Top 5 Villains of Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer was one of the most idiosyncratic shows of my childhood and adolescence. Buffy's journey from inexperienced teenage to mature vampire ass kicking Slayer reflects changes that many experience in their lives--though  others experience this change on a much smaller, vastly more mundane scale. In honor of the Vampire Slayer marathon that I have been watching, due to the release of the entire series on Netflix, I have decided to diverge from my normal medically orientated topics, to devote a post to the top antagonists of Buffy the Vampire Slayer; starting from number 5 and counting down to number 1.


#5 Angel 

Angel was always my least favorite villain and character. He was brooding, emotional, and all around depressing. To me it was unfathomable how Buffy could have any interest in him, but, nevertheless, he is ranked as one of the top five villains of Buffy the Vampire Slayer because Buffy suffered immense emotional turmoil to kill him. Although I have never had the opportunity, I am sure it is difficult to thrust a sword into the heart of someone you love. Thus--despite my sincere feelings of joy, when he died---Angel is ranked number 5 on the list. He later went on to have a moderately successful spin off that was not, in any way, on par to the original Buffy series.





#4 Spike



In terms of Buffy's lovers, Spike was the best, in my opinion. He was more lively than Angel, he was less "all-American" than Riley, and he was the only vampire on the show to overtly demonstrate hostility to the Scooby Gang and not get staked. William "The Bloody" was by far one of the best villains because he was crafty with a generous helping of sarcasm. His exploits against Buffy were never successful in bringing about her destruction, but he and Buffy did eventually form a romance that was fraught with confusion, tension, and sex. Couple this fact with the bleach blond hair that was iconic and it is understandable why Spike is on the list of the top five villains of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.


#3 The Mayor 



   In a word, the Mayor was BADASS. As one of the most cavalier villains, he was able to explicitly formulate a plan to bring about the destruction of Buffy and all her classmates, while successfully running a somewhat inconsequential city. Who can top that multitasking? Primarily, however, the Mayor is ranked number 3 on the list because his was the villain in the EPIC two part graduation season finale of season 3, which included the destruction of the entire high school. With all of Buffy's classmates joining in a concerted effort to battle his forces, that season finale is perhaps the most memorable. His transformation into a gigantic snake and killing of the shitty, arrogant Principal was just a huge plus. Also, he had that eerie sense of evil that white men in power always seem to exude, as if they are in a huge cabal to destroy the world and subjugate all others--but I think history is just making me feel that way.




#2 Faith 


   If the Mayor was notable for his cunning and sense of subtlety, yet firm power, Faith is ranked number 2 for her utter lack of finesse. Faith was a badass because she came out with her fists and dominated. The concept that a Slayer could turn evil turned the premise of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on its head. Slayers were supposed to embody good and work assiduously to protect the innocent, but Faith eschewed all that shit and chose to follow a path of fun. After killing the Lt. Mayor, she embarked on a journey that led to the hottest girl on girl fights imaginable. In fact, if I may be so bold, I would argue that Faith versus Buffy battles completely altered the meaning of girl on girl action.


#1 Evil Willow 
 


Hands down there was no better villain than evil Willow. Willow’s transformation into one of the most powerful witches in the Western Hemisphere was nothing less than unexpected. Who would have guessed that mousy Willow would one day kill a man? The juxtaposition of the two characters is perhaps the reason that Willow's evil reign has been engraved in my memory, but the scene when she ripped a man's skin off was--by far--one of the best scenes in the entire run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and her fight with Giles approached justifying the use of the word epic. Evil Willow was and is the top villain of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Google Body

   Google is BY FAR my favorite company. From google books to google news and even google search, Google, as a company, has never failed to please me. However, one novelty concocted in the minds of Google's computer scientists has surpassed my previous appreciation of Google. I am referring to Google Body!

   Google body is an interactive web application that allows users to see various parts of the body: skeleton, nervous system, circulatory system, and everything else.


   A cool and helpful feature is that the side controls of Google Body allow users to make certain body systems transparent. Thus, if you wanted to eliminate the integumentary system, you simply slide a bar and it disappears, which enables you to see the muscle system and other internal systems of the body. Although I have never taken anatomy, I can't help but think that this would be a useful tool for studying human physiology.






Moreover, Google Body's application has labeling system for each part of the body. For example if one wanted to know where the femur is located, all he (or she) would have to do is click the appropiate box and the application would label the bones.



   While I think it is undeniable that Google has once again entered terrain that will galvanize interest in a rather esoteric field, I find it interesting to contemplate how Google body could be coupled with other imaging technology, to allow physicians to gain a more accurate view of human pathology. What if one day the image rendering technology of Google Body--which, when evaluated by the standards of medical imaging today, is outstanding--was modified to generate realtime images of the internal organs during ailments? Doctors would be able to clearly see damaged organs and could avoid straining their eyes to read those terrible CT scans and X rays, which, from the perspective of a premed, seem entirely inscrutable. That would be phenomenal!

USC or Yale????

