Well here I am again, back on the island after a very exciting break. I am a week into classes in my third semester and everything seems off. I remember the first week of my first two semesters starting off with a "BANG!" like the gunshot before the race starts. This time around the block started like the gunshot to begin the snail race. Slow, sluggish and slimy.
Needless to say I got my wish. The second week picked up the pace and now I'm absolutely certain that I know just enough to know I'm behind. Now that's more like it! In my eyes, it isn't until you go to apply the information you THOUGHT you knew, that you realize you don't actually know Mr. Jack or even Mrs. Squat for that matter. This semester has been overly classified as the "Bugs and Drugs" part of med school. I'll be spending the next 8 months learning about microscopic creatures that invade every inch of oneself. Grand. Now on to the drugs part. Being mostly ignorant on the concept and use of "drugs" places me in interesting predicament while studying them. Now, prescribing a drug can be helpful in many situations, yet I still feel that some drugs no matter how effective they "seem" to be, will cause more harm than good. I will have to battle myself on this issue as my career progresses, but I digress.Let's flash me back to my (not so) epic return to the island. If I had to summarize my return back in one word, it would have to be "LIAT SUCKS." Yes, I am thoroughly aware that I used two words, but it needed the emphasis. Liat has taken the gold for the most inconveniences I've experienced while traveling to and from the island. Aside from the consistently delayed flights that happens every time I travel, they always seem to overbook their flights. My biggest suggestion for anybody taking a Liat flight, is to be there early. I have watched countless students get left behind simply because they checked in later than the rest. On my most recent flight, 3 issues happened. the first was the plane was delayed for an extra 2 hours. This was only a mild inconvenience since I already had a 5 hour layover, whats 2 more? The second issue is security. Upon leaving the terminal to board the plane, a gentleman's bag happened to be too large for a carry-on and needed to be checked. If his bag size hadn't stopped him, he would have been on his way to Dominica when his intended flight was to Antigua! To make that hiccup worse, the plane only seats 68 people, including the crew. Because I also had to check my oversized carry-on, I was among the last to board the plane and had an issue finding a seat. Luckily, I found the last remaining seat as people were still boarding the plane. They over-booked the flight! They attempted to kick one of my professors off the flight but his Ukrainian passport saved him. A very unhappy Dominican man was forced from his seat to fit the last Ross student that checked in seconds before him. SO in the grand scheme of things, if Liat is the only option, put on your island hat, say "yeah man" a lot and go with the flow, because Liat is a bumpy ride. (pun intended)
After making the dreadfully nauseating ride from the airport to my room, I hit the showers and then the sack. The following morning I went to my quick check-in appointment. On my way out the door, my neighbor Kim filled me in on her break and off I went. After check-in I stopped to pick up some groceries and made my way up the hill to my apartment. When I was within 20 feet of the door, the sky literally began to fall. This time though, the droplets were much larger and more colorful than I remembered. As I looked up, my neighbors Kim and Brad, were dropping water balloons on me from the roof of my building! As I dipped and dodged my way to the covered doorway, I dropped my groceries and peeked my head out again with a huge grin on my face. "It's nice to see you guys too!" I said, as the last of the water balloon arsenal fell from the sky and exploded at my feet. It's good to know I have friends without a dry sense of humor. :-)
Also this semester, I'll be working on my extensive interview skills. I have workshops twice a week throughout the semester to help develop one of the most important skills to have as a doctor. I still get nervous every time I do a patient interview, but I hope that feeling will cease as I become more comfortable with the process.
Here's the picture portion:
"In order to obviate getting into conflict with the law and there by jeopardizing our friendship as neighbors, It is therefore necessary to strongly emphasize, that it is not right to block in front of my garage in any way. It is also despicable for the garbage truck to compress the garbage on front of my garage, creating a bad stench to you dog owners if your dog must poop please not around my area. Thank you. I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow is does not look good wither. Yesterday was your day. Where were you." Would this be considered an "aggressive- aggressive" post it note? :-P
Arriving at the airport luggage claim only to see my woman's bright yellow car. <3
View from the subway deck
Large white bird nesting.
Do you see what I see?
Oh! hello there!
Teenage mutant ninja grasshopper.
Day one of patient interviews. (wearing my 8-bit tie)
Sometimes I wonder if the heavens are telling me something...
My water-balloon bombarding neighbors.
The crew at Monty's for the the fish dinner. It was great!
Home made chicken nuggets, using hummus.
On the Ross Craigs List, someone decided to sell their brand new "Ipad." The response was overwhelming...
Below is a link to my BRAND NEW other blog that I'm dedicating to discussing medically related topics. Thanks for reading!
Nick
http://nkatch22.wordpress.com/2013/09/12/what-is-the-most-important-aspect-of-a-interview-with-your-doctor/
