short update...

New look for the blog!  Let me know what you think...I'm still not quite sure if I like it.

Research Update! For awhile, my summer plans to do research after the boards were pretty unclear.  There is a research fellowship for dental students, but as we are a new program, it was all quite disorganized.  Initially, I was supposed to be doing dental research at Arizona State University.  However, things changed (I think some administrators came down with new rules) and I am now doing research at Midwestern.  I was a bit bummed that the research available at MWU does not pertain to dentistry, but the project I am working on seems pretty cool.  We will be evaluating the effects of genistein and estrogen on cardiovascular parameters after an exercise regimen.  Hopefully, the research will help evaluate the effects of hormone replacement therapy on post-menopausal women, especially those that exercise regularly.  What does this mean for me?  I get to train rats to run on a treadmill.  Maybe it will look a little something like the picture above.

Study update! Preparation for the boards coming along well I suppose.  I am making decent progress, despite feeling like everyone else is much further along than I am.  I tend to be a slow, thorough studier anyway.  The important thing is that I feel like I am retaining the information.  That's the point right?  Remember it now so that you can knowledge vomit all over that test and then forget everything you learned!

Sim Course!  This weekend is the ASDA is doing a pre-dental simulation course for undergraduates that are thinking about applying to dental school.  I am volunteering tomorrow and Saturday, so I'm sure I'll have some interesting stories to share.  Tomorrow I am assigned to help the students pour up impressions in the wet lab.  On Saturday, I am the green group leader and I show all the kiddies where to go and help them with all their different projects.  Overall, I think it sounds like fun, but it means 2 days of wearing the blue scrubs...I thought I had escaped them for the summer!