SCMotW 3/14: Seeing Green

Tom Kuriakose, an M2 member of Operations was recently featured at MEDtalks, an Robert Wood Johnson Medical School event sponsored by our local chapter of the American Medical Student Association. The goal is to share innovative ideas in and around medicine, life, and medical education. Tom shared his ideas on changing our understanding of prioritizing "High Yield" topics.

BUT no more spoilers on that; hopefully soon we will be able to feature the whole video on the blog!

In the mean time, Tom answered some loosely St. Patrick's Day themed questions, since that holiday is celebrated on March 17th this year!

Tom Kuriakose (M2) of Operations, speaking at MEDtalks

1) If you found a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow what would you spend it on?

Tom Kuriakose (M1): "I think I'd go with scholarships - some for my old students down in Mississippi, some for my mom's and sister's students here in NJ, and why not one for me too, since I'm feeling so generous. I think I'd also buy a Raising Canes chicken fingers franchise and one of those annual memberships to the Island Spa and Sauna."

2) What's your favorite green thing you own?

Tom Kuriakose (M1): "I don't think that I own a fully green thing, but my favorite green-highlight thing that I own is probably this snapback hat I got a couple of years ago when notorious NFL running back Marshawn "Beast Mode" Lynch came out with his apparel line. I like Beast Mode a lot - he was a real competitor and is a big believer in giving back. Someone once asked him what "beast mode" is and this is what he said:

If you are in your everyday life, and you feel like you just accomplished something big that you had going on, then that's Beast Mode. It's an accomplishment, that you put yourself through something to get something better out of it.

I feel that that's Beast Mode. I like that a lot - I think it's a mentality that I aspire to myself, whether I'm wearing the hat or not."

3) St. Patrick is the patron saint invoked against snakes. Do you happen to have a fun story about a snake?

Tom Kuriakose (M1): "Oh no I just realized I lied to you - I actually used to own three red-eared slider turtles, which would have fulfilled my favorite green things answer, but I love that hat too, and turtles are reptiles like snakes, so I'll put them in this section here. So back when I was in middle school, I sat next to my friend Brian in 6th grade home economics, and he offered to sell me his tortoise for $5. After a week of waiting for my new pet, Mark, to eat his tortoise pellets to no avail, we did some quick Google research and found out that he was actually an aquatic turtle...oops. Anyway, we bought a tank and Mark lived in my room, where he was joined in later years by Tupac and Wartortle, and my turtle trio lived in harmony until I went to college and the tank cracked and we had to set them free in the wilderness of my backyard. My heart broke along with the environmental codes we violated in letting them loose, but now they'll forever be immortalized on the PC blog."