Less two months til OMS II

It is really hard to believe but we are at the home stretch or if you prefer we can see the light at the end of the tunnel:). It is amazing to think back on the year and see what has happened and how are lives have changed. We are all making plans to move and adjustments to start board review next year in hopes for being prepared for the end of the second year.

I recently found a house in SC to rent and am very excited to have the space for me and Cooper. I don't have to walk up and down stairs anymore and it is not an apartment, which is really exciting to me. There is also a really nice side yard for Cooper to run to his hearts content, which in turn works out well for me:). I believe many people that are going to SC are starting to find places to settle and we are all getting excited to head that direction.

We are in Renal at the moment, which is exciting to learn but somewhat confusing at times. The complexity of the kidney is amazing!!!

I think that is it for now. We have a long weekend with the holiday. I can't believe the end is so close!

Updates..

I realize that it has been a really long time since I last updated the blog. Life has been busy, which is to be expected and to be honest time has really just flown by. We have made it through Neuro I and II and started CardioPulmonary since I last wrote on the blog. So far things are good, we all have our ups and downs, but I can't say that I am the least bit unhappy being here or at this point in my life. I had a great career as a lab tech in a hospital before starting medical school, but I went through some rough things with jobs and have always known that wasn't what I was going to to do for the rest of my life. It is a great career, but just not a permenant one for me. In knowing that I can honestly say that my worst days at school, no matter the situation, are by far so much better than my best days at my last permanent job (I traveled for over a year and loved every minute of that).

School is going well and of course we are learning so much. I started looking back and realizing that it is crazy how much you can fit in your brain in such a short time. I am also realizing how fast the year has gone because in less than 6 months I will be moving to SC to start clinical and class work at the CHC in Beaufort, SC. I will be honest, I can't wait!!!! This is one of the many great reasons I chose this school so I am so excited to move and start the next phase. We have been talking to some of the 2nd years that are at the CHC and things are going really well. They have been telling us what things are like, how rotations are going and what the area is like so we can start to plan a little bit for the next few months. One of my classmates and I have both thought of buying houses out there, but we are finding the economy is not very nice to students.....even though we have a guarnateed income for the next three years and I am pretty sure we will have jobs that will allow us to pay for a house. Oh well, such is the world we live in.

Let's see what else has happened over the last few months.....

Not a lot, spent Thanksgiving here and enjoyed three wonderful meals with a variety of friends. I even got to go to Dr. Phelp's house for Thanksgiving!!! In case you haven't been here and are curious, he is the team physician for the Sun's and is a DO that graduated from Kirksville. It was great that his family opened their house to those of us who couldn't make it home to our own families. Christmas was a great break!!! I got to go home and see family and friends. I enjoyed an unusually warm Christmas and New Year in Denver and then enjoyed pleasant weather in Nebraska as well.

Spring Break is in a few months, but we all have to survive Cardio first. The plan is to head home for that break since it will be Easter and see the extended family. Then make a short trip out to SC a month or so after to find a place to live before officially moving.

That should cover the craziness for now, but I am sure there is more fun to follow...I will try to keep the updates coming more consistently. My MPH class ends this weekend for a few weeks so that should buy me a few more moments:)!

OPP logs.... Thanks Rachelle and Chris!

One of the joys that we get to experience as future Osteopathic physicians is learning OPP (osteopathic manipulation). In order to become good at this you really have to practice on anyone and everyone. Now I know we may all complain about having to do logs and spend time forcing ourselves to practice these theories, but I find it relaxing and an added bonus because it usually means that my somatic dysfunction gets fixed in the process. Rachelle and Chris, you did a magnificent job on fixing my neck yesterday!!! I felt like I could do a marathon night of studying, although I chose not too:). I still find it amazing that we are able to identify and to some extent treat somatic dysfunction only two months into school.

