The DiaryOf Jacob Allen Gehtman
1 Sunday, January 12, 2026 - We started learning new material right off the bat this past week, diving into meta- bolic pathways and the GI system. A lot of people don’t like biochemistry, but I find it really interesting because it exposes the inner workings of biology, and it re- veals why human physiology works the way it does. I should be interested in it - I got a degree in biochemistry, after all. I also had my first surgical shift, where I ob- served a vascular surgeon in the catheterization lab at Northshore Hospital. I was a little nervous on my way to the hospital because there’re a lot of logistics that need to be bypassed before entering the operating room, starting from finding the actual de- partment and getting hospital issued scrubs. However, the process was much smoother than I expected, and I didn’t even need to scrub in. The procedure was x- ray guided, so we all had to wear heavy lead vests and aprons, as well as thyroid col- lar, to protect ourselves from radiation. That was one of the main things that turned me off from the specialty right off the bat. - I also had a meeting with Betty Diamond to discuss my upcoming summer re- search rotations. I have to do two 4-week rotations in two labs, and then choose one to do my PhD in. Betty helped me refine my list and added more investigators to it. She was brutally honest about each lab, not sparing any comment or criticism, which I really appreciated. Later on, Papa helped me parse through the list and further refine it. - I’m switching up my weekend schedule this block. In the first two blocks, I would take Saturdays off and then study all day Sunday after my long run. However, I felt like it became tough to do focused and efficient studying on Sunday after a full day off and a 2-hour run the morning. This weekend I studied throughout Saturday, re- viewing the entire week of material, and then I took all of today off, which felt much better. It gave me time to rest after my long run - a 14-mile run that I ran withDimitris, with 8-miles at an up-tempo pace - and I didn’t have to rush to get groceries and prepare all of my food for the week. - I found out earlier this week that I passed my second block across all exams. Getting my results was super relieving and a huge confidence booster, because it demonstrat- ed that my study strategies have been working, and I can now apply them to the next block.
2 Monday, January 19, 2025 This past weekend was a long weekend, so I took advantage and hitched a train back to Boston to visit Ashna. It’s been a while since we last saw each other - about a month - and that was for only day, so we really missed each other. We had a lot of fun: on Saturday, Ashna accompanied me for a long run, an 11 mile run along the esplanade. I’ve been doing most of my runs - 8,9,10 miles - around a 1-mile loop around campus, and alone, so this was a welcome change. We fi- nished the run with hot chocolate, and then grabbed sushi, before going to Sudbury for the night. We went back into the city on Sunday and went to a nice restaurant for dinner.
3 Monday, February 2, 2026 - This past Saturday was a school-wide annual party held on a ship onthe Hudson River. However, because of the unbearable deep freeze, the river was frozen, so the ship stayed anchored to the Chelsea Pier. More friends at the formal from left to right: Dimitris, Arsh, and Henry
4 My friend Dimitris and I at the medial school formal January 31 in Chelsea, Manhattan
5 Ashna and I at the formal
6 My friends Anurag (left) and Adib (right) after receiving our branded Patagonia jack- ets, as part of an annual class gift
7 - Ashna came for the weekend, and I was excited to finally introduce her to my friends, classmates, and the culture at my school, all of which I think are amazing. - We drove to Manhattan and parked in a rented parking garage, which turned out to be a masterstroke, because the party went until midnight, and we would've had to take the LIRR from Penn Station in the middle of the night otherwise. - Before the party, I organized a get-together with a smaller group of friends and their partners at a nearby cocktail bar to introduce Ashna to them and in- troduce her into the social environment, because I know it can be over- whelming to be surrounded by dozens of strangers. I don't know why, but I was anxious about the pre-game in the days leading up to it - I'd never orga- nized something like this, and I wanted to find a nice place in Manhattan that can accommodate 16 people. It turned out wonderful, and everyone had a great time. - The party itself was awesome — the venue and ambiance were amazing, the food was good, and the vibes were immaculate. I must've introducedAshna to fifty different people, and she was definitely overwhelmed by the end, but I could tell that she was having an amazing time. I wore a tailored three-piece suite that Ashna and I got for only $100 at a closing store in a mall in New Jersey. - Driving back to Long Island was so convenient at night, and we did not envy everyone else who had to wait for the 1:10am train leaving from Penn Station, especially with the sub zero temperatures. - On Sunday, we studied, and then went on a run in the gym - Ashna did her run while I knocked out a 10-mile run, finishing off a 38-mile week, and week 5 of marathon prep.
