Since Friday so many wonderful things have happened. My dad got over his strep infection and my brother made up with his wife after a big fight over her being pregnant again.
I'm polishing off the last glass of Talacasto wine. It's $3/bottle in Grenada and the bottle typically lasts me a full week. After a long day of studying it's a perfect way to slow down.
Friday night I met Sam, the boyfriend of a girl I used to have some interest in. He's a good guy and they are very much into each other - which makes me extremely happy. I took my current love interest out with those two and our friend. We went to a local brewery to spend an hour. We laughed a lot with the random enthusiastic first termers who were figuring out the island.
An intense labmate of mine came on strong to the girl I'm seeing (I'm just going to call her Rox for this blog) and awkward. It's always fun to see what people assume about someone before they know the person. People assume med hangs with med and we're all from the USA if we're light skinned.
I'm amazed at how I DON'T realize some things unless they're pointed out to me - but Asians talk about being Asian more than any other group of people I hang out with. Really, I don't think about being white until someone brings it up - then I'm uncomfortable or irritated. We're all just people...except Rox and the Puerto Ricans I've met ... Latinos are fantastic!
After the brewery we grabbed a drink from a local van and walked to the highway. Chris and Sam were running, piggyback ahead of us.
Rox and I settled in together for the evening - una fuente de emociones y placer. The next day I studied and went hashing - discovered razor grass and decompressed thoroughly. There was a mixup on the trail but, as always, I met great people there.
Yesterday I had a couple tripups and backslides - but in the end everything was ok.
Today I went to the simlab and reported for an "attending". We performed physical examinations on sim patients and acted out scenarios. It was extremely helpful and educational.
I'm grateful for my friends, my house in Grenada, my connection to Rox, and for the things to come. Life is good.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Tuesday, January 20, 2015
jog and journey
This morning I had a long pleasant jog on the beach. A rasta ran beside me. His name was david and we talked about our journey for about 10 minutes.
Today I went to the hospital for the first time as a medical student. I made a few mistakes - misstated the causes of finger clubbing and reported an odd BP reading...probably missed the auscultatory gap. I'm glad that I make these mistakes because next year the attendings may not be so kind as Dr. Rooney was with our group this morning.
The patient had a reasonably complicated case and was extremely friendly. It was exciting to get that interaction with someone for the first time - even if I was just taking vitals and asking about a few symptoms as a part of a team of 6 students.
The hospital isn't as bad as people said. Sure there are no TV's or AC...but they have beds and what appeared to be fresh linens. There were nebulizers and cups for medication. The essentials were there. The staff seemed competent.
After that I had a long talk with a former group member about studying for the USMLE. It is a daunting task - and we have 6 months to accomplish it - but I'm confident that I will score what I need to score.
Tonight I went to yoga out in Grand Anse. The session was physically demanding and it took me a while to get centered after the session. I know that the feeling of peace is lasting but not permanent - so I appreciated it as much as possible. In the future I will alternate between mindfulness training and yoga.
After yoga I came home and did sonic for 2 lectures. Then I finished up some firecracker and skimmed some notes. My mornings usually include 15-25 USMLE questions after jogging. I also clocked 20 QM and 3 vids. It's a marathon :)
Tomorrow will be excellent. I get to spend time with salsa and the woman from Puerto Rico after a moderately difficult day. ICM in the morning and a solid 5 hours of vids/firecracker/FA/class notes.
Today I went to the hospital for the first time as a medical student. I made a few mistakes - misstated the causes of finger clubbing and reported an odd BP reading...probably missed the auscultatory gap. I'm glad that I make these mistakes because next year the attendings may not be so kind as Dr. Rooney was with our group this morning.
The patient had a reasonably complicated case and was extremely friendly. It was exciting to get that interaction with someone for the first time - even if I was just taking vitals and asking about a few symptoms as a part of a team of 6 students.
The hospital isn't as bad as people said. Sure there are no TV's or AC...but they have beds and what appeared to be fresh linens. There were nebulizers and cups for medication. The essentials were there. The staff seemed competent.
After that I had a long talk with a former group member about studying for the USMLE. It is a daunting task - and we have 6 months to accomplish it - but I'm confident that I will score what I need to score.
Tonight I went to yoga out in Grand Anse. The session was physically demanding and it took me a while to get centered after the session. I know that the feeling of peace is lasting but not permanent - so I appreciated it as much as possible. In the future I will alternate between mindfulness training and yoga.
After yoga I came home and did sonic for 2 lectures. Then I finished up some firecracker and skimmed some notes. My mornings usually include 15-25 USMLE questions after jogging. I also clocked 20 QM and 3 vids. It's a marathon :)
Tomorrow will be excellent. I get to spend time with salsa and the woman from Puerto Rico after a moderately difficult day. ICM in the morning and a solid 5 hours of vids/firecracker/FA/class notes.
Monday, January 19, 2015
on the rock
Today was a hard-hitting day. I woke up at 4:40 - too early. Slept until 5:25 - just right.
It was dark on the beach, but the birds had begun their morning songs in Mont Toute. The sand was particularly flat today - which made it easier to jog. It was beautifully cool and I took a refreshing shower after the jog. 23 minutes and 15 seconds. I stopped for a few seconds for traffic - but it's a higher time than usual.
The morning went along nicely after. A focused half hour of questions, 17. Firecracker - 30. Videos, 2. Finished pharm lab. Ate an omlette and finished pharm anki. Firecracker and another video. Overall I did 106 firecracker. Pharmacology quiz was really helpful in understanding some clinical pharmacokinetics.
