Caffeine Free in Med 3

Chicago Chicago

Let's hit the highlights of the AMA National Conference so I can then talk about my part in the action. For the most obvious, Aaron became the new Speaker of the AMA-MSS. Justin, from Wright State, got elected Alternate Delegate. As State Chair of the Ohio, I can proudly say they are from my state, and I spent most of my weekend trying to use my OSMA funding on all my fellow Ohioans - temporary or otherwise. I believe the only thing I spent money specifically for myself was buying eye-liner - all 4 dollars.

Now for the rapid fire event summary, followed by Allie's own personal learning issues.

Thursday: Didn't quite finish the H&P for ICM before I had to run to meet Sanjida. We then had to wait a bit to meet up with Abbey at O'hare before heading to the Hilton. We unpacked and, while Sanjida was in a meeting, Abbey and I ran to the much loved Jewelesco or whatever it's called to purchase some groceries. I ended up putting on my favorite power suit/dress and going to regional meetings, state chair meetings, and the alcohol-less regional mixer.

Then Abbey, Sanjida, and I put on our formal dresses to hit the party at the AMA HQ. Abbey wore this halter thing, and I wore a dress that was given to me by my much smaller roomie, Nicole, who has recently left for Iraq. The dress was at least AMA purple, and I got to wear the black gloves. That was possibly a bad idea because after consuming a few glasses of boxed wine (Franzia) I was tipsy enough to not be annoyed with guys molesting my gloves. Yes, they kept touching my gloves and telling me how hot/sexy/raunchy/dirty I had to be since I had gloves on. I don't get it. Honestly, the gloves make me MORE covered than I previously was.

Friday: After four glasses of wine the night before, I could not drag myself out of bed until about 8:30. When I did get up, I checked in with the group and stole some bags so I could smuggle a lot of alcohol into the hotel for the Ohio Party. At the alochol-less mixer, I had promised the complainers that we would have beer and pizza at the party. Yeah, good plan, how do you smuggle 18 bottles of beer into a carry-on bag?

The Ohio candidate campaigns were in full swing, and when I ended up leading the Region V meeting, I had some resistance. Most of the chapter leaders were gone, so I had a bunch of people who didn't know how to ask questions to candidates trying to decide the questions. I eventually got our 'fun' question to be 'show us your best air guitar, singing and dancing not required but highly encouraged.' We changed it over to 'air instrument' after Justin laid down on the floor. Aaron played Roxanne on the piano, and one crazy girl didn't play an instrument at all but seemed to want to be Lindsay Lohen or something. Trust me, there was blue eye shadow.

Skipping ahead to the Ohio party on floor 20, it was a college party at its very best. There were random people I didn't know there, but I guess turned out to be from my state. We ended up getting kicked out of our first room, so we carried the party (and my computer) to my suite, before heading to the club. Sanjida and I take turns sitting in the lobby chairs - see learning issues.

The club was the same place we went last year, a combo of dance club and karaoke. Erin D. was meeting one particular guy, Aaron K was selling his persona quite well, Sanjida was playing pool, and I was supposed to be dancing with Tina. This is the first time in over a year that I really let loose with my dancing, which appears to have a different effect with the straight crowd than it did with the gay bois. (learning issues again)

Saturday: After a taxi home, with a brief in the rain delay on my part, Tina, Sanjida, and I were in bed by about 3 to get up bright and early before 7 to cheer on Aaron and Justin. I missed the big moment because they were still tallying the votes when I went to a networking workshop. I ended up taking Ohio with me for real Chicago style pizza and then visited Magnificent Mile - where Roxanne let us take a chocolate shot from Godiva.

Then I probably dragged Tina and Sanjida to extra specialty meetings. The OB people were a little scary, but maybe because I'm not used to seeing old white men as OBs. It was probably worse for Tina and Sanjida who stuck out more than I did. Post that, we rounded up Ohio and headed to where we thought we were eating dinner, but they wouldn't seat us, so we ended up eating at the hotel resturant instead. I had a TERRIBLE Long Island Ice Tea and mistakenly ate some meat, which made me sick. Fortunately, Sanjida had just discovered Bloody Mary's which helped relieve some of my discomfort.

The older representatives of the OSU group and a significant portion of the AKFS campaign headed over to the med school party, where it appears thatAaron had to take a celebratory drink with everyone he saw. It wasn't as fun as Friday, but my energy might have been flagging at this point. I saw Erin D. for the last time before she was an official MD. Our night concluded a little earlier than expected, but I needed the sleep.

Sunday: I woke up b/c people had forgotten some of their stuff in my room. I ended up packing extra clothes into my suitcase. Anna ended up picking me up, and I was back in time to haunt the hospital and keep packing up.

Learning issues (identified at the end of any med student event)
1. Ohioans sure can drink, but that doesn't mean we can hold our liquor.
2. 'Thrones' is an excellent game to play in the lobby with 2 girls suffering from post-relationship stress and 2 guys from Wright State.
3. After drinking, pick targets you don't have to see again.
4. Always exchange phone numbers, if you don't, you'll miss dinner.
5. Erin/Aaron is a very popular late 1970s/early 1980s name.
6. "I don't punch; I strangle" does not deter guys.
7. Look at the taxi floor before you get in it.

posted by Allie @ 9:40 AM