Vacation Goals

2 of my next 3 months are vacation months and I am SO EXCITED! I have been saving up my time off to travel for interviews and have some fun. While I will spend a large amount of my time traveling or enjoying the company of family and friends, here are some goals I have for the next few months so I don't waste them:

1. Swim 100 yards in under 1:16. My best time so far is 1:21, I think I should be able to get under 1:16 and hopefully shave even more time off.
2. Read 10 books- a few for fun and five or more serious- here are some of the more serious books that I plan on reading
1. Pathologies of Power by Paul Farmer- about international health care and poverty worldwide and what the causes are
2. The End of Poverty- Jeffrey Sachs, an economist
   
3. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger- Ronald Sider (a book I have been wanting to read for years)
4. The Idiots Guide to Bicycle Maintenance- I road bike too much to now know how to change tire tubes, deconstruct my bike for airline travel... I plan on changing that in the next few months
5. Some book on the conflict in the Middle East- both because I am interested and naive towards all the problems and cultures there but also because I am going to Israel in May and want to understand all the issues and tensions
   
6. Banker to the Poor- Mohammed Yunus- an interesting book on microenterprises
7. A book on mortgages- I hope to be a home owner in less than 6 months and need some serious self-education
   
3. Train for a century bike ride (100+ miles) and hopefully find one to actually ride- California perhaps
4. Go to a home Colts game- I will likely have to scalp tickets, but I really want to attend another game since I haven't been in 4 years
5. Watch lots of movies
   
6. Do my strengthening exercises for my back every day- they really have helped and since I've decided to become a surgeon I really need to work on this
   
7. Spend quantity and quality time with family and friends

Let the fun continue!

Mother Theresa

"People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway. If you do good, people may accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway. If you are successful, you may win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway. Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway. People who really want help may attack you if you help them. Help them anyway. Give the world the best you have and you may get hurt. Give the world your best anyway."

My first trip to India was to Calcutta (now called Kolkata) just a couple of years after Mother Theresa passed away. I was able to work at a few of the homes she set up throughout Calcutta. I also visited Mother House- the convent and charity headquarters where she lived and where she was buried. I'm not going to lie, I got ridiculously sick in her personal bathroom thanks to all the dirty water I had unknowingly consumed. It was quite a moment.

Despite all the publicity the new book about her has received, I will always look up to this incredible woman who gave her life away.

India

Some of the leaders from Granger Community Church are heading back to India to continue to train pastors in Tamil Nadu, India (a southern state). Since they began going over 64 new churches have been planted and over 69,000 people have decided to follow Christ. It's not all about numbers, but these numbers represent changed lives.

I've never been to southern India but I hope to go with GCC someday to see what they are doing and contribute in whatever ways possible.

I love India- the people, the energy, the simplicity.... I can't wait until I can go over as a surgeon and show people how much God cares about them by helping provide for their physical needs.

Ode to Interviews

I am done with interviews until after Thanksgiving and I couldn't be happier, well maybe if it was free that would be nice. I've received many questions about the interview process so here's the scoop that I've picked up on:

Most general surgery programs where I have interviewed receive 500+ applications interview 50-75 for 3-9 positions. Nothing like good odds (and there are specialties much more competitive than this). The worst odds numerically where I have interviewed so far received over 500 applications and then conducts 50 interviews for 3 positions. Hence the need for at least 12 interviews- or at least that is what most people say.

During a typical interview day I listen to a fascinating presentation on the program, tour the facilities, sometimes round on patients, and then have interviews with 4-8 faculty members. Today in an interview I played poker with the chairman and when he lost I got to ask him a question and vice versa. At least he mixed it up. Some interviewers are intense and ask difficult scientific or ethical questions, some ask inappropriate questions, and apparently some make you tie knots behind your back while you speak ( I have yet to experience this). One place where I am interviewing basically throws applicants into an OR for the day to be hammered with questions while we're scrubbed in. I hope the surgery is short.



I have been fairly successful with my goal to try and have some fun in every city. These pictures are from some of those breaks from interviewing. I fed stingrays, enjoyed an small amusement park, hiked/climbed boulders, watched the Colts lose to the Patriots with Heather, and have done tons of exploring.

