PRN: take as needed

Just one of those days

2009-10-28T13:21:00.002-08:00

I have recently started a new elective rotation in Geriatrics. This particular rotation is only 3 weeks. I consider this a short period of time to learn everything I can from the doctor, hopefully impress him in the process, and consider a future in Geriatric Medicine. Since this is such a short period of time, it is understandable that I would want to start off on the right foot and really be on top of my game from day 1. That was the plan anyway. Instead, I had a terribly "off" day starting with showing up late to the hospital. I absolutely HATE that, and I can think of no worse anxiety provoking situation than sitting in traffic watching the minutes tick by and not being able to do anything about it. I'm surprised I didn't have a heart attack in the car. Even better than being late, the doctor had instructed us to meet him in the hospital lobby because he thought we "would never find his office otherwise." GREAT! So, I get there, and of course they are all already gone. So now I have to figure out how to find him in this great big hospital. I enlist the help of the information desk who feels its best to overhead page the doctor before I can stop him. So, not only am I late, my lateness is broadcast to the whole hospital. "Dr. BLAHBLAH, please come to the information desk, you have a lost medical student." The rest of the day pretty much went the same. In my haste rushing into the hospital, I apparently dropped the parking ticket so when the doctor asked for it to get validated, I had to empty all my pockets and my purse to finally declare that I lost it. I found it under the car 20 minutes later. After lunch, we were all supposed to meet at his other office. Since I was not going to be even a second late, I rushed to be early and realized after parking and walking to his office that I had forgotten my stethoscope in the car. I apologized profusely and ran back to the car to spend 15 minutes searching for it, which then of course made me late again. As I walked back to the office, upset that I had lost a borrowed stethoscope, and freezing cold from the wind, I shoved my hands into my white coat pockets to keep them warm and discovered the stethoscope, which had not been left in the car in the first place. Perfect! I guess it was just one of those days.

Im Back!

2009-09-10T20:31:00.002-07:00

OK, so I am obviously not on the island of Dominica anymore and, therefore, can no longer be called Dr. Dominica. I am taking suggestions for new names, please email or comment. I am currently in my 3rd year of medical school attending Ross University. After passing the USMLE Step 1 (the first in a long line of medical licensing exams), I am doing rotations in Chicago. Rotations are the clinical part of medschool where you actually get to learn the practical aspect of medicine and work with patients. I have already completed Psychiatry (and received an A, thankyouverymuch) and an elective in Infectious Diseases. I am currently doing Family Medicine in the Uptown area of Chicago. More to come...

What am I supposed to be doing?

2008-12-03T15:31:00.004-08:00

I am currently not studying for my final tomorrow (obviously, because I am writing this blog instead). I am not sufficiently prepared, nor am I extremely anxious about it. I am strangely calm. My theory is that I am so overwhelmed by the volume of information I need to have in my head by tomorrow morning that I do not even know where to start. If I were to start to think about it, I would have a panic attack like no other panic attack I have ever had before, my heart would stop and I would die. My body is obviously aware of this and therefore, as a defense mechanism, is diverting my mind from thinking about the test. Instead maybe I will start writing my 20 page paper that is due on Friday and that I haven't started. No, that sounds pretty stressful too. Im just going to continue with my little brain vacation for now.

Have you ever seen a heart before?

2008-11-09T13:05:00.003-08:00

Holy crap! I absolutely love my new rotation with a Thoracic and Cardiovascular surgeon. He is harsh and mean and kills my self esteem but he is teaching me so much I can't really hold it against him. The first day we walked in, he asked if we had ever seen an open heart before and before we could answer, swung open the operating room doors to reveal an open heart surgery in action. I was totally not prepared for that. In the last week I have seen a beating heart 2 feet in front of my face, a lobectomy, an endoarterectomy and I even got to assist in surgery by changing a pacemaker battery!! I love using that cauterizer thingy. I should probably figure out what its called before I go back on Tuesday. Im so excited!