An important strategy for preparing for medical school is to use your summers effectively. Luckily for premeds, there are literally TONS of programs that exist, which offer the opportunity for pre-meds to conduct biomedical research in labs, during the summer. And, unlike many other pre-professional internships, these positions typically offer housing, room, and board and pay a stipend! The AAMC has a list of summer programs affliated with medical schools here: https://www.aamc.org/members/great/61052/great_summerlinks.html and they also have a list of programs geared toward prospective MD/PhDs: https://www.aamc.org/members/great/169782/mdphdsummerprograms.html.

(It should be noted that the two aforementioned lists are in no way comprehensive and that there are tons of other programs with a more clinical emphasis and non-medical school affiliated summer programs as well.)

    
  I recently was accepted into two such programs. One program is the Science, Technology and Research Scholars (STARS) Program run by my home institution and the other is the Bench to the Bedside Program operated by USC's Keck School of Medicine. Both programs are great and offer incredible opportunities, but right now I am finding it hard to choose between the two. At the Yale program, I have the benefit of being near many of my friends from school, who will also be in New Haven during the summer. But USC's program does have the appeal of Los Angeles, which is infinitely more desirable than New Haven. Ultimately, I am leaning toward the STARS program because I have already met the Principal Investigator (PI) of the lab, in which I am going to conduct research. His lab focuses on diabetes research, but my specific project would relate to cancer biology, as I would be studying isoforms of the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase kinase. In beta cells, the PEPCK (that was alot easier and quicker to type) is present in the inactive dimer form, but in cancer cells PEPCK is present in the active tetramer form, and I have to figure out why. As nerdy as it seems, I'm really excited to finally get the opportunity to work in a lab, although I was sadden by the fact that the mice in the lab are killed after testing. Nevertheless, I am leaning towards this position. The only thing that might change my mind is if the Keck Program offers me significantly more money for the summer.

  
USC's University Hospital                                     The Anlyan Center, where the lab at Yale is located.

Medical Schools of The Ivy League

     In accordance with making this blog non-Yale centric, but Ivy-wide, I have decided to dedicate a post to all the different Ivy League Medical Schools. As any informed individual will know, it doesn't actually matter what medical school one attends because all doctors are reimbursed the same rate for the same procedure--and money is all that really matters, right? (:sarcasm:)

   But for people who like to be pretentious, casually comment on how expensive their clothes are, or are simply aware of how much better they are than others, regular medical schools simply won't do. Thus, we have the Ivy League Medical Schools (+one pseudo Ivy medical school that made the cut due to House).



 Since it is always advisable to put your best foot forward, I have started with Yale's medical school. A fun interesting fact that a doctor in our clinic told us is that the first female student who matriculated at Yale's medical school was initially rejected. Why? Answer: Because the school of medicine did not have a women's restroom. Never fret, though, her father later paid to have one installed and she was able to successfully knock down the barriers that prevented over privileged, young women from achieving their dreams. Moral of the story? If there's a problem, Daddy's money will always fix it.




The above is Bard Hall of Columbia's Medical school. By far Columbia's medical school is, in my opinion, the most desirable of the Ivy League Medical schools. Chiefly because the school color is blue (Blue FTW!) and because it is in NYC. As a high schooler, I was too lazy to fill out Columbia's extra app (for some inane reason, Columbia didn't use the Common App and I wasn't going to copy and paste my essays into some other form), so I ended up at the other Blue Ivy!






I don't know why, but I've always viewed Dartmouth as the least desirable Ivy League school. Maybe it is the location in Hanover or the ghastly green school color--which is terrible for my complexion--but either way, I have always had an aversion to Dartmouth and mentally questioned why anyone would want to go to a school with such ubiquitous green. Also, the fact that I didn't know Dartmouth was an Ivy, until I applied to colleges factors into my opinion of the school. Regardless of my personal opinions, Dartmouth did produce Dr. Seuss and for that I will be eternally grateful.




Brown was always a school that I dreamed about--and is probably the only Ivy League medical school I have a shot of getting admitted into--so it has factored highly in my opinion. However, I am not sure I will ever forgive Brown for stealing Emma Watson away. Curse you, you damn pot heads!!!




Oh Harvard. Sure you're the number 1 ranked medical school in the country. Sure your endowment is larger than any other medical school. Sure you're conveniently located near Boston. But you're also Crimson and have bland, gray looking buildings, which makes you ugly.




Now we have Cornell. BIG Kudos to the university for realizing that NYC>>>>Ithaca and placing their medical school appropriately. The difference in location is substantial enough to warrant Cornell a place in my imaginary future, which will probably not materialize, as I surely won't get into Weill Cornell. Nevertheless, one can dream. Can't he?




Finally we have Penn, our state school brethren. Of course Penn's medical school is like the second best in the country, but if you have to constantly tell people you don't go to Penn State, then you definitely lose some "wow" points.


