Instagram catch up and bit of real life

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Nothing much new has been going on in my life, hence the lack of new pictures. My birthday came and went and now I'm officially in the mid-twenties range at the ripe age of 24 (but still in the 18-24 demographic, as my marketer friend pointed out!). I'll save that for another post though.

I'm also ramping up for my life-changing test on June 19, Step 1 of the US Medical Licensing Exam (Step 1, or "the Boards" for short). It's the first in a series of three tests that will grant me board certification to practice as a doctor. I can't believe how two years flew by since I started medical school and that this will be my first step to becoming a real M.D. Step 2 and Step 3 are taken later on in the game (fourth year and once you're already in residency, respectively) but are much easier and don't require as much preparation, so I've heard. Step 1 is the real doozy. 

You could say that the purpose of the first two years of medical school is to prepare you for this one test. You not only have to pass to graduate onto your third year clerkships (which we got our schedules for last week!!!), your score pretty much determines which specialties you can "match" into. The more competitive specialties (the lifestyle specialties, aka Radiology, Ophthalmology  Anesthesiology, Dermatology, Surgery) require higher board scores to even get your foot in the door. Residency programs won't even consider your application if your board score doesn't reach a higher threshold. After that, it's all about your clerkship grades (how you perform on the job in the hospital), letters of recommendation, and frankly, if they like you or not. I still have no idea what I want to do yet, but I don't want to limit myself to any options for my future specialty, so I'm aiming for a good score. 

In that vein, I'm going to be slowly phasing out some of my habits that have slowly creeped back into my life during the depressing winter. Limiting Facebook and Reddit, and starting to work out seriously and eat healthier again. Take up yoga and maybe even meditation. Healthy body, healthy mind, right? 

Since I'm lame and don't have much of a life outside of school and food (not going to get better for the next ywo months), here are some food snapz to keep you entertained. 

Gold dust caviar at a party in DC

Churchkey, hipster heaven in Dupont. Ambience was great, dessert was meh.

 Homemade dinner by Chef J: Chinese 5 spice pork tenderloin, scallion pancakes, cucumber salad, peanut noodles

 Indian buffet = favorite brunch

Homemade birthday dinner with the S and S: Cauliflower crust pizza, margherita pizza, sweet potato fries, and mixed greens.

 Random colorful lunch

My lovely parents came up to visit and brought me food! Szechuan fish in hot oil (sounds better in Chinese) is one of my dad's specialties. 

I don't know if I'll be able to stay away from my blog during these next two months of self-imposed imprisonment, so stay tuned!