2nd Year done and now into 3rd year

With the conclusion of the USMLE Board Step 1 I now enter into my third year and am halfway done with the school part of my medical education. To sum up the second year of medical school in a short post is not as hard as it sounds. Most days I have spent reading, studying, going to clinical opportunities, and not much else. The second year of medical school was increasingly more difficult that the first year and I am looking forward to not sitting for the next two years.

It is hard to imagine that two years ago I new nothing and now I know just enough to make things worse. In the next two years I will be completing my clinical rotations on the wards in various hospitals throughout Cincinnati, beginning with OB/GYN. I will now enter into wide world of patients.

Stories from the Summer: The Flag

Twice a day everything  on Fort Sam slowed to a halt. Cars would stop driving and pull over to the side, people would stop running, and each soldier would turn to the south, stand at attention, and salute the flag. The procedure for this was outlined very specific with specific bugle calls. I am sure there were some that found this an annoyance, but for me it was a time to remember who I was, why I was there, and those who had come before me.


"The Soldiers Creed"

I am an American Soldier.

I am a Warrior and a member of a team. I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills. I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Back from a Whirl Wind Summer

blackhawks come bringing patients

My last summer off has ended, if you could even call it a summer off. I spent 6 weeks training with the military in the art of being a soldier as well as what it means to be a doctor in the military. Then I spent my final two weeks in Peru hiking the Inca trail t Machu Picchu, horseback riding in the sacred valley, and sleeping on the Uros Islands in Lake Titicacca.

There is too much to share in on blog post. The military was both exciting and exhausting with temperatures ranging from 80 to 85 in the morning and 90 to 110 degrees in the afternoon, I was out of my comfortable climate in the north, but I learned to cope. The first three weeks were fairly uneventful and dull, learning the ins and outs of army protocol for everything from "what do you do if you get arrested," to "this is how the hospital works."
The next three weeks were much more exciting. We practiced convoys, shooting M16s and M9s, land navigation, and finally the combat hospital system.

Peru was a welcome change of climate. to cool, dry, and high. Cusco is about 3300 meters above sea level and on the inca trail we reached 4,215 meters on the second day. There was no sensation of the wind getting sucked out of me or even a feeling of light headedness, just a being a little winded when I walked a few flights of stairs.

My brother and I sitting of Machu Picchu

Now I am back, a second year, and continuing the medical education with late nights and cold pots of coffee.