Sovereign Grace City Church

I visited Sovereign Grace City Church this morning. It's a Sovereign Grace church plant located in Park Slope, Brooklyn and held at the Park Slope Elementary School. It's a really great church! The congregation is relatively small (~70 people) of a wide age range. 

A lot of the songs we sang were naturally Sovereign Grace songs, which was nice, because many of them I know and love! Most importantly, the message was composed of great expository preaching! It was really refreshing to listen to Pastor Zac Martin teach from Mark 9:38-50 and to gain a better understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ who is careful of his own actions as to not cause "little ones who believe to stumble" drawn directly from scripture. Talking to people after church, it was clear that they were all here for teaching that was true to scripture and good fellowship with other believers.

It was also very cool meeting a few people from CA familiar with JMac and Resolved!

For those interested, here is the address and contact information of the church!

75 St. Marks Place
Brooklyn, NY 11217
718-783-3729
sgcitychurch.com
zacmartin@sgcitychurch.com

Dating? First weed them out!

I couldn't stop laughing, but he makes awesome points. Well worth the watch!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Essentials of Clinical Medicine: Standardized Patients

So at SUNY Downstate, we have a course called Essentials of Clinical Medicine (ECM) that basically focuses on the social aspects of being a good physician. That includes developing good communication and the ability to respond correctly to a patient's culture, values, race, ethnicity, and anything else that makes the patient unique. It's also the course that teaches us how to take a patient's social history: age, where they live, career, financial status, insurance status, relationships, religion, diet, etc. Over the past weeks, we've had small group discussions in which we discussed our own experiences with our doctors and what we liked and didn't like. We also discussed different ethically challenging scenarios.

Recently, we've gotten into doing standardized patient (SP) interviews. For those unfamiliar with SPs, they are actors who are specially trained in acting as patients, sometimes as a patient with nothing out of the ordinary, but also sometimes as patients with a deep and complicated story and personality. For our ECM small groups, each of us have taken turns being the medical student interviewing and SP to acquire a brief patient social profile. One student sits in a chair facing the SP sitting across from him while the rest of the small group sits at a distance to observe. This setup is definitely very artificial, but it is a safe place to at least go through once the motions of talking to a patient and getting peer feedback!

Fire Hazard

My options for cooking have been very limited, especially with very little counter space, a relatively small stove top, and most of all, because there is a fire/smoke detector merely 14ft from the stove. Well, just having a fire alarm go off isn't so bad, it happened all the time back in my old apartment at UCLA, except the alarm would always be isolated to my apartment. Here, if the alarms go off in your room, the entire building needs to evacuate. How embarrassing right? I don't want to make people leave from their studies to stand outside in the cold for 10 minutes because I was cooking dinner!

I had suddenly started craving steak the last week, as the only type of  meet I had in the freezer was chicken and the closest thing to anything cow that I had eaten lately were the mediocre cheeseburgers from the campus cafeteria. So, since I was at Trader Joe's this past Monday, I decided to buy a few ribeye steaks! I thought, I'll just make them in my oven, and hopefully it won't be so smokey. Pan searing it first won't be an option, since it'll just be a mess of smoke, and it's debatable whether or not pan searing actually seals in the juices anyways (Steak Perfection)

Unity of the Spirit

In Ephesians 4:1-6, Paul writes,

"Therefore, I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore yo to walk in the manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility, and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over and through all and in all"

The Christian on-campus fellowship at SUNY Downstate that I attend has been awesome. It's been an opportunity to meet up with other fellow Christian brothers and sisters at SUNY Downstate and to worship, study the Bible, and fellowship with them. Here, I've been able to meet many others who have a great love for Christ! It's also a great blessing to be able to talk with fellow Christians about their Christian walk in the context of medical school.

One challenge of such a student group is that we are not under the direction of a single parent church or shepherd. As a result, each of us come to the fellowship meetings with many different backgrounds in terms of our understanding of God's Word and the foundation of our convictions, let alone difference in our convictions themselves. As a result, some of the ideas contributed to discussions of scripture are inevitably incorrect, as I believe that scripture is not loaded with many different alternative interpretations, but that God had a specific intention for every part of scripture.  There can be many, many ways to apply scripture to our lives, but only one interpretation.

John Macarthur: Charismatic Chaos

The 1040 movie is very supportive of the Charismatic Movement. Having been taught that many aspects of the movement are unbiblical and sometimes even trudge into the grounds of heresy, I felt really uncomfortable, especially since all of this was presented alongside the gospel.

