i'm attending the SF forum july 17-26 and just wanted to know what it was like for those of you who have already been. what'd you do during your free time, what'd you learn, etc. thanks!

Ah, I am going to! I just decided to log on here to check out the online forums...

Yeah, I would like to know the opinions of others who have attended in SF. I hope it will be a good experience.

San Fran was awesome! I went last yr...in our free time we sat around and talked, or played cards. Some chose to go swimming or catch some extra winks. We were also right by the marina so it was fun to go down to the docks and relax or whatever. You will learn alot of stuff from the speakers and guests. I don't know if you will have the same ones but if you do I don't want to ruin it for you. Believe me, the hotel is great and the people are awesome. Just go and be yourself, make sure you chose the sites you want to visit so you get the experience that suits you best. You will have a great time!

I just got back from the sf forum, and you guys are going to have an AWESOME experience. I had soooooo much fun! The Clark Kerr Campus is very pretty. You spend most of your time in your med groups (there are about 20 people in each med group), and you get to know them really well. In the med sessions, you will discuss speakers that you heard, your hospital and medical school visits, and have time to work on your medical ethics debate and public health project preparations. I usually woke up at around 6:00, and went to bed around midnight. You won't get much sleep, but thats okay, since no one else will either. Plus, if you're really tired, you can sleep on the bus trips. Take the initiative and introduce yourself to people. You will make so many friends. I think that one of the best parts about the forum was that I was able to interact with other people who have the same goals as I do, and who are interested in the same things. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Tania43:
I will be attending the San Fran trip from the 17-26 this month and am feeling extremely behind. I don't know what to bring, wear, etc. Did you academically prepare for the debates and what not? What types of things did you bring to wear? how much extra money should I bring? what was the weather like? that should be good for now, i don't want to overwhelm you with questions! thank you so much!

tania43, i was hoping there would be someone that i could ask a bunch of ?s about the san francisco forum because im leaving for the second session this sunday. id really like to talk to you about the whole experience. do you have an aim sn? if you dont i guess i could post my ?s here but id rather talk to you on aim. my sn is mike10243. hope to talk to you soon.

hey you guys who are going to the sf session 17-26, check out the 2005 introductions section! there's this discussion with a lot of people going to the 2nd session. i met a LOT of people, so..yeah haha if you want to meet people, i'd suggest that. we're all worried about the same things, so, feel free to post on the discussion!

oh and tania43, that was really helpful thanks a lot!

quote:

Originally posted by Tania43:
I just got back from the sf forum, and you guys are going to have an AWESOME experience. I had soooooo much fun! The Clark Kerr Campus is very pretty. You spend most of your time in your med groups (there are about 20 people in each med group), and you get to know them really well. In the med sessions, you will discuss speakers that you heard, your hospital and medical school visits, and have time to work on your medical ethics debate and public health project preparations. I usually woke up at around 6:00, and went to bed around midnight. You won't get much sleep, but thats okay, since no one else will either. Plus, if you're really tired, you can sleep on the bus trips. Take the initiative and introduce yourself to people. You will make so many friends. I think that one of the best parts about the forum was that I was able to interact with other people who have the same goals as I do, and who are interested in the same things. I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

I also went to the SF July 3-12. The med group that you are in is like your family away from home. Everyone gets really comfortable around each other and it's just really fun. The medical ethics caucus was really fun. You get to state fact for or against a topic and then judge a different topic. ^___^ Tania43 was lucky to get that much sleep, sometimes I didn't sleep until 1 trying to read and finish some worksheets that the FAs assign. I woke up at 6 and it was great! No one in line for breakfast! I had to wait for a while because the dining hall wasn't open yet, but I had first dibs on food! lol Oh, by the way, when the NYLF handbook (that you'll get when you first arrive there) says that there are no rooms with bathrooms, that's not true, my room had a bathroom, so after security check my roommates and I were able to shower and brush our teeth before we slept. Most of the rooms don't have bathrooms, but a few of them have a bathroom.

san francisco was the best 10 days of my life! Some of the speakers were boring but overall they were really fun. The site visits were really cool too, haha I got ALOT of free stuff! I even brought home a stethescope!! My roomates were SOOOOO awesome and we had so much fun, I felt lik I had known them forever. One warning, make sure that your shoes are ready for walking (beacuse walking to chevron can be a little harsh on your feet) and make sure to bring a bag or something to put shower things in when you go to the bathroom and don't forget your key! I was locked out of my room a couple times because I forgot to bring a key to unlock the bathrooms and then I could not get back into my room. If anyone has any other questions or wants to see pics of stuff that we did during the july 3-12 one IM me.. xash06

have fun guys.. I wish I could do it all over again!!

