Fainted

Fainted.  Today sucked. I was up all night with Laila grumbling about how no one wanted to go out and live a little while we sat in bed and did nothing all night.  The next morning we had a skin clinical tutorial where we see over 20 patients with different skin diseases.  We woke up late, as it was the 8^th day of the week we had to be up early and missed our bus to the clinic so we walked the 1.5 miles there (waiting for the next bus would have taken longer). We arrived just in the nick of time and were thrust into a group of my peers some of which I knew.  Our first rotation was in the break room where we enjoyed pastries, water, and coffee.  Then we went to our first patient who had alopecia universalis (baldness all over their body).  It was a very interesting case and even though we only had 5 minutes we were able to ask plenty of questions.  The second patient was their with their mother and we all crowded into this tiny exam room (all 13 of us).  I was at the far end and as we got started I knew something was wrong.  The room felt incredibly hot and I could feel the blood draining from my face.  I thought to myself “5 minutes, only 5 minutes and we can get out of this hot room”.  I leaned back hard into a counter and braced myself as best as I could.  It was like I started to dream and then I awoke to standing in the middle of the room with everyone’s hands on me.  I dazedly looked around and asked what was going on.  “You fell over” was the reply.  I couldn’t believe it.  They sat me down and lifted my legs while the dermatologist asked, “Was it something you saw?” Ya, sure, it was the scared skin that sent me over the edge… Luckily the only thing I hurt was my pride, which didn’t get any better as I laid out in the hallway and every 5 minutes a group of my peers past by on their way to another patient and inquired as to why I was there. I finished out my rotation still a bit light headed and everyone joked with me, which made the embarrassment tolerable.  Though I worry about surgery and standing for long periods of time… We’ll see how this will turn out.  Now I am on a bus up to Bellingham to see my sister, brother, and nieces.  It’s going to be a lonnnnggg week.  Until next time….

TEDMED

What a trip. Last week I was in DC for the TEDMED conference, which I won a $5000 scholarship to attend. If you don't know what TEDMED is than click on TED. They are these amazing free lectures on innovation, imagination, entertainment, and design. I am an avid fan of this so winning the scholarship was the highlight of my quarter. The conference was held at the Kennedy Center in DC and was filled with healthcare big wigs such as the director of the FDA, NIH, National Cancer Foundation, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, Katie Couric, Billy Jean King, and many others. TEDMED was recently acquired by the billionaire owner of Priceline and in my opinion he did not do a sufficient job of having the right lectures/topics. There was a lot of hand waving (ie "diabetes is a pandemic.") and very little innovative material. Though there were a few fantastic lectures. The highlight of the event was the social interrelation hub and dinners at the library of congress and the national buildings museum. A quick story, while we were thoroughly enjoying the library of congress I happened to get a little tipsy and noticed a bunch of people wearing TEDMED t-shirts under their jackets. I approach one of them and inquired about the shirts to which he replied "its a secret". I then figured they were going to do a flash mob! What I didn't realize was that it was the DC gay man's choir and some of the men I was talking to were flagrantly flurting with me but I had no clue. Then they all bust out in song and I started to dance. Little did I know that I was the only one at the entire event who was dancing. They conference media camera then spotlighted me and the whole room got a show. Laila videoed part of it. I even got to hangout with Ben for a little bit. went with this girl from my class named Laila who I have been seeing. She is a riot. She took me to the Palestinian embassy to get her Iranian passport, needless-to-say I felt out of place. But she had a family friend the named Nick and his wife who took us out to dinner on our last night. All in all it was a fun trip but I didn't get any studying done and now I am stressed trying to catch up. Big pharmacology test coming up, not happy. On a brighter note I have started to run (once) so that makes me very happy. Until again!

Med school the 'adventure' continues

Well, I am in my final quarter of the academic years of medical school. Phrases like 'burned-out', 'in a fog', and the like have become very familiar. To recap a bit on what is currently going on; I am sloshing my way through the last of my classes, reproduction, GI, skin, pharm II, etc. And at the same time trying to begin studying for the USMLE Boards (yet another test that will 'define the course of my life' just as the SATs, and the MCATs etc) which is terrifying and stressful all in one. To offer a better understanding of this test, imagine taking full time upper level graduate science courses for 8 quarters including biochemistry, cardiopulmonary pathophysiology, all the organ system classes (all physiology, pathology, pharmacology, diagnostics, epidemiology, etc), pharmacology (over 1000+ drugs, side effects, mechanisms of action, etc) and being tested with extreme detail over all of this material. AND this test is the only thing that distinguishes you from your peers in terms of job placement. AND everyone you meet, bump into, and work with is constantly reminding you of how important this test is and how terrified you should be feeling at the moment. It is a 9 hour test that you only can take once. We do get a month to study for it but it is over the course of the sunniest month in Seattle. Ugh....