5th semester failure...so far

2008-10-25T10:26:00.004-07:00

I feel totally unprepared to be a doctor. In 5th semester so far, the theme of lectures seems to be "you learned this wrong on the island and you look like an idiot doing it." Things have not been going that well with tests and papers either. I did pass the COMP exam on the first try (by like 1 point) but I am starting to think that is a disadvantage. Pretty much everyone I know failed it the first time, but you can take it 3 times and it does not count in your grade for 5th. The problem is that you have exactly 6 months from the day you passed the COMP to take the Step 1 exam. Therefore, passing it right away means I also have to take the Step right away and I am definitely not ready for that. For our first paper on a patient, I received an "unsatisfactory" which is basically an F. Granted, I do not know a single person who passed the paper and it was probably the worst paper I have ever written in my life, but that just shows again what we learned wrong on the island and have to relearn here. Thank God I passed the ACLS class easily, however if I actually had to run a code I think I would have a heart attack myself. This poor track record for 5th so far is not very encouraging and I have a midterm this coming Monday. Great. Lets hope for a change in the tides this Monday. Wish me luck!!

PS - I cut and dyed my hair and got another tattoo, just to keep you all updated.

Wedding pics!

2008-10-12T12:59:00.003-07:00

I am very excited and distracted right now. I got back my wedding photos and I am looking at them instead of studying. Check them out CLICK HERE! OK, back to work!

Hola From Miami

2008-09-21T14:42:00.003-07:00

I know you probably all thought I was dead, but no. I have just been really busy. Actually, that is a huge understatement. I have been ridiculously, terribly, extremely busy! Lets see. In the last few weeks I have passed 4th semester, moved from Dominica back home to San Diego, gotten married, moved to Miami, started 5th semester, and taken the COMP exam. Crap, I am tired just typing all of that. It is pretty exciting though because I actually feel like I may become a real doctor someday. I have my first clinical experience in the United States on Tuesday! When I take a history, I wont have to ask what kind of bush medicine my patient is taking or figure out why he swallowed 3 slugs to treat his ulcer! Actually, now that I am in Miami, I probably wont be able to understand a word my patient is saying since everyone here speaks Spanish and I can only count to 10 and ask where the bathroom is. Hopefully there will be a translator! Haha! OK, I have to go relearn the entire physical exam so I don't look like an idiot on Tuesday. Wish me luck.

Goljan is my God

2008-08-12T08:49:00.002-07:00

Everyone here has their own way of studying for shelf exams. By far, the most popular way amongst students to study for Pathology is to listen to audio files from Goljan. He is magic. He talks and you suddenly understand everything. In the first 30 seconds of listening to him he says "not everything that ends in '-oma' is benign." Oh my god! That would have been nice to know about 6 months ago. I vote for Ross to pay him a million dollars and just come teach us Path. For now I am just going to have to settle for the bootleg copy audio files.

Senioritis

2008-08-07T17:09:00.003-07:00

Holy moly I have 347.5 tests in the next two weeks. Ok, maybe only 6, but it feels like a million. I normally thrive on stress, it gives me motivation. But this is crazy, this is system overload. All I want to do is go climb in bed and curl up to some mindless television. It is taking everything in me to sit in front of this computer and study. What is worse, is that when I am done with these tests I am leaving the island for good. FOR GOOD! So my mind keeps drifting to thoughts of America and I find myself shopping online for clothes and cars and toys. As a future doctor, I am going to have to diagnose myself with senioritis...do they make a pill for that?

Don't Drink the Water

2008-06-24T12:15:00.005-07:00

It has been raining a lot here lately. When that happens, the water in the apartment buildings turns brown. We have all learned to cope with this and head over to campus with empty water bottles to fill up from the triple filtered water fountains. That is exactly what happened yesterday and as usual you could see everyone stocking up on campus water to take home and use. Unfortunately, this afternoon we all received an email with the following title in bright red:

Drinking Campus Water Advisory Warning!

Basically it said the water on campus has not been safe to drink, cook with, bathe in, etc for the last 24 hours. Great! This would have been nice to know 24 hours ago. So now I probably have giardia lamblia or something. I guess I am going to be spending some quality time with the toilet tonight. There is a picture of him above, isn't he cute. Too bad he causes diarrhea.

