Quick note

Just a fast line on my where abouts... I am doing a month of intensive care unit at the Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, then I will be in Sedona for a month of Emergency Medicine. Then, I will be home for Christmas. I think I got spoiled by Ventura's good weather, now I got back to Phoenix, I'm feeling hot and dry.

I went out for a bike ride with my friend Larry yesterday at dusk, it was very nice. Other things going on with me: preparing to start my acupuncture course, preparing to go to Cambodia, and getting ready for a couple of residency interviews.

That's it for now. I am going to take a little nap now...

(*) Thoughts on Grace...

God, my heart is hurting... it aches when I see a homeless person in the hospital for disease of their situation and their mind; it aches when I see babies that are congenitally deformed and seeing the love of their parents poured out knowing their babies won't make it past their first birthday; it aches to know that around the world women and children are suffering abuse and neglect; it aches knowing that there are people here who are in such hopelessness and despair and completely impoverished in their emotions and spirit; it aches for my personal struggles with sufferings and disappointments; it aches for the ones I love who have to suffer...

God in His sovereignty allows, and many times destines us to go through hard times... even times to experience physical harm and death. I would like to believe that my God, who is an awesome God, King of kings, and LORD of lords, and a God to be revered and feared, and a God to be loved... I would like to believe that my God is in TOTAL control over my joys and my tribulations. Everything that happens to us is not and will never be a mistake! Everything that happens to us has a purpose. There are NO coincidences!

As Proverbs chapter 17 tells us "Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the LORD tests the heart." God, let your holy fire burn through us! Let it burn off all the impurities in our lives so we can worship You with a pure heart! You've promised us that Heaven, the eternal dwelling, will have no more pain and suffering and tears, I look forward for that place.

Because Your holy fire burns for us, You, in Your wisdom have indicated to us that our physical bodies will not survive into eternity. You'll bless us with a brand-new and glorified body... so, why should we focus any longer on the conditions of our physical body? Why don't we focus on the condition of our 'Spiritual body,' which will survive into eternity?

God, this world is not fair, and there is no justice! Justice is corrupt. As king Solomon says in Ecclesiastes: everything is meaningless. Everything that we devise and is a part of this world is meaningless, chasing after the wind. We work so hard and fight so hard, but yet, when we pass away, all that we toiled for become spoils to other people.

Grace, defined by Merriam Webster: "1 a: unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b: a virtue coming from God c: a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace." Our redemption and guarantee of eternal presence with God is granted by God to us, which is totally and completely independent of our performance. The presence of God's Grace makes obsolete the rules of this world. Previous to our acceptance of this free gift of Grace, our lives are full of lists of 'good' and 'evil' deeds. Everything we do in life either made us feel good or guilty. We gauge our closeness to God or to celestial attainment by how we perform.

However, in the light of Grace, this 'balance' and ever burdening 'list of good and bad' completely disappears. We are no longer held in the balance. Our actions are no longer good nor evil. Our bodies are no longer healthy or damaged. God’s Grace says that WE ARE GOOD ENOUGH. We are pure enough to be in His presence. He accepts us! In the presence of Grace, there is only one choice: the choice to accept it. To deny it, or to turn your back to it, means that you are turning down the best gift that you can ever be offered and to receive.

In the presence of our awesome King, the Prince of Peace, the Redeemer of our Soul and Spirit, and the Granter of Grace... every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is the LORD. We have no choice what kind of sufferings we have to walk through; we have no choice what kind of injustice we have to experience; we have no choice in our struggles to make sense of things... However, we do have just ONE CHOICE, which is TO ACCEPT GRACE.

I can fight, I can struggle, and I can deny... but in the end, the acceptance of Grace gives me PEACE to be ok with suffering and struggles. The presence of Peace takes away the physical and mental pain from my being so I can start to love God and to share Him with others. It is then that I can help those whom my heart is aching for.

Thank you Lord Jesus, I Accept.

I love Alaska, the final frontier!

YOU CAN'T BEAT THESE PICTURES!!!

Can you believe it? I was in the ‘great last frontier,’ ALASKA! I went there from 10/15 - 10/19/08 for an interview at the Providence Hospital of Anchorage for the Alaska Family Medicine Residency Program (AKFMR).

My first impression: Alaska’s natural beauty is amazing, lots of raw beauty, people are calm and nice, dawn and dusk takes about 2 hours, cold (20F in morning for a guy from CA), simply beautiful!

About AKFMR: the only residency training program in AK serving all of the 660,000 people. Their mission is to train family physicians to serve in rural Alaska. So, that makes a pretty hard core training program.

The first night I got there, I stayed with a first year resident and his roommate, The Accountant. As an introduction to the homegrown subsistence, they cooked me some genuine caribou brats! It was delicious, slightly 'gamey' (as in it tasted like wild animal), but very good! We sat around the table and talked about Alaska, and about how they are both avid fisherman and hunters. They hunt everything that God placed on this green Earth. But, they have respect for environment and the natural cycle, so, they don't just hunt for fun... Alaskans hunt to stock up their freezers so they would have food for the rest of the frozen year to survive the harsh winter. They also fish salmons and freeze them so they have fish for the rest of the year. They plant vegetables and harvest them. They make all their own meals. And… they exercise no matter its windy, snowy, icy, or when it is below zero!

