Who Chaperones The Chaperones?

This question popped into my head this afternoon during our second biochem lecture of the day. I'm feeling that this little brain twister could provide the foundation for a totally kick-ass story. Better yet, if I formatted it as a graphic novel, I'd really broaden my demographics.

Chaperone proteins really are the superheroes of the body. They give of their time and energy to combat energetically unfavorable conformations and ask nothing in return. They assume a profound leadership role within their society as self-appointed vigilantes. But what gives them this right? They stand not apart in terms of stature or sedimentation coefficient, and sequences of the same twenty amino acids teem through them just as in the masses. They are flawed. They are vulnerable to denaturation.

They're...The Chaperones.

Med Student With Benefits

Being a medical student really has its perks. Just this afternoon I received my first issue of the NEJM (New England Journal of Medicine), and while this may not seem like an event worthy of a blog post, it is.

It's the little things like this that make becoming a doctor worthwhile. The fact that I didn't even have to subscribe and that they respect my privacy enough to address my issue to another person, really speaks to the fact that there is still good in this world. I looked up my assigned pseudonym on Google and it seems that when the folks up in New England start something, they take it all the way. My "name" has a detailed history and background. I won't tell you the name because that would defeat the whole purpose of a pseudonym, but as far as the public knows, I'm a second year general surgery resident (PGY 2) at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Is it coincidence that this is the med school across the street from my apartment complex? I think not. These guys are just that good. Maybe I would have preferred being an MD instead of a DO, but I don't think that someone like me is in a position to complain about this sort of thing.

I can't wait for next month's issue!

Final Days In The Orient

Tomorrow is the last day of my med school orientation, and the process itself has proceeded much like you might expect. I admit that I am blissfully unaware of the orientation procedures at other med schools, but for me orientation has consisted mostly of faculty and staff reminding my fellow first-years and I of how much debt we're getting ourselves into. Yet matching the consistency of the financial downers has been the prevalence of barbecues, and this is nothing to complain about at all. I theorize that this phenomenon may be our first venture into the world of homeostasis--the body's inherent state of equilibrium that must be actively maintained at all times by various organ systems. I can clearly see the faculty's logic in this macroscopic analogy, as I can think of no better remedy for depression than steaming burgers and crisp, cool watermelon.

I'm joking of course, as I've had quite a bit of fun these last few days. I've met some cool people, relaxed in the grass, watched a volleyball repeatedly land in a bowl of potato chips, eaten lots of picnic food, visited my first cricket club, sat in a ridiculously squeaky microanatomy lab chair, and seen the total dissection of the incredible hulk (a.k.a. a cadaver of an elderly woman whose body tissues had been stained green during embalming due to biliary leakage).

She even had her ovaries intact which, according to the lab instructor, is unusual for a woman her age. I'm telling you, the excitement never seems to stop.