Preventing is Caring

I found myself awake to the sound of my alarm going off at 6:30 AM. Our agenda included becoming Basic Life Support certified for today. And since Vanderbilt's resuscitation program is on the other side of campus, we were told to be ready to go by 8:05 AM instead. So while Med School 101 students were awake, some were sleeping to their heart's content. 

The staff was helpful from the moment we started the BLS course. They took the time to make sure that we weren't just going through the motions, but made us see our mistakes while practicing. I felt reassured knowing that I had the knowledge behind my certification. Throughout informational clips, there was time for us to go hands on. Although the child and adult props we used were plastic mannequins, any practice is better than no practice. I feel great knowing that if for any reason someones loses can't breath or loses their pulse, I can use what I learned to prevent someone's life from being lost with preventative care available.

BLS certified!

I would've felt horrible if I failed the BLS short course. I can't imagine anyone failing, unless they really didn't pay attention to their instructors. But before I knew it, I passed both the written and practical sections, and received my BLS card!

For the next hour, Dr. Shari Barkin lent her expertise on pediatric obesity and connecting the dots. According to a clip we saw, there may be a connection between obesity and insulin resistance. Not only can obesity be a cause of insulin resistance, but insulin resistance can be a cause of obesity. From what I saw from the clip, Dr. Attai encouraged being inquisitive. What was right before, isn't necessarily right anymore. And because of research, medicine will never cease to come up with up and coming techniques and have breakthroughs in research. 

From Dr. Barkin's powerpoint, overweight toddlers are five times as likely to become overweight adolescents. So, obesity can start early, and get worse. But it doesn't have to get worse. Because of Dr. Barkin's interventional trial, she's doing her best to prevent obesity from happening before it happens. What struck me most about her research was that kids were less active in areas with stray dogs in the Tennessee. It wasn't the crime rates that prevented individuals from getting active, but dogs gone astray. With fixable problems like these, her research is already helping kids from getting sucked into obesity. I become more and more interested on the subject of obesity. Because of how expensive operations from obesity can be, it's something that we as a nation should take seriously, especially since it affects the youth of today. 

Disney princess movie marathon on the way!

The latter half of the night consisted of another SOFT night. During SOFT nights, we basically get to venture outside of the campus, but stay within the boundaries the academy puts on us. But we also have the choice of staying in for the night. It's up to us as to what we do for the nights. With Disney princess movies being shown in the lobby, I stayed in for the night and met up with a couple friends on my floor. It's been a magical night down in Seminar 210!