Wow. by August blogger of the month David Weltman

View from train to Beersheva

Wow. When I landed and took the train in during the early morning down to this city (see above), after having traveled such a long route east, I was in such a daze. I arrived at my apartment and, despite being totally beyond tired, I somehow managed to stumble to the bank, spit out convoluted Hebrew, and open up a student account before going to sleep and messing with my sleep schedule that much further (which, as I am finding as I compose this post tonight at 9:30 P.M., is still the case).

Since we began this Sunday, we have all learned a lot about living in Beer Sheva. From the safety situation to the location of the mall and grocery stores to the not-so-secret elevator on the medical campus and so much more, this is certain to be the beginning of a long learning process on how to live as a student and as a resident, a גר תושב, as it were, in a country not our own. But we are here to do more than that. In the next four (or however many) years it will take for us to get there, this program will cause us to take on new challenges, new experiences, and give us a new set of tools with which we can change the world, one patient and one place at a time. In the meantime, an ulpan a day will do much to keep us future doctors at bay, if not away entirely. But, as the Israelis say—לאט, לאט—one step at a time, and we can get there.

Entrance to Caroline House, where the MSIH
has its administrative offices.

Meanwhile, for me, this week has been anything but clear-cut. My bags got lost in transit, and even as I type, one is now with me, one is at my friend’s place (since they couldn’t get in touch with me for delivery), and one is still lost in transit. I opened a bank account after a lot of backs-and-forths, only to arrive today to pick up my bankcard and checks and discover that they couldn’t find my passcode, so I’d have to wait some more. I also still have no SIM card and my credit card doesn’t work—both the SIM and my new card came in the mail today with sign-for delivery requirements, and I missed both of them.

Smile, its all for the best.

Despite all of this, as I passed a utility box a couple of days ago with a smiley face and the words תנו חיוך, הכל לטובה, “Give a smile, all is for the best,” I could not help but smile. This is the start of a brand new, amazing adventure. And I hope it will truly be for the best.

Hats off to our Israeli liaisons, Daphna, Dana, and Evy, for being such help to us before and during my journey down here, and to the wonderful staff of our program who helped us and continue to do so through our orientation. I can’t wait to see what’s in store next. It has been so awesome getting to know my fellow students over the past few days, and I’m looking forward to getting to know you all so much better as the days go on!  - August blogger of the month, David Weltman

Well, here's my last post, by July blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

Well, here's my last post.

About a year ago, right about this time, I was standing in my apartment in Beersheva, alone, A/C not working, and just wondering what I've gotten myself into. I was excited and senselessly lonely at the same time. As time went by, Beersheva became a new home for me. Now I know what to do when I go back there, along with trying to meet some high standards set by the current third years. I hope I can be as good a second year as my second year friends when I was a first year, but I really have doubts. They were..and are an amazing bunch. When we finished our first year, a third year, soon to leave Beersheva to go stateside for his fourth year, said to be nice to the first years. I really want to, and will try to. If there's any first year reading this, please, please contact me for anything; I'll try to provide help. It's normal to be out of place at this time; it's normal to be frustrated. Don't think about USMLE until the beginning of 2nd semester, because prepping for USMLE should start, in my humble opinion, in 3rd semester (so why at the beginning of 2nd semester? Because at the end of 2nd semester you'll be in zombie mode.. you'll know when you get there).

That said, I still gotta enjoy my break before I go back there. I still need more rest! I lost 5 kg around the last couple months in B7 due to some studying schedule mishaps and I finally gained some weight back. Yeah.. eating and exercising are two really important things for marathon-studying required in med school. For now I don't want to do any work that requires concentration, not just yet ;) I still gotta go places, eat good food... I still haven't gone to a Korean BBQ yet! And still haven't gone to In-and-Out (aghast)! But I do know my place is there in the Negev, so I will gladly head back when time comes. Only when time comes, hehehe.

What's going to be waiting for us second years once we go back?

