Life Update – January 2019 (there’s a light at the end of the PhD tunnel)

February 4, 2019March 24, 2019Leave a comment

We’re a month into the new year and approaching 6 years since this blog became the MD/PhD To Be that you know and love.

Every now and then over the years, I’ve made posts that are just random updates of my life throughout my training. Nearly every single one started with an apology for not posting in so long. This time I’m going to try not to apologize, but it still may seem like one. But I see it more as a lesson in prioritization and self-care. It’s me being as transparent as I can about this training process. Mental health is an important part of the training process that is not always openly acknowledged.

See, with regards to my career development, this blog is pretty low on my list of priorities. It makes me feel good about myself to help others out, but it’s not really reflected on my CV. While you need to be more than just your CV, it’s hard to rationalize working on something lower on the priority list when there’s higher priority items to get done! I tend to work slowly but thoroughly, especially when it comes to emails and planning, and the past few years in particular I’ve had a number of leadership positions at the local and national level that have required a lot of emails and decision making that I’ve always been slow to get to but have also felt guilty about not doing so. Thus, the guilt has made it quite difficult to rationalize social media and blogging. For the sake of my mental health, I’ve chosen to procrastinate by working on other higher priority items that make me feel less guilty (like, oh, my PhD research) or sometimes just playing with my (now two) cats. 😸

Anyways, a lot of time has passed since my last update (like a year and half!), and I thought I ought to provide a new one. I was thinking about this last night and realized I should just have a string of guilt-free “Life Update” posts that are more frequent and not random ones with silly titles, so that’s what I’m hoping to do going forward.

For more day-to-day updates, please follow me on Instagram at @MDPhDToBe! I’ve been trying to use that a lot more since it’s somewhat a mini-version of a blog and I’m trying to get better at using that medium. I hop on and off Twitter, but use it more for sharing/discussing papers and other resources, so if you’re interested in that, please follow me there also at @MDPhDToBe!

Anyways, for the life updates – there’s some big ones!

First in 2018, I had two of my greatest scientific achievements – my first paper was published and I received my first NIH funding!

This has been a long time coming. I’ve been doing research since 2011 and have been working in labs since 2010. I was close to getting a paper in undergrad, if only the data that my advisor thought would be simple actually were so! Turns out it was a much more complicated synthesis that, unlike the similar molecules that the lab previously synthesized, was particularly unstable. My contribution was basically summed up in a paper as “we tried it but this synthesis didn’t work”. 😭 Then came grad school. I switched labs after 1 year, so that was time working that didn’t contribute to a paper. It then took me 4 years in my current lab to get my first paper from start to finish, but the paper that resulted was only authored by me and my advisor. I’m proud to have finally contributed to the scientific literature!

Similarly, I wrote 3 NIH fellowship applications over the years, but only submitted 2 (if you want to know about the other, check out Why I Switched Labs in Graduate School). The first submitted application wasn’t even discussed by the reviewers meaning it was in the bottom half of the applications. The second got a remarkably good score. I didn’t actually believe it. I told my advisor the score and she ran off screaming in joy down the hallway at lab while I stood dumbfounded, continuing to think I had read it wrong. It took quite a while to sink it, but it did and I was officially received notice of my funding last May.

There’s a lot of delayed gratification in research, so it is important to celebrate your growth along the way. Five years ago, I was just starting to learn how to do animal experiments, which serve the basis of my PhD. Since then, I’ve gotten better at techniques, I presented more at conferences, and I’ve learned more and more. I thought I was hot stuff in the beginning, but now while realizing I’ve learned a lot, I also know how far I have to go. Learning is lifelong after all.

Main take-away: Pay attention to your growth and appreciate it. The little things add up to the big things. Persistence is key.

Screen Shot 2019-02-03 at 4.05.35 PM — You can read about my paper here: https://mcb.illinois.edu/news/article/503/

And now for 2019 – more good to come!

