Global Health Careers: Part II

Ok, so here’s part 2 for global health career paths… I am a physician so this is pretty physician-geared, but I want to re-emphasize that there are tons of areas of work in global health, many of which don’t require any sort of clinical degree. I just wanted to share some of the resources I’ve accrued in case anyone else is interested in this kind of work. These ideas are by no means an exhaustive list. I sorted these out chronologically/by career stage so it should feel like a sort of pathway into global health from start to finish, but if I’ve learned anything in the last couple of years its that there are probably dozens of ways you could go about doing this and there’s no ‘right’ way to pursue a career in global health. Hopefully its helpful to someone interested in getting involved in this field :)

Undergraduate/pre-med. With some exceptions, I would not rush into field work at this stage. Unless you have something concrete to offer such as EMS skills or language proficiency, I really would spend this time learning, reading, and absorbing everything you can from the field of global health. Work experience overseas is great, but be selective about the programs you choose to become involved with. You never want to be in a position where your presence is causing more harm than good. For me working through a Fulbright grant offered a great opportunity to work overseas doing research without becoming involved in direct medical care. It was easily one of the coolest things I’ve ever done. For more information on how to apply for a Fulbright Grant, see their website here. 

In the meantime there are plenty of great resources you can explore to continue learning about the field- you can follow mailing lists such as NPR’s Goats and Soda, Johns Hopkins’ Global Health NOW and the Center for Global Development. There are also many great books- too many to list, but Mountains Beyond Mountains and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down are two that I was recommended again and again.

Right after undergrad is also not a bad time to pursue an MPH, especially if you’re still not sure if clinical medicine is for you, or you’re not sure your application for medical school is strong enough yet. If this isn’t you, I’d strongly consider waiting until during or after medical school. The reason for this is twofold: one, if you hold off on getting your MPH until residency or fellowship, there’s a good chance someone will pay for it for you- yay! Secondly, a master’s degree in public health is the kind of graduate training where it kind of does matter where you go. While you don’t have to go to a top 10 program, you should definitely aim to go somewhere with a robust global health curriculum and reputation, as networking is one of the key reasons to get an MPH. Here’s a list of some of the top master’s programs when it comes to global health. 

Medical School. Ok so first off, just learn how to survive and thrive in the insanely rigorous environment that is medical school. If you plan to practice clinical medicine, the best thing you can do to prepare yourself for a job in global health is to learn great clinical medicine. Once you feel you’ve found your footing in medical school, you can start to seek out opportunities and experiences in global health. This may take the form of a rotation overseas or online, an interest group, a spring break trip or lecture series. Whatever you do, I still think you should prioritize quality over quantity- make sure if you are going to work overseas your have adequate supervision, and your presence is not causing more harm than good. This may mean an ‘away’ rotation with a medical school that has a well-established, positive relationship with a hospital overseas rather than an experience with your own school.

Medical School is also a great time to consider an MPH; some people take time to do it before clinical medicine rotations begin, or before they apply for residencies. You’re already going into a ton of debt so it will be a balance of finding the best program for global health you can get accepted into and the program that won’t cost you an arm and a leg (this is key! It’s a lot harder to work in this field if you accrue a ton of loans.) On that note, while virtually everyone takes on loans for medical school, if you truly want to pursue a career in global health, you want to know all your options, and consider things like scholarships and the public service loan forgiveness programs.

Residency. Again, step 1 is focusing on becoming a strong clinician. But before you submit your rank order list, if you are considering a career in global health, I would strongly, strongly recommend ranking programs with global health tracks. These tracks vary widely, from a few courses with a short project assignment to an entire extra year sent at a site overseas. In pediatrics the programs doing the most in global health are generally Boston Children’s, CHOP, UCSF and Baylor School of Medicine, but there are plenty of small and mid-sized programs with great opportunities as well. A quick google search will give you pages and pages of info, and the ABP guide (linked here) is also a great resource and guide for trainees interested in global health tracks and pathways.

If you aren’t at a program with a strong global health track or presence, don’t worry. There are definitely still options to stay involved in global health. Baylor’s International Pediatric AIDS Initiative offers 4-6 week rotations to outside residents. I also did nearly all my mandatory presentations on global health topics, from journal clubs on hand-held echo use in diagnosis rheumatic heart disease to resident as teacher talks on HIV/TB. Staying involved in global health societies, such as the Consortium of Universities in Global Health, and the AAP’s SOICH (if you are in pediatrics) other ways to continue to network as you complete your training.

