What holiday?

So this holiday from school we had today wasn't really a holiday. Simply a day without lectures. Word on the street is it is "Ed Johnson Day" (he is our dean here in St. Vincent). Everyone else on this island was going about their normal routine. I don't get why we had a day of no class today and are having night classes this next week (i.e. 6 hours of lecture in one day for the fourth time this term!!!). I'm not complaing, just confused! It was great to not have lecture but why can't they space it out????? No telling! Anyhow, it did allow us to go to the hospital for a surgery roation. We had heard rumors of the island rush hour and left early. Good thing because traffic was pretty backed up. On our way we also saw yet another accident, not sure what happened, the police were already on scene measuring stuff (it was next to the police station!). The surgery we saw was interesting. It was a male with an indirect hernia. That lasted about two hours.

We then headed to the police station to give our statements. It was an experience in itself. We waited for ages for the officer to arrive. When he finally came out, he was in street clothes (like he would wear just lounging around the house) and lead us in the back. I thought we would go into a room, nope. We went to the back of the buliding and he scrounged around for some seats (3 for 4 of us). I wish I had my camera. The area had a chicken running around the place and the desk he was using was an old desk with a piece of plywood on top. It was pretty funny to see. So after about 45 mintues we finally got to the writing of our witness statement. He took a sheet of paper and very slowly wrote out my statement as if I were writing it. This took forever. Meanwhile another officer took julie upfront to record her's. The officer kept asking me if I would live in St. Vincent (at least 5 times) and if I would marry a Vincentian and live here. Needless to say I didnt' feel like this was the appropriate conversation or pertinent to why I was there. I did find out that the case will go to court and the driver most likely will lose his license even though it was unavoidable. The officer claims that since we leave in May they will try to get the case heard before we leave. I doubt that will happen, but we shall stee. If it does, we'll be heading there. That will be quite a site to see. We weren't able to get any word on how the boy was doing, only that he was unconcious on arrival in the hospital. Perhaps we can find out when we go back to do our rotations next week.

To end the day, we three spent the evening having an amazing dinner at Mariner's French Veranda. Jenna and I split crab cakes (best crab cakes I think I have ever had) and my filet was delicious. We were all too full to even attempt the desserts. I hope to go back sometime soon. So happy to have found a great place to go.

We shall see what tomorrow brings......

Scary Roads

We spent the afternoon in our trauma rotation where we were interviewing a patient who damaged his spinal cord back in August while diving off a pier into shallow water. He is paralyzed from the waist down. It was pretty sad to hear about his case knowing he has virtually no chance of ever leaving the hospital and will most likely not last very long.
So I dont' know if anyone has heard about the crazy drivers in St. Vincent. I personally thought they were crazy in Grenada, but this is no comparison. While in Barbados a person we met said "Grenada, the people aren't very nice and St. Vincent has bad drivers". Surprisingly she has it dead on. Glad to know the reputation is accurate. The roads remind me of the Amalfi coast near Naples just not sheer cliffs on the side. Here there are no lines on the road and open ditches 3-4 feet deep on either side. Most of the time you are trying to avoid the oncoming vehicle which are usually driving on your side and avoid the ditch and pedestrians. Drivers, passengers, pedestrians and the roaming wildlife are all targets!
So on our drive home we were behind a reggae van (used as the busing system here) and a little boy, about 7, darted out infront of the car to cross the road. The van hit him head on and the kid went flying into the concrete ditch. There was no way the van could have stopped. The poor little boy flew at least 15 feet and left a massive dent in the front of the van. I was driving so julie and jenna ran out to help but some other driver from the other direction jumped in and grabbed the kid. Hopefully it didnt' cause more damage. He was pretty badly hurt, broken bones, breathing problems and big cut on his head. His cousin, a little girl about 7 or 8, was crying thinking her "favorite cousin" had died. I called for an ambulance, but when it finally came about 20 minutes later it just drove by with someone else inside. The police came strolling by about 25 minutes later, having no clue as to what had taken place. They marked the scene and took our names and we go back tomorrow to give our statement. From the people around the scene this is a pretty common occurence. There is barely enough road for two cars to pass much less pedestrians to walk. Someone told us of two brothers who were waiting for a bus right across from where this accident was and that one was decapitated and another had his chest crushed. This must explain why the little girl thought her cousin died. Poor thing. I am just thankfully that we weren't the ones to hit the boy. That would be pretty hard to deal with. I just pray he is ok.
Tomorrow we are scheduled to go in to see hernia surgery at 8AM. No class since it is a holiday here. Not sure what holiday but I'm not asking, it means I dont' have to sit in lecture for four hours. Not sure what is planned for this weekend, probably just doing lots of studying and sleeping in.