This is going to be a big year. Not only am I planning to defend my PhD this summer, I will also be starting my 2nd year of med school in August! I also have travel planned for some of my favorite scientific meetings and will be beginning my role as the Chair of the American College of Physicians Council of Student Members. Sadly, I will be ending my role as a member of the American Physician Scientists Association leadership. As always, it will be a lot of work, but it will also be worth it and I couldn’t imagine spending my time in any other way.

This year I am going to take the time to express gratitude for my training experience. I am going to make time to read more books that can remind me of how my work connects to a bigger picture. And I am going to make an effort to share what I can of my experience.

I originally became publicly active on social media because I couldn’t find many good resources for those considering the MD/PhD pathway. Now, thanks to the American Physician Scientists Association and #DoubleDocs, there is a large cohort of trainees connected on social media and sharing their experiences. I am proud to have had a hand in helping that happen and I hope you all will enjoy what I have to say.

It is always my goal to share as much of the experience as I can. I have a few more blog posts ideas in mind, but if there’s anything you want me to address specifically, feel free to reach out with the contact form.

Featured image: View from my recent trip to Charleston, South Carolina. You can read about it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bs3f-55gEkS/

If you like my writing, please consider following my blog. There’s a link near the top of the side bar to do so. Also, feel free to like my Facebook page, MD, PhD To Be, and follow me on Twitter, @MDPhDToBe, and Instagram, @MDPhDToBe. Any questions, comments, or requests for future blog posts can of course be directed to me from any of these locations or directly emailed to me via the contact form. Thank you for reading!

Guest Post: PhD life – chasing the highs

August 6, 2018August 5, 2018Leave a comment

The purpose of this blog is to share personal accounts of MD/PhD training, and I’m excited to expand the perspectives presented here with the first ever guest post! This post is by Alex Yang, who I first connected with via Twitter a few years back (and is a fellow liver lover!)

PhD life – chasing the highs

Alex Yang

Disheveled. Exasperated. Desperate. I had failed to co-immunoprecipitate my two proteins of interest again. I had lost track how many times I’ve tried in the first two years of my PhD. For those of you that aren’t in basic science research, the amount of failure is immense. I would estimate 90% of all experiments are failures. A co-immunoprecipitation involves pulling down with an antibody for one protein and blotting for another protein to suggest a protein-protein interaction. Theoretically if the antibodies are working, the technique shouldn’t be hard. But I couldn’t get it work. And I didn’t think I could ever get it work. I started questioning why I even attempted a PhD and didn’t just be a “normal” doctor like all my other classmates. Before I go on, let’s go back to see how I decided to be a #doubledoc in the first place.

Everything that I’ve accomplished and will accomplish, I owe to my first-generation immigrant parents. My dad is a PhD, professor in Immunology and Microbiology. Smartest person I know to this day. My mom is a MD, family doctor with a very large successful clinic. Hardest working person I know to this day. This naturally made me interested in pursuing a MD/PhD as I am a combination of my parents both biologically and degree-wise. Science was always my favorite subject in school. I remember starting to learn basic lab techniques in middle school and continued in high school. When I found a MD/PhD mentor as an undergraduate that beautifully combined both degrees and encouraged me to do the same, the rest was history. I applied MD/PhD right out of college knowing the long road ahead. First two years of medical school flew by, and now I was in a basic science lab studying genetic mechanisms of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

Back to the co-immunoprecipitation. Although medical school was challenging it did not prepare me for the failure of graduate school. In medical school, I had passed all my exams by a large margin. Failing was never an option, but it’s almost a daily occurrence in graduate school. As much as I failed the co-immunoprecipitation, I knew I couldn’t give up. Although I had evidence in over-expression models in cell lines, we needed evidence with endogenous proteins in-vivo specifically in a mice model. I was discouraged, but the post-doc that I worked with suggested we need to purify the lipid droplets from the liver in order to concentrate the proteins. That would give us the best chance to successfully immunoprecipitate both proteins. It was an extra step (actually more like 20), but it was a new direction to try.

