An update!

Alright, the last two weeks have been a wonderful time to recharge and get ready for the 5 plus months ahead. Then first year will be over! It's been going by so terribly fast. I feel like so much information has been squeezed in one ear and a good amount has unfortunately fallen out the other. After two weeks, it seems like its about time to get back into the grind. Ask me in a few weeks if this sentiment changes!

At the beginning of break, I made a little list and I'm glad to say the vast majority has been accomplished. Simple errands, tasks and the like seem to get thrown to the wayside once school picks up. It's a bad habit but I'm working on it.

Let's see, over the break I volunteered at SouthWest Clinic, a low-cost primary care clinic for the uninsured. I really like working with that patient population, they are so happy to receive care and it really feels like the limited little things I can do to help mean a lot. Very rewarding stuff. I also signed up to become a Being There volunteer. More on that when it starts but I'm looking forward to it being a tremendous and powerful learning experience dealing with patients near the end of their lives.

I'm hoping to get in better shape so that I can do a Sprint level triathlon in a few months! I'm pretty beginner... but I'm starting off by running every other day. working out the other days and working out on the exercise bike a bit. I should have a bike to ride soon...

Hm let me see what else. My new preceptorship is with a Pediatrician. I love seeing the children, they always make me smile. I'm not as comfortable working with them as I like though. There's a weird dynamic, trying to listen to the lungs of a sometimes crying and squirming child while their presumably worried parents watch on. The thing about pediatrics is you have to not only deal with children, who sometimes have difficulty explaining what it that's ailing them, but also their parents who sometimes have way too many concerns. Those cases seem to be the rarity, however, as most parents and patients are a load of fun. I will say that in the two weeks I've been there, I've seen many of the same cases and concerns. Flu, Ear problems (children are v. susceptible to ear infections and the like because of fluid collecting in the inner ear during growth.), and coughing. Even so, the kids are so much fun that I've been enjoying my time immensely.

Maybe I'll think of more later but for whoever happens reads this literary travesty, take care until next time!