Shortie: Accumulating the Miles

Above: Summer 2009. my 2002 Ford Focus with 22500+ miles on it.

ROADS? WHERE WE'RE GOING...
WE DON'T NEED ROADS.

Wrong, Doc Brown. For my adventure we're going to need them, and lots of them.

Starting February 15th, you'll start to hear about some of my adventures on the wards. I'll be honest: I think its too cliche to measure an adventure by days, so I'm going to go out on a limb and do it in miles. You see, my Ford Focus is 7.5 years old and has been to many places and been through many things (inclusive of: high school prom, Walt Disney World, college, weddings, blizzards, and even into stupid potholes). However, even with all that, my car still just has over 22,500 miles on it (as I've been away from the U.S. for a while). So, to me, as much as this will be important for my car to get the miles, I see my clinical years as a rite of passage, as with each mile I get on my car, I'm a mile closer to getting my M.D. and hopefully my residency.

Most of my drives will be commuting, but there will be others which will be much more than that. So... Stay tuned. We'll get that odometer running soon.

One Man, One Hospital, One Haiti

Above: A snapshot of Ian Rawson's blog accounting the care at Hopital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti.

When I was watching ABC News coverage of the Haiti earthquake, I saw someone from Haiti that I recognized from years back.

Ian Rawson is a very humble, cheerful man I met several years ago at a conference my mom went to in 2002 or 2003. I think my mom introduced me to him because he was a man who knew how things worked in the medical circuit (I had been interested in working in medicine since high school). He also was a former hospital administrator. I remember during breakfast, over some chopped fruits and a danish in a large ballroom, we were talking about how it was to get into medical school. He gave me some good encouragement and wished me the best with a smile before we had to leave. I had to take a picture with him, and it was so good it landed in one of our family albums.

A few days ago, however, there his face was on TV, and this time, not smiling... crying. As he talked to the reporter, he looked like he was in pain, as a country who he has dedicated his life to has been struck with disaster. Mr. Rawson serves on the board of directors for the hospital, a hospital that he showed that he clearly cares about. According to the accounts on ABC news, people are making a 50 mile, 3 hour trip out to Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, which was not damaged by the earthquake, to get medical care not currently present in the capital.

Mr. Rawson started a blog covering day-to-day accounts at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer. And at present he seems to be getting a hold of the situation, with surgical teams and doctors coming from the United States to take care of the increased load. With the hard work of the staff that is evident in the blog, along with the heart that Mr. Rawson has, I can see them reaching to as many people in Haiti that they possibly can. I send Mr. Rawson, the doctors, and the patients my prayers.

• For those of you interested keeping up with the day-to-day accounts with Mr. Rawson,
  Visit: http://hashaiti.blogspot.com/.
• For more information on the hospital and Mr. Rawson,
  Visit http://www.hashaiti.org/.
• To donate directly to the hospital,
  Please follow the link on his blog or the website.
  

Pass or Play?

PLAY.

We're pretty aware of what has been going on in Haiti. It's not pretty. A lot of images and stories that we're getting are coming from the truckloads of reporters (that come with the truckloads of supplies) making the trip to the hit country.

I was reading an article on Sphere, covering how reporters are doing "double duty" acting as both reporters and humanitarians in Haiti. However, this goes much against the journalistic rule of not getting personally involved in the stories they are covering. I've posted the most dramatic video footage from the article above, which features Anderson Cooper (when it says viewer discretion is advised... CNN means it) pulling a injured boy to safety. Also according to the article, Dr. Sanjay Gupta was criticized for getting into the action too often.

However, I see the journalists also as people who have human common sense. Unless the danger is too much, how can someone just watch people struggle when their two hands can make the difference between life and death? If I was in that situation down there, I'd try to give my hand where help was needed. I think many of the journalism doctors (Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN, Dr. Jennifer Ashton of CBS, and Dr. Richard Besser of ABC, and others) are doing right for helping out. Any doctor to help out with traumatic surgeries and to aid the hundreds looking for medical attention, is helpful. Their health care infrastructure is truly non-existent right now.

