Just got back from a meeting with some members of the Committee on Cancer Biology here to discuss the upcoming preliminary research proposals (”prelims”) each of us in my class has to do. We got the date that we’ll be presenting (either 9/10 or 9/11) and our three-member committee overseeing and evaluating the prelim. I’m quite happy with my committe, as I know two of them pretty well and feel that they think highly of me; I’ve met the third only a few times in lectures or in passing, but she’s rather benign and tends to ask very thoughtful questions, so it should be a great experience.

Prelims here, from what I understand, are a bit different from their homologs at other schools, where they are more commonly known as qualifying examinations, or “quals.” They’re basically the last barrier in one’s graduate coursework before clearance to proceed in the lab, pursue a project full time, and eventually, hopefully, graduate. (Think USMLE Step I for medical students, which, from the looks of things, was so much worse than this will be.) Here, though, as opposed to taking oral and/or written examinations, the prelim involves writing a pretend grant proposal in which we select a topic in cancer about which we know very little (or at least which we have not previously directly studied or are studying currently). So, in a way, we become pseudoexperts on a focused topic and its experimental methods in a very short time in preparation for our proposals, whereas at other schools, as far as I know, the breadth of examination topics is much greater and the format more “preclinical.” Clearly, each has its advantages and disadvantages, but I for one really enjoyed a class I took most recently on grant-writing, so I’m rather looking forward to the process and developing those skills a bit further.

I’ve chosen a microRNA project for myself (specifically, the basis for let-7 underexpression in lung cancer, leading to Ras hyperactivity), but beyond writing the abstract and setting out some very preliminary specific aims, I’ve done essentially nothing. Time to get to work!

How does this sort of examination work at your school?

After a long night of trying not to destroy everything I’ve done with the site recently, pictures are finally up. Check them out here or using the link to the right.

(UPDATE: The podcast is finally here. The files are all over the place, but they can be found on iTunes here, and random links to episodes in additional places are here. Email your questions and suggestions to pritzkerquestions@gmail.com.)

As Kamel (of bayblab blog and podcast fame) astutely noticed, I’ve had these non-functional links to a mysterious podcast up on the site for a while. Indeed, I plan to make these functional very soon, as I’m preparing to record the first few episodes of a podcast for my medical school shortly.

As it stands now, it’ll largely target applicants to the University of Chicago and what they can expect during the rest of the application process, but eventually we’ll be broadening the topics to cover things like financial aid, features of the school, likes, dislikes, and personal experiences. We’ll also be interviewing fellow students at various stages of their training to get a sense of what our students are all about and what experiences they’ve brought to the table, as well as members of the administration and admission staff to have their official input as well.

As this is geared toward Pritzker applicants, we’ll be depending on specific questions that come in to us so we can get them answered as thoroughly as possible. That’s the point of the podcast. In the past, we’ve participated in online text chats periodically with a select population of applicants, but that format is not entirely conducive to answering broad questions given the amount of people that are talking at once. Instead, this podcast will allow us to take the time to fully answer and address all aspects of questions that come in. As we gather more and more questions, we’ll be doing more focused, topical episodes to address a specific theme or aspect of the school. If there’s something you’re curious or confused about, don’t hesitate to ask. (Of course, the chats will still occur too.)

In doing this, we want for it to remain as transparent as possible. If you’ve ever applied to medical school, you surely have been frustrated at some point or other by the sheer amount of positivity that flows in the world of medical school admissions offices. Every school you come across is perfect. Perfect facilities, interesting students, great board scores, stress-free environment.

In the real world, no school is perfect, and this includes Pritzker. Thus, we want to remove the BS and relay the real deal. Most students I’ve talked to here generally enjoy themselves, but some don’t. Some things about this school are truly amazing and unique. Some things annoy everybody who comes through. We’ll talk about this stuff and let you decide for yourself if this school is for you without all the claims of awesomeness being shoved in your face.

The files very likely won’t be hosted here, but I’ll at least post them here as well to increase their general availability. As far as we know, this will the first school-specific admissions-style podcast, so we’re all really excited about it. Stay tuned!

I’m a huge fan of oddball comedy. Huge fan. I find comedy especially funny when it examines basic things in life, things that aren’t typically considered funny.

Today, I was in one of the fantastic elevators in the hospital, praying on my hands and knees that it would let me out into the free world again, as I listened to a standup routine by Dan Mintz (writer for The Andy Milonakis Show and Human Giant, among others) on my iPod, and this dandy popped up:

When people say that Superman is ‘faster than a speeding bullet,’ do they really have to use the word ’speeding?’ Isn’t that kind of assumed?
‘I just saw this guy who’s faster than a bullet!’
‘Oh, you mean like a bullet I gently toss across the room?’
‘…No, a speeding bullet. I’m sorry, I should’ve clarified.’”

Not really sure why—maybe it was the delivery, maybe it was the image of that conversation in my head—but I cracked up. I almost spit coffee all over myself. And there were people in the elevator, also praying. I had to apologize a little bit. Imagine it: Five people standing in an elevator, minding their own business. One of them is standing in the back corner in a white coat and listening to music, which is a little weird and antisocial, but whatever, at least he’s not disturbing anyone’s inner prayer. And then he busts out laughing for no reason whatsoever. What a weirdo.

Then, we all got out alive, which is the new highlight of my day every time it happens. See? Prayer does work.

I tried to take a survey on procrastination this morning, but it was too long and I didn’t finis