Lavazza

The day has begun on a refreshingly caffeinated note. I broke into my splurge of ground Lavazza espresso. The java didn't fail me. It was delicious and gave me the appropriate kick in the pants to start to study the male reproductive tract haha. The taste and smell of the coffee whisked me back to the secluded squares and quaint museum cafes of Europe. I think of them fondly and power on through my day of studying.

Looking for Beauty

Currently my days are full of facts, figures and memorization. Like most other medical students I assume, I find it hard to remain positive and realize there is more than the book or page of notes in front of me. I just reread the commencement address from my brother's high school graduation this June given by a wise and thoughtful teacher at our alma mater. In his speech he urges the graduates to be ready for beauty which may confront them suddenly and in the most quotidian manner. These days I often become frustrated if I am struggling to understand a concept or spending an evening not studying.
I think it is vitally important for my psychological well-being and my success as a medical student and as a doctor to keep my perspective. I must remember what I am working towards and the profound impact my knowledge will have on other lives. Sure studying and cramming facts into my head efficiently and effectively is my main goal even though it may seem sacrificial. And being on an island thousands of miles from my friends and family may seem isolationist. Yet, I must realize that there are other important elements in my life and that they will be preserved when I resurface during breaks and when I get back to the States after sixth term. On the other hand, it is crucial that I don't think too far ahead or spend too much time lamenting the good old days. Staying focused on the here and now is imperative for my studies. I must take each day as it comes and be ready for whatever beauty comes my way. Beauty comes in many forms and I must appreciate all of them and relish the diverse beauty each day. Reaching out to a friend, the ebb and flow of the tides, the sound of pouring rain and the intricacies of the human body. These things which I might ignore as commonplace are anything but inane. There are the elements of my life and they beg admiration. Taking time each day to reflect on what is uniquely beautiful will surely make each day worth experiencing in this otherwise rote existence.

Tour of the Capital- Saint George's

Productive Day

I feel like today was my first real day on the island. I woke up ready for a full day after a few beers at Bananas last night. Housekeeping woke us up knocking on the door at 8:30 am; nevertheless, it was fortuitous as the nice lady cleaned our place up and helped us get rid of some of the bug carcasses from last night. I made a quick breakfast and headed to pick up my orientation packet. Got that and headed to the masses lined up for registration. By the time I had waited 30-45 mins in a helter-skelter line and got to the front they didn't have my photo-ID card printed and ready for me. I was not too irked as there had been some confusion with the picture I had sent ahead of time by email, so I was half expecting a hiccup. I went down one floor and stood in the line at IT, only to realize (with the help of some sweaty guy from FL) that we really had to be in the next office over, where there was no line- yay for wasting another half hour. Anyway, I got a new ID, unfortunately they had to take a picture on the spot, and I look like a real goober with my island short hair. oh well. Went back upstairs, bypassed all the poor schmoes waiting in line and got my ID validated, got my mailbox combo/instructions and with that I was officially registered as a medical student. I then went out and stood in the hot sun waiting for a SIM card for my old cell phone. That was successful too, but as I was schvitzing waiting in the next line to "purchase double minutes" from Digicel, it was announced that they had "run out of minutes" for the day and that we should come back tomorrow....WOW didn't know you could run out of something like minutes, but I guess that's par for the island.
Anyway, I went back to my room to escape the heat and make some lunch. I headed back out to and got my traveler's checks validated from the Chancellery, got my first (of three) Hep B vaccines, tried my mailbox, and inquired about book distribution which I found wouldn't occur for First Termers until tomorrow. I really felt I was knocking things off, I love to feel on top of things.
I decided to hop the bus to Spiceland mall near Grand Anse to get some supplies to hang my pictures. I also ran into IGA and got some eggs and butter for breakfast tomorrow, as I plan on going on a tour of Saint George's (the capital city) that leaves from campus at 9am!
On my way out of IGA I ran into some dude who looked like he was struggling with all his bags and we both missed the bus. I offered to help him with his purchases and we began to talk. He was starting Term 2 and was really friendly and nice (not to mention he was from Boston and a Sox fan). I helped him back to his dorm (in the luxurious SD6, the newest building on campus). The dorm was so nice and I hope to meet him and his roommates again, they were cool dudes.
Hung my pictures and the room looks much nicer. Tried a burger from Sugar Shack, it was ok, nothing special.
Drinking a caribe with lime now, and just met some cool dude from England who randomly came
It's all good for now.

MY NEW HOME

Email me if you want all ten pics. This is where I will be eating, sleeping, studying and becoming a doctor. Pics of campus to follow after the rain abates.