Nothing is Free

2008-05-29T08:17:00.002-07:00

I am a big fan of free. I think being a poor medical student has something to do with it. But, I also happen to think that free food tastes better. I'm also constantly on a diet and for some reason it's easier to justify eating cake if it is offered at some meeting, or having a hershey's kiss if its in a bowl on someones desk. During the beginning of the semester here at Ross, all the clubs have their orientation meetings and there is free food everywhere. I find myself attending meetings for everything from Physicians for Human Rights to the Vietnamese students association (they have great spring rolls!). However, this semester I have been caught and now realize that nothing is for free. One of the last meetings I snuck into was the Neuroscience Society. Dr. Odutola was the guest speaker and went over taking a neurological history. At the end of the meeting, I asked him a quick question and happened to mention that I was a neuroscience major at UCLA for undergrad. Oops! He corners me and before I know what happened, I am the new Historian for the Neuroscience in the News Newsletter. As if I didn't have enough to do this semester! So what I thought was free pizza ended up being one of the most expensive meal I have had here. Oh well, at least I actually like neuroscience!

Semester 3 - check!

2008-04-28T08:42:00.007-07:00

Yay! It's finally here. I get to go home for break. I thought this day would never come. I am physically sitting in the departure lobby at the Dominica airport. I can almost smell America. No wait, thats airplane exhaust. This semester was particularly difficult, even with Phil here to support me. I am still waiting for my final grades, so I don't want to jinx it, but I am pretty sure I am a fourth semester when I get back to the island. It will be my last semester here in Dominica and I am thrilled beyond words. This journey has been very trying for me, more emotionally than academically but it was still a big struggle. I think the promise of getting off the island for good is going to give me renewed energy to get through the next semester. There is NO WAY I am repeating 4th!!
As usual, getting to the airport this morning was like Disneyland's Jungle Cruise on wheels. There were exotic animals jumping out at us and palm leaves slapping our faces through the open windows. I kept expecting someone to get on the loud speaker with "...and to our left are natives bathing in the river." Our car's name was "Shadow Warrior" and our driver seemed like he could have driven the hour and a half trip blindfolded. He checked his phone messages more than he checked the road. In true Dominica fashion, we had to stop twice so passengers could throw up. Thankfully, I am here safe and tomorrow I will be home! If I miss Dominica, I'll go to Disneyland, but I'll get churros and mickey mouse soft pretzels instead of chicken and ground provisions.

California Dreaming

2008-04-06T07:57:00.003-07:00

My body was not meant to live here. When students get to the island for first semester they invariably sweat buckets, get sunburned, and need to drink 4 times their body weight in water to stay hydrated. We are told that our bodies will adjust and we will not be this uncomfortable forever. Well, guess what!? My body isn't adjusting. I have been here for 3 semesters and I still sweat like a pig and practically pass out from dehydration everyday. I really do not think I can survive much longer in this type of weather. Where I am from, rain equals cold. When you see that it is raining, it is normal to cover up to prevent getting wet. Here, if you put on a rain coat, you will create a steam room under your clothes. I cannot wait to get out of here and back to normal weather that I can handle. I miss California.

Fat Doctor

2008-03-31T14:27:00.005-08:00

As the semester starts to come to a close, our professors begin to realize that their chances to torture us with exams are running out. As a result, many tests get crammed in to the last couple weeks and we all go crazy. My reaction to stress is to eat, and I am good at it. I like to say that I eat my feelings...and they taste like chocolate chip cookies. The problem here (besides the obvious of getting fat and unhealthy) is that my normal comfort foods are hard to come by. I can't exactly hop in the car and drive to 7-11 or McDonalds. The only solution is the campus bookstore, which closes at 9PM. Additionally, its not exactly cheap since everything has to be shipped here. If you decide to spend the 5 dollars for a can of chef boyarde, you better buy the entire stock, because it is not gonna be there tomorrow, or ever again for that matter. I had one test this morning and I have another on Thursday, so you can imagine how stressed I was this weekend. Lets put it this way; last night I ran to the bookstore at 8:50PM and bought a bag of sugary cereal for 10 dollars. That cereal is now gone. Oh well, at least I passed my test. Looks like I am going to be a very fat doctor.

Medschool Life Cycle

2008-03-08T17:25:00.004-08:00

We are learning about various parasites and how they cause disease. This includes a study of their life cycles in various hosts. As I am trying to memorize the life cycle of malaria, I realize that my medical school life cycle is also worth studying. Im not going to make a nifty diagram like the one above for malaria, but it goes something like this...