8 Sunday, February 8, 2026 - This past Wednesday a few friends invited me to go rock climbing with them at a local climbing gym. We bouldered for a couple of hours, which is a form of ropeless climbing where you can only use a limited number of holds to get to the top of a short wall. I've been lifting weights for about six years, but I was immediately humbled by the grip strength, mobil- ity, and technique required to hold on to the wall. -The climbing routes in the gym are ranked by difficulty from a scale of V0 to V8, where V0 is like climbing a ladder, and V8 is chimpanzee-level stuff. I breezed through V0 and V1, got a good challenge from V2, and barely clinched a V3, which impressed my friends. Indeed, I leveraged my upper body strength for the lower levels, but anything past that required tech- nique that I lacked. I was so impressed seeing my friends scramble up V4s and V5s. I was also baffled by how quickly I got tired, despite being able to go hard in the weight room for over an hour. The next day, muscles and tendons that I never knew I had were sore. I'll definitely be going back next week. - An arctic front rolled in this weekend, and it was impossible to run outside, let alone be out- side for more than a couple of minutes. - I spent Saturday on my own, reviewing the hoards of material that we learned over the past few weeks. In the evening, I went out to dinner and then went to a local bookstore to read some new books. It was pretty relaxing and I had a good time. -Sunday was another productive day - I went to the gym with my friend Henry, who has a membership at a really nice gym with a lot of space and amenities. We did our own thing in the gym and then hit a sauna session for half an hour, which pushed me to the limit. I then dropped my car off at the auto shop for an inspection, and in the meantime I holed up at a « Dunkin Donuts» and read some papers from a lab I'm interested in. The inspection took way longer than expected — afterward, I got groceries for the week. I want to diversify my meals a little, since I'm sick of eating the same protein/carb body-building meal that I've been living off of for who knows how many months. I threw a cucumber, pear, arugula with lemon juice, pickles, and cheese onto a cutting board, and had that with my chicken and sweet potatoes. It was really tasty and filling! - I don't have lectures tomorrow, so I'm going to leverage the available time to go to the surgery clinic.
9 Sunday, February 22, 2026 - This block is flying by, progressing much quicker than the previous one. We have two more weeks of content before exam week, and afterwards I have a week-long break before diving into the fourth and final block of first year. Feels crazy to write that sentence. Still, though, I'm nowhere near the end of my first-year; I still have to take the ex- ams for this block, let alone pass the block, along with all of the other requirements I need to fulfill. Clinical shifts, a group project with my anatomy lab about Meckel's diverticulum, and a hepatic ultrasound portfolio are also folded into the requirements for passing the block along with the exam. And I heard from an upperclassman that the final block is con- sidered the toughest block of medical school in terms of conceptual difficulty. One step at a time, though. - Even though I've kept up with the material, and I've started reviewing for the exam, I have a lot of work ahead of me. - I spent last weekend in Boston with Ashna, celebrating Valentine's Day. We had a great time, and it was a nice break from studying. I still managed to get a few hours of studying in on the train trip to and from Boston. - This weekend is a great opportunity to make some great headway with the material, espe- cially since we have a day off from lectures on Monday. I was planning on knocking out a family medicine clinic shift but a huge snowstorm rolled in out of nowhere today (it was al- ready starting to feel like spring), closing all of the outpatient clinics. - I've been nursing a small knee injury over the past couple of weeks because of an unlucky jump while climbing, so I took the last week off from running, which has been tough men- tally. I've experienced small injuries before, but in the past I wasn't smart and pushed through them. I wanted to be disciplined with my recovery this time, especially since I didn't know the extent of my injury and I didn't want to have to skip the marathon in May. I swapped running for biking, doing my flashcards on the stationary bike at the gym. By the end of the week, my knee felt much better, and I decided to go on a test run with Dimitris on Saturday. I was worried that I'd feel knee pain as soon as I started running, but miracu- lously, I felt no pain and discomfort, and I did the entire long run with Dimitris. It felt so good to get back into running, but I could feel a loss in endurance, even after only a week- long hiatus. -I slept in today, which felt really good, and after getting groceries early to beat the snows- torm, I hunkered down and studied all day. - In the evening, I called Ashna and ate dinner with her.