Med School Day 1

As we touched down through the hot, sticky air piercing the sun rise and I glimpsed the placid sea and swaying palms I knew I had migrated to a new home to begin a new journey. The trip to GND was fairly uneventful. My bags both arrived in one piece even though my second bag was marked "standby" and even though they threatened to make me check my second piece of carry-on luggage. I managed a few hours of neck-wrenching-head-bobbing sleep and before I knew it I was waiting in the customs line to declare my laptop. Lucky for me I was near the head of the line; a girl I met later on campus, who ironically was from Breckenridge, CO, said she waited two hours. Anyway, I paid my 68 US dollars and proceeded to hop in a taxi for SGU. Little did I know I was supposed to make it clear I was a new student and I would of gotten my housing assignment from someone and been put in a free cab, but instead I paid the cheap fair and asked the security guy at the gate which dorm was mine.
It all worked out. I got to my building and sure enough my room is on the ground floor so I didn't have to schlep my bags up the steps. Unfortunately we don't have an ocean view, but maybe that is for the best once classes begin...
I did a bit of unpacking and proceeded to PTFO on the bare mattress for 2 hours, Tommy did the same. We then went to find something to eat for breakfast in the student center and wandered around until we got down to the little beach where we stuck our feet into the Atlantic Ocean! There we met a girl who had also been on our flight and was from CO, wow what a coincidence!
I came back and unpacked completely and showered. I felt a bit better. Got some lunch, a wrap, it was ehh (I really hope there are more food options/I need to take a trip to the grocery store tomorrow). I am back on my bed resting, traveling/no sleep=tired Blaine. I am sure there will be more excitement later today/tonight.
It is safe to say that despite appearances I am not in fact on a beach vacation, but rather, along with around 3,000 other students on camps, striving to move ahead in my journey to become a physician. I can't wait. I have a burning feeling in my stomach that is a mix of excitement and a bit of nerves (might also be the lettuce from the wrap). After years of hoping, wishing, waiting, I have finely begun on the road to M.D.

Berlin then Prague

Spent the last 2+ days in Berlin. It was very interesting. I can't say that the city has the asthetic charm as other European cities, due mostly to the destruction of allied bombing in WWII and the beautiful socialist architecture of the DDR behind the iron curtain. Nevertheless, behind the smothering of graffetti and the weirdos that we've seen on the streets and in the train (they do love their raggedy dogs, piercings, funny hair and tattered clothing), Berlin has been a full dose of European history. From the Prussian kings to the re-establishment of the Reichstag the modern architecture blended with the traces of Baroque buildings and centuries old food and culture has been fascinating. From the weinerschnitzel and pilsner to the tree lined KuDam boulevard Berlin has been very unique. I am not sure where you could have sausage and sourkraut for lunch and Vietnamese noodles for dinner and ride to the top of a communist-era tv tower in East Germany and walk through a private collection museum of Picasso and Matisse paintings all in one day. Berlin is truly an amalgamation of cultures and an East meets West. It is a great jumping of point for our segway into Eastern Europe. We take the train tomorrow to Prague and end our travels in Budapest. Look forward to keeping you up-to-date from there. I am looking out my hotel window before bed and eyeing the illuminated ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm chuch bombed and left in ruins after WWII to show the destruction of war. Very haunting.

Hope everyone is well,
Love,
Blaine

I Do It For Fun Not For Sadness

Well, so said the proprietor of the lovely whole in the wall Indonesian restaurant in Amsterdam. And I agree, I travel for fun, not sadness. Food was great, guy was hilarious, but I am pooped and we've got a full day of I am-sterdaming ahead of us including a canal cruise and a trip to the Anne Frankhuis so I have got to hit the sack. More tomorrow thanks to the free internet (finally).
Buenas noches (oh wait, that's the language of the Dutch rulers of years gone by).

In Bruges

In Bruges. It's beautiful. I can see the spires of the cathedral and the town hall lit up for night time from my window. Internet access hasn't been as easy/free as we thought so sorry for the lack of posts. Anyway, everything is going well, and we are off to Amsterdam tomorrow. Will probably compose an extended blog post when I have had a brownie or two hehhe, or I could wait til I'm crying from seeing Anne Frank's house, either or. OK not funny. But seeing John get in a fight with an old French lady on the train was hi-larious!!
More soon.

Blaine-o

Everyone Is So Well Dressed Here!