Oh, I almost forgot our pseudo-Ivy Medical School. No, it isn't Johns Hopkins, but none other than: Princeton-Plainsboro Medical School. Yeah, the one from House!



It's actually the Frist Campus Center on Princeton's Campus. Ten points to the person who can name the eponymous former Majority Leader, whose family is the namesake of the Center!

Physician Salaries

Any premed, who frequents the Student Doctor Network, will know that the future financial security of physicians is a hugely debated topic. Although not all premeds are motivated by money to pursue medicine, I suspect many would rethink the enormous commitment of time and energy that it takes to become a doctor, if they knew that the fiscal rewards were not there at the end. Pursuant to this fact--that I wholeheartedly purport to be true--I am starting my first post about physician salaries. 

Many have lamented the deplorable pay of primary care physicians (those physicians who specialize in Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, and OB/GYNs) in comparison to their more highly compensated specialists colleagues. A quick cursory glance, however, reveals that the alarm is principally and foremost groundless. Using a quick google search, I found that the average salary for Internal Medicine physicians was: $176,000, according to the source below, which seems more than ample to meet anyone’s needs--certainly mine. 

U.S. Physician Salaries - Ongoing Salary Survey

*Survey includes base salaries, net income or hospital guarantees minus expenses       June, 2003 - Present        SPECIALTY Years 1-2 >3 Max Allergy/ Immunology $158,000 $221,000 $487,000 Ambulatory $  80,000 $112,000 $152,000 Anesthesiology: Pediatrics $ 283,000 $311,000 $378,000 Anesthesiology: General $207,000 $275,000 $448,000 Anesthesiology: Pain Management $315,000 $370,000 $651,000 Cardiology: Invasive $258,000 $395,000 $647,000 Cardiology: Interventional $290,000 $468,000 $811,000 Cardiology: Noninvasive $268,000 $403,000 $599,000 Critical Care $187,000 $215,000 $320,000 Dermatology $ 195,000 $308,000 $452,000 Emergency Medicine $192,000 $216,000 $295,000 Endocrinology $171,000 $187,000 $260,000 FP (with OB) $182,000 $204,000 $241,000 FP (w/o OB) $161,000 $135,000 $239,000 FP - Sports Medicine $ 152,000 $208,000 $363,000 FP - Urgent Care $ 128,000 $198,000 $299,000 Gastroenterology $265,000 $349,000 $590,000 Hematology/Oncology $181,348 $245,000 $685,000 Infectious Disease $154,000 $178,000 $271,000 Internal Medicine $154,000 $176,000 $238,000 IM (Hospitalist) $161,000 $172,000 $245,000 Medicine/Pediatrics $139,000 $168,000 $271,000 Medical Oncology $198,000 $257,000 $455,000 Neonatal Medicine $286,000 $310,000 $381,000 Nephrology $191,000 $269,000 $447,000 Neurology $180,000 $228,000 $345,000 Obstetrics/Gynecology $211,000 $261,000 $417,000 Gynecology $159,000 $213,000 $358,000 Maternal/Fetal Medicine $286,000 $322,000 $610,000 Occupational Medicine $139,000 $185,000 $290,000 Ophthalmology $138,000 $314,000 $511,000 Ophthalmology Retina $280,000 $469,000 $716,000 Orthopedic Surgery $256,000 $342,000 $670,000 ORS - Foot & Ankle $228,000 $392,000 $791,000 ORS - Hand & Upper Extremities $288,000 $459,000 $770,000 ORS - Hip & Joint Replacement $330,000 $491,000 $715,000 ORS - Spine Surgery $398,000 $670,000 $1,352,000 ORS - Sports Medicine $266,000 $479,000 $762,000 Otolaryngology $194,000 $311,000 $516,000 Pathology $169,000 $321,000 $610,000 Pediatrics $135,000 $175,000 $271,000 Pediatrics - Cardiology $145,000 $282,000 $607,000 Pediatrics - Critical Care $196,000 $259,000 $398,000 Pediatrics - Hematology/Oncology    $182,000 $217,000 $251,000 Pediatrics - Neurology $175,000 $189,000 $362,000 Physiatry $169,000 $244,000 $313,000 Podiatry $128,000 $168,000 $292,000 Psychiatry $149,000 $169,000 $238,000 Psychiatry - Child and Adolescent $158,000 $189,000 $265,000 Pulmonary Medicine + Critical Care $215,000 $288,000 $417,000 Radiation Oncology $241,000 $385,000 $787,000 Radiology $201,000 $354,000 $911,000 Rheumatology $179,000 $229,000 $378,000 Surgery - General $226,000 $291,000 $520,000 Surgery - Cardiovascular $336,000 $515,000 $811,000 Surgery - Neurological $354,000 $541,000 $936,000 Surgery - Plastic $237,000 $412,000 $820,000 Surgery - Vascular $270,000 $329,000 $525,000 Urology $261,000 $358,000 $619,000         SOURCE: Allied Physicians, Inc.,  Los Angeles Times and Rand McNally           *Updated  June 11, 2006