Recently was my last spring break. It was a little heart breaking to spend it all in Seattle (most of which I spent studying... :(

This is what my desk is going to look like in June (USMLE Hell Month). I only managed to get through 2 subjects.

I did get out and about and found that Seattle has a bunch of fun jazz bars. I found this little hole in the wall place called Tula's and though it was a touch $$ the music was amazing and the people there were very interesting.

It was a music themed week because I wound up with free tickets to the Seattle symphony. The experienced turned out to be great! The was free wine and appetizers for this concert and the pieces were all newly composed and I fortunately found my self sitting next to one of the featured composers.

Unfortunately on the other side of me sat a dean or head honcho of research at UW. I have no experience or real interest in research... I wish I did but... I didn't get that gene from my dad.

The rest of the week was eating out at fantastic restaurants, drinking great wines, and walking throughout Seattle. It did feel good to recharge. Well that is the mini-update for now. I will try to keep up a little more frequently...

Ahh med school

I know it has been awhile since my last entry but I have been busy. This year is a little less stressful than last year because I am working to stay ahead of the game. In fact, this last midterm I had I earned a high score of 95%! It felt good to do well in my Urinary Systems class. Seattle is great! I am training for the half-marathon in November as part of my goal to run a full-marathon before I turn 30. Speaking of which, today I learned that I am the oldest person living in my house. I have never been the oldest anything anywhere. I know I am not that old but my life has been such an amazing adventure that I am sad to see time slipping away from me. But what can you do? I have always had everything I've needed and nearly all that I've wanted so I really can't complain. Thats all for now, short and sweet..

What a week it has been! First I arrived with my parents to help settle me in to Seattle. That was a blast. The house was a bit more like a fraternity than I had imagined and twice as messy. We went to and fro buying up all the necessities. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!!! Once they left I began, what seemed to be, the impossible task of cleaning up the house. Though messy, though only 2 bathrooms between 10 people, the location and scenery are incredible! I am only a 5 minute walk to class and I we are surrounded by the lake on three sides.

Orientation was much more fun than I had imagined. We kicked off with a sports competition with the whole class and my team won! It was awesome. We continued with some normal lectures and just wrapped up yesterday.

Today I parked cars on our front lawn and made $600 (I got to keep 10%). This is how the house makes money. Then I went to my first Husky game and it was spectacular! I love going to a school with a football team. I hope you enjoy the video and the pictures!! Stay tuned....

Hiking up Deer Mt. and camping at the top was so much fun! I went with one of my best friends, Tara Miller. We each packed way too much up the trail and it was easy going for most of the way up. Tara packed an astounding 50 lbs up that mountain and once we reached the top it was a bitter cold rain storm and some hiking through snow. But we eventually made it to the little cabin at the top and to our surprise there was a little oil heating stove which dried us out and kept us warm for the night. Newt loved the hike and was exhausted when we returned home. I could barely feel my legs and back the next morning because they were so stiff. Then a quick float plane trip back to Met for work!

Monday was another great day at the clinic. Spencer is no longer here so it is just me. I have found that going in and interviewing patients without someone to fill in the blanks is harder than I thought. I find myself asking all the questions without direction. It is a little terrifying because I am constantly reminded that I have no idea what I am doing. Luckily the staff here is amazing and when I come out with only a line or two of information to share they take the time to evaluate my performance and give me great feedback Dr. Crosby is gone and a new doctor Dr. Ratlif is here. I have met her before and she is great. Currently I am following Dr. Henry around and he has been great as well. I think the nursing staff is warming up to me because the nurse director stopped by my house and dropped off a few jars of kippered sockeye salmon and twenty pounds of fresh caught King salmon from her husband’s boat. I was also invited to watch the native dancers practice dancing in the long house in preparation for this weekend (Founder’s Day in Met). They invited me onto the floor and they showed me some of the traditional moves and I got to dance with them on the main floor. It was AMAZING! I took call with Michele and we only had one call in the afternoon (Yay!). She is the one that calls pretending to be the patient and I have to triage her. I can’t help but feel this growing terror of becoming a physician; there is so much to know, so much responsibility, and such disastrous consequences. I have been chatting with Dr. Henry (a young doctor from New Mexico) about residency and he has been sharing some horror stories.

The time has arrived to hit my project hard and fast. I have decided on and been approved for a community garden project. Today I spent most of the morning in a meeting with a master gardener interested in the project. She gave me a list of some “heavy hitters” in the community to call and invite to a meeting. I call them all and most said they would be thrilled to hear us out. The plan is to put together a proposal which would include funding, staffing, mission, and general organization as well as literature backed research demonstrating the positive effects of gardening on childhood obesity and adult diabetes. If these community leaders agree to the project then we will write it up this weekend and they will present it to their groups next week. Everyone is excited about this project and after looking over the grant I am in for a long weekend of grant writing (which is the part I committed to doing). I hope this all works out. I can’t wait for this weekend because the clinic director’s daughter is getting married (HUGE DEAL), a potlatch, and Founder’s day!