our backyard

sunset

view from my beach chair

me, julie and mandy

our patio

30 minute flight to civilization

I'm back from Barbados. It was an amazing trip. After the thirty minute flight there, we arrived to a cute beach bungalow, Green Tara. The owner of the bar/restaurant next door managed to open the place, despite not having a set of keys. He did some "fishing" with a stick to reach the keys inside. The place was adorable, right on the beach Since there was no a/c we had the windows open all night and I was able to fall asleep and wake up to the sound of the ocean. I must say Barbados is the closest thing I have seen to FWB. The sand isn't as white, but it sure is close. We were on the windward side (south east coast) so the water was a bit rough and ideal for surfing, windsurfing and kitesurfing. A bunch of my friends are huge fans of all these activities and this is the main reason we stayed here. It worked out nicely. There was a resort 5 minute walk away we could use their facilities for what amounted to 2.50 US per day. So I spent two full days there and got a little bit of sun. Just what I had planned to do! The rest of the time we were at the Mexican place, Cafe Sol, eating some great food. I had the marinated chicken nachos as appetizers that I split with Julie each of the three times we went. I would go again tomorrow if I could!!! The highlight of my trip was meeting up with Mandy (old roommate) and Aviv. They are both still in Grenada and I miss them dearly. We weren't able to spend that much time together due to different groups going different places but the little bit was priceless.
Next trip will hopefully be to the Tobago Cays. There was a school trip there this last Sunday and everyone was raving about how beautiful it is. I can't wait to see for myself. Now to do some much needed studying to avoid the cram session I had for the last exams.

All in one week

Tomorrow I head to Barbados!!! I finished my exams on Monday. It was a marathon study session the last two weeks until it finally ended on Monday at 11:10 AM. As you can see in the picture, I had a lot to keep me busy. Mind you this is ONLY the material for Pathophysiology.
Luckily, both exams went well and I can now look forward to only four more tests here in St. Vincent and then comes the big USMLE back in the states. Scary thought!
Since the tests ended there has not be a lot of free time, but in the bit I have had I have caught up on my sleep and watch the entire first season of Lost. I have been addicted to the show, but hadn't had a chance to go back and watch the first part till now. Man, its great. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. I wish I could say I went to the beach but in between the full week of classes and small groups it seems to manage to rain every time we even mentioned going. I am crossing my fingeres for good weather this weekend. I need some sun (no, not a sunburn, just some good ole Vitamin D). There are five of us who have rented a house on the beach for a very good deal. I hope its as good as it looks. You can check it out here. I just found out that coincidentally some good friends from Grenada are gonna be there too. Can't wait for the reunion. I was last there two years ago and had a great time and know there is good food. I dont' even like Mexican food (as most of you know!) and I am dying for this place there that has the best nachos ever. I'll let you know how it goes.

We had our hospital roation today, Trauma. Was really cool. We got to take the history, do vitals, examine the patient and then fix him (well the real doctor did this part). He had been in a fight and got a laceration from a cutlas (aka machete) from someone on his wrist and leg. The one on his wrist severed the tendon and required the doctor to reach into the wound and search for the other end of the tendon. He managed to find it (I dont' know how!) and held it tight while he stitched the two ends together. The patient seemed pretty happy, but I think that was due to all the pain meds. He was smiling and didn't seem to mind the doctor pulling and pushing around in his wrist. Saved him a trip to the OR, so I'm sure that would make anyone happy.

Ok, off to dream of something other than school.

soon one will be over and can start cramming for the next

it is 10 something pm in the library the night before the pharm test. i have been here in the same seat since 8 AM! i am sick of studying and as one new fact goes in another five seem to go out... im a burned out medical student. hopefully the motivation will return in time for me to start a massive cramming session for pathophysiology. we shall see. in the mean time please say a little prayer for me that all this stuff i have been study comes to me tomorrow as a sit for my exam.

I'll miss this come May....

As I was walking to the car about to go home for dinner....this is what i saw. Luckily, I had my camera in my backpack. First sunset I have actually seen here in a long time since our apartment does not face west. It was raining all afternoon and finally the sun decided to peak out. Kinda bizarre that it has been raining all the time during the "dry season". Now time to get back to stuyding.