In Halti, safety is a gamble, but when the opportunity calls, (its kinda like a game show), like in Port-au-Prince, I think its worth it to take a risk.

I wish I could go down there, and from what I've heard, a lot of us medical students want to do so too. However, we are always willing to offer our thoughts, prayers, and donations to the people of Haiti.

Putting Two-and-Two Together

INVENT.

A poster in the room where I spend some of my days studying is one of few words, including the one above and "motorola.com" (from the respective sponsor of the poster), but to me it means a lot. It has various gears on the poster in a red/blue/green color scheme, and sometimes I'll just look up to Learning medicine isn't just about the memorizing of rote details and quirky facts, it requires an ability to put information together. Kary Mullis in the short TED talk I had an opportunity to watch a few days ago was a man who was able to do the latter.

Kary Mullis, who is credited for invention of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), in this talk took two very well known pieces together and was willing to take a risk with them:

1) Knowing that there are specific molecules in transplants that are attacked by the human body.
2) Knowing that there are species of bacteria that are achieving resistance to antibiotics.

Putting two-and-two together, as seen in this talk:

Why don't we come up with a way to tag these antigenic molecules to the resistant bacteria, so the body utilizes the molecule to increase effectiveness of the immune system on these organisms?

I'll have to say that is good thinking there. I betcha the idea to some scientists might have seemed quite silly at first, but Mullis went ahead and tried it. He seems to have progress with his research. And I admire him for his ideas, for that's medicine (like I've probably seen seventeen-thousand times in my blog): not just treating people, but working towards preventing any health obstacles foreseen (and unforeseen) ahead of us.

Thinking about how "simple" it was just to put those two ideas together, in reality it seems to take a lot of guts, risk, and work.

First Lecture of 2010

Above: The best of all pictures from Randy Pausch's Update Page featuring his daughter, Chloe.

DID YOU CATCH THE
HEAD FAKE?

I'm really looking forward to the year 2010. As I enter the new decade, it was welcomed by my mom and dad, my best friend Neal and his wife (who were in town visiting), and of course, James Taylor. Okay, I'll explain the latter.

It usually spend New Year's with my family (which has come to mean a lot to me), as I was never into all that celebrating/partying/yackety-smackety. I honestly think that the moment that the clock strikes 12 simply means that the calendar turns to another day. What's more important to me is seeing how the new year can mean something that +1 on the calendar but more what can I do with that year. So, I avoided anything on TV regarding countdowns (even the NYC ball drop) until the last 2 minutes of the Chicago countdown. After flipping through channels, I thought that James Taylor singing his hit songs on acoustic guitar on PBS would be perfect for a toned down night.

Taylor's One Man Band DVD is highly recommended, btw.

However, the next day on YouTube, I found a video that unexpectedly set my new year on the right note. It was a lecture given by Randy Pausch, formerly a professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

The video I found was described as his "Last Lecture," which was an academic tradition at Carnegie Mellon University that was to be given as if it was the person's final one... ever. For Pausch, it truly was. Although Pausch was championing his pancreatic cancer (he was outliving his original expectation to live 3-6 months), Pausch knew that at a point he was going to lose the battle (it had already spread to other organs). Yet, in front of a standing room crowd, Pausch proved that he was still much stronger than much of crowd by demonstrating his pushup skills (alternating between 1- and 2-handed versions). His "accidental celebrity" status (as he termed it) all started with a lecture that has attracted 10 million plus views on YouTube. In it, Pausch spoke about his dreams.

... and not just achieving them. How we make them come true. Who helped us along the way. How the dream came true even though it wasn't they way one imagined. The effort needed to achieve them. How grateful we need to be for what we can get...

In the talk he gives, called "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams," he tells the audience about how he wanted to play in the NFL, meet Captain Kirk, and even become a Disney imagineer (something I also have wondered about doing), and how the dreams had came true, but not in the way he had originally expected. Yet to Pausch, the outcomes were quite satisfying. I never expected to stay on board for his 1.25 hour long lecture, but his humor and personality caught my attention and grabbed my curiousity.