I knew the chances of success was slim, but that’s what we do as graduate students. We have to learn from our failures. Optimize. Repeat. And finally, we persevere. I grudgingly purified the lipid droplets and added the antibody. The next day I blotted. When I exposed the gel, a single beautiful band appeared showing my band indicating my protein of interest. Who knew one band (no not the Jonas Brothers type of band) could give so much joy? I was ecstatic and relieved. When my principle investigator saw the results, he could only smile. Knowing I just accomplished something that no one in the world has ever done thrilled me. For those undergraduates reading this and still trying to decide if graduate school is right for them, I implore you to re-evaluate your experience in lab. Are the highs of the 10% of success high enough to carry you through the 90% of failures? If not, maybe consider just a MD as a PhD is all about persevering through failure. As for me, I was on cloud nine. The pains of the failures were wiped away by the joy of success. I didn’t choose the PhD life. It had chosen me.

About Alex: I’m a 4th year MD/PhD student at Wayne State University studying genetic mechanisms of fatty liver disease. In my spare time I like to cook, exercise, play video games, and write. Check me out on twitter @MDPhDinProgress.

How I found an online community

April 23, 2018April 8, 2020Leave a comment

Ever since I decided to go into medicine, Twitter has provided me an awesome community of pre-meds, medical students, scientists, and so many more who have enriched my training! With the adoption of the #DoubleDocs hashtag by the physician-scientist trainee community, I thought I’d write about how much Twitter has helped make med school better.

You can find this in my newest article on Almost Docs: https://mdphdtobe.com/2019/05/27/almost-docs-how-i-found-an-online-community/

For those of you not on Twitter, I write a little bit about why I find Twitter to be the best forum for discussion within a global community and how I first got involved.

For more info on joining Twitter, please check out the following links:

Getting Started – Twitter Help Center: https://help.twitter.com/en/twitter-guide
New User FAQ – Twitter Help Center: https://help.twitter.com/en/new-user-faq

My MD/PhD Timeline

April 16, 2018April 16, 20184 Comments

A few months ago, I wrote an article for Almost Docs on the daily life of a MD/PhD student. To follow up, I wanted to highlight how my daily life can change dramatically depending on the semester and stage of training. I also wanted to show how many things a MD/PhD student may need to balance at the same time! Therefore, here’s an overview of what I have generally had going on each semester thus far in my program (maybe not the most exciting read but more of a reference for those of you out there who are interested.)

Year 1

Fall 2013

Classes:

Advanced biochemistry (MCB501)
Advanced molecular genetics (MCB502)
M1 Clinical Practice Preceptorship – shadowing a local physician

Research:

Professional Meetings:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 2013), Champaign, IL
Minnesota Neuro-Oncology Symposium (September 26-27, 2013), Minneapolis, MN

Spring 2014

Classes:

Tumor Targeting Seminar (MCB529)
Immunology (MCB408)
M1 Immunology
M1 Brain, Behavior and Human Development
MIP Seminar (MIP595)
M1 Clinical Practice Preceptorship – shadowing a local physician

Teaching:

Introduction to Microbiology Lab (MCB101) – 10 hours/week Teaching Assistant Position

Research:

Trying to get things started in lab…
Presented a poster at Research Day

Professional Meetings:

College of Medicine Annual Research Day (April 17, 2014), Champaign, IL
American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 23-25, 2014), Chicago, IL

Summer 2014

Classes:

Computational Genomics – 1-week intensive course

Research:

Wrote an entire NIH F30 Fellowship Application and didn’t submit! 😳

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member

Professional Meetings:

American College of Physicians Leadership Day (May 18-19, 2014), Washington, DC

Year 2

Fall 2014

Classes:

Frontiers in Physiology (MCB509)
Research Ethics (MCB580)
M1 Physiology I

Teaching:

Anatomy & Physiology Lab I (MCB245) – 10 hours/week Teaching Assistant Position

Research:

SWITCHED LABS
Trying to get things started…again.
Started collected data on research project #2.