Everything else. Once you’re an attending, the world really is your oyster. If you are truly passionate about a subspecialty field, now is a great time to become involved in global health as a fellow, as there’s huge need for specialty care in low and middle-income countries worldwide. ID, critical care, neonatology and emergency medicine tend to be subspecialties with a decent amount of overlap with global health, but it does vary A LOT from program to program.

I was somewhat undecided about subspecialties, and wanted more on the ground clinical experience, so I went for a global health fellowship. Only a handful of pediatric programs offer an entire fellowship for global health (At the time that I was researching options last year it was UCSF’s HEAL program, Utah, CHOP and Boston Children’s Hospital.) Some are more research driven and require NIH K-grant funding, while others (like mine) are funded through the fellows working as gen peds clinicians in community hospitals for half the year to fund the other half of your time being spent working abroad. A big driver for me was that I am getting part of my MPH funded (yep! Another reason waiting to get your MPH isn’t always a bad idea) but I also feel very, very lucky to be able to work with and learn from the network of people here who are doing amazing things in global health.

I will also say many people just get out there and practice global health. This may be through a U.S.-based program (BIPAI hires general pediatricians for their HIV clinics, and Seed Global Health hires physicians to teach Helping Babies Breathe Curricula in resource-poor settings) or through an international NGO (MSF is very competitive and offers only longer stints unless you work in certain specialties, but there are many smaller organizations looking for physicians to assist with various projects.)

One extra option I’ll throw out there- the CDC has a field epidemiologist training program that basically trains both physicians and non-physicians to address epidemics in the field and is another great way to get on the ground experience and training. The UK and EU also have a similar track.

Hope this has been a helpful guide to anyone who is interested :) Feel free to message me or comment if there's anything you're particularly curious about. 

  

Maintaining Sanity on Night Float.

My sister recently started her sub-internship on night float (side bar: my sister is in her last year of medical school?! Cue the quarter life crisis) and it brought me back to those good old days when I was a wee intern….

And didn’t sleep, froze my butt off every night, and jumped out of my skin with every page, even the ones that were just asking for a Tylenol order. 4 years later, I have a weird appreciation for working in hospitals at night- the quiet hallways, being able to chat with patients and their families uninterrupted, and getting so tired you start laughing at the most nonsensical things with your senior resident. I figured I’d write this out for my sister (if she reads this blog, she might be too cool for this kind of thing. LOL) and any other new interns or almost-interns about to dive into their first experience working nights at hospitals.

Get comfy. Night float shifts are often long, lasting anywhere from 10 to 14 hours. Many nights you’ll be on your feet a lot, and won’t be spending a ton of time sitting or resting, so good shoes are key. Many healthcare workers swear by Danskos; a well-fitting pair will last you for ages ( one nurse I work with has had hers for 7 years,) but make sure to try them on before you purchase, as each pair is handmade and therefore will fit slightly differently. I personally have loved wearing my Allbirds and have also used my running shoes in the past; both worked fine for me.

Another thing people don’t realize off the bat is that hospitals are cold, and they get even colder at night. I would walk into work wearing fleece leggings pretty much from August through mid-June. A fleece or zip-up jacket plus cozy socks and you have a semi-tolerable work environment. Some of my colleagues even had a hospital blanket stowed in their lockers.

Have a sleep strategy. I have never been a good sleeper. I am one of those people whose brain likes to play the game of ‘lets dive into your most cringe-worthy memory or deepest regret!’ as soon as my eyes shut, and breaking routine can really exacerbate my insomnia. I generally had two approaches to sleeping on call- I would prioritize trying to get REM sleep in at least once; at my hospital I had to follow up on midnight and 4 am vital signs, which meant I could sleep for 4 hours in between if my brain would settle down or I was tired enough. If sleep wasn’t coming easily, though (like, say, if I was having the recurring nightmare of the code pager going off and my legs turning to jelly. That was a fun one.) I would hammer out some work- either easy readings, life stuff that I’ve been procrastinating on, or mindlessly running through a few board prep questions. About half of the time these activities were boring enough that I’d eventually nod off.  

There were definitely nights I wasn’t going to be able to sleep; you just have to accept that you’re being paid to work no matter what, and that being paid to sleep is a kind of bonus perk that happens once in a while, but isn’t guaranteed. This mentality helped keep me from getting too stressed out if my grand plans didn’t work out.

