Thoughts on Starting Medical School

Starting medical school is something I have looked forward to for a very long time and, well, it's here. I am in my first weeks and I couldn't be more excited. Another statement that is just as true is that I couldn't be more freaked out.

My feelings of being freaked out is mainly because of the unknown. Of course, like most people, I am a little nervous about things I know very little about and I am just anticipating the worst. I know that I will do fine and I shouldn't be worried at all. I look around at the other people that are in my classes and they seem normal just like me. I mean, we are all huge nerds (obviously) but we are all in this together and that makes me a little at ease. Give it some time and, after 2 weeks of classes, I'll be studying for my exam on molecular genetics and I'll be freaked out again. But hey, like I said, I'm not alone in this.

This is where I learn things about science.

The other reason that I am freaked out is because I will be a doctor in 4 years. That means that most graduating doctors are only slightly more mature than me. Our health lies in people like me only 4 years older. We should all be freaked out about that news, not just me. I hope you guys have that kind of trust in me because I sure don't. Hey, the human race has made it this far with that situation so I guess it isn't so bad....

This picture turned out to be only half goober/nerd alert, so I'm happy with it.

I've been looking forward to this time in my life for a very long time. I am thrilled to hear about the cool things I will be doing and new material I will be learning. It is nice to see years of hard work and sacrifice turn into something I would consider a dream of mine. It feels good to be here and I feel that I belong. The only thing now is that I can't screw it up. Both because that would be a lot of time and effort wasted and because Caitlin would literally kill me. She has put up with a lot in my journey here and she will continue to do so while I'm here. In all reality, she is a huge reason I'm here so I shouldn't put her time, effort and sacrifices at stake either. I'm confident in our (mostly her) abilities to not botch this opportunity because if you don't know it already...we are a pretty great team.

RANDOM: Elevators

This is the reason I have a blog. I have somewhat interesting thoughts that I like to share but Caitlin doesn't want anything to do with it. "Start a blog and write about it", she says. Okay, here we go. 

Most of us use elevators daily. If not, then probably a couple times a week. Why do we trust them so readily? I mean, they're pretty scary, right? Aren't we afraid the cable is going to snap one day? You'll die a terrible free fall death!! We hop on, hop off and don't even think about the 50 ft. or more of dark, empty space beneath you. You're just hanging there in a heavy box on a string. How often do they even check those cables? Millions of people worldwide are scared to death of these traps but they shouldn't be. They are actually really safe. Since we use them, we should know a little bit about them and if you're afraid of them, then hopefully you won't be anymore. 

Back when they were being used in the 1800's and stuff they were the death boxes many see them as today. People got hurt in them all the time until good ol' Elisha Otis and his sons came to save the day. They thought, "Hey, these great inventions should be safer." So they made them safe and, BOOM, you have the modern day elevator industry. Their idea was so good it is still used today. In fact, Otis Elevators owns about 80% of the business worldwide. 

Their idea was to make the elevator lock in place if it is descending too quickly. So if the cable breaks, the pulley senses the elevator is going too fast and big wedges lock into the rail that the elevator moves on and you begin to praise the name of Otis. You only end up falling about 1-2 feet before these wedges lock in. Pretty cool! Oh, and don't worry about the cable breaking. It's just not gonna happen. By law there has to be anywhere from 4-8 cables holding each elevator and each cable has to be able to hold the car plus 20% more weight. Once again, you're not gonna die. And if the 1 in 10,000,000,000 chance happens and all cables break AND the wedges don't lock, you're still good. With the counter weight (which weighs just as much as the car), the air compression beneath the car as it falls, the friction on the rails as it falls and the huge spring at the bottom, you actually don't fall that fast and the spring reduces the impulse of the collision. This actually happened once over 70 years ago in NYC when a plane hit the Empire State Building and cut all safety mechanisms in 2 elevators and sent an old lady for a crazy trip down 79 floors. She walked away from the incident. Basically if you want to kill someone or they are trying to kill you, trying to stage an elevator incident is neither fruitful or efficient. 

So if you were afraid of dying in an elevator, don't worry. You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning 3 times. Getting on and off is the tricky part. An advertising executive in New York and college student in Long Beach, CA both had the doors close on them and the elevator left. This quickly turned into terrible deaths where only half of the womens' bodies took the trip up to other floors. So hurry on! and then enjoy the ride. 

Now, please enjoy some elevator etiquette tips. They aren't mine but I agree with all of them. 

1. If you are alone, hold the door for someone. If you are with other people, do not hold the door. It is rude to hold everyone else up. You shouldn't make that decision for everyone on board. The person can wait. Most elevators in America are designed so you don't have to wait more than 18 seconds on average anyway.  

2. Obvious. Never face the back. This started because back in the day there were benches along the back wall. Weird. That puts people's butts in your face. 

3. If your destination is only 1 or 2 floors up the take the stairs. If you don't, then that is just embarrassing. 

4. Always maximize the space between you and other passengers. If you follow dice patterns then you are doing it right. 

That is all. Now you can help dispel unnecessary fears people may have and your are also more well-informed about something so common! You're welcome. 

Marriage

On November 12, 2011 was the day I married that special girl. She is great, cute and we unfortunately look like we are brother and sister rather than husband and wife. Who cares? That just means we were meant for each other, we'll have cuter babies than you or we are just all around better. Either way, we have a good thing going here. Dating didn't always seem to be that way but once we figured out how to deal with each other, we got this on lock down.

