9 Days!!!

Amazing Coordinator of Turkey Day
Nicole...Thank you for giving us
a real thanksgiving

Hey everyone! So it is amazing but I only have 10 days left until I fly home from my first semester of medical school. So we had thanksgiving day here and it was a nice day. My friend Nicole is amazing and she cooked a whole thanksgiving feast! She did such a great job and I was thankful that day for good friends to have the day with and great family that I got to skype with. Our turkey and ham were amazing and so yummy. I also made homemade apple pies! It was quite the adventure to make pies here. I realized that apples are not native of Dominica so each apple was $3! Can you believe it. I went to the store and told them that I was buying 17 apples! haha it was a great though my mom sent me my grandmothers apple pie recipe and it was a little taste of home! So my grandma Jean's apple pie was a huge hit and they were devoured within hours! 3 pies gone!! 

Golden Brown Bird Yummm

My apple pies! 

So last week we had all of our practical exams, I had my gross anatomy exam on the lower limb, foot, thorax, heart, lungs etc. It went really well and then the next day I had my DPS practical exam in which I conducted a fake interview and HPI write up for a patient with palpatations. Then finally I had my cumulative histology exam on Friday. What a busy week. So over the weekend I studied for my third “mini” on the respiratory/cardiovascular block and I took that exam yesterday! So the mini was pretty tough, a lot of people were very scared but I think when we get our offical grades back people will be happier than they expected. So as you all know after a mini means……afternoon off. So what did I do with my afternoon you ask well I finished my exam at 10 am got a fresh orange juice and went to the pool. 

Me and the boys on Thanksgiving!

I met up with Casey, and Denise and we chatted and swam a bit and then within 2 hours I was pink and ready for lunch. So my tanning lasted all of 2 hours but 2 hours in the sun down here and you will be red really quick! After that it was nap time and skype dates with my family and Miss Leisa! And of course w/ Mr. Jay!! Wonderful to catch up on everyones lives and making plans for my time at home. Today started the grind towards finals and I have my exams on Tuesday the 14^th so wish me luck; I will blog after my exam and then on the 17^th it’s homeward bound to the USA…Question is what to eat first when I get back??  

I was the bacon in this story! 

Till next time…..

Taking good advice....

Hey everyone,

      So this is officially the crazy week of exams, I have already had 2 exams this week, one more tomorrow and then one on monday then my final! So I will be updating my blog post Monday exam about Thanksgiving on the island and everything else but I wanted to share some good advice I took full advantage of. So my friend Denise here has a ritual of buying herself something after she gets a good grade or does well on an exam, she sends it to her parents house and when she gets home she'll have a well deserved present. Soooo I did well on my exam on Tuesday so I bought myself a christmas dress! It is super cute and even has pockets! I love pockets in dresses! So I sent it home to myself and will wear it on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day! Hope you guys like it!

Gift to Me!!
From ModCloth (awesome clothes)

Till next time.....

Week 12 begins!!

Hello Everyone!!


          So it is week 12...OMG how the time has flown by. I have a few updates to tell you all about that I have forgotten. So this semester I was part of the PEDS club and we had two PEDS fair's where we did basic physical exams on the children and the other weekend was the second fair. In the first one I was in charge of games but this time I did the eye screening for the kids. So we had them stand 20 feet away from the chart and see how many lines they could read correctly. It was funny because the kids instead of saying the letter Z said Zed! We also checked their ocular motor muscle function and told them their basic vision. Most kids had great vision some even were 20/15!! It was also interesting because the little kids didn't always know their letters yet but wanted to try like the big kids so they would say that every letter was T or F or A! Super cute. So I also started keeping a very detailed iCalendar, showing what I do every day from 8am- about 10 or 11! It is shocking to see how busy my weeks are and it helps that they are FLYING by. Within the next three weeks I have 5 exams and then it will be time for me to come home for the holiday's! Very exciting and again I will try to keep you all posted on my life. Hope everyone enjoys the first days of winter weather!

Universal Eye Exam Chart
How far can you see?? 

So here is part of my schedule but it doesn't show 8am or after 8pm
Orange= In class
Purple= study time
Blue = Mandatory school events
Green = lunch/work
Blank = dinner/walking/random breaks

Till next time..... 

Ughhh

So all I have to say is what does 1 mosquito + 1 bedroom + 1 stephanie + 1 night  = ..... it equals 10+ mosquito bites that are HUGE and one fat lip! Needless to say I feel like a giant bug bite today and wanted to share some words of wisdom with everyone.....DO NOT GO TO SLEEP UNTIL YOU KILL THE LONE MOSQUITO FLYING AROUND YOUR ROOM, HE WILL NOT DIE BEFORE HE EATS YOU to pieces! Ok thats it! Miss everyone like crazy good thing there are no mosquitos in CT in the winter time!

Until next time....

I can fix you!

The big picture! My synthetic skin
the suture needle and the hemostat

So yesterday was an interesting day, I had a heart sounds lab in which we got to listen to all of the different heart sounds on the sim man and we tried to differentiate between which heart valves were opening and closing at which times. So I might be using all of you as practice patients when I get home because I need to freshen up on my heart sounds! Also I went to a suture clinic that was being put on. We were given synthetic skin and it had 2 large slices through the dermis and into the epidermis and then we were taught how to suture! I learned a discontinuous suture and a running suture. We used prolene suture material which was a little tough because it ripped some of the synthetic skin if you pulled too tight but by the end of the session it was much easier to put in the sutures. So, how exciting but suturing is something I will need to practice and practice and practice because we all know that..."perfect practice makes perfect!"

It looks real but its not...
Up close view of my suture job

Only in Dominica

So I was walking home from the barn tonight and the security guard at my complex says, "watch out for the snake" and I was like what snake just to look down and see a four foot boa constrictor laying straight across the path from the gate to the court yard (which I have to pass in order to get to my apartment). So like the little girl that I am I jumped over it and ran to my door. I know they aren't poisonous but in my defense boas' constrict people to death and that includes the small ones. So only in Dominica do you run into a boa constrictor at your apartment!

Much Smaller Boa than at my complex
the one here was like 2x the size of this lil guy!

Till next time....

Great Cause

So I was reading an email today by my dear friend from NYC Miss Ali Cunneen, and was so touched by something that she has decided to do. Ali has signed up to run a marathon in Vancouver in honor and to support the fight again blood cancer. This is a disease that affects people of all ages and from all walks of life on a daily basis specifically children and young adults under the age of 20; and finding a cure would change the lives of many. I give Ali so much credit for taking on this feat and know that she will do amazing in her marathon! YOU GO GIRL! So in hopes of helping her reach her goal towards the fight against blood cancer I have attached the link to her teamintraining page. Take a look see if it is a cause you would like to support and hopefully we can help support her journey! Way to go Ali, train hard and kick butt!

Ali's teamintraining page