our nation's capitol

i visited our nation’s capital this week. i left wednesday (since we don’t really have class), and came back sunday. it was so exciting to be in one of my favorite cities and to spend time with my friends and family. i stayed with emily for two nights. thursday morning, she and i visited la madeleine for some delicious cinnamon French toast and oatmeal (you can guess what we each ate). i then went to the capitol (walking – after some unfortunate public transportation experiences on wednesday i was back to my favorite mode of getting places: by foot), where imet julie and ryan for lunch at cosi. i stopped by HHS to visit marko, who was quite upset due to the unfortunate turn of events this week and its implications for healthcare. we commiserated.

i attended an american medical student association institute from thursday night – saturday. there were 14 of us, mostly medical students but with a few pre-meds mixed in. the theme of the conference was leadership in community health, through public advocacy. friday morning we lobbied at the capitol. i visited with staff in matheson’s and bennett’s offices, and joined the boy from tennessee to visit the much-more-conservative staff of bob corker. We were very lucky that ryan gave us an insider’s capitol tour, and we got to experience dirksen cafeteria. that afternoon we went to a free clinic in columbia heights, la clinica del pueblo, and ate at an el salvadorian restaurant.

saturday we had a workshop with dr. gopal sankaran, a delightful man who has done quite a lot of work with the WHO (including an influential role with the eradication of smallpox). we talked about planning and evaluating community work, and received some insights into the field.

i left the conference saturday evening to enjoy my last few hours in washington. emily and i met a group for dinner at old ebbitt’s, which is near the white house and was apparently teddy roosevelt’s favorite restaurant. sunday morning i had a lovely brunch at kramer’s and then headed to the airport! overall, i was so happy to be on the east coast, and I loved seeing everyone. the conference was a bit disappointing, but i did learn quite a bit and so i’m glad i went!