Study Break

September 18, 2010

So I am studying for my first Medical School Exam that is on Monday! Totally scary and a ton of material to memorize. So I am taking a break to say hello and tell you a funny nemonic that I learned to memorize the arterial branches from the axillary artery! 

Disclaimer: I do not mean to offend any lawyers with this nemonic I did not make it up and it is just a way to help me memorize the branches! 

Axillary Artery and Branches

The nemonic is Screw The Lawyers Save A Patient 

Superior thoracic artery

Thoraco-acromial artery

Lateral thoracic artery

Subscapular artery

Anterior circumflex humeral artery

Posterior circumflex humeral artery 

So that's it kind of cute and it helps me remember! 

Okay back to studying but I leave you with a cute picture of Frank the Tank!!! 

Frank the Pug

Till next time...... Hopefully with the good news of an A on my exam 

Week 1

September 12, 2010

Me in my white coat!

             Hello Everyone! So great news…. I made it through my first week of medical school.  It was a very interesting week, for the first time in my life I was in a classroom with 283 students. Of course I had to be in the first few rows so I went to class super early. Classes are good they are high intensity and cover a lot of material in a short amount of time. I love the clinical correlations between the basic sciences that I learned in undergrad and medical school. I’ve learned quite a bit about different diseases that are caused by simple malfunctions of the body’s cells.  For example there are these glycoprotein molecules called prions that are involved in mad cow disease and CJD along with other fatal diseases. This molecule is found normal in the nervous system but it is the abnormal form that causes death to the cells. It is interesting because there is no ways to kill these prions know yet. This makes it scary to work with because scientists do not know if it can be contracted through simple contact.  So very interesting information but there is a lot of information to know. My daily schedule is pretty simple I go to class from 8-4 and then I study in the “barn” till 11 and do it all over the next day. So, the barn is where I study it’s huge building that they put cubicles and tables in.

            So this past Friday we had our white coat ceremony, the white coat ceremony is where we had a presentation giving us our very first white coats! It was a beautiful ceremony where all the Dominican dignitaries were there including the prime minister.  We each walked up to the Doctors who work at Ross and they put our white coats on us, then we went over to the heads of the departments and they gave us a gold pin to put on our coats. It was totally surreal getting my first white coat and it makes this whole experience attainable. I am going to keep doing what I’m doing and that is my best so I hope that it will take me great places. I am excited for week #2 to start tomorrow. Ohh and I have my first exam next Monday the 20^th, a little scary but it will be a good test to see if the way and amount that I am studying is working or not. I hope all is well with all of you and I miss you all dearly!

Till next time…… 

Some of the Crew @ White Coat 

Classes

Hey everyone,

        So it's a Wednesday night and I have had three days of medical school classes. So far the material is very much review of my undergraduate work but the kicker is that its much more detailed and much more in depth than ever before. So everyday I go to class from 8 till about 4 and then I study from 4 till 11 or as long as I can without going nutty. Today I had some computer problems which my friend George fixed for me....What a life saver he is! At Ross we have the ability to review the lectures that were given via video recorded lectures that are posted on line. The great thing about these lectures is that you can speed them up or slow them down, pause them etc. Unfortunately Mac computers are unable to double speed (speed up the video) using mediasite so I had to have George install VirtualBox, which is a program that will run Windows on my Mac. I have no clue how it works but it does and so now I can mediasite like the rest of them!
         Following my computer issues I was studying when a friend informed me that they were having a 1 hour Zumba class. So loving Zumba like I do and needing a break from studying I went to Zumba tonight. A little different from Zumba at home, more hip hop and dancing then the latin style we did at Exershar but it was lots of fun and energized me to keep studying! Who would have thought that I would do Zumba in Dominica :-). I guess I'm lucky the 2 teachers are both 2nd semester students because they'll be here until my 4th semester. Lots of Zumba in my future, great study break and it gets all the positive endorphins pumping in my brain (I'll tell you more about those in detail when I have Neuro class). Well back to studying for now and ever! The "Barn" is my second home here!


Till next time.....

Orientation Week

September 5, 2010

Hello Everyone!

            Good news is that hurricane Earl had little to no effect on us here in Dominica. We had a very little bit of wind and a very normal rain shower. More good news is that my apartment is in working order again! For those of you who didn’t know a pipe broke in my wall so I had a swimming pool in my bathroom for a couple of days and then they turned off my water so that they could re-plumb my apartment. They started right away on Monday and finished on Friday so I was super excited. For the time being I showered in my friends room and used water bottles for teeth brushing etc. I’m up and running again so very good news indeed.

Rowboats that you take down the river

At orientation we learned about the history of Dominica, how our schedule is organized, the grading system, the promotion system, what happens after we leave Dominica and so on. Overall the general consensus is DON’T FAIL ANYTHING…if you fail then you have to repeat the whole semester not just the class you failed. Their philosophy on that is that if you failed one class then you must have not been focused enough to have truly understood all the material from the semester. I plan on not failing; in fact I set a self-goal to get a 4.0 while here. I read a book this week on how to get a 4.0 in medical school and I learned some techniques to help me reach my goal!

