MIA

Hello gentle readers.
I've been a bit off-the-set lately. We're in "intersession" this week, which is boring besides getting to see all of my classmates and hear how things are going for them. People look tired. We've lost our dewy youthful look, for sure. But people also seem enlivened and engaged, on the whole.

I was inspired yesterday by our talk about providing healthcare to people with disabilities. I want to see this movie "The Sound and the Fury" that has nothing to do with Faulkner and everything to do with cochlear implants for congenitally deaf children. Apparently there are whole intentional communities of deaf people who consider these cochlear implants "a form of cultural genocide," according to our lecturer. Piqued my interest, for sure, in that it's amazing how strongly people identify with a group, and how disabilities can be a primary identity for certain individuals and groups. I also respected the opinion held by some people that there is no such thing as a disability because if the world were resource-rich and accommodating enough, functional limitations could be essentially eliminated.

My reduced posting will probably persist through July, as most of you know that I have the pleasure of revisiting Step 1 of the boards. I'm feeling good about it this time around. I've traded in my "this is a pointless waste-of-time exam" attitude for "I have to do this to realize my dreams." And having seen any patients with any diseases is helping me to care about the material, too. Anyway, as usual, I am deeply grateful for the massive amount of support I enjoy. The TWIGs have been so nice handing over their resources; special thanks to Nicole and Jade for putting the Goljan lectures on to an iPod for me -- what service! And they see my retake as an opportunity to have another done-with-boards celebration. Second time's the charm...

So I won't be in the clinic very much for the next month, but I may have some good stories from the OR and other scattered patient time. In the meantime, send me hardcore study vibes, and I'll resurface after July 25, just in time for Julie and Arturo to arrive.