Don't get me wrong, we're not perfect. We're just really close. We have those things that cause the other to shoot little glances or even straight up "are-you-kidding-me" stares. I may know how to crunch a chip or a bowl of cereal pretty loudly. However, to clarify, I'm not chewing it with my mouth wide open all breathy, slurping the milk and spilling some down the front of me. Wife just apparently has super-human hearing......only when I eat. So I tell her to hear stuff like a normal person and we agree to disagree. Although, apparently I was crunching some chips loudly while we were visiting her family and her mom flipped out and yelled at Lydia (younger sister) to stop. Oops! Still, I bet the eat-hearing thing just runs in the family. Wife, on the other hand, likes to destroy our bedding every time we sleep. I like to be neat so we some-what make the bed before we lie down for the night. Then morning rolls around and I apparently missed an intense fight in the middle of the night because the bed is in shambles. On her side, the fitted sheet is torn off the edges, the loose sheet is on the floor (which makes me mad because I was looking for it at like 3:30) and the comforter is heaped in a ball at my feet...not keeping me warm. She claims I heat the bed to 1,000° and she has to kick the covers off. I think she is lying. 1,000° would set the house on fire. So then she makes an absurd remark about the bed is more comfortable that way. False. Nothing about surrounding yourself with a mess and chaos is comfy. So I tell her stop practicing the backstroke while in bed and we, again, agree to disagree.

So if you haven't already done the math, we are almost 3 year into this crazy trip called marriage and we are basically pros and have it all figured out. Like I said, we got this on lock down but this whole marriage thing isn't so easy. We struggle just like anyone else does just a little less because remember? We are pros. However, I don't think I will ever compare myself to my parents because, based off of the stories, being newly wed in 2014 is a lot easier than in 1975. But we struggle, get through it and still, thanks to my sugar-momma wife, enjoy some nice things. Some nice things. Other couples here in Provo are a little different. They have to have everything right now! Why do so many young married couples try so hard to get so much nice stuff right away?! If you can afford it and have worked for it then this doesn't apply to you. To everyone else, you don't deserve anything nice yet because you haven't done anything to earn it. Sorry but existing doesn't earn you a nice apartment and car. Your mom and dad didn't just jump into the nice stuff they have right away and neither will you. So deal with crap for now because that is what you have earned. You want more? Then work harder and be patient. All I am saying is that there are some train wrecks down here and I am glad Wife and I aren't one of them. We are proud that we were raised and taught that hard work gets you what you want, not Jeeves with a towel thrown over his bent arm. I am glad that we have great examples of marriage to look to. It helps us a lot. We observe, make some changes to fit our marriage and live a good life. That is how it should be.

So I guess the moral of the story is we are a cute couple, we are already pros at this marriage stuff (call us for any advice), we love each other a lot (we are so good at snuggling that I think we can make money off of it) and we're going places so try to keep up because we are moving fast (because we don't have the extra baggage called "kids"....which is awesome). <--longest run-on sentence...

My Path to Medical School

Ever since I was a kid and I found out what a doctor was, I wanted to become one. At first, I liked the blood. Then I liked the broken bones and sprains and, eventually, I became engulfed with curiosity and interest in learning how cancer metastasizes and the reason behind bodily responses like fevers and sneezing. Why is the inside of every orifice on our body covered in something slimy, sticky and gross? How does a pill when swallowed erase pain, reduce esophageal acid damage, or provide essential vitamins and minerals to our bodies? We know that they do these things...but HOW?

Yes, I know that just because I have these questions it doesn't mean that I am poised to become one of the best physicians in the country. I know this. Chances are, I will be an average doctor and I am okay with that. Why wouldn't I be okay with that? Average physicians still perform life-saving surgeries, assist people in dealing with pain and disease and help cure maladies all over the world. To be mentioned among these people would be an honor. Obviously, I don't aim to be average. I aim to achieve greatness and I am confident that in some areas of the profession I will be great. In others, I will be average. This is good because this means that I will go to a good school, learn the necessary skills and behavior of a good physician and I will do what I have always wanted to do. That is to help people. The great Russian writer and philosopher Leo Tolstoy said, "The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity". This is my maxim. Nothing pulls me to medical school harder than this.

The classes I had to take were great but I can't say that I thought that same thing about them while I was taking them (yes, I'm talking about you O Chem and Genetics). I learned a lot and I am a better person having taken these classes. I enjoy learning. I enjoyed discovering the inherent truths in the sciences. General and Organic Chemistry sucked but I look back fondly on those classes. All of the Biology/Anatomy/Physiology classes were a blast and I wish I had time to retake them. They were great. Physics was my worst nightmare. Newton must have been a genius if he thought all of that up while watching an apple fall. I think my best score on a Newtonian Physics exam was a 72% but for some reason I got the second highest score in the class when we were tested on our understanding of Quantum Physics and the Theory of Relativity. Don't ask. I don't know how.

My desire to become a doctor is there. My work ethic too. I've proven this to myself, the doctors I have shadowed and the professors that have taught me and given me grades. Now I need to prove this to the schools. GPA? 3.6. Not bad. That puts me right in the middle of the pool at the schools I want to go to. Shadowing hours? Done. I have plenty. Service hours? I served in Russia for two years. Got it. MCAT score? Working on it. I haven't studied so much for a single exam. But it is the final puzzle piece. The one thing left that I need to chase my dream. No pressure, right?

The good thing about this road is that it has so many destinations for me. I just want to be a doctor. Good thing is that can take the form of several different types of doctors. Will I be the doctor I always wanted to be? Maybe but even I'm not sure exactly what kind I always wanted to be. That is kinda scary. No one likes to have a big question mark as their future. However, there is one thing I do know for sure. The initials at the end may be different but in 5 years I will be known as Dr. Blake Savage.