January 16, 2007

Annual Newsletter

Alpha Kappa Kappa, built in 1925, is located at 339 Teeters Court, Iowa City, Iowa 52246.

Happy New Year!

        The year 2007 marks the 82nd year that the AKK medical fraternity house has stood at the top of the hill at 339 Teeters Court. This summer our shed, built over fifteen years ago, gained a new roof and shingles after we noticed water leaking through on the inside. Our boiler, which was replaced in 2002, had its first tune up this year as a stuck valve in the overflow tank caused a small stream in our sub-basement. Our house has been full for much of the year, we currently have 6 women and 16 men living inside its walls.

There was some excitement on the third floor early in the semester as part of the eight decade old ceiling came crashing down, luckily no one was in its path .
AKK residents quickly remedied the problem by replacing a section of ceiling with some 21st century sheetrock as is shown in this photo.

        Our house has been full for much of the year, we currently have 6 women and 16 men living inside its walls. Only one room remains in limbo as it has been filled at regular intervals by visiting students. The most recent was Pauline Levinson from Stockholm, Sweden. She was the first student from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm to come to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as part of an exchange program with the Carver College of Medicine. She was involved in a four week ER rotation (see photo left).

        This past summer we had a number of dental students in the house who were enrolled in a program prior to the start of their curriculum in August. AKK was also visited by a celebrity this year. A winner from the reality T.V. show Beauty and the Geek and University of Pennsylvania medical student Chuck Munyon stayed at AKK while on a four week rotation in neurosurgery.

                          By Kristina Sinnott, M1


Alpha Kappa Kappa residents enjoy pizza and pop after cleaning all morning as part of a fall clean up day.

        Just barely passed another exam. I used to think scoring in the 70’s was a mediocre range. Now when I check my answers I am praying that my percentage begins with at least a seven. The second year students at school (M2s) often can make it worse. Their comments are ominous and depressing. “It only gets worse,” or “Wait until so and so teaches, then you’ll be hurting…”
        I sometimes fight the urge to crawl into my bed and wait until summer break. There has to be more to this than unrelenting amounts of knowledge that has to be consumed and completely understood in a week’s time because then we move on to more stuff that has to be understood with as much mastery as the previous weeks. I came to medical school to be a doctor not to become a patient.
        The light at the end of the tunnel comes into better view when at AKK; I go downstairs, in the hallway, or sometimes in the bathroom. I strike up a conversation with an M2, M3, or M4. The rotation they are on is awesome, the patient they saw was incredible, and the medicine they are doing inspires them or helps them decide this focus is not for them. I catch a glimpse at what this medical school experience could be if I stick with it.