Just by watching the video, I knew that Pausch was a man that really wanted to live life to the fullest, and for knowing that he wouldn't be in the world much longer, I salute the man for having the strength to make the best of what remaining life he had. He used his efforts to improve awarness of Pancreatic Cancer and even coming back to Carnegie Mellon again to share more of his lessons with the graduating class of 2008. Pausch passed away that year, 22 months after his original diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, leaving behind his wife and family. Although his life had ended, he went on to motivate his family and millions of others. He was featured on news outlets such as Good Morning America, Time magazine, and CBS Sunday Morning. He also wrote a book called The Last Lecture which eventually went to become a New York Times Bestseller.

After watching and learning about the Carnegie Mellon professor, I ended up making one of my objectives this year to work even harder towards my dreams... the dream of not just becoming a doctor, but to hopefully to turn out to be a great one.

Randy, thanks for making me learn a lot from my first lecture of 2010. Here's to you.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK: Watch the lecture. It might be just what you need to start the New Year. When you get a chance to watch his video, watch out for the "head fakes" (aka deeper messages) in his lecture and see if you can figure out what they are before he tells you what they are at the end of the video (I'll give you a hint, there's two). I know you'll get a few of those "Aha" moments when you learn what they are. Just trust me.

Shortie: What about the Pigs?

Above: The American Pig's POV (Part 1, Airdate 4/27/2009)

I COME TO YOU TONIGHT FROM THE
ASSOCIATED ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN PIGS.

A few weeks ago, I posted a clip featuring Craig Ferguson's serious side on his late night talk show (The Late Late Show) on CBS. Here, I've put a few clips of how this late show host can make a serious issue quite funny by shining a different light upon the subject. Ferguson brings up an interesting point of view of the H1N1 Influenza A Virus (aka the Swine Flu)... Have we really thought about the pigs? How do they feel? What is their point of view?

Well, Craig will make their case best, so enough from me, and watch the following 3 clips (above / below) from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (which airs at 12:35 PM EST on your local CBS affiliate).

BTW - To those new to the show, "The Scottish Conan Guy" refers to Mr. Ferguson himself.

Above: The American Pig's POV (Part 2, Airdate 4/28/2009)

Above: Manfred, The ProfessNor of Dangerous Flus (Airdate 5/4/2009)

All clips above are (c)2009 CBS and Worldwide Pants Productions.

Retrospective: The Flight of Hell

Above: A McDonald's. In America? Nope.

Being at a Caribbean Medical School seems awesome in many aspects: you get good weather, get to taste a different side of culture, and it is an experience of a lifetime. However, last week marked the one year anniversary of an event that was best put as a Hall & Oates song title:

SO CLOSE (YET SO FAR AWAY).

See, the one huge disadvantage about going to school in the Caribbean was moving my life away from the States and taking it someplace else for such a short time. I had to take my life, and restart it over in the Atlantic. But I amazed myself on how much I actually accumulated in terms of experiences and physical things. Talk about baggage... and I only had 70 lbs (sometimes 50 lbs) of it to carry it back home.

Last year, when I was heading home after my fourth semester at Ross, I had my biggest flight nightmare ever. My itinerary had me leaving Ross on the 19th of December in the morning, and arriving late at night on the same day. I was definitely grateful to have a schedule without a layover... unfortunately, one unexpectedly came my way.

PRELUDE:
When flying to Dominica, there are two major options: LIAT and American Airlines. The advantages of flying American Airlines is one layover (24hr) in San Juan and a direct flight from Dominica to San Juan, but the disadvantage is that it was a hefty ($1100 two-way) trip at the time. Utilizing LIAT, you could save $200-$300 depending on the flight connection combinations, but those combinations could result in disastrous transfer times of less than 60 minutes at unfamiliar Caribbean airports. Utilizing my budget mind, I had booked my flight to Dominica that semester on LIAT. I had survived 7 flights, over the past 4 semesters, utilizing my budget itineraries and a handful of crammed transfers.