Another semi-related tip for interns: do your own night rounds. You certainly don’t have to see every patient, but walk through each unit shortly after nursing sign out to check in, see what’s going on, provide updates and change or correct orders as needed. I would even bring a computer around with me to change orders in real time. This does two things: first, it shows the nurses that you are attentive and care about their contribution to the patient’s care plan. Getting friendly, recognizing names and faces and even engaging in small talk really does go a long way. Second, it reduces the number of pages you will get at 2 am to change that Tylenol from round the clock to as needed, or other non-urgent matters. 😊

Time your caffeine boluses. I tended to be sensitive to caffeine. It made me jittery and jumpy, and would occasionally exacerbate an essential tremor that came out of nowhere in residency. I would usually drink a half cup of coffee before work, then, depending on how the night was going, either plan to lie down and sleep and have another coffee or tea before signout, or on PICU nights when I knew I’d be up, time an 11 pm- midnight coffee to keep me going until signout.

Maximize your home rest. I think of this as two parts- creating a cozy environment to sleep in regardless of time of day, and balancing the need for sleep with the need to maintain a normal circadian rhythm. For me this usually meant blackout curtains and ear plugs (you’d be surprised how noisy it can get during daytime hours at home) plus a 3-4 hour nap, then getting up to do errands or enjoy some sunshine, have dinner, and go to bed early so I was rested enough for the next day. I always found days that I slept much longer than 4 hours led to trouble sleeping later in the evening that could worsen my insomnia for days.

Others I’ve worked with have used working out right after call to ensure they get really good sleep, taking melatonin, or just pushing through the day and going to bed early in the evening. The bottom line is you have to figure out what works for you, but in general if you go into REM sleep for too long, your brain is going to be confused and think you need to be awake every night.

New Year's 2016, celebrating with sparkling grape juice in the pediatric ICU

Have fun. No, really. While there are definitely plenty of rough nights to be had in residency, there's also some true camaraderie to be had on night shifts. Some of my deepest conversations with colleagues and coworkers occurred on night float. Some of us had ‘family dinners’ where all 9 people on the floor teams at night would order Thai food and hang out/chat for half an hour. Sometimes we got together and watched Harry Potter marathons on the fuzzy-screened box of a TV in the heme/onc signout room. A curmudgeonly older nurse would break character on Saturday mornings and make French toast at 4 am for anyone passing by. For one intern’s birthday, we raided the supply closet, made her a birthday crown out of the weirdest supplies we could find, and celebrated with ginger ale mocktails served in plastic pink cups at midnight.

Hope this is at all helpful to someone, and best of luck to all the new interns who started this summer and the sub-interns trying on this role for the first time!

Match Madness

So somehow, over a week has gone by and I still haven't written out how Match Day went- whoops! I'm guessing since most people don't go through this process, there might be some scratching of heads going on- isn't this just that thing they do when they sign athletes to professional or college teams (no really, isn't that a thing?) While that's probably also true, for thousands of medical students Match Day is actually the day we learn where we will train for the next three years. During the fourth year of medical school you apply and interview at hospitals with programs for your specialty of choice (mine was pediatrics.) But instead of receiving job offers during this time, you rank your programs from favorite to least favorite, they rank you, and an insanely complicated computer algorithm spits out your "match-" which is revealed with due pomp and publicity on Match Day. 

Every school does Match Day a bit differently, but generally you are allowed to open your envelope in private (Thank God!) before taking your turn reading it in front of your classmates. Everyone's rank list is different, too- mine was not only based on my wants and needs for a program (a strong mid-sized program in a stand-alone hospital for kids, ideally with some Global Health opportunities and some nice perks) and Peter's job opportunities (a larger city is more ideal for him.) For this reason, my top 5 were ALL over the place- Salt Lake City, New York City, Norfolk, Richmond and Charleston were all up there, as were Gainesville and Burlington. Most people in pediatrics get their top 3, but since I had some weaknesses I'd been told there was a good chance I'd drop farther on my rank order list. I was incredibly nervous so I was really thankful that Peter, my whole family and even my sweet Goddaughter showed up to provide moral (and comedic) support :)

We got to the auditorium mid-morning. Our deans had decked it out with superhero masks and other cute themed decor to ease the anxiety of the day. Our dean even dressed up as Thor, which was both dorky and endearing. Once we found our seats I put off even picking up my envelope (which can't be opened until the dean gives the signal) by chatting nervously with some of my closest friends, C and N. It worked well until my faculty adviser danced up to us mischieviously and informed us in a sing-song, teasing voice that she knew where we were going. My heart fluttered into my throat and I think we all kind of realized there was no more putting it off, so we grabbed our envelopes and rushed to our seats. 

