Stellarandstoked.com | Narrated by Jacob Lee

Bedside/Chairside Manner

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:17:00 -0500

I had a crazy day in the world of healthcare today. I went from the dermatologist, where I saw a really nice PA (Physician’s Assistant) about Accutane, then went off to a lab to get blood work done to make sure my body is able to handle Accutane, then had a dentist appointment about an hour later where I got a routine cleaning and then had some sealant replenished. It’s funny how the look of a healthcare practice can have an exact correlation with the care and manner of the staff of that particular practice.

In both the dermatologist’s and dentist’s offices, the practices are modern, clean, well-lit (incandescent lighting), and very home-like, thus giving off a very professional feel to them. In both appointments, after sitting in the comfortable waiting room, I was called back by a friendly member of the staff who then proceeded to ask me how I was doing and then gregariously led me to the room where I would be treated by the staff. The PA I saw was incredibly nice and gave off such a friendly vibe. Although she was superior to me in the world of skin care and medical knowledge, she didn’t let this affect our patient doctor relationship. She was very good at changing her medical talk into laymen’s terms, but at the same time, knew that both my Mom and I, in the room, had done our research on Accutane.

The same experience occurred at my dentist appointment. I was greeted by a very enthusiastic dental hygienist, who then talked to me throughout my cleaning (she actually went to UGA) and even took time to explain why I needed to have some sealant repaired when I asked her about it because I was interested. She then even answered more questions from me about the different between a filling, amalgam, and sealant, and was so enthused and happy that I asked. On the opposite end of the spectrum, my experience at the blood lab was far from “gregarious.” I sat in a fluorescent lit room, which was painted eggshell white, walls spotted with paint chips and seat cushions with rips in them. The two lady’s at the front desk were very short-spoken. I sensed no feeling of love for their profession. After waiting for ten minutes, one of the ladies said “Jacob, meet me through the door.” In my earlier appointment today at the dermatologist and at most of my other medical appointments I’ve ever had, an assistant or someone with a similar title opens the door for you or leads you to your specific patient room. Puzzled at this remark, I walked to the door, and slowly turned the knob. I found the lady staring at me, and she quickly turned around an walked down the hallway. She then said, “Take this.” Confused, I look around, and then noticed that she had my insurance card in her hand, but she was still walking and had her hand behind her back as she paced through the hallway. I awkwardly took my insurance card from her closed hand behind her back and then followed her into the room. The rest of the appointment just lacked any sort of smoothness or manner, as she proceeded to take my blood. I did not feel very comfortable in that office and am so glad that my dermatologist will let have my monthly blood work needed for Accutane completed by the health center at UGA.

I can only hope one day that when I am practicing in a medical office that I give off a caring and friendly vibe to my patients. I am so far from practicing any sort of medicine at this time in my short academic career, but so close to learning good bed side manner, as this can be practiced every single day. I feel that I already have a great head start on this from working at Sarah Care over the summer as I learned to interact with a variety of participant personalities at the Adult Daycare. I can state with confidence that a good bed side manner is a huge portion of what it takes to be a good doctor. This relationship between doctor (including all staff of a practice, and even the look and comfort of the practice itself) and patient is almost as important of the medical care itself.

Sow good services; sweet remembrances will grow them. - Madame de Stael.

Oh brother

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:19:31 -0500

Oh brother

UGA Dining Halls Go ALL Out

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:12:00 -0500

I got an email earlier in the week from UGA Food Services, the subject title read “Confection Connection Diner.” I recognized the email as part of UGA’s monthly special event for March. Every month the food services team plans and hosts a themed dinner in all four of the dining halls. Last month, for example, they held a Mardi Gras event including a DJ, stage lights, a crowded costume table where UGA students were making their own Mardi Gras masks and head-ware, and various food lines all with Mardi Gras themed foods, including home made French Eclairs.. boy were they good.