Well, we started with one classmate who's married, but we'll have one more. We'll have to start studying for USMLE. We're gonna start systems. One hellava rollercoaster ride that'll end with taking the Step I. One last real Christmas break. I'm kinda excited for it though. Now we know how the year flows in Beersheva, so we'll be ready and prepare ourselves better. Some of us will try to use the newly gained knowhow to race against time and academics to create something great this year. As for me I got little projects I'd like to accomplish, med school and church-related. Hey Hebrew, round two! Step I – let's dream for 270, 'cause why the hell not? Let's dream high! … haha I'm probably gonna accomplish 20% of what I have in mind for the year but that's okay. Ugh and then there's the dreaded lit review... sigh.

Oh also, the city will have finished building the water park!!! It'll be nice to stroll around it during nighttime.

That's it from me. Good luck first years!!!! Can't wait to see you guys! - blogger of the month, Seungjin Kim

How I learned what I learned, by blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

During the first year of the MSIH program, I learned quite a lot about International Health. The learning was mostly by frontal lectures by some fascinating lecturers who have or are currently working in their relative health sectors, ranging from local hospitals to the Israeli government agency, even outward to Europe and the WHO. I really learned a lot, and the concept of it doesn't seem too vague anymore.

Frontal lectures have the advantage of speeding up acquirement of near-neutral knowledge, much like as you'd learn Kung-fu by inserting a jack at the back of your head and downloading the software, like how Neo did in the movie Matrix. Then again, it's not THAT interesting. Or fun.

My first direct exposure, or how I first sensed I am being exposed to the fact that this school is situated with a window to show a world other than the United States I was comfortable in, was through the clinical interview sessions, and especially when we started going to the Bedouin villages. Well, not only that. A local PHR group held meetings about the Bedouins and how bad their situation is in Israel.

A straight-shot way to describe what I felt would be that the Bedouin situation was a model in which I learned the concepts to consider when the goal was to increase the health status of a developing country. We listened to the examples in the Bedouin population in nutrition studies in GHM health modules, tribe-based genetic diseases in Genetics, lower status of women, high prevalence of diabetes, and the demolition/re-construction of unrecognized Bedouin villages and reasons why.

On top of that we started going out to the clinics situated in the Bedouin villages, such as Tel Sheva. We saw the patients, usual reasons for hospital visit, and we also tagged along house visits. The house visits really opened my eyes as to what we'll be actually doing if we're to be doctors in developing countries. The nurse that tagged us along was being invited into a family house, counseling on diets that are better for the diabetic father, teaching how to use the insulin injector. The diabetic patients with parts of their lower limbs amputated made me think a lot. It could have been avoided.

My second direct exposure was when I helped out a second year set up a computerized medical records system for a refugee clinic in Tel Aviv. One of our classmate found in her heart to start volunteering every week there, even though that means spending quite a bit of time just in transit. Anyway, before the computerized medical records system, they only had Word documents as a medical records system. With the help of this brilliant second year, the refugee clinic now runs on Ubuntu (I just had to put this down here because it's an open source Linux operating system and it's so awesome standing up to Microsoft and Windows!!!), running OpenMRS – the fully free medical records system that, like any other awesome open-source initiatives, are done by a focused network of like-minded programmers around the world who think they should give to the world something awesome, for free.

The refugee clinic in right inside Tel-Aviv's huge Central Bus Station, or CBS. They are part of a network of refugee clinics, where refugees can come for medical needs. In this one, it's managed by Orel, an Israeli that is around my age, with a passion for cigarettes and the need to help the refugees find justice in Israel. I'm thankful I found an outlet for my need to fix/tinker with computers, that I can help out in the IT part of the refugee clinic, and maybe on the health side of the operation as well, if time permits in the coming year.