From that point everything was sort of a blur. Our school produced these presumably hilarious films about our deans and faculty producing a superhero film with disastrous results. I'm sure it was funny but seeing as I was having a massive surge of cortisol I didn't really pick up on that. Our dean then showed up on the stage in all his nerdy glory, said a few words that I again, can't remember. The funny thing is he whispered "open your envelopes" so softly/I was such a wreck that I had a two second delay before realizing the suddenly hushed rustling going on around me was my classmates finding out where they were going (!) 

With trembling hands I opened the envelope. It's funny; first off, although I had been telling myself I wouldn't get my top choice, I was still praying hopelessly that I would get it. Secondly, I had simultaneously been preparing to get my last choice, rather than something in the middle. So when I read my envelope I sort of lost it and shed some really happy tears. I had gotten my second choice. 

The rest of the ceremony was again, a blur. I awkwardly read my envelope on stage with Peter (in true Georgia fashion I almost ran into him, and he then proceeded to walk in between my and my regional dean as he tried to give me a hug on stage,) then spent the rest of the afternoon hugging friends, congratulating classmates and eventually wandering back to my sister's apartment to regroup. Thank God, all of my closest friends matched in great programs, and we had an incredible evening celebrating together. 

My Mom's smile here- precious.

So that's the story of Match Day. Peter and I will be able to live together next year. I will become a pediatrician. And we are both beyond grateful that we'll be able to spend the first years of our marriage together, not apart. 

Thanks for following along! Hope you are all having a wonderful week (:

Lessons learned on an acting internship

So my Sub-Internship in pediatrics is officially over. I can't say it was the easiest time in my life, but I definitely wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. The way it was described to me- the long hours, being at the bottom of the totem pole, dealing with all different personalities- didn't make it sound like it would be a time in my life that I actually enjoyed. And don't get me wrong- it was hard. But guys, here's the crazy part- I actually enjoyed myself. I think overall,the key was remembering that my work- even the scut work- was making a child feel better- getting them stable and out of the hospital and on with their lives. And that's why I went into this field in the first place, as cheesy as that sounds.

So without further ado, I figured I'd share some tips on how to make a day or night on internship (or any crazy busy time in your life) a little less stressful.

1. Kindness gets you a lot farther than a bad attitude. This really goes for any situation in life. Even when people treat you horribly (and sometimes this happens, even in the so-called real world,) and you don't feel like putting on a friendly face. Digging your heels in or showing some sass, especially when you're at the bottom of the food chain, is not going to get you far, at all. I found that I got along with every single personality in the group I was with, not because I am easy going or the most likeable person, but because I tried to be kind regardless of my mood, the time of day, or if I felt like it. The truth is, most people aren't being cruel, rude or nasty for no good reason. And once you realize that, it's a lot easier to show them a little patience and good will- after all, they probably need it.

2. Get a good night's sleep. and also some coffee. This one might be a little specific to me. Anyone else out there useless without some good rest? If some decent sleep with naps in between is what it takes for someone to give 100% at their job, then so be it. I also hadn't been drinking coffee or tea in a couple of months, but I found I really needed it on this rotation. And you know what? that's ok. Do whatever you've got to do to perform your best on this rotation.

3. You don't have to be the smartest person there. And quite frankly, you shouldn't be. I was really nervous going in that I wouldn't be "smart enough," but I quickly learned that the so-called "genius" is definitely not what the residents and faculty are looking for. The interns especially don't want you to be jumping in to answer every question- that makes them look bad. Doing well on this rotation was way more about showing up on time and showing enthusiasm than chiming in to answer each question correctly. Remember, they're looking to hire someone they'd be willing to put up with every day- that usually isn't the know it all that makes them look bad

4. Offer to help. I felt myself repeating the same question over and over again on this rotation- 'do you need any help? can I do anything to help out?' By the first week I was definitely questioning my questioning, haha! Was I being annoying? Too eager? When my night intern surprised me with a small thank you gift at the end of the rotation, I breathed a sigh of relief. It probably is a teensy bit obnoxious, and I doubt my time spent entering lab values and hunting down records was all that helpful, but the act of showing you want to help and be part of the team means a lot to them.

