August 27, 2000
Hello All,
The second week of medical school has not been much harder than the first. We have been involved in an LCP (Longitudinal Community Program) week which involves lectures on nutrition, ethics, examination and interview techniques, and a host of other things. We also did a health risk assesment for which I was recruited to draw blood and I spent two days with my mentor Dr. Fesmire, a pediatrician (see below). This week was basically another orientation to this ongoing program. We have an LCP week once every six weeks after our exams.
This week I have learned some useful information. It is not a good idea to practice drawing blood on a fellow medical student with bad veins using a needle you have never used before that does not give you a visible blood flash when you enter the vein. If you do the above it often results in a large hematoma at the inner elbow of the afore mentioned individual. I learned that probing any oriface of a 12 to 24 month old child will result in mind numbing noise on a level with a concorde taking off in the middle of a Motley Crue concert. This taught me the importance of being able to spot, assess, and analyze both ear drums of a child in the amount of time it takes pediatric lungs to inspire enough air to create the previously mentioned racket for the rest of the afternoon. Then one must make a nice parting comment to the consternated mother such as "The nurse will be in with all of the shots in just a minute," and beat a hasty retreat. I also got to see a case of molluscum contagiosum which is a DNA virus that causes little bead like warts on the skin. I think I will enjoy having a pediatrician as my mentor. I will spend two days with him every six weeks.
Well, this coming week I actually begin some hard core science classes. Shannon Longshore (formerly Wright) from SAU will be my lab partner in Gross Anatomy. I am ready to get started!
Nola has had an interesting week as well. She is busy keeping 17, 3rd and 4th grade minds learning all day. Several of them are students for whom English is a second language, which adds quite a bit of difficulty to the whole process. She is also teaching 5th and 6th grade music and art. Can you believe that she actually assigned homework on the first day of school? What a mean teacher. She also has a report due each week on a famous composer. It was pretty interesting reading all the unusual facts her kids found on Beethoven.
Thanks to those of you who wrote last week, it was good to hear from you.
Take care, Brent Reading