This month, however, the dining hall put on even more of a spectacular event. Personally, I think they outdid themselves, but then again, what do I know? I’ve only been a student here for two months and counting. Who knows what kind of events they have hosted!

Anyways, back to yesterday, The Confection Connection night was a “celebration of candy and sweets.” But don’t let this quote fool you, the dining halls had way more than just candy. The “real” food menu included, cinnamon spiced sweet potato bisque, three sweet pepper salad, mint sugar snap peas, and to top it off, (my favorite) pan seared filet mignon with caramel-brandy mushroom sauce.

Once you’ve tried your share of these entrees, you’d think you’d call it a night, right? Not at UGA. Try your way over to the candy station. Pick your sweet poison among gummy bears, king-sized laffy-taffies, UGA colored M&Ms, fruity Tootsie rolls, pixiestix, and other gummies that looked sour-patch like. Once you’ve got a cup or two of these, head over to the smoothy station and get a cup of the homemade peppermint chocolate chip smoothie. As you fill your tray up, walk over to the caramel apple station, and pick up a hand-dipped caramel apple, dipped right in front of you by the dining hall staff. But don’t forget, right past this, as you continue to walk towards your seat, are three different chocolate fountains, one fountain flowing with dark chocolate, the second with milk chocolate, and the third with white chocolate. Grab a toothpick or five and stab your favorite fruit, sliced fresh on endless platters surrounding the fountains - strawberries, cantelope, honeydew melon, pineapple, and (my favorite) kiwi. You can either slide these slices of fruit underneath the fountain, or just place them on your tray, whichever you like. I just took about four whole kiwis, “un-chocolatted”, back to my seat to enjoy their kiwi-juiciness. When you get to your seat, you’ll notice a center piece on the table holding gum balls and giant size lollipops, with four or five balloons holding it all together.

Once you have all these, it’s probably a good idea to head to your seat, because this tray is going to be quite the heavy one. Looking back on it, it’s probably best that you use more than one tray. But when you’ve finished devouring your confection themed entrees and sweets, don’t go just yet! Head over to all the excitement behind the candy apples and head to the pinata station! That’s right, college kids being spun around and blindfolded are then told to “swing away” and the dangling paper mache animals filled with even more sweets and candies.

This was just a description of one of the four dining halls that hosted the confection connection dinner last night. Major props to the UGA Food Services staff for going all out on these events, and continuing to provide excellence to UGA in their daily endeavors to feed and fuel UGA’s students and staff. It’s no wonder why the UGA Food Service is regarded as the top in the nation, year in and year out. Let the big dawg eat!

Shade and I ate our bellies away. We were so incredibly stuffed by the end of our two hour dining hall adventure. We proceeded to head back and nap for two hours as our bodies digested all that was UGA’s confection connection night. Man oh man, and Shade will totally agree with me on this, that food ROCKED!

Got some quick shots of the March snow. Our campus gets excited...

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:52:00 -0500

Snowy path

Busyness on the campus

Where the warmth lies

Got some quick shots of the March snow. Our campus gets excited about this kind of thing.

Happy Birthday Esghe Man!

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:28:53 -0500

SO stoked, as today is Sheida’s 20th birthday! Happy birthday to my oh so stellarest Sheida!

(To Sheida: I hope you don’t mind the picture! I couldn’t resist!)

Apolo Ohno’s olympic training, he is THE MAN. He’s...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:21:28 -0500

Apolo Ohno’s olympic training, he is THE MAN. He’s been my absolute favorite to watch in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Such a baller on ice.

INDOOR GAME

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 09:59:00 -0500

Well.. I had my first UGA indoor game last night. The game was pretty fun. 6 vs 6 including the goalkeepers. We won 8-4, putting us at 2-0 in group play. (I was sick last Thursday so I didn’t play). The only annoying thing is that the game kicked off at 10 PM, and finished around 11. That’s super late considering I had an 8 AM class this morning! Oh well, as long as we keep winning! We’ve got a pretty solid team, so we should keep doing well. We have two more group games, and then based on our standings, we will get a seed for the single elimination campus wide tournament.