Here is a good read on Macarthur's stance and insight into how the Charismatic Movement stands in light of scripture, God's Word, and why so many aspects of it are unbiblical. As always, with any teaching, test it with your own study of scripture and see for yourself whether Macarthur's points are indeed in-line with scripture. It's kind of long (thirteen sermons!), but it's been really good so far!

link: Charismatic Chaos, by John Macarthur

Midblock, Di Fara's, 1040

So I finally took my musculoskeletal midblock exam on Friday! It was actually a little kind of a mess since some required pictures on some of the questions weren't showing up (our tests are computerized mutiple choice questions, kind of like doing the MCAT). Twenty questions into the test I was told that I needed to restart. Anyways, after the initial problems, everything else went smooth after that!

I went out with some good friends to try out Di Fara's pizza too on Friday night as a treat for studying hard and finishing our midblock exam! It was a small cozy restaurant with walls plastered with "Best Pizza in New York, 200-" awards. There were actually a lot of customers there ready to wait ~30-40 minutes for a $4 slice! We personally waited for about 40 min. It was good pizza! Very thin and crunchy crust but not burnt (minus one edge)flavorful with plenty of cheese, topped with lots of fresh basil and extra-virgin olive oil. I actually prefer it over Grimaldi's, but they are very close!

Can God create a rock so big that He can't move it?

I don't have time to comment on this at the time being, but I listened to this sermon a few weeks back and wanted to share it!  I'll add more to this post on Friday after my midblock exam!

Link: Omnipotence: The Irresistable Will of God by Jonathan Rourke, August 1, 2010 (Grace Community Church)

Med school update: 10/16/10

So it's been about two months since I started medical school at SUNY Downstate, and it's getting pretty cold! I'm curious about how it'll be once it starts snowing! It'll probably be really exciting on the first day, and then after that, just be a big pain and hassle.

Med school has been pretty good so far.  I really had no idea what to expect before I came, so I guess there isn't necessarily anything that failed to meet expectations. My place to stay in the campus apartments is definitely becoming homier, which is a definite plus, especially when I was a bit disappointed by the lack of carpet and small sized kitchen (I got spoiled at UCLA!).

We're currently studying the musculoskeletal system, which is quite more clinically applicable compared to the introductory/review block we had before this called "Genes to Cells".  We've also started anatomy lab, dissecting the relevant sections of the body dealing with the musculoskeletal system.  I actually feel a lot more disconnected from the whole experience of dissecting a human body than I expected.  I mean, I wasn't expecting it to bother me, but still, it is a human body. I guess it's partly because I just see our bodies as temporary vessels.  I am, though, very grateful to those who made the decision to donate their bodies to schools for medical education, especially after seeing how thoroughly they end up being dissected!  Some friends and I actually discussed about whether or not these people would have still wanted to donate their bodies after seeing an actual cadaver dissection!

Why I chose to attend medical school

Okay, I'm going to feel a little like I'm writing a pseudo-personal statement, but anyways.

Ever since I was really young, I always enjoyed science and math.  Okay, that sounds like a very typical thing to say.  It's either, "I really enjoyed science and math" or, "I hated them both!"  I really enjoyed science and math, and it was also definitely the areas which I excelled in more.  I liked learning "rules" and observations about why certain things happened the way they did in the world, and I liked being able to use this knowledge to come to more generalized conclusions about phenomena I experienced throughout my daily life!

Ever since I was born until high school, my dad actually pushed me a lot to go into medicine, but me, honestly having no idea what I wanted to do, always said no (more for the sake of saying no).  With working in the medical field came financial stability and an added bonus would be social respect.  What parent doesn't want such things for their son, right?

New domain name: christianmedstudent.com

The blog can now be accessed via www.christianmedstudent.com!

If I have time tonight, I'll write up a post on thoughts about why I chose to go to medical school.

Midnight Snack! Trader Joe's Break and Bake

Midnight Snack!  Trader Joe's break and bake cookies are the best in my opinion compared to Nestle, Toll House, and even Pilsbury.  These usually sell out by the end of the day, so I bought 3 boxes to stock up when I went one morning to TJ's.

Great snack!  At home, Dad would always ask me if I wanted break and bake cookies to eat late at night while I was still up studying =)

Dessert Truck, Shake Shack, and hopefully much more!