Professional Meetings:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 23, 2014), Champaign, IL
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Annual Retreat (September 12, 2014), Champaign, IL

Spring 2015

Classes:

Metabolic Diseases (MCB493)
M1 Physiology II
MIP Seminar (MIP590)

Research:

Helped PI write RO1 grant
PhD Qualification Exam
Presented a poster at Research Day and APSA Annual Meeting

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member

Professional Meetings:

College of Medicine Annual Research Day (April 16, 2015), Champaign, IL
American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 24-26, 2015), Champaign, IL

Summer 2015

Research:

Wrote an entire NIH F30 Fellowship Application and submitted this time! (wasn’t funded)
Started working on research project #1 (tech working on project with me left! 😢)

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee, Retreat Subcommittee Chair

Professional Meetings:

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Metabolic Signaling and Disease: From Cell to Organism (August 11-15, 2015), Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Year 3

Fall 2015

Classes:

M1 Anatomy
M1 Cell and Tissue Biology
M1 Embryology
MIP Seminar (MIP595)

Research:

Trying to keep chugging along on project #1
Crazy month of collecting data for RO1 re-submission (80 hours on campus in 5 days during that period – my record!)

Teaching:

Anatomy & Physiology Lab I (MCB245) – 20 hours/week Teaching Assistant Position

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Co-Chair
Internal Medicine Interest Group M1 Representative
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee, Retreat Subcommittee Chair
American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Member

Professional Meetings:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 23, 2015), Champaign, IL

Spring 2016

Classes:

M1 Anatomy
M1 Cell and Tissue Biology II
MIP Seminar (MIP595)

Research:

Gave my first departmental seminar on project #1!
Gave a talk at the UIUC Division of Nutritional Sciences Symposium
Gave a talk at the UIUC Beckman Institute Graduate Student Seminar

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Co-Chair
Internal Medicine Interest Group M1 Representative
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee, Retreat Subcommittee Chair
American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Member

Professional Meetings:

College of Medicine Annual Research Day (April 14, 2016), Champaign, IL
American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 15-17, 2016), Chicago, IL
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Annual Retreat (April 29, 2016), Monticello, IL

Summer 2016

Research:

First summer with no NIH F30 Fellowship Application writing 😁
Trying to keep chugging along with project #1

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Co-Chair
American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Co-Chair
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Council of Student Members Representative
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member

Professional Meetings:

American College of Physicians Leadership Day (May 3-4, 2016), Washington, DC
American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting (May 5-7, 2016), Washington, DC
American Physician Scientists Association Leadership Retreat (June 16-17, 2016), Atlanta, GA

Year 4

Fall 2016

Classes:

M1 Biochemistry
M1 Medical Genetics
M1 Microbiology
M1 Foundations of Clinical Medicine I
MIP Seminar (MIP595)

Teaching:

Anatomy & Physiology Lab I (MCB245) – 20 hours/week Teaching Assistant Position

Research:

Kept chugging along with project #1

Service:

Internal Medicine Interest Group Vice President
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee
Medical Scholars Program Advisory Council Class II Representative, Basic Sciences Subcommittee Representative
American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Co-Chair
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Council of Student Members Representative
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member

Professional Meetings:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 20, 2016), Monticello, IL
American Physician Scientists Association Midwest Regional Meeting (November 5, 2016), Omaha, NE
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Liver Meeting (November 11-15, 2016), Boston, MA

Spring 2017

Classes:

M1 Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology
M1 Biochemistry
M1 Medical Statistics
MIP Seminar (595)
Last semester of M1 classes!

