All posts by Bharat

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A Year After Kentucky

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I didn’t think I would ever live in Kentucky.  But once I was there, I didn’t think I’d ever leave.

When most folks hear about Kentucky, they don’t have the most flattering images in their minds.  A common stereotype is of the slack-jawed yokel wearing overalls doing some sort of drunken jig while taking a swill from a jug that is cryptically labelled XXX.  But this pre-conception is not only highly offensive but is completely inaccurate.  Kentucky is home to a tremendously diverse set of people, and only a few of whom very vaguely resemble the pernicious stereotypes that we see on television.

Yes, it is true: in my three years in Kentucky, I did see a lot of poverty, a ton of obesity, and a soul-crushingly high rate of drug addiction (including alcoholism and tobacco abuse).  But what I observed most keenly was the warmth of the average Kentuckian.  Maybe I was naive, or looking to confirm my own optimistic biases, but I had a sensation that when people asked you, “how are you?” it was more than just a formality.  There didn’t seem to be any agenda on their ends: only an altruistic consideration.  Without delving into the other end of unfair stereotypes (i.e. undeservingly positive ones), I found their mindset to be very life-affirming – and I’ve worked hard to adopt it.

I didn’t expect to be so touched by this sincerity.  But I was.  And even though Iowans have their own particular style of homespun authenticity, I truly miss the southern hospitality and altruism that fundamentally define the identity of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Having only lived there for three years, I wholeheartedly admit that I am not an authentic “born and breaded” Kentuckian.  But I would like to believe that regardless of whichever state I may physically be in, I will always continue to carry that spirit of Kentucky with me.

 

Allergy/Immunology, Rheumatology

Introducing #RheumFacts and #AllergyFacts

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The first time that I ever felt old was when I heard about twitter.  I just didn’t get it.  It seemed just bizarre and alien.  I understood facebook.  I understood AIM. I understood mySpace, and Kazaa, and other social and pseudo-social networks of the early 2000s and late 1990s.  I even participated (and continue to participate) in a few.  But twitter seemed entirely different. After all, what worthwhile message can you possibly broadcast in 140 characters?  Stupid kids, I thought, ruining the internets with new-fangled emojis and punctuation-less lolspeak.

The ostensible stupidity aside, I still tried to get into twitter.  About a year and a half ago, I created an account, which I only used when when I had to, as an intern at ABC News.  It was admittedly fun to participate in their twitterchats, and help spread the news network’s pithy messages throughout the world.  However, after that internship ended and I headed back to work in Kentucky, it had no role and I largely forgot about it.  After all, if I had something to share, I could just do it through facebook, or, better yet, through the real world.

But I’m willing to give twitter a second chance, and, in the process, understand the full potential of micro-blogging.   So, I’m introducing two new hashtags, #RheumFacts, and #AllergyFacts, which are essentially like CatFacts, but more topical to the fields of rheumatology and allegy/immunology.  (Google Cat Facts if you don’t know what it is – and subscribe if you want to learn more about our feline companions.)  I hope that, in 140 characters, I can relay snippets of whatever I am learning in this fellowship to the world at large.

I will try to update my feed frequently – when I’m not on call.  But don’t hold me to that: chances are that I’ll fall behind the times, yet again.

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One Year in Iowa!

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It’s hard to believe that it’s been a year since I started fellowship here in Iowa City.  At times, I think that the year passed by very quickly.  But there are plenty of other times when I feel like these 364 days have just dragged on and on.

Iowa City

Regardless, it has been a tumultous year, characterized by momentous changes in both my personal life and professional life.

For one, I started a new fellowship.  In the very near future, I will have a synopsis about my experiences as a first year Rheumatology and Allergy/Immunology fellow (in a different forum – stay tuned).   While Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology are absolutely fascinating fields, both have very steep learning curves.  I’ve tried my best to be surefooted, but have faced several challenges that have conspired to throw me off balance and straight off the curve.

Secondly, the majority of last year was spent in preparations for my wedding (photos to come soon).  Even when the work wasn’t too onerous, the mental burden of coordinating this and that weighed heavily.  Fortunately, the wedding went off without any major hitches, and we enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon in sunny Portugal soon thereafter.

Because of these three major stressors (the move, the fellowships, the wedding), I simply have had to cut back on things that I would like to do, such as writing.

Since medical school, writing has been a high priority of mine.  It came at first as a desperate desire to differentiate myself from the rest of the herd of international medical graduates, but soon became a source of my identity.  For the majority of residency and medical school, I had been able to churn out an article (usually a case report or essay) every two to three months.  Nowadays, my output has been considerably less, which is an unfortunate but inevitable side effect of a busier schedule

Of course, this is only the tip of the iceberg – there have been plenty of other highpoints (e.g. winning the ACR knowledge bowl, welcoming several new members into our family, getting published in a few higher profile medical journals) and lowpoints (mostly the unending drudgery of everyday work) that probably deserve posts of their own in the near future.

We will see what the next year brings.  I’m confident there will be more changes, more excitement, and even more reasons to celebrate the passing of another academic year.