Friday, September 5, 2014

First Elective


I'm out west in my first elective now.

I am having so much fun being in the clinic!!! After the boredom and inattention in Poland I had forgotten that learning could be fun. I have seen almost all of the patients and done basic exams and histories with vitals on them, I've written up their notes, taken blood (4 times, I've only missed once, but the person who I missed took the doctor 3 tries and he only got it in his hand), reviewed x-rays, and practiced suturing. I'M LEARNING SO MUCH!

When the end of the day comes around I don't want to go home, I love seeing patients and talking to them. And even though it's a small walk in clinic I've had several interesting cases. Everyone is really nice here and so helpful, the doctor I'm with really knows his stuff too especially orthopedics because of the area and even though we haven't seen anything (yet) he's taken time to show us x-rays and talk about different types of breaks.

I have a bit of free time too to explore the area on weekends which is great. There are two other med students here with me from the US and we're planning on hiking this weekend and then I'm tagging along when they go backpacking and camping next week. I just need to find some gear- I have everything I need back in Poland!!!

I've also been using the time to get some exercise in. I'm normally a pretty avid runner, but since being sick last month and with final exams and moving I haven't had much time. Since being here I've ran almost every day. The first day was really rough because not only have I been getting over being sick and not running but the elevation is WAY higher than I'm used to. I had a saO2 of 94 when I got here, almost a week later my saO2 is 99- I'm not going to lie I'm pretty proud of that even if I don't really have any control over it. Most people here I've noticed hover around 95/96 because of the elevation.









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