Teaching:

Graduate Teacher Certificate

Research:

Kept chugging along with project #1

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member
Internal Medicine Interest Group Vice President
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee
Medical Scholars Program Advisory Council Class II Representative, Basic Sciences Subcommittee Representative
Accreditation Monitoring and Quality Improvement Committee, Medical Students Subcommittee, Urbana Campus Representative
American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Co-Chair
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Council of Student Members Representative
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member
American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Representative

Professional Meetings:

American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting (March 30-April 1, 2017), San Diego, CA
Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research Annual Meeting (April 20-21, 2017), Chicago, IL
American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 21-23, 2017), Chicago, IL

Summer 2017

Research:

Wrote an entire NIH F30 Fellowship Application and submitted it! (It was funded this time!!!)
Started writing up paper for project #1

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member
Accreditation Monitoring and Quality Improvement Committee, Medical Students Subcommittee, Urbana Campus Representative
American Physician Scientists Association Vice President
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member
American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Representative

Professional Meetings:

American College of Physicians Leadership Day (May 23-24, 2017)
American Physician Scientists Association Leadership Retreat (July 22-23, 2017), Atlanta, GA
American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Meeting (August 11, 2018), Philadelphia, PA

Year 5

Fall 2017

Classes:

Biostatistics (STAT212)
Exercise Oncology (KIN494)
The Literature of Fantasy (ENGL119) – This was a class I took for fun comparing Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (my favorite!) and Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast books.

Research:

First paper (project #1) posted on BioRXiv: http://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/09/11/182469
Submitted paper to journals, worked on final touches
Wrote a 100-page preliminary exam document (first draft of my thesis!) and did an oral defense (I passed so now I’m All But Dissertation – ABD!)

Service:

Internal Medicine Interest Group President
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee
Medical Scholars Program Advisory Council Class II Representative, Social Chair
American Physician Scientists Association Vice President
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member
American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Representative

Professional Meetings:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 19, 2017), Monticello, IL
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Students and Residents Day (October 24, 2017), Springfield, IL
Hepatobiliary Cancers: Pathobiology and Translational Advances Meeting (December 8-10, 2017), Richmond, VA

Spring 2018

Classes:

MIP Seminar (MIP595)

Research:

Submitted paper to journal for project #1, got reviews back, working on revisions!!!
Helping new graduate student start to take on project #2

Service:

Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member
Internal Medicine Interest Group President
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee
Medical Scholars Program Advisory Council Class II Representative, Social Chair
American Physician Scientists Association Vice President
American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member
American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Representative

Professional Meetings:

American Physician Scientists Association Midwest Regional Meeting (January 13, 2018), Iowa City, IA
Big Ten Lipids Conference (Feburary 16, 2018), West Lafayette, IN
Midwest Liver Symposium (April 12-13, 2018), Kansas City, KS
American College of Physicians Board of Governors Meeting and Internal Medicine Meeting (April 17-21, 2018), New Orleans, LA
American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 20-22, 2018), Chicago, IL

What’s to come?

As I write this in April of my 5th year, I have about 1 more year to finish up my PhD. Then I’ll go on to start my second year of medical school in August 2019 and will finish my MD in May 2022!

A Day in the Life of a MD/PhD Student

January 15, 2018April 1, 2019Leave a comment

Over the years, I’ve had quite a few requests to describe my daily life as a MD/PhD student. I’ve thought long and hard about how to do this since my days are so variable. For example, today I’m in lab running genotyping gels and I’ll be heading to the animal facility later to cut tails for more genotyping (it’s a big week for making sure the genotype of all of my animals is correct!) However, I know tomorrow will be totally different!

Now that I’m in my 5th year of training, my sample size for days as a MD/PhD student is rather large, and I think I’m finally ready to perform some analysis!

You can find the results in my newest Almost Docs post titled: A Day in the Life of a MD-PhD Student.

This is still rather general, as I’m trying to summarize my experience in less than 750 words. Nonetheless, it may not be representative of other MD/PhD students, and I encourage others to please share your experience as well! I don’t usually take guests posts, but I would be glad to take guest posts on this! This is important not only for helping out prospective MD/PhD trainees but also for educating the public about the work that goes in to becoming a physician-scientist.