On Wednesday we had a welcome BBQ for dinner, it was nice because it was free dinner. I tried roasted plantains for the first time; which was interesting it tastes very much like potato instead of banana; which you would assume when looking at a plantain. Otherwise the week was full of information seminars and I wont bore you with all the details of what my day-to-day life is going to be starting tomorrow. That’s right tomorrow is officially when I begin medical school classes.

My little friend from the river

On Friday I went on the Indian River tour. The Indian River is the River that was used in many scenes of Pirates of the Caribbean. To travel down the river you much get in a small rowboat and a single person rows you 1 mile down the river to the concession at the end. It is against the law to use a motor on the boats down the river in order to preserve the life, and nature of the river. The river looks like its right out of the movie it has murky water, amazing trees that are up to 500 years old with roots that travel both down into the water and along the land. There are also lots of hanging limbs. The boat ride is peaceful and the views are great. At the concession at the end they serve island renowned “rum punch” I didn’t try any but it looked pretty deadly to me (very very strong smelling). While at the concession there was a young local boy who was so cute. He was washing his flip-flops with just soap and when I asked if he was going to use water he said no wayyy. He is 5 and has a very interesting name that I can neither pronounce or spell. This little boy was full of energy and had a smile that would light up a room he saw my camera and said, “take a picture of me!”  

Indian River

On Saturday we went to the market at 6am again and this time asked lots of questions and learned a great deal about all the different local fruits and veggies. I bought some fresh baked bread, oranges (the outside is green), breadfruit, bananas, and fresh cocoa all for 15EC that’s about $6 US. Oh and I learned about the 4 types of fruits that look like bananas but are not like our bananas. There are green plantains, which you can’t peel and they don’t ripen they just turn brown; you would boil these in order to eat them. There are red plantains, which ripen and eventually you can peel them but you can also cook them to eat. Plantains are very starchy and are close to a potato. Then you have smaller green bananas, which never ripen and also taste similar to a potato. Finally there is the US known bananas which turn yellow and wonderful and you can peel them and eat them raw!

Today I actually printed off all of my lecture notes and began studying in the library for the day! I have a feeling my interesting stories are going to start ending and my simple just studying stories are going to increase. 

Till next time… 

Island Tours

August 29, 2010 

Hey everyone, 

Me at Red Rock 

      So it has been about a week since my last update and now I am getting on my weekly update schedule. Life here has changed a little bit since the last time I updated you all. A lot more students have arrived and I have made friends with a number of new first semesters. We have also gone on some tours around the island. Most of the places to eat are currently closed because of it being break and all but there are still a few places where we frequent. We go to this bar/hotel/restaurant called De Champs at night sometimes, they have a good happy hour and really good american food like burgers and fries, quesadillas and what not. I found this place called M's which is a tiny shack next to my apartment where they sell "bakes" now I never knew what a "bake" was before I had it but it is like a croissant type bread that is flakey and light stuffed with different things so for breakfast they have bakes with ham, cheese and egg for example. These are delicious and only cost 4EC per bake so a really good price. 

      On Monday the 23 we had board game night at the CAC which is our game room on campus where they have pool, air hockey, darts and all that fun stuff. Tuesday was the the first day of tours, we went to Red Rock Cliffs, which are cliffs that overlook the ocean and they are actually the color red because of the volcano's it was a great tour and the view was amazing the water crashed up on the rocks and overall we had an awesome time. After the Red Rock tour we went to Pagaua Bay resort. The resort is totally American with great food, an amazing view and they even have hotel rooms that have all American amenities like a king size bed, hot water without having to turn on the hot water switch and waiting (like we have to), plasma televisions and everything else you could imagine. these hotels are close to the airport and offer water sports and a private beach to swim at. 

          On Wednesday we went snorkeling at Toucarie Bay. The bay had pretty good visibility but because of the rain we'd been having it wasn't as clear as normal but we had a great time swimming and diving deeper into the water to see the different colored fish. During the snorkeling we got a huge rain storm but we were in the water so it didn't really matter. This is the "rainy" season so getting used to rain all the time is a must. I have learned that I need to carry my umbrella with me at all times because you never know when it is sunny and then its all of a sudden going to rain. The trips snorkeling and to Red Rock really allowed me to meet a ton of people from all over. Quite a few people here are from different cultures, communities, and even countries. I am having trouble remembering some of their names as they are very difficult to pronounce. But everyone I have met so far is extremely nice and friendly they all are in the same situation as I am so its nice to talk amongst each other.

      On Thursday i went scuba diving with Cabrits the dive shop here in portsmouth and had a bit of a refresher course. It was amazing and the colors and reef were quite a beautiful sight. I saw a flying grynard, angel fish, a sailors eye and tons of life on the reefs. The sailors eye is cool because it is actually a single celled organism and it is said to be the largest single celled organism in the world. I also saw a very cool animal which is called a christmas tree worm, i think, and it flares out but if you move your hand towards it, it shrinks away into its hole to hide. This is a very cool mechanism to both catch food and also to escape predators. On Friday I got my new student ID card so I am officially a Ross University Student! 

