Lessons from our VMSI Wellness Retreat

From September 11, 2015

1. To thrive and not just survive, I must consider what health, balance, and success mean to me and prioritize that. However, the work-life scale is dynamic and is naturally heavier on either side sometimes. I must also remember to re-assess all of this periodically, because those meanings can shift as I change over my life.
   
2. Acknowledging the inevitability of imperfection can help me deal proactively with failure. Even better is non-judgmental self-assessment of the causes of that failure, followed by gap analysis and goal-setting to improve in the future.
3. After I fail in some way, I will feel way worse for longer if I used a shortcut or did not do my best before failing. Note that this is true even if my shortcut or lapse didn’t cause the failure. If I did my best in preparation and execution, then my mind will not be so plagued after failure with regrets and self-doubt.
4. Recognizing that life has highs and lows (and medicine has high highs and low lows) can reduce the pain of failure and let me have a more temperate temperament. Great achievements and dismal failures will inevitably happen, and they will both pass.
5. Talking with other people, experiencing their empathy, and hearing their stories of mistakes can alleviate the severity and duration of the crippling pain of failure. If I am lucky (or proactively ask), I might even get ideas about how to avoid such mistakes myself. I don’t have time to experience every failure, so I must experience most vicariously. By extension, I should latch on to people who have experience and know what they’re doing to absorb as many delicious life lessons, tips, and tricks as I can.
6. I have so many resources for support and advice. (And I probably will wherever I go.) I must not wait to go use these resources if I'm struggling. Honest self-assessment of weakness is itself my greatest strength as a learner and doctor, and so I should act on it quickly and efficiently.

Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science

More so than any other disciplines, they are tools to work with abstract information. When physics teachers preach the importance of units, they often point out that unitless equations like "2 + 3 = 5" are meaningless. 5 what? 5 potatoes? 5 light years? The optimistic view is that 2 + 3 = 5 no matter what we are talking about. That is, understanding this abstract, "meaningless" space can be applied to infinite real-world situations. How cool is that? As long as you can transform a real problem into an abstract computational one, you can use all the tools they have to offer.

One great example is graphs, or networks: a set of vertices, and edges between them. They might be weighted or unweighted, and the edges might be directed or undirected. A particular network might represent cities and roads, atoms and bonds, or politicians and alliances. Clustering algorithms may be run on Facebook or LinkedIn, but they are also used to identify cancer pathways.

Another universal structure is a sequence, for which we have tons of models and algorithms. Amino acids in a protein. Weather patterns over a week. Die rolls in a casino. Letters in words, and words in sentences. Stock market prices over a year. Anything with some temporal order is fair game. These are all sequences! Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) can be used just as well for meteorological or financial predictions. Sequence alignment is as valuable for mapping genes on your genome as it is for the natural language processing on your phone!

Yet beyond just being useful tools for people in different walks of life, each of them has its own important lessons to teach. Mathematics gives us a language in which to precisely discuss and understand beautifully pure forms we will never see, as well as patterns we experience every day. Statistics teaches us how to decide if something is important or significant, and how to change our beliefs based on new evidence. Computer science instills faith into our culture that data we will never be able to process ourselves can still be understood, that the problems different people face are often more similar than they may seem, and that those problems can be solved ever more quickly and efficiently if we try.

Smoke and Snowflakes

Gears push pistons

Clicking and whistling

A steampunk dirge

Life pressed in death

Into oil and coal

Into heat and smoke

A black blanket

Wrapping the world

Keeping it warm

Spikes and spires

Peeking out of clouds

To glimpse the sun

Snowflakes melting into raindrops

Beating crescendo on the ground

Dying whispers of wind

Into baby breath breezes

And susurrus songs

Carving cracks and craters

Into the earth's white shell

Trickling down to meet

Peeking tendrils and buds

Rising into the light

Potatoes on Potatoes: Thanksgiving Leftovers 2

So you have a mashed potato mountain left over from Thanksgiving. Solution? Add more potatoes. And other things. The goal here is to turn the mashed potatoes into a delicious dip, so add whatever else you like (gravy? cranberry sauce?) to give it that extra kick!