I guess eight is a charm.

DECEMBER 19, 2008:
Posting my 11 AM flight out of Dominica from the small, but nicely refurbished Melville Hall airport in Dominica, we noticed that our LIAT Airplane was an hour late. Fortunately, during that time I had caught up with my friends Jo and Jemini in the waiting room. They also had similar flight connections with me, as they both were heading back to Chicago. The caveat was that Jo had an international flight to Asia the morning after she arrived. As soon as the plane arrived, we were engulfed with constant promises (and apologies) from LIAT, but I really started to feel unsure about the rest of my itinerary, with a short transfer time in Antigua, I thought everything had screwed up.

Fortunately, we made it. Home free? Not exactly. When I was going through the transfer desk in Antigua, I noticed that my baggage tag copy did not have my name on it. It was someone elses. Because of this tag mishap, the LIAT staff sent me through customs (which was a much longer process). Being the talker that I was, I started talking to people in line about my issue, and I started to talk to someone else who had the same problem happen to him. The name on his tag: mine... and my tag: his. With a jump for joy, I got out of the customs line and went back to transfer after we both gave each other our respective tags. It was then that I had a quick hot dog with one my fellow Rossies, John (which I do truly recommend from the Big Banana Food Bar in the waiting area), and soon Jo, Jemini and I we were ready to board the flight to our next stop, St. Maarten.

When we reached St. Maarten, I ended up staying behind at the luggage carousel to pick up my baggage for my next flight (due to my switching of airlines, I had to re check-in). After a long wait where my patience was tested, my bag did not appear on the belt. I had to spend time to report it. Just great, more hassle, I thought.

At that point, time was of the essence, so I ran through customs and right to the check-in desk... My next flight was a U.S. Airways scheduled flight for Charlotte, N.C. If you imagine the scene in the original Home Alone where the McCallister family is running to catch a flight, you're imagining the way we were running to catch our next flight, with 45 minutes on the clock. As soon as I got to the desk, they said that they had their policy for international flights is that 60 minutes before boarding check-in stops. We pleaded to get on the plane, as the plane was still at the dock, but unfortunately that was a no-go.

Jo, Jemini, and I decided to wave the flag that night, and U.S. airways was happy to reschedule our remaining flights to the next day (making me on target for arriving the next day). We ended up gathering another follower to our "screwed over" group, George (who was heading for Detroit). We ended up staying at a hotel and splitting the bill in St. Maarten. It was good though that it was a touristy area, and everything was close to the airport (including this grand Steakhouse called Ranchero, which we dined at for dinner). After splurging on McDonald's (because haven't had any in a while), we decided to rest before heading home the next day.

DECEMBER 20, 2008:
After grabbing a quick breakfast at the Mickey D's, we scheduled our Taxi for the airport. Jo had left our group earlier that morning, as during the previous night she spent time contacting her husband in America to schedule a flight for her on another airline. Our midday flights out of St. Maarten would make her tardy for her international schedule.

Jemini, George, and I made it to the check in desk to find out that our new schedule combination was not reserved, so we ended up going to the reservation desk to hassle our way to get our way back home today. We were soon rescheduled on another flight just an hour later, also to Charlotte, so we were relieved. Once again... Check-in... customs... wait. When Jemini and I caught ourselves at the gate, we congratulated each other for making it through finally.

We jinxed ourselves. The PA soon announced: "U.S. Airways flight XXXX has just been canceled due to mechanical issues with the airplane. Please come to the desk at the gate to reschedule your flight."

Jemini and I were in disbelief. We rushed up to the desk, and soon were about 40 people back in line. I reached for my cell phone... At this point, I thought that not even roaming charges could keep me from arriving home. I kept dialing the U.S. Airways number, but my phone was not only out of batteries, but kept disconnecting from the signal. It was fortunate that my cell phone could plug into a laptop and charge off of it. And that's exactly what I did (see below). I kept calling, but due to the holding time for an "available operator", my laptop battery had been burned just about to zero. I just had enough time to put in my schedule change (which was for a flight about 3 hours later to Charlotte), but my phone died when I was about to schedule in Jemini's and George's.