5. When all else fails, laugh about it. Guys, being a resident is hard. It's hard on your body, on your brain and on your spirit. Kids are awesome, and it makes it so much harder when things do not go well for them. Being up at 4 in the morning working on your 10th admission may seem like a weird time to start quoting Clueless, watching The Wedding Planner in the background or belting out Sam Smith (yes, all of these things happened!), but if that's what it takes to keep from burning out- do it.

That's it from me for now. How did you rock your internship? Feel free to share your life pro tips here :)

G

Oh, Hi There

Sorry about the blog absence folks- I kind of got busy last week, between the wedding and EM shifts. On the plus side, this is a great rotation- I love the action, the variety, and the just plain weirdness {example: 1/3 of my last shift involved talking with a friendly Baker Act about how she was going to ask out her therapist.}

Anyways. We had a really fun weekend, between brainstorming some great wedding dance songs and getting my tires replaced {ok, the adjective 'fun' is kind of a stretch for that one} but I'm already going through Peter withdrawals. We haven't had time for a proper date night since we got back from Massachusetts- I have this bad habit of falling asleep on him while we're on skype. Oh well...

Here's a sample of the songs we're hoping to get people pumped up at the wedding. What can I say, I'm a sucker for rock n' roll ;-)

Have a great week!

We're on Each Other's Team

Today I take The Big Test, and I could not go into this exam confidently without having a handful of wonderful people in my corner.

Thank you to my Father, who shelled out a hefty chunk so I could afford the study videos I've been using the past three weeks

Thank you to my friends and cousins- the ones who have texted and called me and cheered me on, the roommate who sent me this framed A.A. Milne quote that I've had on my desk day in and day out

Music Monday

Hello! I'm in Delaware!
I've been waiting  a long time to say that....
also, I am unbelievably happy to be reunited with my partner in crime
and studying like a crazy person, so expect the posts to be few and far between this month.

Music Monday!

I'm going to play with horses today!!

false. this is a gross exaggeration. But I'm so pumped that the fact that I will be shoveling their poo doesn't even phase me {can you tell I was a 90s horse girl? can I get a hellll yea??}

anyways. I've got to run, but here's a playlist I made when I was reading All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. It's one of my favorite novels, mostly because of it's beautiful simplicity and adventurous plot, but also because it's about horses. I guess the 90s horse girl never dies....

Have a great week!

When someone in the hospital asks me for directions

This is me. All day err day. 

I have no idea what I am doing.

And I am loving every minute of it.

Passed.

I did it.

I passed my boards exams.

It took two tries,

three months,

sleepless nights of feeling discouraged and downtrodden. 

But I made it. 

And I still get to be a doctor

and take care of kids, 

Maybe here in Florida,

or in New Zealand,

or London. 

It doesn't matter. It's happening!

And you know what?

All it took 

{besides hours of studying}

was a little bit of confidence.

cue photo of reflective girl gazing reflectively into reflective water. 

it's always been something I've lacked.

I've never been the coolest girl,

the smartest, 

or the prettiest. 

I've always doubted my choices

my decisions,

and my capabilities.

Well, guess what, guys?

I'm done with that.

This year, 

I'm going to work harder than I ever have.

I'm going to do my best.

And I'm not going to worry any more as much. 

 Wherever I match for residency,

I'm going to be just fine. 

Because I am enough.

Thank You from the bottom of my heart,

to all of the people,

My parents, 

my boyfriend,

my girls, 

those who I've grown up with,

and those who I've never met,

You helped me get here.

So Thank You.
+

How to make studying a little less painful

I am studying for the boards for the next 6 weeks. So, I probably will not be posting on here very much during that time. I'M SORRY OK? Except not really, because I genuinely doubt that anyone actually reads this. 

To keep you preoccupied, 

here is a list of things to make the prospect of 6 weeks of studying a little less painful:

1. Rad Study Playlists from 8tracks! Especially ones with gorgeous mopey piano pieces and a few soundtrack classics (LOTR, *ahem*) thrown in there.

The Fault In Our Stars from EvanMaryniuk on 8tracks Radio.

(or, you know, just listen to the Shire theme over and over and over again)

2. Buy yourself some Rad materials- Usually I am ALL about cutting edges (cheapo-depot over here,) but there is something about writing and taking notes with a really nice pen that is pretty hard to say no to. So get your self an Office Depot frequent fliers' card and go to town on fun highlighters, cute tabs, a coffee mug with with a photo insert (I stare at the blue waves of Balos on mine every day- there's a fine line between teasing and torture), decorative paper- whatever it takes to make holing yourself up in 4 walls for 4 weeks straight even a teensy bit less painful

simple journal from recycled materials found on etsy


I am literally addicted to these pens. It is a sickness.