10 Thursday, March 5, 2026 And just like that, the third block of medical school is coming to an end. Even though the block has been slightly more manageable than the last one - it’s shorter by a couple of weeks, the material is more connected and intui- tively organized, and the shock factor of studying in medical school has largely gone away - the pace and volume of information, the obligations and responsibilities outside of studying, have made it a difficult and overwhelm- ing block, especially in the past couple of weeks. As I started reviewing for the exam full time while simultaneously absorbing new information, I’ve been feeling like I know less than I originally expected, an unpleasant feeling that’s coupled with doubt in my abilities. Even though I’ve been making time for things outside of school - training, doing hobbies like chess and rock climbing with friends (I played the saxophone for the first time since I moved to Long Island yesterday at a music vent, unplanned), and maintain- ing visits with Ashna - I’ve felt like I’ve been operating on autopilot, cer- tainly this past week. With studying, clinic shifts, staying active and every- thing in between, sleep has unfortunately taken a back seat these last few days.There’s so much material to study that, as soon as I study one thing, I start worrying that I’m not throwing my efforts at another thing, something that I felt last block as well. It’s been helpful to know that I’m not alone, and that my classmates are going through the same thing. That’s one of the benefits of studio with them, like I did tonight - it reminds me that we’reall going through this together, and it brings us closer.
11 …… Saturday, March 21, 2026… - I finally finished my exams last week and ended my third block of medical school. It was a tough block — no matter how much I kept up with the material I found myself having to cram more unstudied materi- al in the days leading up to the exam. Exam week always leaves me mentally exhausted and burnt out, so I was relieved that I had a week- long break before my fourth and final block of first year. - I went first to Ashna on Friday and spent the night, and then I came home on Saturday to spend time with Guy, and then I spent Sunday with Ashna. The rest of the time I spent at home, spending time with Mama. - I also did some independent research for my first PhD lab rotation in the summer. PI (the 'principal investigator', the head of the lab) is very hands off and is encouraging me to develop a project of my own, which is outside of my comfort zone, but is becoming more enjoyable as I'm starting to brainstorm possible directions. I've been passing my ideas by Papa and AI. I made the most of my break — going on walks, maintaining my running mileage, and relaxing. - Ashna came over on Friday, and we made a batch of charoset togeth- er for Passover. Mama also made matzah ball soup. - I took the train back to Long Island today so that I'll have Sunday to get back into the routine — long run, buy groceries and meal prep, and do some prework for the new block starting Monday.
12 Monday, March 30, 2026 …. - The first week of the new block was a slap in the face. We were hit with a torrent of cardi- ology, and were responsible for teaching ourselves how to interpret EKGs so that we’d be prepared when the professor would cold-call us in lecture. The material is very interesting, though, and much more clinically oriented than last block’s biochemistry-focused material. Our main lecturer is a cardiologist who’s super engaging and fun. - I socialized a lot this past week — watching a medical drama with my friends on Tuesday and Thursday, playing ping pong, grabbing lunch with more friends after class. In other new news: my future roommates and I officially signed the lease on our new house, which we’re planning on moving into in June. Each room will have its own bathroom, and I’m excited to finally have some more space and a cozier (and cheaper) place to live. - This weekend was eventful, and less about studying. I woke up very early on Saturday to knock out my longest run of marathon training so far, an 18 miler. It was made more brutal by the fact that the first half was run in the dark, and the fact that I did it around a one mile loop around campus. I did it that early because I had an event later that morning - I com- peted in an ultrasound Olympiad at my school. My school hosts this event every single year, and med students from multiple schools come to compete in it. This year, there were even students from Miami! I was in a team with three of my anatomy lab group mates and friends. We had to come up with a creative costume idea, and we dressed up as ultrasound gel bottles. We spent a lot of time making the costumes out of t-shirts and paper the night before, and everyone thought our costume idea was incredible. Because I was on a team with three girls, I was forced to put glitter on my face to look more ‘gel-like,’ haha. - The completion itself was fun, but it was very difficult. Each round had a unique challenge that centered around ultrasound, combining carnival games with ultrasound diagnostics and clinical reasoning. Unfortunately, we don’t win any awards, but we still had an awesome time. Later that evening, I went to my friend Grace’s birthday party, and had a blast playing a ping pong game from her university. - I visited Ashna in New Jersey yesterday, and we had a relaxing day together. It was ice to get away from the socializing, running, an studying, and take a deep breath.
