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. 

watch out or else

A friend of mine was telling us all about being pulled over by a police officer directing traffic (they don’t use stoplights) the other day. He quickly realized he didn’t have his seatbelt on and was understanding of the cause. Until she told him it was illegal to drive without a shirt. And while he is getting out to talk to the officer, a person on the road yelled that he better turn off his car, because it was illegal to get out and leave a car running. Apparently, it doesn’t matter if you’re: a) not wearing your seatbelt, b) drinking and driving, c) driving while intoxicated, d) driving like a maniac or e) passing up to six cars on blind turn. BUT don’t dare leave your car on, or not wear a shirt while driving. I can’t imagine the thought process for that one. Are they thinking that a shirtless person will distract those doing b, c, d or e??? No telling around here though. At least its not like Grenada though where the have a sign saying “Drink Safely, Drive Slowly” (or something very similar…with the basic message, be careful when you drive drunk).

Next time.......

There is always an adventure with this kid in our class. (I won’t name names).Well he wasn’t the one who had the adventures but I’m sure his presence was enough to cause problems! Lately, everyone has been going to climb the volcano. Well a small group went today and ended up spending four hours at the top because of a mishap. One person set his bag down about 2 feet from the rim and all of the sudden a gust came and took it away. See the picture to the right and imagine a bag floating all the way down.....I can see this happening because I too was terrified mine was gonna fly off to South America when I was up there. (I did almost lose my jacket while trying to put it on at the top.) Turns out that in his bag are his cell phone, wallet and keys. Loosing the keys makes it hard to get back from the little over an hour drive to the volcano. He and his friends climbed down the rope into the crater and spent the rest of the afternoon searching for it, back and forth, up and down. Keep in mind it is a serious drop into the crater probably about a 1,000ft. During one of the trips, he slips, feet hanging about 800 ft over the edge and was barely caught by a rock. He sure is lucky to have survived. They never found the bag and were able to get home after about a 7 hour hike. When he returned all he could say was “the volcano beat me”.

check, check

I had my second and third hospital visits this last week in ER and Anesthesiology. They both went well. In the ER we were given a patient to do a history and vitals on. Our differentials came down to either ectopic pregnancy or ovarian cysts. (Can’t give too many details about our patient because I have this confidentiality thing that I must maintain!!!) But things I can tell you are…that I won the rock, paper, scissors contest between my other four group members. I choose scissors and beat them all in one go (everyone else had paper). Winning meant I got to go in with the doctor. I thought, Ohh I’ll just watch while she tells me what she is doing. The famous “see one, do one, teach one”. Well she must have figured I had done the “see one” and hands me the speculum to do the pelvic exam. So now I have a procedure written down in my green hospital card.

The visit for Anesthesiology went fine, it was just talking about the drugs used for surgery. Was a bit crowded though since another group decided they wanted to watch the plastic surgery that was taking place. Imagine 10 medical students in addition to the five or six members of the surgical team in one room. Keeping in mind that the A/C is not that powerful. Next week we have Peds and Medicine. No telling what we might see.

so much for that

just found out my hairdryer is dead. no warning that it was gonna go kaput or anything. it was working on thursday and now, notta. too bad there isn't a target or walmart close by to get another....... this makes two hairdryers that i have had die on me. the first was one aquired while i was in london. since we have british plugs here and in grenada, it meant i didnt' have to have a transformer, but overuse by 4 girls meant it only lasted about a year and a half. so for now it is back to airdrying till i find another or till i get back to the states.

Bequia

I have pictures from Bequia. My favorite is to the right. A few are in the flicker photo thing below but the rest are on ofoto. I emailed them out but if you didn't get them let me know and I will send them to you. Too big to put them all up here. The trip was amazing. About 30 students (not an organized trip) went to one of the biggest of the Grenadines, Bequia, on Sunday for the Blues Festival. It is 9 miles south of St. Vincent. It was a very rough ride over there and even worse coming back. I did get a bit sea sick on the way back but it was short lived thankfully. The ferry ride is only an hour port to port and costs $8 dollars roundtrip! Spent from 9 to 6 there and had a wonderful time. Plan to go back as soon as the first round of exams is over. It is the picture of island living. Perhaps the pictures will entice some of you to come visit me!!
I'll try to post more later about my second hospital visit. There was lots! Right now I'm off to hear more lectures. They must think we are superstudents. We have two evening lectures today and Thursday. That makes 6 hours of lecture for one day! Normally we have four, which is pleanty enough. But we must make up for those "holidays" when we can't have lectures!

life in the tropics

total bug kills in last 2 days:
1 very large palmetto bug (aka cockroach)
2 mosquitos (filled with my blood)
1 ear ringingly loud cricket (who almost drove me to insanity before i found him)
bunch of baby sugar ants (attracted to my ant hotel)
1 earwig like bug

perhaps he should be our transportation up the volcano

had to drive through the "dry river", mind you we have a car, not a jeep....

the hike up was no joke