Medical School Update
Wow! So here we are 5 months into medical school, and I''m finally writing my first blog post. I do apologize for some of you who I've kept waiting. School has taken some time to get used to and coupled with my extracurricular involvement and "me" time, I haven't had much time to update the site. Now that it's a new year and I've settled into things, you can expect somewhat more frequent updates.
So where to begin. UCSF is awesome. San Francisco is awesome. I love it here. So much. If you had asked me if I would be as happy as I am a year ago at this point I would never have believed you. Medical school has the reputation of being stressful above everything, and although that is partly true, I have come to enjoy it. It is challenging, but in a good way, and the curriculum at UCSF, coupled with the outstanding faculty, students, and learning environment, have made these last 5 months quite enjoyable. The curriculum is integrated (for example, our last block we learned about the physiology of the heart, heart anatomy, heart pharmacology, etc. all at once, in "one course"), and although the amount of material we have covered could be thought of as overwhelming, it's incredible what you can accomplish if you set your mind to it.
Curriculum
So far, we have covered two major topics. The first topic was called "Prologue," and in this block we learned a little bit about everything. Some biochemistry, some physiology, some pharmacology, some immunology, basic/gross anatomy, etc. We built a foundation for the topics to come. Throughout the course of the fall, we then moved into "Organs block" which is subdivided into different organ categories. We first studied the cardiovascular system, and now we've moved into the pulmonary system. As I stated before, it's been great so far. Lots of really great material taught by some amazing folks.
San Francisco
An amazing place to say the least. I live in the Sunset, and boy do I love it. Golden Gate Park is across the street from me (!!), and I frequent it quite often. There are many absolutely delicious restaurants in the area (especially asian) which I try to visit, but I still haven't made any kind of significant dent. Going out over here has brought many joys to my palate and I do recommend for any of you that visit SF to frequent some of the restaurants here as they are (almost) all top-notch in taste and quality. The city has many sights and different neighborhoods, all within walking (or MUNI) distance, which has allowed me to strike a more significant dent in regards to where I've been in SF. Since moving here in August, I've also been able to visit places outside the city. I've visited Yosemite, Mt. Diablo, Lake Tahoe, and several places across the Golden Gate (like Sausalito, Stinson Beach, Muir Woods, etc.), and gone on many adventures!
Lifestyle Medicine at UCSF
Something I've been working on these past couple of months has been the creation and development of a new interest group on campus: the Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group. We've aligned ourselves with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and are in the process of leading a movement within our class and school to push for Lifestyle Medicine in the medical school curriculum, to educate and inform students about the benefits and opportunities that lifestyle medicine can provide, and to serve as the link between the faculty/administration and students in all matters lifestyle medicine. I am attaching a powerpoint of our first meeting to this website as it contains a lot of really cool information (for those interested in some facts, numbers, and studies) as well as what you can expect from our group in the coming year. We are extremely excited to get this group started and to begin a lifestyle medicine movement at UCSF School of Medicine.
On another note, we will be using this website to promote the interests of our group, so keep a lookout for some major changes on the website over the next few months as we begin to place more resources here as well as UCSF Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group-related information. Happy New Year and remember to stay true to yourself...don't lose sight of those new year's resolutions...you can do it! Set realistic goals and take it one day at a time.
Stay posted for the next blog post!
