I don't have much in the way of pictures from this month; I guess it was a case of a lot of "same old, same old" - wake up early every morning, drive to Chatom, see patients at the clinic, drive home, do nothing.
For all that I'm glad I no longer have to wake up with the sun, I'm going to miss being at clinic. It seems like the majority of students use this summer between M1 and M2 year to do research of some sort, under the guise of strengthening their resumes and their residency applications and blah blah blah, but research doesn't appeal to me. I wanted more hands-on plans for my summer - I wanted to be around patients, interacting and learning and doing. This family medicine program was perfect for all of those things. I learned to inject painful joints with steroids to relieve pain. I practiced drawing blood. I sliced off a questionable skin lesion to send away for biopsy. I removed an infected toenail. I learned SO MUCH about drugs and treatments for common ailments and working with patients. It was an amazing experience.
My Chatom family :)
In more fun news, two of my classmates-turned-good friends got married this month! I had the pleasure of attending beautiful weddings two weekends in a row, and I'm still floating on happiness for my people. My med school tribe is wonderful and sweet and amazing, and I love getting to celebrate the good things in life with them.
Next up: orientation week for the new M1s! And then starting our M2 year! Our first module is GI, and it already looks like a doozy. Plenty of days on the calendar featuring lectures scheduled until 5 pm...can I just stay on summer forever?