Oh yeah, pertaining to Ashley*'s comfortable shoe thing, bring lots of bandages and be prepared for blisters if your shoes are not that comfortable. Or you can try getting Aerosoles. That is the brand shoe that I got and they were really comfy, they didn't bite me either (give me blisters).

bballcatie, for your question about what to wear, the dress code isn't extremely strict. For professional dress, I wore a blazer, a button-down blouse, and dressy pants. Girls got away with wearing just a nice top (even a nice tshirt) and dressy pants for professional wear. For relaxed professional, we basically just had to look nice. I generally wore a tshirt or polo shirt with either a casual floral skirt or corduroys. Then I wore whatever I felt like for casual. I did not academically prepare at all before I went and was perfectly fine. They give you a journal on medicine with articles that are relevant to the debate and public health topics that you will be faced with. You are actually only allowed to use the information that is provided to you by the people at the forum. I brought about $200 with me, and I ended up using about $80 total. If you want to buy a Berkeley sweatshirt, those cost about $30-$40, and tshirts usually cost about $10-$20. The weather was in the mid-70s the entire time we were there. We spend most of our time indoors, so the weather isn't that big of a deal. It got very cold at the dinner/dance (which, by the way is on a cruise ship, so if you get motion sickness easily, I suggest you bring some medicine or something because otherwise you will be miserable), so you will want to bring a jacket or something.
mike 10241, I'm sorry, but I don't have an aim sn, but feel free to email me with all your questions at taniahaag@yahoo.com (this also goes for anyone else who has a question.)
When Ashley said that walking to chevron can be a little harsh, she was referring to the Chevron Auditorium that was inside the International House. The International House was about a 10 minute walk from the campus where we were staying, and we walked there about 5 or 6 times, usually to listen to a speaker. I found some really cute flats at Target for only $15. I didn't get any blisters, but a lot of other people did. Bring bandaids- even if you don't end up using/needing them, the people that you meet who weren't smart enough to bring band-aids will be glad you brought them.
Sorry this is so long, but let me know if you have any other questions!

Here are some pictures of what people wore for professional/relaxed professional/casual. Don't worry if the clothes your planning on bringing don't exactly match the pictures- as I said before, the dress code was not that strictly enforced. Of course, you can always email me at taniahaag@yahoo.com or post on this forum if you have further or more specific questions

Hey, I went to the first SF forum too. I didn't really read what everyone else said so I'll just write some stuff, and if I repeat what they said, sorry!
It's really not hard to make friends, especially in the MED groups...those were a blast! If you're a girl, you only need closed toe/heel shoes for the site visits, otherwise you can wear sandals (not flip-flops though). You only get to sleep for about 6 hours a night, but I wasn't really that tired. The food was suprisingly really good...they served a lot of "ethnic" dishes and always had a vegetarian option. The breakfasts were great!! Eating in the town is kind of hard because there weren't that many places to eat as you would think. And they are already packed with other hungry students. I loved it there, the Clark Kerr campus was beautiful, but a little hard to navigate in the beginning. It was actually pretty cold most of the time, so don't bring that many light clothes. The dinner/dance on the cruise ship was pretty fun, but the food wasn't great and the dance floor and deck space were very small. I still mananged to have a good time though!
If you are a girl make sure to bring a bookbag AND a purse...I just brought the bookbag but I couldn't take that to Six Flags or Fisherman's Wharf!
Have fun!!

quote:

either a casual floral skirt or corduroys. Then I wore whatever I felt like for casual. I did not academically prepare at all before I went and was perfectly fine. They give you a journal on medicine with articles that are relevant to the debate and public health topics that you will be faced with. You are actually only allowed to use the information that is provided to you by the people at the forum. I brought about $200 with me, and I ended up using about $80 total. If you want to buy a Berkeley sweatshirt, those cost about $30-$40, and tshirts usually cost about $10-$20. The weather was in the mid-70s the entire time we were there. We spend most of our time indoors, so the weather isn't that big of a deal. It got very cold at the dinner/dance (which, by the way is on a cruise ship, so if you get motion sickness easily, I suggest you bring some medicine or something because otherwise you will be miserable), so you will want to bring a jacket or something.

for the book bag or purse, you can just get a medium size side bag/purse from Old Navy. I got mine from there and I was able to fit all the books I needed in there along with a MP3 player, wallet, and digital camera, there was even room to fit more things.