Of course, there are other ways to get exposed, such as the PHR. Or teaching English in Umbatim. Or you can just outright create your own window to whatever you want to get exposed. I know I'm not the adventurous type, and even I got two substantial exposures this year – a taste of what's to come in the next two years here, and afterwards as a doctor in underserved communities. – blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

The people I've met, by blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

In this blog post, I will recall and pass on my experience with the people beyond the circles of the students/faculty/administration of MSIH.

Each morning usually started off with going to the classroom 616 in the Old Internal Building in the Soroka Hospital, by 8:10 AM. I usually overestimate the amount of time it'll take for my biking to get to class, so I usually arrive at around 8:00 AM. I meet the cleaning lady there – a lady that looks like she's a Russian descent. I used to just ignore her but as time passed, and as my Hebrew increased relatively, I started to be a bit bold. I started saying 'Bokhel Tov' (Good Morning) to her, and although that's all that communication limits allow (she sometimes fumbled Hebrew too, or so I think with my limited Hebrew), I became less of a stranger.

Amidst the occasional VERY random encounters such as an Israeli almost forcing me to be friends just because I was born in Korea, my usual day-to-day exposure to the locals happened while grocery shopping.

My preparation to go grocery shopping is always a quest. I felt especially like a mage, memorizing spells to use them, hehe. Equipping is essential. I gotta bring a backpack, along with my bike, along with my water bottle. My small pocket notebook (aside: I make PocketMods. Google'it!) has lists of words, spells I might cast to complete the quest of obtaining prized items such as 'chicken' or 'ground beef'... oops, sorry for the game analogy! But really, I repeat phrases and sentences, mumbling past people who look at me strangely. Oh by the way, for me, grocery markets have levels. Beginner's level: small markets, Eden, Tiv Tam. Intermediate: SuperSol, Mega. Hardcore: Shuk.

Beginner's level grocery shopping isn't too hard. They either speak English or don't have a lot of people shopping. SuperSol and the Shuk, on the other hand.. I have to meditate on potential encounters before going in. People would start asking me who's the last in line (i.e. the most important information in SuperSol), or at the loss of communication, but still trying to convey that he knows that North Korea's Kim Jung Il has passed away, a guy at the Shuk would start making crying faces at me, interchanging with a choking sound/facial expression. I might have to start a ground-meat buying transaction with a kid who is running the meat shop, possibly right before closing up shop. All in all, every interaction an interesting one.

Another group of people I got exposed to, with the help of the MSIH first-year clinical interview classes were the Bedouin population around Beersheva. Now for this, as it links to the theme of International health, I'll go into it more in the next blog post.

Now for me, the biggest interaction I had outside MSIH for the past 11.5 months – a consistent, deep relationship, as in becoming part of – centered around the Christian group in Beersheva, with its focal point being the 'Nichalim Yeshua' church. This relationship is the second biggest fruit that I gained by living in Beersheva, first being MSIH. As a Christian, I practically gave up of the prospect of going to church as I moved into Beersheva. However, a third year showed me this church, and I've become part of it.

In it are multiple groups of people. The older people are mostly from Russia/Eastern Europe. Some of the younger groups are Israeli. Some are foreigners that came via mission-related activities or academic /work-related reasons. Some, like me, are MSIH students, a sub-group which apparently lasted for quite a few years already. For me, knowing about all of this was a miracle. I realize I will be blabbering on and on quite a bit about Christianity-related things. I ask with respect and humility that you accept what I will write down, and I am writing with nothing but a humble effort to jot down what I felt and experienced, to add to the overall first-year experience.