3. Plan fun stuff for after studying. For example, if I am extra-good this week, I get to go to the church gyro night with my friends! If we are EXTRA good, we might just pop over to Seacrest Wolf Preserve and play with some wolf cubs. What more motivation do you need to work your ass off? Yea, that's what I thought

Ugh. I can't even...source

4. Mix it up- I don't know about you, but the prospect of reading a single subject in a single medium is just way to daunting. Instead, I prefer to bounce around- an hour of microbiology lecture notes, then switch to watching a 35 minute video on pharmacology, then jump to doing a practice quiz on all subjects at the end of the day. Otherwise the work's just way too tedious.

5. Make lists. Not rocket science to most people, but it was to me. Even organization as simple as using the reminders app on my new iPhone (yay!) has helped me improve in staying on top of my responsibilities tremendously, both academic and otherwise.

Seriously, these may seem like dumb, no-duh-you-moron-what-rock-have-you-been-living-under revelations, but I didn't figure out these methods till halfway through my grad school career, so either (a) they are not actually all that obvious or (b) I really am too dumb to be going to medical school. I like to think that the truth lies somewhere in between :-p

Wish me luck guys!! I'm gonna need it.

Oh, and by the way...

CHRIST IS RISEN :)

Why I Want to Be a Doctor

So,

Medscape released their annual compensation survery results 

This is from the presentation specifically for pediatricians 

I can't wait to be a doctor :D

Click to read more clearly 

Museums and other such nonsense

A month or so ago, I attended an amazing talk by this amazing physician, a family doc in Alabama who sketches his patients and shares their stories through his own writing. He's fascinating and a wonderful speaker and you should definitely look up his books- but I digress. 

He started the talk by asking how many of us liked art;
being the tolken liberal arts student in my med school class,
of course I had to raise my hand.
He then called me out of the crowd and asked me what was my favorite museum?

To be fair, I am terrible on the spot

(can't wait for rounding in the hospital- I'm gonna get obliterated.)

So I did  what any idiot-who-should-not-raise-their-hand-in-a-large-lecture-hall-ever would do:

I shrugged and turned beet red. 

And of course, mere moments later I realized without question 

that my favorite museum is the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens

and then I felt a little like this:

Ah, such is life.

But the museum- 

Seriously, 

if you ever find your self in Athens, 

(not the one in Georgia, 

the REAL one.

in Greece.)

do yourself a favor- 

walk a ways up from Syntagma Square

along Vassilisis Sofias Avenue

And check it out.

I went with my brother while I was living there in 2010

and trust me-

it will not disappoint. 

But I might as well let the images speak for themselves:

Brostakis number 1 at the museum entrance

Early Christian Artifacts such as censors, crosses and seals

Cherubim 

As you can see, the icon collection is both fascinating and beautiful- 

this is just a fraction of what we saw

one of my favorites

Luke and Saint Luke!

Me...next to an icon of *cough* the best Saint ever *cough* Saint George.

The trinity visiting Abraham

Stefana fit for a king and queen (and let's be real, they probably were.)

 And to close, an icon of Saint Marina beating the tar out of a demon/devil beast.

So there you have it. 

My first post on things I recommend doing in Greece. 

No idea what I am doing with this blog,

but recapping on some of my adventures,

in Europe and elsewhere,

just might become a thing :)

After the 10th mass email from a classmate about a discount that I DO NOT WANT

Seriously, dude. just stop.

When the pharm lecture has 75 slides...

and even the professor says "this subject is really boring"

my face goes all:

getting through a head and neck lecture...

clearly,

I am having a productive day. 

What did you learn in school today?

Today we learned to cast a simple wrist fracture here at the college of medicine. It was great fun (and probably good that we practiced on each other before dealing with a real live injured person.) Sometimes I need days like this to break up the monotony of plain old booklearning.  

Mine was blue! and my partner did a much prettier job at the hand-end of the cast.

While my job on my partner's arm didn't end up anywhere near perfect, I love these hands-on experiences. They're sort of like friendly little reminders that there's life beyond exams and textbook studying, and they get me excited for clinical rotations- only 4 short months away :) I can't wait.

What did you learn in school today?