13 Tuesday, April 7, 2026 - I went home this past weekend for Passover, our first one in the last two years, and our first one in the new house!Ashna and I prepped the charoset a couple weeks ago, and I added a little more to it right before the seder to dilute the spices. I was pretty proud of the outcome. Unfortunately, I was only home for one full day, and then I had to drive back on Sunday to kick start week 3 of 11 of the last block of medical school. - That evening after coming back, I did a 10 mile run on the tread- mill, finishing off another week of marathon training. I am really sick of running so much and cannot wait to start lifting after the race and build back muscle. The marathon is 4 weeks away, and this upcoming week is the toughest week of training. I'm relieved that training will be over long before exams arrive — this is a tough block and I definitely have to pivot from the study strategy that's been working well for the last two blocks. I think I nailed down a new system today, but time will tell if it'll be effec- tive. It's all about trial and error and adjusting on the fly.
14 …… Tuesday, April 21, 2026… . . - The weeks are getting busier and busier, and they're flying by. We're already on the fifth week of the block, the last week of cardiology. We have 5 more weeks of material after this, covering pulmonology and nephrology, and then I'll be done with my first year of medical school. How crazy is that? Afterwards, I'll be spending the summer testing out two labs for my PhD. - My calendar is chalk-full of stuff every day: studying, clinic shifts, shadowing a surgical oncologist, going to the Feinstein Institute for my weekly PhD class, corresponding with PIs to solidify my summer research rotations, getting my runs in for marathon prep, spending time with friends and Ashna, working on group projects. I don't mind the busi- ness, but it can be overwhelming sometimes. - Luckily, my marathon training is winding down. The other weekend, Dimitris and I ran our longest run of prep, a brutal 20 miles with 17 miles at goal marathon pace. Not only that, but it capped off a 50-mile running week, the most I've ever run in a single week. I was very proud of myself, but I was excited to finally start reducing volume and tapering for the race. My legs were constantly sore and felt like lead, and it was so time consuming — I didn't have time to do other activities, like go rock climbing or play tennis with my friends. I also was relieved to not have to drag Ashna on a long run when she visited this past weekend, and we had a wonderful and relaxing time. - Today was an average day — I had a clinical learning session from 8-10am, where we practiced interviewing patients and developing differential diagnoses. We then had a lecture on heart valves. Afterward, I played a couple of ping pong games with my friend and future roommateHenry (we've probably played hundreds of games at this point), before driving to the Feinstein Institute for my PhD class. Today's session was led by a pediatric gastroenterologist, a very inter- esting speciality. We reviewed a paper on inflammatory bowel disease. - Afterward, I met up with a couple classmates at the park for a 5-mile run. Now that volume is reduced, my legs are starting to come back to life. I spent the rest of the day studying at the li- brary, eating dinner, meal prepping, and calling home and catching up with Ashna. - Even though my plate is full, I'm proud of the way I'm balancing my work, extracurriculars, athletics, and staying connected with my friends. I'm trying to be very intentional with my time and put in effort into things that matter to me beyond studying, such as my training, or calling a college friend to catch up, or watching a TV show with friends.
