Family Day

Last Friday was Family Day! Students excitedly showed their parents where they have lectures, burrow away to study, dissect cadavers, practice with ultrasound machines, and more.

I felt blessed to be able to sit between my mom and dad during the first lecture of the day by Dr. Chase. My dad was in a fluke skiing accident just the week before. One of his skis got stuck between two trees and he fell onto a thin, icy double black diamond in Mammoth. Sliding down on his back, he went head-first into a tree, shattering his helmet.

By the grace of God and the skilled hands of the ski patrol and hospital personnel, my dad underwent CT scans, an MRI, plain-film x-rays, and a jet evacuation to Reno. Having completed my first section of neuroscience, I had learned terms that I was nowhere near prepared to apply to real people, especially family. Even with a rudimentary knowledge, it was terrifying to know the implications of words like subarachnoid hemorrhage and C6 fractures.

Despite his injuries, my dad insisted on attending Family Day. He woke up at 6 am to put on his suit, so we would not have any excuse not to take him when we left. However, my mom and I (and probably the wearing off of the Norco) convinced him to go home to rest after the first lecture. After sleeping all day, he came back in the evening for the alumni dinner and dedication vespers.

My family thanks God for keeping my dad alive, and his healing hand as my dad is on his way to a slow recovery. Thank you to all who have been praying and are continuing to pray.

If any of you are going skiing or snowboarding, please, please, please wear a helmet. To see a picture of my dad’s helmet, click here: Wear a helmet.

New year!

It’s a new year and time for new things! We received our first official final grades for a science course- biochemistry/genetics, and now have new classes: neuroscience, human behavioral science, and (for me) a medical ethics religion class. Within the first week, we have already covered the gross anatomy of the brain, learned how to empathize and encourage patients to adhere to a treatment, and faced the ethics of medicine in a documentary about a boy who became a girl and later went back to being a boy because his penis was burned off when he was 2 months old.

I also saw my first “patient” named Harvey in the Harvey Stimulation Lab for Physical Diagnosis. However, Harvey isn’t quite like the normal patient; he’s a robotic head and torso lacking limbs but complete with heart murmurs, pulses, and JVPs. His abdomen even rises when he “breathes”. He helped integrate the information we learned from lecture.

Fellow blogger Lauren (second from left) and classmates practicing on Harvey when they were freshmen.

Lastly of my new experiences, this week I also joined some of my classmates and co-blogger Abby at the BATs (buns, abs, and thighs) class at Drayson Center. We jumped, punched, and kicked for an hour! My muscles, used to sitting around all day, are still in shock. But, the class was a great de-stresser and fun opportunity to hang out with friends. I can’t wait to go this week!

Communication Convention

To and back from the sunshine state, specifically Orlando. This past weekend I took a brief break from my med school studies––sort of, I still studied on the flights and in the airports––to revisit my college major, Communication: Public Relations and Journalism. Part of my course work included conducting a quantitative research study which I was now going to present at the National Communication Association 98th Annual Convention.

My co-author and I had been invited to a panel under Lambda Pi Eta (the National Communication Association’s honor society for four year colleges and universities). We had submitted our paper last spring not expecting a response since only a handful of papers are selected from the worldwide submissions. But, our paper was accepted! Upon arrival, we were even more pleasantly surprised to find our paper had made it into the top four papers for Lambda Pi Eta, along with another research group from our class at Pacific Union College (PUC). Our professor, Dr. McGuire, also presented her own research paper at the conference, so she was able to come personally support us at our presentation.

We presented our research on a panel for 8-10 minutes, listened to a respondent, and ended with Q&A. The experience of presenting was very educational, as well as the exposure to the other various communication research studies. I even attended panels on health communication. The studies in these categories looked at improving physician communication in the context of end-of-life care and health care websites.

So, I’m probably a bit behind on my studies, but this experience was definitely worth the extra time I’ll put in over Thanksgiving break. I stopped off in numerous states and Disney park shuttle stations, reconvened with old friends, and furthered my communication knowledge. I was even offered a full ride to a communication university. And, while the thought of no debt is intriguing, the reason for my interest in communication is to facilitate better healthcare and patient interaction, so I’ll stick with pushing through med school.

My Good Samaritans

Last week I spent some quality time at the Good Samaritan sculpture. More specifically, I was in my professional attire for PDX lab, but doubled over with my hands and knees pressed into the grass. I had spent the majority of the previous chapel hour in the ladies’ room wondering if I had come down with the stomach flu or food poisoning. Then, I had tried to make my way to the library for EBM. I hadn’t made it very far before I was near tears from my stomach’s twisting and churning. I didn’t make it to the class. But, I did experience the patient side of health care on a Christian-centered campus.

While I was in the bathroom (I’ll spare you the unpleasant details), girls had called through the door asking if I wanted medicine, water, or a nursing student. On the grass, brown dress shoes had walked over asking if I wanted help to the ER. My boyfriend helped me carry my things and waited patiently for me as I took twenty-minutes to shuffle down the Centennial pathway, stopping for breaks at the stone tables. Classmates checked to see if I was okay, took notes for me from the class I missed, and even offered to go to their homes to get me nausea medicine. While people’s natural instinct is to avoid let’s just continue saying the unpleasant, these people were going out of their way to reach out.

After another session of emptying my stomach, I felt somewhat better––thankfully, it was not the stomach flu––and I decided to try stopping by my PDX lab. I didn’t have the energy to go to my car to retrieve my white coat and equipment, but Mrs. Dalida and my PDX instructor, Dr. Pulido, were very understanding and willing to accommodate. A classmate even offered to go to my car for me.

I am extremely grateful to all those who extended their help or even the comforting words. I experienced Jesus’ kindness through each of those people, and I am glad to be at a university that promotes, teaches, and guides its students to follow in Jesus’ footsteps of compassion and be Good Samaritans.

First Test Week Ever

Test week was a blur of notes, PowerPoints, and clicking through the ExamSoft software. The emotions were a flow of extremes. Anxiety before the tests. Joy after the test–until you start asking your friends what they put. Then, a lack of motivation to go through the notes in the evenings, but frantic flipping the next morning. And for me, the most sleep time in med school because I didn’t want to waste time, yet my brain was too tired to study.

In the thick of it all, it is easy to forget the reason why you are putting yourself through the exorbitant amounts of stress. But, you need your purpose, friends, and family to get you through the week and upcoming weeks.

So, after 326 questions, 480 minutes of testing, and one glorious, completely free weekend (well almost… we did have an anatomy quiz), the routine starts again. Yea, med school.