I never really expected my being in Beersheva, in Israel, to sing worship songs in Hebrew, to actually say 'Hallelujah' because that's what it says in Hebrew on the projector, to say 'Elohim', to end prayers by 'ba shem shel Yeshua'(in the name of Jesus). It was and still is surreal. Very emotional. To be greeted and hugged by the older people – reflection of my grandparents back in Korea – in Russian, as they don't know Hebrew, but still feeling the love nonetheless, was one of the great stress-relievers after six days of unending school work. To be able to meet English-speaking fellow believers and sharing their accounts, to be sent to a meeting of believers in all parts of Israel and share in the understanding, to pray for another's struggles... it was amazing.  Sure, the sermon is in Hebrew and concentrating to the translation headsets takes a lot of effort, but to see all of the group take joy in worshiping and caring for each other was pretty enriching. Meeting a Korean who grew up in Israel was inspiring. In the same aspect was a MSIH couple's role-model like conduct in things, always making time for bible-study, while still managing marriage, school, and birth of a child. Or another MSIH student's reason to become so good at Hebrew being wanting to read the Bible in Hebrew. The passion of the Negev, for me, is here. The desert can be dry and terse, but I found a source of water that replenishes. I intend to find out further of how this relationship will unravel/deepen in the coming years. I really thank God for this opportunity. - blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

First year is behind us! by July blogger of the month Seungjin Kim

Here we are lounging about in the Sports Center in the main campus, after our last exam on June 28th.  It was beautiful and so free.

To all the upcoming first years who might be reading this post: you chose well. Welcome to Beersheva. We're all very excited to meet you guys!!!!!! Ask Columbia for my email if you want to contact me about things you have questions about; I'll try to help you out with what I know. Or find me on Facebook - /seungjinkim.

Well.... first year is, behind us!!! At least for now. Hopefully behind me. Arrrgh I won't think about Endocrinology now. What's ahead of me is my summer break. I'll be in a happier tone in my next blog post - I still got to pack, do a final check of my apartment, get on El-Al, go to New Jersey, get on the Greyhound, reach California. About the Greyhound.. well you know, I figured I gotta do it at least once :) Hence the tense/pensive/anxious/exhausted tone.

 Also, I seem to praise my experience here too much, sugar-coating everything. Well... at this point in time, at the dawn of the summer break, everything looks amazing and worthwhile. All in all, it was good. Life here was real. At the same time I can't wait to be back home!

My goal in life before deciding to go to med school centered around just earning enough to live within means. I thought locally. Now, after seeing/experiencing the environment allowed by MSIH - I feel I think bigger, in larger scales - in terms of nations, health systems, cultures and the world. Because.. "Lama Loh!?" (=Why not?) Haha. I genuinely feel now that I can influence the world, given I put in the work.

For the past few days after our last exam, I was busy doing my share of our apartment cleaning, preparing it for our subletters - the upcoming first years. Now, it's 6:11 PM, I'm sitting in my room, listening to the Beersheva ambient noise of cars honking, kids laughing/talking, and wondering why there aren't any wedding happening today in the Leonardo Hotel. All in all, a quiet day.

Now for the main content. Since I am the July blogger, I will write about the past 11.5 months, how I've changed over the past year, roughly in three to four topics.

First topic is about the people I've met. I'll organize it into classmates, upper-classmates/professors and people that I've met out of school. Well.. now that I think about it, I'll move the non-MSIH experience entirely to another post. This post is nearly 1360 words. Is it long? If it is, my apologies, equally for the flow of it – I might go off on a tangent here and there.

Starting out, here is what makes my mixed culture. I've lived in the U.S. for nearly 15 years now, entirely in California, entirely focused in local Korean communities. Southern California has a huge Korean population, and if one is to live in the Koreatown of Los Angeles, you can basically live in the U.S. while not speaking a single word of English, and still live. I don't live there, but living in certain parts of the Orange County is nearly the same experience. At least until I've gotten into UCLA and lived in LA after graduation, I've had weeks where I consciously balanced speaking English and Korean. Why? Some things just unravel a certain way, heheh.

Most of my classmates already know this by now but I spent my middle school in Korea, and highschool in Brazil, where I hung out with fellow Korean families that came to Brazil for same reason as ours, along with my relatives who immigrated there in the 50's. I think I found a need to choose (at least up to what is allowed in one's life), and I allotted Korea a bit more into my identity. Yes, that choice had its upsides and downsides.

