Aaaaaaaand cut! That's a wrap. Pre-clinical classes are ova.

So here we are. The end of a VERY busy fall semester. And actually, the end of pre-clinical courses (AKA the "sitting in class and studying your brains out by yourself when you aren't sitting in class" part of medical school). Most medical schools pre-clinical curricula run for two years, but UVa Med squeezes it into a year and a half. You certainly won't hear any complaints from this guy. I'm ready to get in the hospital and draw some blood and stitch some people up and deliver some babies and other medicalish stuff like that. I'm ALMOST THERE. Just like this baby panda:

 

Currently, the only thing standing between me and rotations is the USMLE Step 1 exam. Psssshhh. Just one test. No big deal, right? I've taken hundreds of tests in my life. WRONG. It's a very big deal. From what I hear, the Step 1 score is the single most important factor on a residency application. That being said, I'm just going to study like crazy for the next 6 weeks and hope for the best. That's all anyone can do, right?

Anyways, in an effort to pretend like I'm still keeping a blog, I'm posting now, since I won't be blogging for the next few months. So...without further ado, here are a bunch of November/December pictures with barely informative captions.

• I still go to UVa. And it's still beautiful. Cue Rotunda picture:

• Anatomy officially ended. We had a beautiful memorial service in the UVa cemetery to show are appreciation to the cadaver donors and families of donors.

• I also took a bunch of pictures by my house. I live in a beautiful place:

• I also visited my friend Tyler. We rode scooters and ate applesauce while wearing business attire, because, you know, that's what 25 year-old guys typically do for fun.

• We also visited Arlington National Cemetery on Veteran's Day weekend.

• Played some flag football. A lot of flag football, actually. When you're 5'10" and weigh a buck fifty, you have to take advantage of all available opportunities to play the non-contact version of a sport you love.

• I also got to pretend to be a doctor every Thursday from 1 pm to 5 pm with my clinical group. Fantastic group of incredible people. I mean, let's be real, I wouldn't know how to check for papilledema if it weren't for these people.

• Also. I attended the Medical Society of Virginia annual meeting at the Homestead resort, located up in the Appalachians near West Virginia. The accommodations were alright, I guess.

• And the speed limits were very specific. Which was good. I always appreciate well-defined expectations.

• I went to a vineyard with a bunch Africa-trip friends. What does a Mormon do at a vineyard you ask? Oh that's easy. Eat an entire thing of brie by himself. At least that's what this one does.

• And lest you think all I do is walk around Virginia taking pictures, here is a picture of what I spend 97% of my life doing. Not so glamorous, but it's the truth.

• Of course, I get distracted by the internet every now and again. But hey, I learn medical stuff then, too.

• Until I don't. But even then, I learn important life lessons, like how to handle finances.

• Or what to do if I run into wild animals.

• Or how to react if I'm attacked by a no-armed man.

• Like I said, I'm learning VERY important life lessons. On that note, I should wrap this up. It's been a crazy year and a half. Exams. Friends. Family. Charlottesville. Africa. Anatomy lab. Patients. Fun. Not fun. Studying, studying, and more studying. And the best classmates anyone could ask for. What a ride. Lucky for me, it keeps going. See you on the other side of boards!

There's No Place Like Home

As many of you know, after graduating from high school in 2006, I attended Brigham Young University in Utah for four years, and, between my freshman and sophomore years, went on a mission trip for my church to the Volga Region of Russia for two years. I remember calculating the total time I had spent with my family from June 2006-June 2009, and I had spent a total of 13 days with my family. Crazzzzy.

So, that being said, it probably comes as no surprise that one of my favorite parts of attending medical school in the good ole Commonwealth is that I get to see my family MUCH more often now than I have the past few years. Charlottesville (where I go to school) and Abingdon (where my family lives) are about 3.5 hours away, assuming you drive 6 over and limit bathroom breaks. Here are some maps to assist with your geographical understanding of my life:

This weekend, I met the family at Natural Bridge, Virginia, a place located just off the interstate in between Abingdon and Charlottesville. Natural Bridge is home to (you guessed it!) the Natural Bridge (of "1001 Natural Wonders to See Before You Die" fame).

In addition to the Natural Bridge, there is also a drive-thru safari park located nearby. Yeah. A safari park in the Middle of Nowhere, Virginia. Weird, huh? I was a little skeptical. The first time an Arabian Oryx stuck it's head through our car window, though, I was a believer. We had a great time! We got to see and/or feed camels and rhinos and llamas and elk and kangaroos and giraffes and, my personal favorite, a white tiger! Expectations? Thoroughly exceeded. Here are a few pictures.

Disclaimer: I have no financial ties to the Virginia Safari Park, other than a slightly overpriced admissions ticket. 

Me as a camel:

A camel as a camel:

Beautiful Virginia on a cloudy day:

"I WASN'T scared. I was surprised." -Dad

The ultra rare three-legged baby zebra:

Just kidding. The zebra has four legs. Also. We fed these things from our car and survived:

Madre McMurray, playing with parakeets:

QT with the little sister:

 

“Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for means of habitation than Virginia." -John Smith, 1612. I agree, Mr. Smith:

I went all the way to Africa and didn't get to feed a giraffe. Go figure.

So there you go. A good time was had by all. I highly recommend the Virginia Safari Park. Lots of action. And lots of fun seeing the family, even if it was only for a few hours. Living in Virginia has absolutely been one of my favorite parts of medical school thus far. Dorothy and I are on the same page. There's definitely no place like home.

Six Reasons for a Mormon to go to UVA Med

It's been over a month since my last post. Life has been busy busy. Busy busier than normal, in fact. In addition to normal school work, I've been getting my research manuscript ready for submission to journals, and I'm also kinda-sorta-reluctantly starting to study for Step 1 boards (which happen in January). Basically, what I'm trying to say is this: don't expect much from me for the next couple of months, socially, mentally, psychologically, blog-ally, or otherwise. I will be preoccupied attempting to just keep swimming. Ellen Degeneres said that that one time when she was a fish. Wise words. 

Anyways, in case you were wondering, here are 6 reasons a Mormon should go to UVASOM.

1. Your classmate friends love you so much they drag you to beer festivals even though you don't drink. Plus, they allow you the privilege of being their #1 DD.

2. The curriculum is fun (because you get to read good quotes and take your own ECG), but challenging. Sometimes so challenging, in fact, that only 19% of the class gets a multiple choice question correct, which is roughly 6% lower than random guessing. Who wouldn't want to be challenged like that?

 

3. The BYU football team comes to Charlottesville and plays their season openers half a mile away from the med school. And you get to hang out with the star running back the night before the game.

4. You get to do summer research in exotic locations and present your research at big, fancy convention centers. Sometimes you even get to wear bow ties and pose seductively with your poster tube.

5. Many of your classmates are local people, so you get to hang out at their Virginia lake houses if you are nice to them.

6. You live two hours from Washington, DC, so you get to see lots of your favorite people when the pass through. If the lighting and weather are perfect and you have your DSLR handy, you can even take model shots in front of all of the memorials.

And that, boys and girls, is why Mormons should come to UVA Med. The End.