Ingredients (Serves 1-2):

• 1 small bag (~15) sweet potato chips (or other dipping tool of your choice)
• 2 medium scoops of mashed potato
• 1/3 cup peas and corn
• 2 tbsp shredded cheese (mozzarella, American, etc.)
• 1 tbsp chopped scallions
• 2 tsp chopped coriander
• Salt, pepper, and Sriracha to taste

Steps:

1. Add 2 scoops of mashed potato to a bowl.
2. Top with peas and corn, cheese, scallions, coriander, salt, pepper, and Sriracha.
3. Enjoy with sweet potato chips! :)

Bread Stuffing Meteors: Thanksgiving Leftovers 1

Bread stuffing is a traditional holiday season recipe, usually used to fill poultry like turkey on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Typical ingredients include bread/croutons, onions, celery, sage, butter, salt, and pepper, though a quick google search demonstrates the vast range of possibilities. One problem with preparing for bountiful holiday feasts is, of course, leftovers! What do you do with tupperware stuffed with stuffing when you've run out of stuff to stuff it into? Here is one easy appetizer answer, made in 5 minutes with a microwave. (A baking pan in an oven would work too.)

Bread Stuffing Meteors (Serves 1):

• Bread stuffing (~1/2 cup)
• Parmesan cheese flakes (or your favorite cheese)
• Warm marinara sauce (or your favorite sauce)
• Olive oil

1. Roll bread stuffing with hands or spoons into three bite-size to meatball-size balls.
2. Spread olive oil very lightly over a plate, roll around the bread stuffing until lightly coated, and microwave for four 25sec intervals. Flip or roll each ball to a new side between each interval, since the top will dry faster than the bottom. In the end, the balls should be slightly chewier and should not break apart under light pressure.
3. Place three dollops of sauce around one half of a small plate, and spread to make 'meteor tails'. Place one ball at the center of each meteor shape, and top each with a flake of cheese.
4. Microwave until the cheese has melted, and enjoy! :)

Mozzarella & Portobello: Marvelous Mushroom

Portobello mushrooms are are large, meaty, and are fantastic when marinated and grilled. Once cooked, they work well in everything from burgers and sandwiches to pasta and salad. They are low-calorie, low-fat, and packed with great vitamins and minerals. Now, every superhero needs a sidekick, and portobello and mozzarella are a match made in heaven, along with PB&J and tomatoes & bread. They even sound like they're meant to be together! I've included two recipes below featuring marinated portobello and melted mozzarella--one appetizer and one main course. :)

 

Marinated Portobello Mushroom

There are endless potential ingredients and methods of marinading. This is just a simple version that I could mix up quickly in my college dining hall. The portobello there is sliced, which speeds up the marination, but keeping it whole may make more sense for burgers.

• 1 portobello mushroom, sliced or whole
• 1 tsp each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp each of minced basil and garlic
• Salt/pepper/cayenne to taste

In a bowl, microwave the portobello in a microwave for 2 30sec intervals, pressing with a fork and draining excess liquid after each. Mix in the rest of the ingredients to coat the mushroom evenly, and microwave for 4 30sec intervals, stirring between each.

Portobello Mozzarella Bruschetta (Serves 1-2)

• 1 chopped marinated portobello mushroom
• 2 slices french or sourdough bread
• 2 slices mozzarella cheese
• Olive oil
• Pepper and chopped scallion to taste

Brush french or sourdough bread with olive oil and toast until golden. Top with portobello and mozzarella, and melt in a microwave or oven. Garnish with pepper and scallions.

Portobello Burger (Serves 1)

• 1 whole marinated portobello mushroom
• Sliced mozzarella cheese
• Sliced tomato
• Sliced red onion
• Crisp lettuce
• Burger bun or bread roll
• Other burger condiments to taste

On a plate, microwave mozzarella on top of the portobella to melt. In a burger bun or bread roll, place in order lettuce, tomato, portobello, mozzarella, and red onion. Add whatever condiments you like. Enjoy!

Berry Tostadas: Fried and Fresh

Fried food and fresh fruits--scrumptious separately and delicious together! This dessert is essentially a variant of fruit pie; instead of baked crust filled with cooked fruit and topped with whipped cream, we have a fried tostada 'crust' topped with fresh berries, using the whipped cream to hold everything together. This recipe can be changed dramatically to suit your tastes and available ingredients. For example, yogurt or ice cream can be used instead of whipped cream, and you can use whatever fruits you have on hand! :)

Ingredients:

• Tostada chips
• Whipped cream
• Sliced strawberries
• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Julienned mint
• Honey

Steps:

1. Warm the tostadas in a microwave or oven, and arrange artistically on a plate.
2. Dollop generously with whipped cream and top with berries, or alternate between whipped cream layers and fruit layers.
3. Sprinkle mint and drizzle honey to taste. Enjoy!