Keep an eye out in the future for a blog post about how my activities have changed depending on the semester as I continue to try to explain the weird integrated structure of my program. 🙂

In the mean time, here’s a picture of my cat (Smeagol) cuddling up with a book that I read for class last semester:

Update (4/14/18): I have finally published “My MD/PhD Timeline“. As promised above, this post lists out how my activities have changed based on the semester.

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If you like my writing, please consider following my blog. There’s a link near the top of the side bar to do so. Also, feel free to like my Facebook page, MD, PhD To Be, and follow me on Twitter, @MDPhDToBe. Any questions, comments, or requests for future blog posts can of course be directed to me from any of these locations or directly emailed to me at via the connect page. Thank you for reading!

MD/PhD Year 4: Uff Da

August 12, 2017August 13, 20172 Comments

Uff Da is a phrase commonly said in Minnesota to signify exhaustion, weariness, resignation, and overwhelm. As I look back at all that I have done in my first 4 years as a MD/PhD student, this is the word that comes to mind. Yet, as I live day-to-day, it doesn’t seem that bad. In fact, I LOVE what I do, and I am so excited for what’s to come!

You may have noticed that my blog posts have severely dropped off as I’ve progressed through this program. Why? It’s hard to write about things that are so drawn out! I started this blog to help undergraduates survive the med school application process and learn about MD/PhD programs. I’ve written a decent amount about my med school application process, but this was so long ago I dare not write much about it anymore! As for sharing about MD/PhD programs, I feel that I have settled into a routine over the past 4 years such that I don’t really have that many new and exciting things to talk about.

I could tell you all about the failed experiments or few successful ones (I ran a gel today! Just like yesterday!) But I don’t because I’d rather wait to tell you the full story of my research that gets published (whenever it does). Furthermore, classes and teaching are such a normal part of my life that they don’t really stand out as something to write about (beyond how to do well in anatomy). I have done a few other pretty cool things that I’ve wanted to tell people about (like some mentioned below), but I’ve had enough other things to rush off and do immediately after that I haven’t committed time to do them justice.

I really want to share what I’m doing and connect with others to learn about the cool things they’re doing as well. I’m glad that new people continue to find my blog and value its resources. It really warms my heart to hear that my writing has been of help! I promise I will continue to write when I can. 🙂

So, to make up for a year of silence, here’s some of the cool things I’ve been up to during the past year:

I planned a conference!

I didn’t realize how much time this took up until the conference was over and I was back to doing deep cleans and organizing in lab. I wondered to myself, “Why haven’t I been doing this? How did I let it get this bad?” And I realized that I’d normally be sending emails during that time!

Of course, I didn’t do it alone. In April 2016, my good friend and fellow MD/PhD student at UIUC, Mariam Camacho, and myself were elected the Events Chairs for the American Physician Scientists Association (APSA). APSA is a national trainee-run organization for physician-scientist trainees that holds an annual meeting with the Association of American Physicians and American Society for Clinical Investigation each spring. It was our job to oversee the planning from the APSA side of things, including inviting speakers, coordinating the planning of panels, and taking care of all of the nitty gritty details that are required for planning a conference. I am happy to say it was a success!

33553616713_69a36e79b0_z — Source: American Physician Scientists Association

There were many other great people that helped us with this endeavor including Alex Adami, Jillian Liu, Allyson Palmer, Lillian Zhang, Jason Siu, Michelle Caunca, Teddy Mamo, Jeremie Lever, and the staff at McKenna Management. We couldn’t have done it alone!

Events Committee.jpg — 2016-2017 American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee. Missing: Michelle Caunca

APSA is a wonderful organization for physician-scientist trainees! If you’re a trainee (whether in medical school or undergraduate) and you’re interested in becoming a physician-scientist, check them out!

I finished my first year of medical school!

