So the pediatric boards (a one-day multiple-choice $2000+ test that I don't actually need to practice medicine in the United States but is just supposed to look good on your resume if you pass but most people pass so it's really not that special) are Monday, and then Tuesday night I am flying out to Nepal (meeting up with Scott in London along the ( Read more... )

We have been selling a bunch of our stuff on Craigslist to prepare for moving out of Chicago next Wednesday. Most people have been great, but I can't get out of my head the vision of one lady turning on the microwave for 20 seconds and then sticking her hand inside and waving it about to see if it felt warm in there. She also refused to speak to ( Read more... )

Oops, haven't posted for a while despite not working since the end of June. Some quick updates:

I got married on July 9, and it was awesome! Check out the photo slideshowWe went on a honeymoon driving around Michigan afterwards - Pictured Rocks, Mackinac Island, Traverse City - gorgeous with perfect weather ( Read more... )

Oct 11 Los Angeles -> London -> Delhi -> Kathmandu, Nepal ( Read more... )

I've talked about the fun, cool things I did in Tanzania, but I've barely touched on the month that I spent there working in a tertiary care hospital. I thought about tweaking and posting the 3-page reflection piece that I wrote in order to receive the second half of my travel grant, but I wasn't sure whether some of the things I had written would ( Read more... )

First, a little background. One of the reasons I didn't go into internal medicine was that old people's feet gross me out. I didn't want to deal with the yellow toenails and musty smell of ordinary old-people feet, let alone the deep ulcers that diabetics can get. Yes, babies poop and vomit, but babies also have a fresh baby smell, and their ( Read more... )

So it's about time I tell you about my safari in Tanzania. Karl, Anna, and I went to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro crater for 3 days and 2 nights, and it was awesome, just packed with cool animals, some of whom we got to see right next to the car or crossing the road in front of us. One of the best things about it was that there were tons of baby ( Read more... )

Unfortunately, we didn’t stay in Zanzibar as long as I would have liked because we were off for Kilimanjaro the next day. Anna had convinced me that it would be a good idea to hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest peak at 5895 meters . We did the 6 day Marangu route, and for the three of us they provided a guide, two assistant guides, three ( Read more... )

I left snowy Chicago on the evening of December 31st, celebrating New Year’s Eve over the ocean with a glass of champagne. After 19 hours in an airplane and 8 hours in several airports, I landed in Zanzibar on January 2nd, exhausted and uncertain where exactly January 1st had gone. My head started nodding in the wet, tropical heat as I rode in ( Read more... )

Scott and I woke up early to a hot breakfast of eggs, toast, coffee, and fresh papaya juice at the hostel and headed out to the river with our guide, Milton. We took a 45-minute boat ride to a riverside trailhead, walked two miles through rainforest, and then climbed into a canoe to explore Sandoval Lake, an oxbow lake with tons of wildlife. As ( Read more... )