Newsflash, ladies: your body gives you a lot of power in sexual decision making.
But, as Spiderman’s Uncle Ben once said (that’s right, I’m quoting a fictional superhero's uncle…), “with great power comes great responsibility.”
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I had a God complex.
It was 2005, and I had just graduated US Army medic training. Looking back now, I suppose most people suffer from the same complex when they first become medical providers.
The fairytale storyline of the medical provider miraculously saving every patient they see is perpetuated by popular media and often not dispelled by our training. If you need any evidence, just flip on your television and tune into any number of shows showcasing miraculous medical interventions.
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t’s Valentine’s Day. My boyfriend is cooking me dinner and scrumptious aromas fill my apartment. I longingly want to eat the delicious food currently filling my oven. However my achy, bloaty stomach is trying to convince me otherwise. It’s been almost a week since I’ve had a bowel movement and I have no desire to eat. Maybe if I take a laxative I’ll be able to clear my system and eat! Horrible idea.
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Two words I have learned to cling to: balance and vision.
Did I always want to be a doctor?
No. Actually...
Hell no.
I wanted to be a thousand different things. Mostly an astronaut.
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Modern day medical school involves an inordinate amount of time spent sitting inside staring at a screen. Quite separate from the volume and difficulty of the material I need to learn in my classes, this fact is what makes medical school mentally and emotionally challenging.
Last spring and summer -- up until the time orientation started -- I spent every day outside in nature. I hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for 4 months until I had to be in Yakima for school. The transition was shocking and extremely difficult.
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What has your pet done for you lately?
Offered you a slobbery kiss? Carried your shoes around the house as if it’s a game of hide and seek? Sat by your side constantly, pawing at you for a good petting?
If you own a pet, you have probably experienced at least one of these scenarios before. But have you ever stopped to consider how much a pet really does for you?
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Growing up, I was always overweight.
Each year at my physical, my pediatrician would show my Body Mass Index graph. I was always over the 95th percentile for my age and height.
My physician would always encourage me to make healthier food choices and to try to be more physically active, and I was always eager to do just that. Trust me: I was dying to lose the extra weight. For some reason, I just didn’t have the self-motivation or determination to actually do it.
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As PNWU's only registered dietitian nutritionist, I have been tasked with demystifying how to stay healthy during this calorie-laden, often-stressful season.
The holidays are already upon us, and November was National Diabetes Month. November and December can be incredibly challenging times of the year to maintain healthy lifestyle habits – for persons with or without diabetes.
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Once you get into medical school, it is really hard to get out. I mean, it consumes you.
Every hour of every day you are studying or thinking about studying, and while you are studying one thing you are thinking about the other things you still have to study.
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I’m writing this blog on my grandmothers ninetieth birthday. It’s the first time I haven’t been home to hand her a birthday card. In fact, this holiday season, I’m further from home than ever before.
My family has always been a living, breathing vision from a far-fetched, stereotypical New England storybook.
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