No Shave November

Its become the tradition ever since Brad and I were roommates at USU to go the month of November without shaving until Thanksgiving, and even though we aren't roommates anymore this year is no different. It's sort of a contest to see whose beard grows more thick. Perhaps we should add a few more categories like who has the most red hairs, or gray hairs(I found one last year), or whose flavor saver retains more flavor! ;) Anyone is welcome to join in! My roommate Mike along with some other guys from school are participating and Brad has some guys in Wisconsin doing it. Its our way of contributing to the economic crisis by cutting back on our electricity usage, contributing to the environment by not filling up as many garbage bags, and keeping ourselves warm during the transition into the cold weather season! Ok, mostly its an excuse not to shave. Who do you think is winning so far?

In other November news, it has been the busiest month in the history of my medical school experience! The end of october was also very busy and I'm reaching the point of burn out. Only 3 more exams to go until thanksgiving, I think I can make it(although I might be limping mentally when I get home to Utah!) We finished the Cardio block in october and went light speed ahead through the respiratory block. We start the Hematology/Oncology block next week. The highlights of the month have been my healthy cooking elective class (Its hard to believe with 30 credit hours I have time for an extra class, but I get to eat dinner during the class...so it works out:), and the neonatology lab. The lab was at mercy hospital and we actually spent a couple of hours in the newborn nursery learning how to conduct a new baby exam on real newborns! I never realized how durable newborns are. We poked and prodded, checking reflexes, making sure no broken bones, searching for birthmarks or other abnormalities, and these babies hardly gave a yawn. They never cried once! It almost made me want one of my own...but I quickly remembered that most babies don't stay like that for long. If examining newborns were all neonatalogists or OB-GYN Drs. did, it would be a fantastic job...but with the obvious unpredictability of when the babies are coming it doesn't make for a great lifestyle. So I don't think I'll be going into it...but it was a great lab!