We have a full day of sightseeing under our belts, and it feels great, except for my tired feet/legs. We started with a free breakfast in the hotel, do to our unmet expectations concern our room (we had a queen and cot instead of two twins). Following some nice eggs and toast we hit the Tube for Westminster Abbey. It was unbelievable. I felt like I was a monk or a character from Angles and Demons. It was so historical, beautiful, and monumental. There are countless kings and queens buried there not to mention the poets and literary figures. The architecture is very Gothic and it feels like you have stepped back in time to the days of Henry the whatever or William the Conqueror. We did the free audio tour which was narrated by Jeremy Irons, it was fantastic. Following our jaunt there we hopped over to Big Ben and the House of Parliament, and even passed through security to observe a debate in the House of Commons. Democracy for over 700 years, thats impressive!! We then walked up Whitehall passed the Horse Cavalry dudes and had some sandwiches (picnic-ed) in Trafalgar Square under the auspices of Lord Nelson. We then went into the National Gallery and eyed some famous canvasses painted by everyone from da Vinci to Cezanne, it was quite overwhelming but we zipped past some highlights before moving on. We took the tube up to Covent Gardens, because I thought that was near Saint Paul's Cathedral, but it was just Saint Paul's Chapel (a slight navigation error). So we enjoyed a cold Kronnenberg pint and a pistachio macaroon before getting back on the tube towards The Tower of London. Turns out we missed the last Beefeaters tour (fuck!) so we are headed back there on Sunday. We then ventured onto the Bus and went over to look at the Globe Theatre (missed the last tour there, fuck again!). So, for plan C we sat on the Thames and enjoyed an ice cream (popsicle for me) and then took a quick gander in the Tate Modern; now we can check that off the list. We plan to go back to the Globe for a tour on Sunday though. We then took the tube back, and are resting a bit now before dinner at an ethnic restaurant- I am kind of pubbed out, although, John is now addicted to Stronbow (thanks to me!). Well that's all for now, we are headed to Oxford and Blenheim Palace tomorrow by bus for the day!

Pubs and Funny Sounding English

Here in London with JJL. We are doing well, albeit a bit jet lagged. About to hit the hay for a fresh start tomorrow. Already ate a pubs for lunch and dinner, it seems that's all there is around our hotel, that and designer stores. We are definitely venturing farther out for ethnic cuisine tomorrow. My stomach is not built for this cuisine. Nevertheless, the sites are amazing. We took a double decker bus tour with a wonderfully witty guide who introduced us and all the other tourists on the English bus to the major locales of London Town. We plan to see Tower of London. Westminster Abbey and other nearby sites tomorrow, and contingent rain plans include British Museum/Vic and Albert Museum and Tate Modern. Hope everyone is doing well, will post a more detailed account tomorrow!

Off to Europe

Greetings faithful readers...not sure if there is anyone left...but for those of you who do care about WBL's whereabouts, I am composing this blog post to inform the audience that my brother and I are embarking on a european journey. In a few short hours we will be crossing the "pond" as they say and landing in London. We plan to spend four nights in London. After that we have no reservations, merely I suggested mental itinerary which we have composed. Our final stop, with reservations waiting for us is Budapest. Stops include but will not be limited to Brussels, Bruges, Amsterdam, Berlin, and Prague. I hope to post a few snippets including words and maybe a few images from our route. Please check back periodically for updates. If you know anyone or have a recommendations of places we should check out in these areas, don't hesitate to write a comment.
Fondly,
Blaine

The Doctor-Patient Relationship

DOCTOR AND PATIENT
How Connected Are You to Your Doctor?
By PAULINE W. CHEN, M.D.
Published: March 26, 2009
Patients with the strongest relationships to specific primary care physicians are more likely to receive recommended tests and preventive care, a new study found.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/health/26chen.html

Electronic Medical Records

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/business/26health.html

Pardon Me

Lazy Sunday

After a day of gut-wrenching basketball, and a fruitless coffee pot carafe odyssey I have holed my self up in the cozy confines of 811 for a nice little Sunday. I woke up to find myself devoid of any coffee brewing mechanism, but as soon as the caffeine free sad haze cleared from my cortex, the wheels began to turn in old Duder's head.
I quickly mixed up some banana bread and set it in the oven to bake and brewed a pot of Mate. I nearly forgot about the delicious stimulant I had received upon my cousin's return from Argentina. It's strong odor and efficient stimulatory properties rapidly transported me back to walking through the colorful calles of BA and through the tombs of Recoleta, and the travel bug flared up in my system.
That brought me to take a gander at the various travel blogs linked to the NY Times website. Oh how I yearn for my next global journey, and luckily it's in the not too distant future....to Europe with John in late June. We are researching our Eurrail pass and plan to start in London before tackling a few of the cultural meccas of the mainland- Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, and Budapest. It should be great, we have no firm reservations save for our initial plans in London, and a return flight some three weeks later.
Well, then I think I am going to spend a few more minutes reading the blogs and looking at travel photo essays before I swoop over to take the banana bread out of the oven and pour myself another cup of mate. I think by that time my pulse should be sufficiently elevated to enjoy day 3 of march madness! Yeah, I am winning my bracket...it's great!

"Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction." -Faithless

Documenting Reality

I recently watched two amazing documentaries. First was Man on Wire which recounts the life and events surrounding Philppe Petit's daring walk across a wire strung from the top of one of the World Trade Center towers to the other in 1974. My parents had recommended the movie and I heard about it again as it won Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards. At that point, I knew viewing it was a priority and I quickly nabbed it into my Netflix queue. When I realized I could play it instantly on my computer, I was set.
The documentary recaps the inspiration for Petit's stunning feat, the planning that went into the actual act and the repercussions following his illegal jaunt. What struck me most about the movie was not his seemingly fearless acts, he previously wire-walked across the towers of Notre Dame in Paris and a suspension bridge in Sydney, Australia; but for me it was the man himself, Philippe Petit that really captivated me. He seems to be unique, no, not crazy for doing it. He was inspired from a young age, having seen an ad in a magazine for the construction of the WTC. Having always been into magic and such acts, he knew at that moment that he saw the picture in print that he would make it his life goal to walk across thin air from one tower to the next. His sure perseverance, in the face of the legality of the act, training, finding dependable and competent friends and accomplices to aid his feat, and even carrying out the plan when both he and his helpers in the other tower were nearly discovered by guards on patrol as they set up, showed Petit's drive, even when it looked like the hinderances would foil his plot. When asked why he walked on the wire, Petit replied that he had no answer, just because. At first I thought this was somewhat of a cop-out; no, it is not. He did it because he could. Although yes, technically it was a trangression, as one of his accomplices mused, his act hurt no one in the process, and any failure would only end badly for Petit. He walked across the wire because he could, for the simple joy it brought him for accomplishing that feat and for the spectators that viewed this once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. For me, Phelippe Petit is a man who embodies fortitude, conviction, and perseverance. Although his wire walking occurred more than 30 years ago, in a time when so many people that receive the public eye do so for their lack or character, Petit assures me that there are truly unique, and special people, and that although they may appear very different from the cookie cutter model, he too is someone that should be revered.

The second documentary that was recently played in #811 was A Walk to Beautiful, also a documentary. This film focuses on the plight of Ethiopian women who have lost their child during birth and are left with a stigmatizing physical disability and are subsequently ostracized from their villages. These country women are forced to begin work at a very young age, 4 or 5 years, and therefore are not able to undergo a normal physical development and their growth is stunted. The women are married off at a disgustingly young age as early as 9 or 10 and when they have a child they often undergo a very traumatic and long period of labor during childbirth. Often the baby does not survive, and in the process do to the stress the baby has caused during labor, a fistula develops between the women's vagina and one of the excretory tracts. This leaves the woman incontinent. These fistulas can be easily cured with easy access to a hospital. Yet in rural Ethopia, hospital are can be a 24 walk/bus ride away. Many women are left to suffer their plight while simultaneously being shunned by their husbands and everyone else in their village. This situation is horrendous and tragic. However, there is a hospital in Addis Ababa The Fistula hospital that admits and cares for only women with this problem, who are usually denied care at regular institutions if they make it to the city at all. So the movie follows a few of the young patients on their journey from the village, to the capital, during their stay at the hospital and their reintegration following surgery.
Needless to say, the movie was super sad, but at the same time, it was a beacon of hope. It was uplifting to know that medical personnel and humanitarians are passionate enough about humanity and completely non-discriminatory in their quest to provide services to these women. Although I am not sure I want to move to Ethiopia and start performing gynecological surgery, it certainly conceptualized my desire to become a doctor. As one of the physicians that was interviewed stated, "My prize is curing this women, I don't think there is a better job or a bigger satisfaction." He is right, helping people to improve their lives and teaching them successful health practices is paramount.

Well, the queue doesn't get any brighter, my next two movies that are being shipped are Memoirs of a Geisha and Schindler's List.
Look out for more reviews soon!

Hello Again!

So I have been AWOL the last week or two. Sorry to all you loyal readers (that's a joke!). Well, here I am eating my red snapper and waiting for the incorrigible Dr. House and I got to thinking. I really don't have anything inspiring to say at the moment, save for the fact that I really enjoy Mon./Wed./Fri's at work since I am able to interview patients/families at Burn Clinic. It gives me the opportunity to leave my desk, and see the real faces of CNMC, and pediatric care. Gotta love those cute kiddies, soo sad they have had hot liquids spilled on them by the time I get to see their cute/crying faces. Anywwwho!
I have watched a few movies lately, and thanks to a brilliant idea from my wonderful girlfriend, I am going to start reviewing the movies I watch on my blog. Yesterday I watched Man On Wire, a wonderful documentary about Philippe Petit, who walked on a wire across the World Trade Center towers. The film won Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards. So look out for my first movie review coming soon!!

I hope everyone is happy, healthy, and having at least a little fun!!

The Real-Life Equivalent of Dr. House

Fascinating stuff. Tragic stories but at the same time it gives me hope that medical progress is being made one SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) at a time.


Undiagnosed Diseases Program