Me at Syndicate Falls

Me at the roots of a HUGE tree 

      Yesterday was a day full of adventure. We started the day with a 6am trip to the local market. The market was a world of excitement where you could buy any fruit or veggie that you desired. You could also buy fresh eggs and fresh bread. The most interesting are the fishermen who blow the conch shell when they have fresh fish to sell. When you hear the sound of the conch you try to go to the area where they are selling the fish. Yesterday they had fresh tuna and were selling the fish for 7 EC a pound which works out to be $2.70 per pound US. My friend Kyle who lives in my apartment building and has become a very good friend asked the fisherman if he could have a whole fish so the guy chopped off the head and the tail and just cut the fish into one pound hunks for him. Also in the market you could buy a coconut for the coconut water that is inside. The locals take the coconut and chop off parts of the top with their machete so there is a hole in the top to put a straw in or you can do like the locals and just drink straight from the hole! After the trip to the market we went to the syndicate fall for a hike. Boy was it a hike, we hiked 2.5 miles into the jungle to get to the falls and then 2.5 miles back. The falls were beautiful, I have attached a picture of them as well. Following the hike to the falls we went on a nature hike where we learned about the different trees, birds, and jungles of Dominica. After the school tour a group of us decided to go cliff jumping at bense pool where they have a natural water slide and a 15 foot jump into 40 foot water pool. So we hiked to bense pool and had a great afternoon climbing and jumping from the rocks into the water below. We also sat in the pool because the water was crystal clear and very refreshing which is hard to find here because most of the water on the island like the ocean water is warm. So overall yesterday was a very busy day and I hiked more yesterday than I ever have in my life before! 

         Unfortunately today Hurricane Earl is going to hit Guadeloupe which is the island directly to the north of us so we are supposed to be getting some bad weather this afternoon into tomorrow. Everyone here is used to rain and wind though because we get that all the time. I'm staying in today and doing things around my apartment because tomorrow starts orientation for school and I will be at the campus every day next week. I hope that everyone is doing well and enjoying the rest of the summer! I miss you all so much and would love to be kept up to date on all your lives. I know that I will be getting busy soon but I still am going to do my best to email often. I hope you love the pictures. 

Sunset at PBH

Till next time...

Hello from Dominica

August 18, 2010 

Hey Everyone!

Goat on the side of the road

  So it has been 8 days since I left good old CT for Dominica. Mom, Dad, Savannah and Jay have been here in Dominica with me and they left to go back home to CT today :-( so this is going to be my first email update on my life and experiences in Dominica. For those of you who do not know where Dominica is, it is south east of Puerto Rico. It is called the “nature island” and I can say that it is full of nature, the mountains are enormous and the roads lead in death defying turns up and down the mountains. Our car trips this week have been interesting to say the least, Dad drove the rental car and learned that Dominica drivers are fast drivers but they are very good drivers non the less. Oh and they drive on the left down here.

The people here are very nice, everyone says “ok not a problem” to most questions asked of them. They live an extremely different life than all of us. People walk around with machetes in their hands and items on their heads! Most people walk everywhere or try to get rides from taxis (busses with names on their windshield). Dominica is a rather poor place and there are a lot of shacks along the island. There are stray dogs running around, along with cows, bulls, goats, and chickens that are just hanging around. Jay actually made a friend with a bull he named Gamal, he made cow noises and Gamal would respond in very loud moos, lol. In Dominica EC is used and the translation from US dollars to EC is $1 US = $2.67 EC. Ross University is located in Portsmouth, Portsmouth is located in the North West portion of the island. Roseau is Dominica’s Capital and it is located in the South West about an hour and a half from Portsmouth.

View from the road to Roseau

Carib Territory basket shop

We visited Roseau while the family was on the island and it was a larger city, the cruise ships dock and they have stands with local goods and souvenirs to buy. We also went to the Carib Indian Territory for a tour of the only native Indian Reservation on Dominica.  At the reserve we took a tour and bought their traditional weaved baskets. We also went snorkeling as Dominica is said to be one of the top ten scuba diving sights in the world. Besides our visits to popular sites on the island we spent most of our days looking for places for me to live and getting all of my Ross stuff situated. It took a long while, finding me a place to live we looked at tons of apartments in different locations. Spoke with students who suggested different place but in the end I found a great place called McLawerence apartments. They are located right across the street from Ross Housing and close to the main road. Everyone helped me get my apartment to feel like home as much as it can. I still have some decorating to do. One thing about Dominica is there are lots of bugs ehh I’m not a fan but I’ve become very good with bug spray and making sure that there are never crumbs or food out. Lets just say that Dominica is HOT very very humid and hot. Right now is the rainy/hurricane season so it can rain at any point during the day. Oh the sand on Dominica is black because of the volcanic nature of the island, very neat! So I  think i bored you all enough. I miss you all and don’t start classes till September 6th, so I’ll be here all alone just around till then. I will be on skype often my username is: saucesteph. I also will be checking my email so feel free to email. Again Miss and love you all. Hope all is well in the USA, keep me posted on life. 

Till next time.....