the bet

I made a bet with my classmate and friend Min in the first semester of medical school. Back then (and throughout the entire year), I often felt overwhelmed by the sheer volume of material we had to learn for every test.

E: I am going to fail my first year. I won't go on to M2 [medicine second-year].
Min: OK, if you fail, I'll treat you to dinner. But if you pass, you'll treat me to lunch.
E: That will be the saddest dinner ever, but OK.

I just treated Min to lunch at Lulu's today. I loved her company, and the food was so good!! They sure put me in a happy mood. And of course, I am now an M2--God has pulled me through the M1 year!

The new bet we made during lunch:
E: I need an incentive for passing the M2 year. Let's make the same bet again.
Min: No.... This time, if you pass M2 year, I will treat you to dinner. But if you fail, you treat me to dinner.

The stakes are a bit higher this time! I hope I don't have to pay for dinner next year.

On a somewhat related note, my classmate Guannan devised a brilliant backup plan in case med school doesn't work out: open a dim sum cart on our campus that caters to the med students. (My current city is somewhat lacking in quality Chinese food). I said I would be her cashier/accountant, so we are future business partners. I even named our cart "Tasty Escape." An apt name, in my opinion. Seriously, though, there were one or two times when I thought opening a food cart is a tempting idea.

What does the future hold?

the coming storm

Just now, I was reading my school's USMLE Board Step 1 study strategies. Not only are we second-year med students expected to keep up with school, we have to prepare for the hair-raising USMLE test on top of that. That means we must read our thick syllabi as well as a bunch of review books--combined, those materials probably weigh more than I. What is worse, our beloved Dr. Costanzo, an expert on individualized Board prep, retired last year. I am just now beginning to realize the enormity of our loss. I can feel the bubbles of stress welling up within me, even though the Board test is about 10 months away (only 10 months away!?).

OH no! Must trust must trust... in God.

breast cancer and children

Let's talk some breast cancer statistics:

Women who have a child before age 20 have decreased risk of breast cancer.
Women who have a child after age 35 have increased risk of breast cancer.
Women who have no children at all have an even higher risk of breast cancer than women who have children.


What! I don't want to have a kid just to lower my chance of breast cancer--that'd be a really screwed-up kid.

notes:
*the stats refer to having any child, not just the first child
*the stats show correlation and not cause and effect. As time progresses and generational habits change, statistics may change as well
*learned from my pathogenesis course