I ended up to be the only member of our group that day to land in America, as Jemini and George ended up taking a voucher from U.S. Airways to stay in St. Marteen. Getting out of Charlotte-Douglas International Airport into 50 degree temps and getting a little soggy from the pouring rain was actually an amazing feeling (especially since U.S. Airways picked up the tab), so I boarded my shuttle bus to head back to the Four Seasons hotel they had me post up in for the night. Not bad for a free night, I'd say.

My final flight was at 9 AM tomorrow. I prayed that this escapade would finally run smoothly that night.

Above: The cell phone laptop battery concoction I put together.

DECEMBER 21, 2008:
Awakening from my amazing sleep at a Four Seasons hotel in Charlotte, I took the earliest airport shuttle to the airport. Drowsy and tired, I was welcomed by long lines a the U.S. airways check in booth, and with 2 hours remaining until my flight, this sight was not one for sore eyes. However, things moved along smoothly, and after checking in, security and finding my gate were easy as pie.

I arrived in Chicago, IL at 9-10 AM that day, on time for the flight I was scheduled on, but almost a whopping 36 hours and 2 layovers later than my itinerary had originally proposed.

I visited the U.S. Airways desk at Chicago O'hare hoping my bags had made it... but they didn't. The U.S. Airways representative said that they would bring my bag to my home soon. About a day later, I got the call that it was here. However, by the time the delivery guy appeared at my door, I looked down and a small, blue bag was looking at me. It was unlikely some magical shrinking machine came to life (like the one from that Rick Moranis movie) and shrunk my big rectangular roller suitcase, so I had to come up with the other logical conclusion: this the bag of the man who got his baggage tag switched in Dominica with mine. I ended up sending the bag back to the delivery man (he seemed rather confused, as he seemlingly had rarely heard of this type of issue before).

Although I made it home, my flight nightmares had not ended. Now, I knew that my baggage tag was also switched onto the wrong baggage (talk about wreckless baggage tag placement by the LIAT staff in Dominica), and I needed to find it to study for my big post-break exam (the Comp). To put a long story short, after several calls to U.S. Airways about my baggage, I got in contact with Patrick, the man who I had my bag switched with (fortunately he too was also a Ross student). He told me that my bag was nowhere near Chicago... it had made it to L.A., and on a different airline. After a few more days of intense phone calls, my bag finally... and I mean finally, made it home.

I was glad to be in the right place for the holidays, at home. I was also fortunate enough to have American Airlines tickets to school up my sleeve for next semester.

THE AHA MOMENT:
To those of you to fall upon this long blog entry, and are just about to enter Ross or another medical school in the Caribbean, here's my tip for securing flights:

1. It's okay to have a lay over.
Make sure you select an area that you feel secure in laying over, and reserve a hotel ahead of time, if you are flying during a peak period (i.e. when everybody else is traveling to/from school).

2. Get your tickets early.
For some instances, its best to start knowing what you're going to be doing next semester and getting your tickets once you arrive at school. For Ross students, this could mean securing the limited amount of flights on American Airlines.

3. Make sure your baggage is tagged appropriately.
Always ask to see your bag tagged before you leave the counter.

4. Check all baggage restrictions for all your airlines.
At the point of time I wrote this entry, baggage policies are accepted on the first airline you board until you exit an airport. If you switch airlines after a layover, your baggage restrictions reset to the airline you board the next day (meaning this is the limiting factor). The last thing you want is a hassle of ridding your bag of meaningful things just so you can make it to your next flight... and I know of people who have ended up doing that.

5. Do your research.
Know the check-in and customs policies at each of your connecting airports. it would have made me think twice about my itinerary sending me through St. Maarten with such a short connection time.

Yes, some things do turn out to be the airlines' fault, but as a good doctor would say, prevention can help from a horror trip like mine from ever happening to you. Stress should end when a semester is over, not begin.