I had a decent leg workout on the new calf machine and 20 minutes on the new arc while I reviewed drugs. Then I did videos on antibiotics and bacteria for several hours.
My scheduling worked well for today. Tomorrow after the hospital I'm going to polish up my pharm lab, smash some pathophys, and pharm - hopefully I will get around to a good long yoga session before revising my BSFCR and firecracker. Tomorrow is my first day interacting with real patients in a real hospital. Although there will be at least 5 other students with me and the patient, I anticipate that it will be a good experience.
Tonight on the bus I talked to some of the people involved in the operation of the ICM department...which is a strange class bridging the world of theory into practice so we don't go in cold to the clinics in the USA. Learned many things.
It was dark on the beach, but the birds had begun their morning songs in Mont Toute. The sand was particularly flat today - which made it easier to jog. It was beautifully cool and I took a refreshing shower after the jog. 23 minutes and 15 seconds. I stopped for a few seconds for traffic - but it's a higher time than usual.
The morning went along nicely after. A focused half hour of questions, 17. Firecracker - 30. Videos, 2. Finished pharm lab. Ate an omlette and finished pharm anki. Firecracker and another video. Overall I did 106 firecracker. Pharmacology quiz was really helpful in understanding some clinical pharmacokinetics.
I had a decent leg workout on the new calf machine and 20 minutes on the new arc while I reviewed drugs. Then I did videos on antibiotics and bacteria for several hours.
My scheduling worked well for today. Tomorrow after the hospital I'm going to polish up my pharm lab, smash some pathophys, and pharm - hopefully I will get around to a good long yoga session before revising my BSFCR and firecracker. Tomorrow is my first day interacting with real patients in a real hospital. Although there will be at least 5 other students with me and the patient, I anticipate that it will be a good experience.
Tonight on the bus I talked to some of the people involved in the operation of the ICM department...which is a strange class bridging the world of theory into practice so we don't go in cold to the clinics in the USA. Learned many things.
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Introduction
Time is passing and I keep growing in ways I didn't think possible. This journal is for 2015 and all the wonderful gifts and challenges it brings. Events are happening - and I want to take moments out at least once a week to be thankful for what has happened.
Since last Sunday I studied 700 firecracker questions and reviewed two and a half USMLE lecture series for repro and rheum/derm. There were some USMLE practice questions and First Aid drugs mixed in. I kept up with lectures, attended a required lab and got a feeling of how the pace of this term will go.
Two nights this week I had the privilege of staying with the gorgeous Puerto Rican vet student. We laugh, kiss, dance, and share thoughts. It's excellent to connect with someone else in that capacity. She gets compliments whenever we are out. Last night we were having some fantastic drinks while we talked in Spanish (I mostly listened) about her frustration with a physiology course. The mood lightened eventually and we joked about everything.
Time is so precious. Friday I was able to enjoy a bit of it with Aaron, Louisa, and Dan while we got food and drinks at options. The chicken wraps on this island are my go-to choice to pick me up. After a little time there I worked out -- the gym has better machines! It's fantastic to hop on a smooth arc machine with a working touch screen and smooth strides.
Clarity is coming! I joined a facebook group recently about the clinical programs in Toledo. They raved about the program and several people said it was an excellent idea to go there. It will be nice to be near my sisters and to be able to enjoy catching up with some people around Ohio. There seems to be enough to do there that I will be able to stay busy. All the rotations except psychiatry are in one place.
Last week I got to salsa dance with a fun group of people. There was a good mix of students, friends, and locals. It was an hour of review for all of us, but mi chica was enjoying it a lot - so we got to practice more. We practiced on the rooftop of Bourne at night. Fireworks went off over Calivigny and we kissed.
Friday night was an excellent IFMSA dinner with the incoming board. The transition out of communications director will free up a lot more time to help with SCORA projects.
I am about to schedule the next two weeks so that focus and clarity can help me with the tasks ahead.
Things are well.
Since last Sunday I studied 700 firecracker questions and reviewed two and a half USMLE lecture series for repro and rheum/derm. There were some USMLE practice questions and First Aid drugs mixed in. I kept up with lectures, attended a required lab and got a feeling of how the pace of this term will go.
Two nights this week I had the privilege of staying with the gorgeous Puerto Rican vet student. We laugh, kiss, dance, and share thoughts. It's excellent to connect with someone else in that capacity. She gets compliments whenever we are out. Last night we were having some fantastic drinks while we talked in Spanish (I mostly listened) about her frustration with a physiology course. The mood lightened eventually and we joked about everything.
Time is so precious. Friday I was able to enjoy a bit of it with Aaron, Louisa, and Dan while we got food and drinks at options. The chicken wraps on this island are my go-to choice to pick me up. After a little time there I worked out -- the gym has better machines! It's fantastic to hop on a smooth arc machine with a working touch screen and smooth strides.
Clarity is coming! I joined a facebook group recently about the clinical programs in Toledo. They raved about the program and several people said it was an excellent idea to go there. It will be nice to be near my sisters and to be able to enjoy catching up with some people around Ohio. There seems to be enough to do there that I will be able to stay busy. All the rotations except psychiatry are in one place.
Last week I got to salsa dance with a fun group of people. There was a good mix of students, friends, and locals. It was an hour of review for all of us, but mi chica was enjoying it a lot - so we got to practice more. We practiced on the rooftop of Bourne at night. Fireworks went off over Calivigny and we kissed.
Friday night was an excellent IFMSA dinner with the incoming board. The transition out of communications director will free up a lot more time to help with SCORA projects.
I am about to schedule the next two weeks so that focus and clarity can help me with the tasks ahead.
Things are well.
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