And it only took 4 years!!! As my peers who started medical school with me were graduating and preparing for residency, I was taking my last exams of my first year of medical school. We have a unique MD/PhD program at UIUC where we gradually integrate the first year of medical school curriculum into our PhD training as to not greatly hinder our research time. To help you better understand how this works, I’ve listed my schedule for M1 courses:

Year	Fall	Spring
2013-2014		Immunology Brain, Behavior, and Human Development
2014-2015	Physiology I	Physiology II
2015-2016	Anatomy Cell and Tissue Biology I Embryology	Anatomy Cell and Tissue Biology II
2016-2017	Biochemistry Foundations of Clinical Medicine I Medical Genetics Microbiology	Biochemistry Foundations of Clinical Medicine I Medical Statistics Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology

I presented my research and traveled across the country

Literally. In November, I gave a talk at the AASLD Liver Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

At the End of March, I flew to the other side of the country and presented a poster at the American College of Physicians (ACP) Internal Medicine Meeting in San Diego.

In May, I went to Washington, DC to advocate with the ACP as I have done in 2014 and 2016.

Screen Shot 2017-08-12 at 7.15.32 PM.png — Instagram: @MDPhDToBe

I was elected to the ACP Council of Student Members (CSM) this year, so I just was in Philadelphia for a CSM meeting. As the Vice President for APSA this year, I spent a weekend in Atlanta this summer for our annual leadership retreat. I also visited my college roommate in Montana over spring break. I’m ready to take a break from flying. 😫 However, I am so thankful for these opportunities to travel the country, connect with others, share my research, and help organizations more effectively help other trainees and patients!

I earned a teaching certificate

My graduate department requires that all PhD students teach. I’ve gone beyond the teaching requirements to teach 4 semesters. Since i had spent that much time in the classroom, I thought I might as well attend a few more workshops and reflect on my teaching skills so that I could earn a certificate. I’m a little biased, but I really do believe taking this extra time to focus on my didactic skills has made me a much better teacher.

I have been a teaching assistant for an anatomy & physiology lab for 3 years. The fall semester, which I teach, covers histology, bones, muscles, and the nervous system. The first time I taught this class, I was overwhelmed with how much there was to know! Shout out to all of my students who have worked their butts off to take on this class while carrying a heavy undergraduate workload. The second time, I was taking my medical school anatomy class at the same time and was starting to pick up on a lot more things and was a much better teacher. The third time, having completed M1 anatomy and in the process of my teaching certificate, was even better. This was a particularly fun semester to teach because my classroom had the same cadaver that I had dissected the previous year!

Between having a much more in depth understanding of anatomy and attending teaching workshops, I feel that I have really grown as a teacher. As a result, I was given an excellent teaching rating by my students for the first time for this class (I also earned one when TAing a microbiology lab). Teaching does take quite a bit of time away from my research, so I’m done for it for now.

I’ve missed out on a lot

I think it’s important to point out that while I have been able to do a lot of great things that I am incredibly excited about, I have also missed out on a lot. For example, I’ve only made it back home to see family a few times in the past year. My niece was born in July 2016 and I’ve seen her at 2 weeks, 6 months, and 11 months. I’ve been able to facetime a few times, but it’s just not the same.

I’ve missed weddings. And birthdays. And home Gopher football games (an important part of my undergrad). So I’d like to thank all of my family and friends for dealing with me and being ever so patient with me when you don’t hear from me for extended periods. I’ve had to let a lot of friendships fade out over the past few years, but I promise you all still mean so much to me! I’d especially like to thank my partner for dealing with my craziness and considering working together at a coffee shop a “date.”

Now that I’ve covered quite a bit, I’m going to get back to everything else. I have a paper to write, events to plan, websites to design, policies proposals to draft, personal statements to write, experiments to plan, and so much more! As always, feel free to contact me, I’ll try to respond as soon as I can. But no guarantees when that’ll be… Here goes year 5!!!