Getting the Gist of Things

While it may be the second day of our course, I feel like I'm already getting the flow of things. Since our schedules from day to day are structured, it's nice already knowing what the agendas are.  And contrary to belief, it hasn't been boring at the very least. 

View of the Hank Ingram dorms where I'll be living for the next couple weeks

The dining commons food may become repetitive in the near to distant future, but I'll make sure I switch it up everyday. The options offered has given everybody a delicious choice to choose from, whether it be for the health or not so healthy eater. At least the options are there for students to choose from. I've been doing my best not overindulge. 

Today couldn't have gotten any better in class today. Four students were chosen to be in the OR, and each of us were able to shadow an anesthesiologist, mine being Dr. Sherwood. Regardless of the operation being done, I was having a blast watching what was going on. Although I didn't understand every single term he used to describe what was happening, I got the gist of things and picked things up along the way.

I didn't think anesthesiology would be that interesting to shadow. But I got a run for my money today. It turns out that anesthesiology is an art form. With all kinds of drugs anesthesiologists can use for their respective operations, I realized how demanding, rewarding, and intriguing it could be. 

Right from the bat, I already knew how difficult it could be. Since each individual can react differently, it can be a battle making sure that they don't become fatal to their health. At the same time, it gives patients comfort while under operation, something that wasn't always made available. Doing something that makes you happy while saving lives, you can't get any better than this. In addition, I had no idea anesthesiologists built relationships with their patients just as doctors do. Even with this specialty, anesthesiologists do their best to make sure their patients are comfortable given the circumstances. It's a big deal to trust someone with this kind of job. And anesthesiologists hope their patients are calm, cool, and collected before their impending operations.

In between his rounds, I asked Dr. Sherwood about his journey getting to this point in his life. It turns out that he didn't originally study in the hopes of going to medicine. He originally went on a path to becoming a scientist. But because of his love for research, he turned to medicine instead. He's currently the Vice-Chair of Research in his department at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. It may have taken him a while, but he loves what he does so much that time is just a relative number.

Choosing to become a doctor can be daunting, especially because of its demand on a person. Having to be in school for as long as a medical student tended to frighten me. But I forget to realize that being in school isn't such a bad thing once you know what you love to do. The hard part about making any choice is knowing if that path is for you. Since students change their major at least once in college, what you thought you'd love may not have been what you wanted to pursue, and vice versa. But once you do find what you love to do, it isn't as daunting as you originally thought. And the same kind of mentality could transfer to other career paths.

The second half of class dealt with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the difference it would have on American citizens. Most of its provisions won't begin until 2014. Soon, there will be a 10% tax on tanning and have vending companies display nutritional info on the outside of their machines in the hopes of making the population healthier. And with about 18% of our population without insurance, the PPACA won't reject insurability to individuals who have pre-existing conditions. In fact, most citizens and legal residents will soon have health care under PPACA. But some may be excluded from the PPACA based on their special circumstances, such as their religious objections. The next hour was an hour of sadness, as economist Lawrence Van Horn coined it. Then, we went over the different types of health care insurance and the money that we don't have to pay for these programs. Although it was saddening, it's what's happening all throughout the country. I appreciated the brief overview since I didn't know much beforehand about either subject.

Since my Arete is step, we've been going over our routines for the upcoming performance. I had no idea it would be this much fun. Our teacher, as he would like to put it, is a 12 year old at heart. His energy can't be matched. Taking a rhythm and transforming it into a step routine is hard. But it makes it sweeter once everything comes together. All I know is that I have a lot of practicing to do.

Blogging fun in the laundry room!

Instead of going into town for our first SOFT night, my cohort decided to do laundry. Although I had more clothes to last me the upcoming weeks, I opted to get it out of the way and beat the wave of people who'd soon do laundry. Since none of us had quarters for laundry, we left for CVS Pharmacy and came straight back. Although it seems like a wasted SOFT night, I figured we might as well since we'll have SOFT nights everyday this week. I was relieved knowing that there'd be more days like these, not subjected to the laundry room.