Busy Thursday

Today we had a Small Group from 8-10 am on molecular methods for detecting genetic mutations, focusing on Southern blotting and microarrays.

From 10-12 pm we had a lecture on cancer screening procedures for cervical cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. It was interesting learning about the pros and cons of each screening test, and how there is a constant balance being weighing harms and benefits.

The Synapse lunch meeting from 12-1 pm featured a columnist from the San Francisco Chronicle, CW Nevius, who has been creating ripples in the community through his writing on the homeless in San Francisco.

Traveled from 1-2:15 pm to Oakland for my pediatric preceptorship. I really enjoy working in a community-based clinic with my preceptor, who is an Asian woman who speaks fluent Spanish. Not sure if this was intentional, but UCSF has arranged it so that I have been able to visit many different types of practices during my short time here...and each is different from the comfy, wonderful privileged academic medical centers where I have worked in the past! My first preceptor was a medical oncologist at Kaiser SF (HMO system); my second preceptor was a Cantonese doctor who divided his time between oncology and primary care in his private practice in Chinatown, and my current preceptor works in a community-based clinic as a pediatrician for the Cantonese/Hispanic community. Today, I got to practice my rusty Spanish skills by taking a short medical history and converse in Mandarin and listen to Cantonese. Undoubtedly, pediatrics has the cutest, most charming patient population. You can't help but smile when you see them.