Finding awesome places to eat has become I thing I do for fun whenever I can actually find the time to go out.  I'm starting to believe that an exceptional variation of anything in terms of food can be found in NYC.

Places I've been to so far include both of Food Network Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill and Bar Americain.  Both were exceptionally good, but are of the quality one should expect for the price you pay for your meal.

Dessert Truck and Shake Shack are the two places I've really liked and wouldn't mind going back to again and again.  Dessert Truck, which has both a truck and an actual store, beat Bobbly Flay in a throwdown making their bread pudding with bacon custard.  The bacon custard doesn't really taste too much like bacon, but gives the pudding a nice smoky scent.  So when I went, I of course got the bread pudding and opted for the bacon custard (choice of vanilla custard instead if you wish), and it indeed was gooooood - rich and smooth with a still very hot center!

A remnant chosen by grace

I've been going to Remnant Westside Church for the past two Sundays.  Originally, had been going to Redeemer for awhile, but I felt like it was important to visit other churches before making a decision as to which one I would commit to.  The senior pastor at Redeemer is Tim Keller and the teaching seems to be pretty solid.  The congregation is diverse both racially and in terms of age.  I've also heard that the small groups are the major strong point of the church!  I would really like to visit one, however, it's been difficult because almost all of them meet in the middle of the week, which is difficult since Manhattan is about an 1.25hr metro ride from my school.

Remnant Westside has a very predominantly Asian congregation, led by pastor Bruce.  Almost everyone there is either in college or graduate school (where I fit right in! =D)  I'm really enjoying being able to sing the songs that I have grown up with at my church back home (but of course, it is not about my satisfaction but about my ability to use these songs to praise God!)  These smallgroups generally meet on Friday, making it much more realistic for my busy schedule, so I must be diligent in making a visit!  I can also see how great it would be to continue fellowshipping within a congregation of brothers and sisters all within my age group.

As of now, I am still much undecided.  But, I can't be a 'college kid' forever!

Testimony

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" -Romans 3:23 (NASB)

I grew up in a Christian family, was taught the gospel at the very young age, attended a Lutheran elementary school, and attended Sunday school every week.  I understood that we are all sinners, deserving of hell and eternal punishment.  I knew that Jesus Christ, God's one and only Son, died on the cross for the atonement of my sins, and conquered sin through His resurrection.  Although I knew all of these things, I admit that I lived a very "Christian" life because it was easy to do so in my very sheltered environment.  I was never challenged to stand up for my faith and it was rarely convenient to act contrary to what I knew was right.

I attended an independent, secular high school.  Here was where I realized the difference between the life of a Christian and that of a non-Christian.  It was a place where everyone was relatively tolerant of everyone else's views, values, and beliefs, and seldom did I feel an urge to make it known that I was Christian.  I had my beliefs, and everyone else had their own.  At this point, my priorities were very focused around succeeding in school, having fun with friends, and getting into the college of my choice, UC Berkeley.  It was a great school, and I wanted to stay close to home.  I was almost completely sure that I would be going there the following year as my stats pretty much matched those represented by the previously accepted class.  However, as March came, I was devastated.  I was devastated because things didn't work out as I had anticipated, and now, making the decision to attend UCLA instead, there would be a mess of uncertainties to come.

Some things I have in mind...

Here are some topics I have in mind for upcoming posts.  I'm actually studying in the library right now and this is my break!  I was thinking about what kind of posts would be good, so hopefully this list will be a good idea of  things I have in mind for the blog!

• My testimony
• Why I chose to go to medical school / Why I want to become a doctor
• Church / Fellowship search (probably more relevant to people in NYC)
• How I balance school work with church, fellowship, devotional times, serving in the church

Why I decided to start this blog

I decided to blog about my medical education career in light of being a Christian. I’ve been asked numerous times by both guys and girls about whether or not it’s a good decision to go into medicine. Also, as a medical student now, I come across decisions every day that I need to either make now or think and pray about for the future. And with these decisions, I need to constantly make sure that I thinking clearly about them through the lens that is scripture.

With that, I hope that sharing some of my daily thoughts and experiences can be helpful to anyone who is either considering pursuing a medical career or is currently in school for a healthcare related career and is interested in my thoughts as a Christian medical student.

It is not only through my future career as a doctor that I must use for God’s glory, but also each and every day that I spend pursuing that career.

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’” -James 4:13-15