Pre-orientation

Hello hello. Yes, it was my goal to start a blog to document my medical school experience. Tomorrow is the first day of orientation and I have already met so many awesome people!

If you are reading this and are not sure what a DO is, my second year roommate had a great way to sum it up. DO is basically MD+physical therapy+public health. The American Osteopathic Association describes osteopathic medicine as focusing on preventive health care and receiving specialized training in the musculoskeletal system. DOs also use their hands to diagnose injuries and illness and encourage the body's natural tendency to heal. We have to take the osteopathic boards and the regular boards that MDs take. It's too bad many people still don't know about this.

I arrived in California two weeks ago, got all my furniture into my room (1), received the packages I shipped to myself (2), and got a car ...and I couldn't have done this as quickly and easily with the help of my wonderful family. In this time, I also got to see Napa (3), spend time with relatives, and hang out with new classmates at the Jelly Belly Factory (4), Six Flags (5) and at houses on Mare Island. It's been great. Here are some pictures numbered as such.

1) My room... the bed is an air mattress from Costco.

2) I heard the guy at the post office go "ohhhhh!!" when he went in the back back to get my packages. They were wheeled out in a large cart.

3) At the Greystone Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena. The food was delicious, and they have a nice little wine museum inside.

4) Inside the Jelly Belly Factory. No photos were allowed on the actual tour but we got to have samples of the jelly beans at different parts in the process (just the inside, the rough bean, and the polished finished one).

5) Group of first years at Six Flags Animal Kingdom in Vallejo. It's weird to live 15 minutes from an amusement park.

I do miss DC with its wonderful public transportation, free museums, and the weather (it gets chilly here!), but new friends are making the transition easier. Vallejo does have its perks, e.g. palm trees, cheap weekly farmer's market, proximity to SF and Napa, sunny days and consistent temperature (always 70s during the day and 50s at night). And I hear first semester is pretty nice with all the Jewish holidays we have off. DC/Bmore friends, I hope to see you in September! Ciao for now! :)