15 Tuesday, May 5, 2026….. - I ran my first marathon on Sunday. I trained for it with my friendDimitris for 18 weeks, since the start of the year. We trained through the winter, building mileage through dark, cold days, exam season, and eve- rything in between. This marked a turning point in my running training. Over the last three years, I've been focused on the half marathon distance, tapering my time down from 1 hour and 54 minutes in October 2022 to 1 hour and 33 minutes in May 2025. I trained hard to cut down those 21 minutes, building my top-end speed through weekly speed workouts that had me gasping for air between short rest breaks. But through all that, my weekly running volume stayed relatively low, peaking at 35 miles, and my daily runs never went above 5-6 miles. - This prep was different. Instead of focusing on my speed, I built my running volume to an entirely new level. It wasn't about running fast, it was about training my body and mind to go far and long, day after day, week after week. Daily easy runs were 9-10 miles, and weekly long runs built from 13 miles to a 20-miler three weeks before the race, for a total of 50 miles that week. Through this process, I learned how to run sustain- ably and not burn myself out. Most importantly, I gained a new apprecia- tion for the importance of intentional fueling, not just for longer runs, but every single day. Staying on top of carbohydrates, electrolytes, and hydra- tion wasn't optional, it was a necessity. Training through the winter was soul-crushing — taking a break from studying to run 10 miles in the dark, just to go back to studying afterward, was an incredible challenge, and I'm proud of how well I navigated it.
16 - Dimitris and I took the race very seriously. We came in with a plan of how fast we were going to run each mile, and how many carbohydrates and sodium we would consume every hour. - We started the race very conservatively, saving our strength for the eventual mental and physical «wall», which runners famously hit be- tween miles 18 and 22. We reached the half marathon mark, whereAshna, who stayed with me this past week, took my jacket and handed me a new water bottle with 1000mg of sodium. I had never felt so good this far into a run, it felt like the training paid off. - Our friend Henry, who is a more experienced marathoner, joined us at mile 10, and paced us through mile 23. Having him by our side was so helpful, especially when we inevitably hit the wall on mile 22. The first 17 miles blew by. Around then, though, I started to feel a hint of fatigue. It started out very very subtly, and progressed for the next 5 miles, but we kept pace all the while. Then, at mile 22, the wall hit like a hammer. In a matter of seconds, my pace dropped considerably, my legs started to feel like lead, and my mind started telling me to give up. Beside me, Dimitris looked like he was fighting a mental war, scream- ing to himself in Greek. Nevertheless, we pushed through the last 4 miles, and crossed the finish line with a time of 3 hours and 47 mi- nutes. - In October 2022, I ran my first half-marathon in an hour and 54 mi- nutes. On Sunday, I ran two half-marathons back-to-back at that same pace. - Dimitris and I screamed and embraced at the finish line, and then I found Ashna and collapsed into her arms. It was one of the toughest things I've ever done, and I loved every minute of it.
17
18
19
20 Tuesday, May 19, 2026 - I've been exceptionally busy these last couple of weeks, balancing learning material at an accelerated pace with reviewing older material for the upcoming exam, which is rapidly approaching. Fortunately, this is the last week of new content. - Ashna visited this past weekend, and we really enjoyed spending time together and unplugging. The weather was perfect this weekend, so we went to the trail that I usually run on and walked for miles, with short fast intervals interspersed. I finally feel like I'm fully recovered from the marathon - this was my first run back, and it felt so good. I've also been lifting more. It feels so good to start building strength and muscle again after months of pure endurance training. I definitely don't miss my legs feeling fatigued every single day. - I've also been going to the clinic a lot, once or twice a week lately, putting in 4-hour shifts, seeing patients on my own, and reporting my findings to the doctor. He's a skilled doctor with a great personality, and I've been told multiple times by patients that I'm lucky to be learn- ing from him. Thursday is my last shift at the family medicine clinic, which I'm not entirely upset by. Family medicine can be really tedious and superficial sometimes, not to mention I have to commute an hour each way to get to the clinic, which cuts into my study time. Neverthe- less, the breadth of patient interactions I've experienced at the clinic has taught me so much.
21 Saturday, May, 2026 …… - We had our last session of year one of medical school yesterday - absolute cra- ziness. But now the hard work continues, exam week is upon us. Every day is the same old routine: get up, to go the school, study until I my brain melts, go to the gym, buy or cook dinner, wind down, sleep, repeat. -This block has been less about memorization and more about understanding concepts and applying them clinically. But since even medicine isn’t an exact science, learning clinical guidelines and indications for different treatments without any intuition is tough, to say the least. I’m reminding myself that I don’t have to be perfect, I just have to put in the work every day, and learn and under- stand as much as I can.