Halibut Sandwish at Seward; Cajun blackened salmon

The second day I drove down to Seward in the Kenai peninsula. I drove along the ocean and took pictures of mountains reflections, bald eagles, beaver dams, glaciers, icebergs, swamps... I also went through the cool 2.5 mile tunnel in Portage to go to the sleepy sea town of Whittier. Then, I visited the wild life preserve at Girdwood. (I was surprised at how small the musk-oxs are!) Then, I went and toured around the town of Seward... I also ate a very delicious halibut sandwich at a little deli in town. That night, The Accountant taught me how to make 'Cajun blacken' silver-salmon that he caught earlier in the year. It was delicious... um, um, um... you have to be there.

The tunnel from Portage Glacier to Whittier

Going to the Kenai; Bald eagle sitting on the branches!

The next day, Friday, it was my scheduled interview at the hospital. I got there at 7:30 am and the day was started by meeting new people, staff, residents, and the program director. We were presented with all sorts of information about the program and all the in's and out's. We were also taken on a detailed tour of the hospital facility. Then comes lunch... then interviews. The hospital is brand new and beautiful with all new equipments. The interview was very good, had good conversations with all my three interviewers. That night, the residents threw us a welcome party at the house.

The day after, I drove up to Talkeetna, where it is called "Doorway to Denali" and "Home of the bush pilots." It also is a town pretty much like the town in the TV show, Northern Exposure. Here you can actually see Mt. McKinnley, which is the tallest mountain in North America, towering over 20,000 feet!

I am very pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty of the State of Alaska, its people (or the lack of people), and with the residency program. I will return!

Hanging out with Ben, eating some ribs!

Chicago Ribs at Ventura

Saturday morning farmer's market in Ventura!

September Readership

Hi everyone, thanks for reading my blog. I find it fascinating where you all are. I hope you enjoy it as much as it was for me to write it. I must let you know that I have a very interesting traveling plan for this year. I am going to Anchorage, Alaska next week to interview at a residency program. I will let you know how I like Alaska. I heard it is probably the most beautiful State in America. I will post pictures and keep you up to date. Blessings...

Avocado Festival and Surfing

Sunday Church and Worshipping at the Avocado Festival...

The beer battered fried avocadoes with sweet pico de gallo sauce!

Avocado Ice Cream!

Me and my avocado ice cream; Taylor with Elias feeling Zen

Ventura, CA... yeah, what a life! This morning, my friends Kavi and Taylor and baby Elias, Michelle and Adam, Natalie and Cedric, and Rob from South Africa went to the California Avocado Festival together. We got there for a church service right in the middle of the festival. Then, I just had to get the 'Beer battered avocado with sweet spicy corn sauce' and 'Avocado ice cream.' I actually really liked the fried avocado, it was very yummy. However, my avocado ice cream was something else! I am glad that I tried it, but I don't think I would get it again. So, let me tell you what it tasted like: Guacamole in ice cream! I can actually taste the avocado, with some spicyness and some taste of onions and such... it was weird and 'filling...' Yeah, ice creams aren't supposed to make you feel full! But, this one did for me. Weird.

Surfing; Taylor and Rob

We then played a game of beach volleyball and then, we went surfing, Taylor, Rob, and I with Kavi's dad, Doug. It was fun times. I got beat up and my arms fell tired before I could have fun, so I basically went to lay down on the beach... then I passed out. I don't know how long I was taking this nap, but I did remember to flip over. By the end of the day, I was 'roasted.' We had so much fun. Taylor and Rob then cooked us this amazing BBQ dinner with salmon, veggies, and chicken. Stick a fork in me, I'm done!

Ventura County Medical Center

Hello guys, here is a quick update from me. I have officially passed all of my five medical boards exams. I have applied for 20 family medicine residencies (14 in CA, 1 AK, 1 IN, 1 WA, 3 AZ). I have already gotten interview requests from 15 programs (had 1 interview, and 10 more already set up to go). My first one is going to be in Anchorage, AK. I already have a good idea of which ones I want to rank in my top 7 programs, so I may not have to do all the interviews.

I am currently in the Intensive Care Unit at the Ventura County Medical Center, working with residents from their Family Medicine Residency program. I am very much enjoying it here. It is about 1 mile from the beach and some of the best surfing areas. Very nice weather. The residents here all seemed very happy about their choice to be there, and they also tell me that they work their butts off. Now, 'residents' does not mean people who 'reside' there, but it means 'doctors in training.' However, may be 'reside' is closer to the truth. So, as you know, I love procedures and doing things with my hands. So, name a procedure, and you'll find that their residents get training to do it here. They do all the deliveries of babies, c-sections, and running trauma codes. If there are surgeries to be done, they do it with the surgeon on call. I am also hearing that if you show interest in any area, the doctors will train you to do it on your own. A lot of residents here want to serve in rural and developing world communities. I am interested in being trained to do surgeries and being good at deliveries, and they do all that here. I have met many attending physicians and surgeons and they are all very eager to take time out to teach. I feel like I am in school again! There are nothing like being taught right in front of the patients... things you'll never forget.

My new buddies: Lewis (head down) and Clark (head up)