Learn One Thing: Squash

I recently joined the gym at Yale so I could get back into working out during the winter.  In order to get to the fitness center, I have to walk a sign designating the area behind the sign as the Brady Squash Center, but I couldn’t see inside.  Until I looked it up, I had no idea what Squash was, other than some sort of indoor sport that people at Yale play.  Wikipedia defines Squash as “a racquet sport played by two players (or four players for doubles) in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball.”  Sounds like Racquet ball to me, which is a sport I’ve played before, but the more I read I found that there are some key differences between the sports:

• Racquet Size (max of 22 inches in Racquet ball, 27 inches in Squash)
• Ball Size (2.25 inches in Racquet ball, ~1.5 inches in Squash
• Ball Elasticity (Squash ball is less elastic than the Racquet ball)
• Court Dimensions (Squash is a smaller (32×21 ft vs 40×20 ft in Racquet ball)

Read more about the Differences Between Squash and Racquetball on www.differencebetween.net.

Yale PA Program

The Autumn 2009 issue of the Yale Medicine magazine did a nice article on the 40 year History of the Physician Associate Program at Yale and gives some good insight into how the program and the profession got it’s start.  I found interesting how the profession spawned from the desire of military personal with medical experience to utilize that experience in the civilian medical system after being discharged.

Maggie is 1 month into the PA program at Yale and so far everything is going well.   She studies a lot, even though her first (out of 40) of her weekly tests is not until next week, trying to stay on top of the lecture material and being sure to absorb the plethora of information she needs to learn.

Only 27 more months to go!