they've had to "cut back", but I just don't understand how people can be complaining about that salary. I guess it just angers me even more because growing up, my family faced a lot of financial hardships. As Korean immigrants (initially illegal), my parents couldn't really get decent jobs, so they were forced to work in small businesses. I think the average income of both my parents combined was around $20,000 (that might even be a lot) and we got by. Sure there were many frustrating times and I was forced to work at a relatively young age, but I think in the end, I learned the valuable lesson of hard work and appreciation.

Do these people even deserve to get paid $350K? I know that in the future, as a physician, I will definitely be making more then the average American, but the amount of time, work, and (loan) money that physicians put in seem to justify that, no? In fact, there have recently been a lot of reports of physicians who are having difficulty paying off their medical school loans and making a decent living. Somehow it doesn't seem right that physicians, who are essentially saving people's lives, are getting paid less that businessmen, who, in my opinion, aren't making the same impact on society. Again, I should put things in perspective and see it from the other side but that's just how I feel at the moment.