Weddings, Potlatch, and Catheters

What a week! So the clinic days have flown by. One day in particular sticks out because I was able to put in my first urinary catheter (under great supervision of course) but it was all me and I have decided to avoid getting one myself at all costs. We had few interesting emergencies and some great cases as well but this weekend was the best I have ever had in Met.

Mike and Michiel's wedding.

Michiel is the daughter of one of my FAVORITE people in Met. She is the clinic director and is like the godmother of Met in my opinion. She is well respected and has done great things in the community, so when it came to her daughter's wedding it was referred to as "the wedding" rivaling the royal wedding in notoriety. It was a glorious celebration set against an unbelievable mountain/ocean back drop with a perfect fusion of tradition and modern protocol.The bride was stunning and her husband-to-be was a tall and stern looking native man. As a couple they looked amazing. After the wedding we all went to a sit down reception and listened to many praises from both sides of the family and were all invited to the wedding potlatch to take place the following day.

The Potlatch

Never in my life have I seen such a celebration. For those of you who do not know what a potlatch is; it is a celebrations for the whole community with traditional food,

native dancing, and ceremonial gift exchanges, speeches, and thanks are given. As Michiel (a PhD candidate in native culture studies) explained, the main purpose of a potlatch is the redistribution and reciprocity of wealth (gift giving). When I arrived there were a few presentations from the newly weds then the feast. And what a feast it was! Long rows of tables were set out for all of the guests, hundreds of seats.

Then servers (who were all relatives in some way or another to the newly weds) came out with plates stacked high with dungeness crab (the best crab in SE Alaska in my opinion), traditionally smoked salmon that knocked my

socks off, fried uligan fish (This was the first time I tasted them after hearing from several locals that it was an "acquired taste", I loved them), deer soup, salmon eggs and seaweed over rice, and herring eggs that came on a hemlock branch. Such an eclectic array of tastes and textures as I have never experienced before.

I was eating wildly and laughing with the

elders sitting near me as they were amazed to watch me devour any and all extra crab/fish/anything put before me. What a feast! Then we cleared the tables and awaited eagerly for the dancing.

When I say that "I have never seen such a celebration before" I m

eant it, during the "opening ceremony" all of the dance groups came all at the same time. This meant that all of the drummers were drumming which shook the building to its foundations and filled the hall with a thunderous noise that would put jumbo jet engines to shame. The only thing that vied with the mammoth sound came from the dancers themselves. Both men and women chanting and singing deafeningly loud, the men with their deep and fierce roars and the women overtop with their majestic and bold tones.

Now I must admit that I assumed that potlatches lasted only a few hours, "you get in, you eat, you watch some dances, you leave how long could it take?" Little did I know that potlatches are long events. We started at 1pm and didn't finish until 3am! I am proud to say that my family stayed the whole time. We received some spruce tip syrup, native art, and much more. All in all it was one incredible party!They came in a line and slowly filled the hall until every inch of the dance floor was covered. It was truly a sight to behold (see video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoZeoxj_zbU, though it doesn't do it justice). Throughout the ceremony there were several dance groups that came out to perform and they were each spectacular! A few times I even got up to dance and I have to say it was interesting being the only "white guy" dancing but the community members were great and showed me what to do (while laughing at/with me the whole time). My most memorable moment of the evening was when they called all of the single men up to dance and some of the female dancers I was sitting with encouraged me to go up. So there I found myself with 4 other impassioned and strong looking male dancers feeling very out of place and nervous as ever because I have no idea what to do.

One of the dancers came out and showed us what we were to do which was looked like a turkey dance to impress and seduce the women. Once we started the whole hall erupted with laughter at the sight of these young men "shaking their tail feathers" on the dance floor (see video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ-3ULonE0o). It was a riot! My mother at one point was called up to receive a gift (a hand-painted native drum!) for giving up her house and leaving her son "out in the cold" for the wedding party. She was blown away. It was a magnificent drum. Finally the night ended around 3am.

The next morning was Founder's day for the island and I ran the "marathon" which was only about 4 miles. I cam in near last (boy do I need to get out more). There were booths and food for the community members and that night I went out to see the fireworks. It was a funny experience because in Met they didn't have all of the fireworks ready like other cities, they had to bring them out to the shooting zone in loads so we would watch 5 mins of fire display then have to wait 15mins for them to go get/set up more all the while the locals were shooting off their own impressive collections. What a trip!