Still to come: Boston, Disney World, Grand Canyon, Seattle, Charleston, Minnesota and much more! Horray for frequent flyer miles.

Solitude

I am loving Arizona so far! I did a great hike today (thanks Michelle for the recommendation!) and savored every moment to myself. This interview journey is especially demanding for an introvert as I am flung into rooms full of people I don't know to "mingle" for hours while they are analyzing me (Anyone who knows me really well knows I hate small talk!).

A peaceful few days of hiking was something I have been looking forward to ever since I booked my flight.
I love driving around in my hybrid rental car (50+ miles to the gallon).


Tonight the interviews continue, and then 2 more days of hiking and deciding if this is a fun vacation destination or somewhere I could live.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Saturday the 10th was my dad's birthday, and a quite memorable one for him and mom (you should ask them about it!). They are in Sedona, AZ now celebrating and scoping out the scene there.

This picture was taken in Mexico with my whole mother's side of the family on vacation. I love that my family travels regularly to see different parts of the world.

One of the highlights of my life was a trip with my dad between my sophomore and junior year of high school. We went to Germany, Luxembourg, France, Egypt, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Amsterdam. It was ridiculous!! How many daughters get to share experiences like this with their dad?

The low point of the trip, yet our favorite story to tell, was when we went white water rafting on the Zambezi River. We had never been rafting, but an older couple recommended it, so we blindly signed up. Little did we know that this is one of the premier rafting places in the world because of all of the Grade 5, 5.5, and 6. It is a grade 5 river which means "Extremely difficult, long and violent rapids, steep gradients, big drops, pressure areas." It is believed to be the wildest one day course in the world. If we had known that I like to think we wouldn't have signed up. But we didn't, so we did...

For some reason in our raft no one but the "guide" (used very loosely) had a paddle. So all we could do was hold on and throw our bodies in whatever direction we were told.

The first rapid was called "The Boiling Pot". The start of the rapids was a waterfall which immediately flipped our raft, catapulting my father and the rest of us into the water. My glasses were ripped off my face (thankfully I had tied a string between my glasses and raft) and I was shot into a whirlpool. Seriously, I couldn't get out and I thought I was going to die. It seemed like forever that I was underwater. Of course I fought it which they tell you not to do. Miraculously I was ejected at some point and managed to ride through the rest of the rapids with the aid of my vest. It was not fun. When I got through to the rest of the group I found my dad all mangled as well. So I cried. I thought, "If we couldn't even make it through the first Grade 4 rapid without flipping, what else is in store for us? So much for a fun day of rafting."

By some miracle we stayed upright through some horrible Grade 5 rapids while our guide was warning us that we had a very big obstacle ahead. Number 9 was called "Commercial Suicide" and every rafting company except ours walked around it for obvious reasons. All I wanted to do was walk around, but instead we warned to hold on tight and follow our instructions. I was terrified so I held on with every muscle in my body to no avail as we once again flipped. Of course, I couldn't hold onto an upside-down raft for long because of the strength of the rapids and waterfalls. So off I go into what I thought was my certain demise. By some miracle I lived and caught up with the raft again at a calm before round 2 of this rapid. We didn't have time to flip the raft over, so we went through the rest of the grade 5 on an upside down raft with one string to hold onto. I was sobbing while my dad was bleeding and banged up. The "guide" actually held me onto the raft through the second series of rapids and by God's grace we didn't flip again.

We had paid for a whole day of this "fun" but I demanded that we quit at the half-way point where we could hike up the side of the gorge and catch a van back. We bought the video to prove that we indeed experienced all of this.

Regardless of the experience, we had an amazing trip together. We took the Blue Train between Praetoria, South Africa and Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. It is the most luxurious train in the world. We had a butler and an amazing cabin in addition to the reading and dining cabins. Also on this trip we ate at Carnivore Restaurant where we tried zebra, giraffe, kudu, ostrich and many other exotic meats.

It would take all day to talk about all the great memories we made on this trip. Thanks dad for all the great experiences and memories we've had together! Happy Birthday!

HIV/AIDS

"AIDS is not over until it is over for everyone."