22 Saturday, June 6, 2026…….… - Yesterday I took my final exam of the block, finishing off my first year of medical school! Well, that is, if I pass this exam. Thursday's exam was easier than everyone expected, which made us anticipate a much tougher Friday ex- am, and our assumption was spot on. The exam was extremely challenging, and in my opinion very poorly written. A lot of the questions were extremely broad and vague, and it was hard to pinpoint what exactly they were asking. But I managed to answer all 28 questions, within the 4-hour time limit. - Finishing the exam was surreal — I can't believe I'm done with my first year of medical school. These last 10 months both flew by and dragged by, and I feel like I already learned a lifetime's-worth of medical information. I know there is so much more to learn, though. This last year, the days dragged on by the weeks flew by. Every day was the same — get up, go to school from 8am to noon, eat lunch, study, train in the gym, study more, cook dinner, study more, go to sleep. It was a very challenging and rewarding year. *** - The rest of the day after the exam was jam-packed with socializing. I went to the gym with my friend Adib, changed, linked up with my future roommatesHenry and David at the train station, and we linked up with our friend Dimi- tris on the train on the way to the city. We met up with more people, and went to a pub for a few hours, then grabbed dinner at a restaurant. The city was alive last night because the New York Knicks were playing, and there were watch parties in every indoor and outdoor bar, pub, and beer garden. At around 10pm, we all went to a class-wide social organized by a couple of classmates who reserved an entire lounge in a bar for us. It was so crowded, but I didn't mind. Eventually, Dimitris and I linked up with his childhood friend, who lives in the city, and the three of us hung out at a bar for a few hours before Dimitris and I caught the train back to Long Island, at around 4am. It was a super fun night celebrating the end of the year!
23 Sunday, July 5, 2026 -The month since finishing up first year was very eventful. The weekend after fi- nishing up exams, I went to a local car dealership and signed a lease on a new car Signing my first car lease
24 - Also during that weekend, Mama, Papa, and Guy came and helped me move out of my dorm and into my new house in Bellmore. I’d been waiting for this move for months - the dorm had become dirty, cluttered, and confined those last few months, and it was especially challenging to relax and unwind there, especially when Ashna would visit. The new house, on the other hand, is worlds away from the dorm. It’s spacious, bright, next to the ocean, in a clean, quiet family neighborhood, and each bedroom has its own bathroom, and absolute game changer. Nevertheless, the first couple of nights in the house were unnerving as I was adjusting to the new place. Henry moved in that following Tuesday, together with his new dog. It’s been fun having a hound in the house, especially since I don’t have to take care of her. She’s really sweet and curls up on the couch next to me when I hang out on there. The couch is definitely the high- light of the common area of the house - it’s huge and comfortable, and I often do some work on it in the evenings. -I didn’t stay in the house for too long after moving in, because I went to Boston to visit Ashna, and then we went on vacation to East Lyme, in Connecticut, where we stayed in a trailer that was repurposed into a modern tiny home overlooking a lake. It was so relaxing and we had a blast, spending most of our days lounging on the beach.
24 Walking the boardwalk along the beach on our first day
25 View from our little house onto a lake
26 After getting back to Long Island, I started my first 4-week rotation in the lab of Yousef Al- Abed at the Feinstein Institute. Over the last three weeks I’ve been learning a lot of new tech- niques and familiarizing myself with works from three different labs, because my project would encompass their works, an exciting but intimidating prospect. I’m about to start my fourth and final week in the lab. - Another perk of the new house that Henry and I have been enjoying is the grill in the back- yard. We’ve had a lot of fun hosting a couple of friends already to grill steaks and salmon, the perfect summer activity. Henry works out every day, and he’s been training for another mara- thon, so we sometimes go on runs together in the neighborhood. - I came back home for this weekend to celebrate Mama’s birthday and Fourth of July. We had some people over for a barbecue. -I also went to Boston last week to visit Ashna and celebrate her birthday early, and I’m going back home next weekend again because we’re all going to Cape Cod for a week.
27