Now if you could find a way to get rid of my "referred" headache from trying to understand and comprehend all the massive intricacies of public health law and ethics including research study formats for my MPH I would be eternally grateful. I have figured out why I never had the desire to become a lawyer!!! Talk about confusion:)

Musculoskeletal.....oh so many things to learn:)

I have never had the experience of working with cadavers before in anatomy class, in fact in college I learned anatomy on minks which I am not sure how that is a correlation, but that is my progression until now. If you have had a similar experience to me you will be amazed how much easier and interesting it is to learn on the cadavers. This module is filled with an extensive amount of bones, muscles, tendons, and innervations, but each week it is exciting to go to the lab and learn where they all are and what they do. I find myself studying and moving my arms and hands around to figure out what each muscle does, which could be very amusing or scary to someone if you are studying in a public place. I might look a little crazy, but it is so fascinating! There is always an amazement to what you can learn in a short time.

POM Module.....Complete:)

So I am really slow at updating things lately:)....of course life is crazy but good! I hadn't realized that my blog magically appeared on the school website, but I am excited and honored that it is there. If there are any aspiring DO's out there that are interested in SOMA please feel free to leave questions or comment's here. I promise I will answer in a more timely fashion than it appears.

We finished our first presentation based module this week, with exams concluding yesterday afternoon. It was a learning experience for all, but a positive experience in my mind. There were struggles along the way, as there is with any challenge and adventure. It was good to reach the end and feel a sense of accomplishment upon completing the class. We are all enjoying a break this weekend before beginning again with the next module. Personally, I am hanging at home with the dog and relaxing. However, I do need to play a little catch up with my MPH degree so I don't get myself into trouble:)

I am enjoying some good comedies and realizing Vegas can be big trouble, especially if you drink too much! Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!!! Work hard and play hard, isn't that what they all say:) I guess I was always told I could sleep when I am dead, although I am not sure I like the sound of that or how that would work logistically either!

Friday August 8, 2008

Today was really a glimpse into what things will be like for the next year. I really enjoyed the Med 500 class because it gave a great background and base for our learning and future purpose in the medical field, but today showed us what the blood and guts of the year will be like. I found things a little overwhelming in the beginning because I was still figuring out the organization in my own mind. I think I tried to multitask too much today in terms of trying to listen to everything and figure out in my mind how I wanted to study, schedule other activities and organize my life so that I don't get behind. I am ready for the challenge, but having been out of a classic educational setting for a few years now I know that I have to start out really organized to keep things flowing on a even basis in my mind and through my studies.

I am really excited to be here, so the enthusiasm will hopefully carry through to help with the studying and organization. I had a great time getting to "play" with my instruments this morning as well. It's crazy but there are so many things that make this more "real" in a sense, with the beginning lessons on the instruments being one of them. I have used most of the stuff before at one point in time or another, but others only in the capacity of the patient.

Tribal Health System and OPP

Today was a great day and a great learning experience! The group project and presentation this morning was a great experience and a very interesting learning experience. This project gave me a greater appreciation and understanding for what the CHC's had to go through in order to establish themselves in each community. Community health is never just about the health of everyone in the community, but about all the aspects that either make up the individual or community that can directly or indirectly affect their health. Today we found out what it was really like to work together as a unit and construct ideas and plans for a community health system that could truly function in a high needs area. I loved this project because it was interactive and really got us thinking about our roles as physicians in a community, we can't just stop at the office doors if we want to help make an impact. The practical experience and hands-on approach help us to realize that we can make a difference and it showed us how to work through the process. We may not have a perfect plan or system, but we all had great ideas to start from that if developed properly could have a positive effect on a community. It definitely helped to work on our problem solving and critical thinking skills.

The afternoon was also really great because of the introduction to OPP. I think for me and most other individuals in the class this was very exciting. We are all thrilled to be here, but having Dr. Kirsch give demonstrations and have other physicians there to show us some starting points to what we are going to learn over the next year was very exciting. It was fun to really get in there and just start to see what the theory is about and how things are approached. It is only a minute slice of what is too come, but I enjoyed every minute of it and can't wait to really get into things!