In other news, we talked about and debated the court case Roe vs Wade this morning in my political science breakout. Boy did that get my blood boiling! All people are entitled to their opinions, but it’s so hard to think this on an issue that just gets under my skin!

Off to home this weekend for Sheida’s birthday on Saturday and the MUSE concert with my Dad. Very stoked!

Gotta go to class now, happy Friday everyone.

Went to the UGA baseball home opener vs Presbyterian last Wednesday with Shade :)

We won.

Wow

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:41:00 -0500

Read It

The Gold Coast

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 10:04:00 -0500

The 2010 Quiksilver Pro Australia.

The end of February means one thing for the surfing professionals around the world - the offseason is over, and it’s time for the world tour to start again. I imagine that, if they aren’t already there, the likes of Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, and my personal favorite, Dane Reynolds, are arriving in Queensland, Australia for the first ASP (Association of Surfing Professionals, basically the PGA Tour of Surfing) event of the year, the Quiksilver Pro Australia, which begins on Saturday. (Ironically, two of those surfers I named are actually FROM Queensland, Australia, which is nicknamed The Gold Coast, do you know which two?)

I would love to one day see an ASP event live as I dig my toes in the sand, the announcer blaring over the loudspeakers on the shore. The ASP actually has an official orthopedic surgeon, who travels with the tour, every single stop of it, all around the world.. that’s not a sweet job or anything..

Anyways, back to reality, I will just have to catch the Quiksilver Pro’s LIVE webcast of the event this weekend and next week, no big deal! Speaking of orthopedic surgeons, that leads me to talking about medicine, and more specifically where I currently am, premedicine.

I went to the UGA premed forum yesterday afternoon for an hour and a half lecture by a guest physician who talked about his personal experiences with malpractice. I feel like I learned so so much. I didn’t lose focus the entire hour and a half, everything from his talks about the malpractice process, to (especially) the details of what was going on in the operating room in some of his surgeries (he was an Anesthesiologist) captivated my attention to extreme amounts. I can’t wait for the next forum next Tuesday, it will be on private practice vs large corporation practices of medicine.

Anywho.. I must be going now, sorry for the rather short update, but I have class in six minutes! Weather and climate, yummy. I will catch ya later, very soon!

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-angels15-2010feb15,0,5206224.story

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:55:04 -0500

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-angels15-2010feb15,0,5206224.story

I like these.

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 19:10:27 -0500

I like these.

Video

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 21:28:50 -0500

Checking out the fresh powder with my bro.

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:24:31 -0500

Checking out the fresh powder with my bro.

Snow after Daddy Lee shoveled off the front of the deck. About 2...

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:23:16 -0500

Snow after Daddy Lee shoveled off the front of the deck. About 2 inches of precipitation so far.

Religion Political Science Overlap

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:35:53 -0500

Religion Lecture: A society based off individual feeling as moral code would not function correctly.

Political Science Lecture: Conservatives believe the values of American society have an Anglo-Protestant moral core.

In essence, our society must have a religion (any religion, not just Christianity) to base its morals on, or else all the other concensus values of Americanism (the constitution, liberty, equality, work-ethic) would not exist. Without religion, where do morals come from?

Interesting how my religion class is overlapping my political class.. in the form of conservatism.

I think this little post has just helped me write on of my essays for my political science test tomorrow. Thanks blogging!

Anyways.. morals are good. They come from religion. If you are a conservative, you most likely agree.. according to the theories expressed by my professor. Hmmmmmm.

JayJC Sports

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:03:00 -0500

JayJC Sports:

Check out one of my best bro’s sport blog, jayjcsports.typepad.com. An aspiring sports writer, Jason Chong details his views on the wide world of sports. From the NBA, to the World Cup, he’s got it covered. (He’s a pretty smart dude). Thanks for the sports Jason Chong!