This was said by one of the plenary speakers Dr. Peter Okaalet, a physician in Uganda who is one of the world leaders on helping prevent and eradicate HIV/AIDS worldwide. He gave some staggering statistics. In Uganda 27% of the population is infected with HIV and there are countries with an even larger percentage. Life expectancy in Botswana was 74.4 years before AIDS and is expected to be 26.7 years in 2010. Similarly in Mozambique it is dropping from 42.5 years to 27.1 year, and in Malawi from 69.4 years to 36.9 years.

He discussed the mindset of many by saying, "AIDS will kill me in ten years, but hunger and starvation will kill me tomorrow so why should I care?"

You can read more about him and his efforts in this Time Magazine article

I Have a New Mentor

The absolute highlight of this trip was a man named Dan Poenaru (in the orange mask in the picture) that Andrea and I were able to meet with a couple of times. He is a pediatric surgeon from Canada who practices at Bethany Kids hospital outside of Nairobi, Kenya. He invited us to come and spend our year or two of research with him at his hospital which would be amazing.

In addition, he just encouraged us and took us seriously as surgeons. He talked about the need to not settle for a husband who doesn't share our desire and calling to go overseas and even prayed for us to that end. He encouraged us to continue growing and find opportunities to get overseas during residency. He wants us to continue emailing regularly and set a deadline for when we will get overseas.

We talked about opportunities for me as a pediatric cardiothoracic surgeon and I am convinced that if this is the field I end up in, not only would it be practical overseas, but needed immensely. I would have the opportunity to perform these surgeries while training national surgeons.

I can't wait to see how all of the relationships I have come together to accomplish something beautiful overseas!

A Breath of Fresh Air

I just returned last night from the Medical Missions Conference in Louisville, KY and I feel refreshed emotionally and spiritually! Four of us girls from med school went together and had a BLAST together! It was amazing to be surrounded by like-minded people for a few days. I never dreamed that I would be friends with so many other med students who are committed to international medicine. I can't wait to see how our friendships blossom in the future and how God uses them! The map in these pictures had thumbtacks placed by many individuals in the country they are or plan to serve in. It was incredible to see the overall distribution and the many lives involved.

I attended breakout sessions on:

• When Charity Destroys Dignity
• From Sorcery to Sanitation- working through cultural understandings of illness and disease
• Extend the vision with high quality images- all about using photography appropriately
• Sustainability of healthcare missions- a phenomenal talk on what sustainability means and if that should even be the goal
• The 5-Minute Missionary Consult- how to properly view your role as a foreigner
  
• The theology of risk- serving Christ in dangerous places

I could go on and on about what I learned. I went into the conference knowing that my dream is to be a leader overseas in surgery someday while working alongside churches in the US. I'm returning once again reminded of the many needs overseas and encouraged as I realize how God has been and continues to direct me into the area of medicine that fits me and can be used enormously all over the world!

Who Needs Starbucks???

While in Houston I had an afternoon to myself to journal and read. I stumbled upon this intriguing building and being the chocolate enthusiast and coffee despiser that I am I had to check it out. It turns out that for about the price of a Starbucks drink I was able to have tons of chocolate chip cookies and diet coke. It was heavenly!

This place is amazing and anyone who lives in Houston should go. Before going you should watch the Friends episode where Monica tries to make Phoebe's family recipe cookies. It definitely adds to the experience.

This is what my life has come to

I am doing a research rotation this month- for those who really care it is a retrospective study on the outcomes of patients treated with various surgical methods for retroperitoneal sarcomas. I am doing chart reviews, which is nice in that I can choose my own hours. What I didn't realize is that most of the charts are on microfilm. Not only is this more tedious than paper or computerized charts, but I had to leave early today because I am experiencing motion sickness. Seriously I feel like I've been on a rocking boat from staring at a fast moving screen for hours.

The problem is that I have TONS of these charts to go through. Maybe I need to start taking bonine pills or dramamine before going to work.

My Ex

It was so fun (even though the Colts lost) to spend a few days with Heather, my old roomie. We don't see each other often, but when we do it's always a good time. We were roommates our last 3 years of college and built a ridiculous number of memories together. Here are some of my top memories with Heather:

10. Time with the Stauffers - a family who lived in Upland that we got to hang out with every week, eat amazing food that Jenny cooked, and interact with their 6 children (this family is seriously the reason that I now want children). They live in South Carolina currently where we've been able to visit them a couple of times.