So, I'd never imagined that in my life, I'd be studying in Israel amongst many other students of diverse cultural backgrounds, representing/sharing what I can of my background, all in all building up a class body that is global. This year has been inspirational, humbling and eye-opening, quenching my thirst for something more, a start in balancing out what's been missing in my life. I guess it was my next step I needed to take.

Haha, as an aside.. I felt none of this during the summer session. Rather, I felt as if I was in a reality TV show that was all-location in Beersheva, putting random people together, sharing a common goal to survive med school. The night before the group flight in Newark, I slept in a two-bed room with a future classmate. I was too excited to sleep soundly. In the Emergency Medicine course, I had to hold arms, legs, heads of people I met only a few days ago, shouting at them, giving orders, immobilizing, tying them on backboards. Looking back, it was sort of an ice-breaker, and fun! This sounds awkward but I wanted to keep anything that reminded me of home. Did I know how to cook? Barely.. I lived in a co-op housing, eating cafeteria food. Hebrew? The daily four-hour ulpan Hebrew classes were exhausting! In hindsight, it was when my Hebrew learning really peaked. But it was daunting to do that with EM. Oh, how confused and cautiously relaxed were we at how easy med school was back then.

Almost everyone in our class has some experience living/traveling in some exotic parts of the world, with stories to tell, with generally a very heightened sense of respect for the other culture. They have the passion/desire/hope to see how their future might unravel, and how much they can accomplish in terms of influencing this world. All in all, they think big. Yes, I'm sugar-coating it a bit. But all in all I would like to thank the administration for picking practically a perfect set of classmates, heck the entire student body of MSIH, and allowing me to be a part of it.

Tell you a little secret – although I've gotten good at shifting cultures, it still comes unnatural to me to look at older people, the upper-class or professors straight in the eye, because it's rude in Korean culture. Equally is why I tend to naturally look at the upper-class both in awe and respect because upper class equals respect, no matter the age and what they do.  However, in this case, the respect was affirmed by their actions to help the first years out. They were so friendly and calm, gently leading the first years settle in, drenching us with tips to survive med school and Israel. Much thanks to them. I mean the fact that they survived medical school AND Beersheva for one, two, even three years was impressive. Throughout first year, I've been asking myself whether I can be as adaptive and goal-fulfilling as the current second/third years. Now that I've adapted more than 11 months ago, I think I understand how they did it, and I humbly assert it's possible for me too.

Professors - they really inspired me. They set in motion projects and studies that I've only read about in articles. They treat patients with diseases I've just begun to learn about. They influence the under-served community with their medical skills - often I've found a speck of the life I want to live while they shared their experience. Some would come to lecture us and then rush off to go participate in the WHO meeting for non-communicable diseases, or go up to Tel Aviv to help out with the refugee clinic inside the Central Bus Station. Some would guide us in our clinical interviews. Another professor is a friend of Dr. Rick Hodes. Oh yeah, and one certain visiting professor from Columbia for the Nutrition lectures built a medical school - our school - with one intention, to make doctors with the desire for the betterment of International health.

Medicine, for me, went from being an abstract to a possibly achievable goal. Not only for the present, but for the future. Really, some of the things the BGU professors (both affiliated and non-affiliated with MSIH) are researching are amazing - they show a glimpse of how we as physicians will practice medicine. Dr. Shahar of the BGU computer science department in particular was a huge impact for me, especially with his talk in the TEDxBGU, held this May. I think it's because I was a comp. sci. major, and I realized my background and medicine can overlap, because Dr. Shahar did so as well. As to how, I don't know. But it can be done, and that's what excites me, because there is proof, right where I live and study.

Next post will be when I'm in Irvine. Home. I haven't gone back since coming here. I really don't know what I'll feel. Will I feel happy? Exhausted? Crashing in my bed and never crawling out? Will I even have a bed? - blogger of the month  Seungjin Kim