Rail.

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:58:22 -0500

Rail.

Twenty Minutes

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:45:00 -0500

After I ate, I stood waiting for a bus to take me across campus to the library. After a minute of standing, however, I quickly realized that this was a sheer act of laziness. In an effort to stop taking the health of my legs for granted, I decided to take in the mile long stretch through the beautiful Georgia campus. The vivid memories of being on crutches subsided as I approached the six story side of the monstrous Sanford Stadium and continued through numerous quads and brick walkways. After twenty minutes of walking, I reached my columned destination with a refreshed mind and inspired spirit, thanks to the mere act of walking itself. And those buses give me motion sickness anyways.

Getting In The Zone

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:13:00 -0500

Hello, hello. And happy Saturday my friends. Writing to you from the depths of The University of Georgia campus, my new home away from home. The past week has brought a sense of routine to my life here at UGA and I’m straight up lovin’ it. I had my first assignment due last week and saw success as I got a perfect score on my first physics problem set! I must not be too consumed with that though, because the work here doesn’t look like it is going to cease until after May. Ouch.

But as I was telling my Mom on the phone yesterday while driving with Sheida, I feel like I’m completely involved in all of my classes here. Besides physics, there isn’t really one class that I prefer over another. I come out of each class inspired and don’t want to leave. It’s a very nerdy thing to say, yes, but this is why I am here. This is why I am paying for school. I love it.

A quick recap of my classes so far… 1. Intro to Religious thought: the class is centered around how to properly study religion. Coming up is our first written assignment (out of three total) for the year. We have to interview someone about their religion and faith and write a report about our findings. 2. Macroeconomics: A possible minor or double major? (HA I’m a dreamer) This class is centered around a huge 300 student lecture. We are learning the fundamental concepts of economics and how to apply these concepts to specific situations in order to develop an understanding of what choices make someone the most “economically” advantageous. I love it. 3. Introduction to Weather and Climate: We just finished learning about basic coordinate systems and the science of the sun and the Earth’s orbit. Now we are studying basic atmospheric sciences. The atmosphere, different heat forms, clouds, etc. 4. Political Science/American Government: we are studying our first topic (out of three) of the semester, identity. What exactly is an American? We narrowed it down to five basic American values.. religion, constitutionalism, liberty, equality, and work ethic. 5. Advanced Intro Physics I (Mechanics): My only BCMP class (Biology, chemistry, math physics… these classes are the most significant to medical school admission committees). This is my smallest class as it is reserved, although not exclusively for, physics or astronomy majors, 25 (freakishly smart) students. We learned, or rather to the rest of the class, reviewed (although it was a lot of learning for me) vectors and characteristics of vectors. We then introduced position velocity and the first two Newtonian Laws.. which were presented and derived with much, much more theory than my class last semester. It’s so much more in depth, but makes so much more sense!

Phew, that was a lot. Anyways, as you can tell, I’m really loving school and feel like I’m getting in the zone more than ever. All my professors are brilliant. Although I’m only taking one BCMP or “premed” class, I really like the liberal arts classes that I have to take as part of my core that is required for graduation at UGA. Although this is a huge university, you still get that much needed liberal arts education, as well have all the resources you would ever need, in which a huge research university provides for you.

I have my first AED (Alpha Epsilon Delta, which is the premedical society) meeting on Tuesday. A discussion on the limited number of medical school spaces for adequately prepared premedical students is supposed to occur, I’m pretty pumped!

Well, I’ve got to get a workin’ on my new physics problem set. Im here at the MLC with Sheida next to Jittery Joe’s.. we be doing lots of school work this noon.

Catch ya later!

Stellarandstoked.com, viewed in five continents! Here’s to...

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:39:50 -0500

Stellarandstoked.com, viewed in five continents! Here’s to getting Africa viewership in 2010!