9. Intramurals- We truly rocked out the intramural football scene. We converted flag football to tackle and as a result got banged up quite a bit. It was a blast! My least favorite part of every game was when we prayed with the other team afterwards (all of us holding hands around the field). I know, it should have been a beautiful time of fellowship, but our football was really intense and it seemed insincere at times .

8. Getting lost in Washington D.C.- so I am more laid back than Heather and when we got stuck on the HOV headed into the heart of DC late at night I couldn't stop laughing while Heather was furious that I couldn't find a way on the map to get us out of a bad situation. The only warning we remembered from our parents was to stay out of DC at night. It was neat to see the monuments all lit up!

7. Physics class- We both hated physics and since we were in it together for a semester we tended to sit in the back and occasionally distract each other. It's a good thing for Frankie, our tutor, who saved the day big time in this troubling subject.

6. Pictures in the snow (2000)- we went out at night and took all sorts of fun pictures around the lifesize (tacky) nativity scene on campus. It was a blast and the pictures are great. If only they were digital...

5. Awkward moment at the chocolate buffet- we went on a Caribbean cruise during our senior year and I of course had a "foot in mouth" moment. There was a lady at the table that I still believe was with several children and so when she came to our table with mounds of chocolate I said, "wow, you made out like a bandit" which was funny in my head since I thought she had pillaged for food for the whole family, but awkward when it was obviously all for her. If only everyone could see the look Heather gave me !

4. Valentine’s Day double date junior year- this date was great, partially because we were both so excited about our dates and our professor begged us not to go because of the weather. We had a blast!

3. Spring break in Europe- we visited Germany, Austria, and Czech Republic and had some interesting experiences. We saw "The Magic Flute" opera in Prague which was beautiful despite the fact that I had no idea what was going on. The hands-down highlight of this trip was when these two teenage boys came up to me and grabbed my chest. It was so random and inappropriate that all we could do was laugh.

2. Walking to Ivanhoes or Handy Andy- yes Upland is an exciting place! We made countless evening trips to just talk and get breadsticks or icecream. I miss those places!

1. Mud wrestling- early in our freshman year it was storming one evening and we didn't have anything else to do so we thought we would get to know each other by wrestling in the mud. It was amazing and solidified our blossoming friendship.

Our friends painted the famous bridge for us right before graduation and again when we came to visit a year later. It was so great and meant the world that they took the time and risk to hang upside down and leave us a message.
Here's to many more fun times to come!

Lakewood Church

Heather and I visited Lakewood Church in Houston this weekend. I went in not knowing what to expect and trying not to have expectations. I must say I was impressed.
The church reminded me of GCC in several ways:

1. They receive lots of criticism from people who have never experienced a single service
2. They are reaching people that other churches aren't
3. There is an undeniable energy there

A year ago I was probably among the uninformed critics but not any longer. As I have said about GCC many times, "you can't argue with what is working" and this church is the largest in the country (around 47,000 people per weekend). They challenge people to come for a year and see if God doesn't change their life and it is working!

One of the best parts of the experience for me was the diversity. I have never been in a church with the even mixture of races I experienced here.

I respect Joel and Victoria far more after listening to them speak. Many accuse them of presenting a "health and wealth" message and while they do focus more on the positive during the weekends their other events and ministries go deeper and it is obvious as I have learned more about the church.

Millions from all over the world watch their messages on tv or the internet. While I didn't like having a camera in my face (look for us next weekend... no please don't!) I support what they are doing and if I go back will just choose a seat away from the aisle.

An extra bonus in my mind is Joel's (yes we are on a first name basis) brother Paul who is a surgeon and heavily involved in medical missions. Being the largest church in the country with their proximity to the largest medical center in the world they have a huge opportunity and responsibility!

It takes all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people and I love to see the ways God uses different churches!

Interviews

Well the first interview day is over and I feel pretty good about it. Surgeons are a unique breed and the 2 day interview process was nothing like interviews I've had before. There is much I would like to say but that wouldn't be wise. So, overall it was a better than expected first round of interviews.
Now I get to just relax and enjoy some time with Heather! The weather here is PERFECT so I think I'll go to an outdoor cafe and read.
Go COLTS!!!