1) starts enthusiastic, ready to absorb essential medical knowledge
2) 10-14 day incubation period of intense studying, Marisa can usually be found in the library during this time frame.
3) increased frustration/disappointment due to poor required hours to available hours ratio
4) 3 weeks into cycle, defeatist attitude is upregulated to counteract any remaining enthusiasm, Marisa can usually be found in bed watching Law & Order reruns.
5) 1 week prior to exam positive feedback stress cycle begins.
6) stress threshold level reached, resulting in emotional & mental breakdown. WARNING, this is an exergonic reaction and can be highly contagious, remain at a safe distance.
7) once homeostasis is restored, Marisa reaches maximum motivation and learning is increased 100-fold
8) exam is taken, passed, and cycle starts again.

Everyone has their own way of studying and making it work. I guess I just wish mine wasn't so exhausting.

The Man in the Arena

2008-03-02T13:15:00.005-08:00

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat." -Theodore Roosevelt, 1910

Can you hear me now?

2008-02-24T18:17:00.005-08:00

I have committed to getting married on Aug. 31, 2008 in California with the help of my family instead of a wedding planner. Was this a huge mistake? I am in Dominica until Aug. 23 with no plans of going home for break. Whats even better is that the internet in my apartment has been so bad, internet phone conversations are practically impossible. For example, while on the phone last week with my mom discussing reception decorations I expressed my concern that there would be no purple if we had too many potted green plants. My mom only hears "no purple" and starts to suggest other colors while promising me there will be no purple at all. So in response to this I'm screaming "PURPLE, I WANT PURPLE" at the top of my lungs into my computer. This is extremely frustrating. Am I going to walk down the aisle in a purple dress now??

Red Blobs

2008-02-19T18:02:00.004-08:00

I am not good at Pathology. This should not come as a surprise to me as I was never good at Histology. Histology is the study of organic tissues, both grossly and microscopically. Pathology is studying those tissues in disease states. If I couldn't recognize normal tissue, how am I supposed to see whats wrong with it in disease! Everytime the professor shows us a slide during class and asks us what we see I just want to yell out "RED BLOBS!" Here is a slide of the transformation of stratified squamous epithelium into columnar epithelium as is seen in chronic heartburn. I swear looking at these things is like taking a Rorschach inkblot test. What do you see??

System Overload

2008-02-07T14:58:00.000-08:00

My hard drive is about to crash, and I don't mean the one in my computer. I mean the one in my head! I was just trying to watch a lecture on mediasite (1 of about 12 that I am behind in), and I realized that I had no idea what the lecturer was talking about. Have you ever driven somewhere and completely had no recollection of how you got there? That is exactly how I feel. Logically, I know that I have been sitting here, in front of the computer, watching this lecture on steroid pharmacology for the last 20 minutes. However, I really feel as if someone just POOF! dropped me in this seat 5 seconds ago. Am I going crazy?

Don't they make a pill for this...

2008-01-31T05:34:00.000-08:00

Today is not good. I can’t really put my finger on it, but I just woke up and I can already tell that today is not good. I feel like a mess. First of all, its 9:15AM. Even though I can mediasite (watch lectures on the computer), I would prefer to get up early enough to have as productive a day as possible. Instead, I have no consistency. I got up yesterday at 11AM, and Tuesday I got up at 9:55AM (5 minutes before I had to be in my PACE session). Secondly, I still feel like I have no plan for studying. How can I have gotten through a year of medical school and not have a successful plan?! It makes me feel like I have just gotten by and that does not feel good, nor is it what I want. I know they are just trying to complement me, but I am sick of my fellow students telling me how smart I am and that I am lucky that I don’t have to study as much as they do to get the same grades. What they don’t understand is that I would kill for their discipline. Sure, I can work up the determination and motivation to really get down to business when I need to. But, I’m like a sprinter while everyone around me is running the marathon. I will probably cross the finish line, but will I be a great doctor when I get there?

Phil Arrives!

2008-01-30T16:09:00.000-08:00

Phil has joined me here on the island for my last two semesters. I thought you would like to hear a different perspective about this experience so I forced him to write an entry for my blog. It only took him a week to write it! Geesh!

"I made it! I have arrived on Dominica, the place bad dreams are made of. My taxi ride from the airport was fraught with danger and I was glad I have life insurance. I lost count of the near misses with other cars. Who taught these people how to drive?! The road I traveled to get to Ross is halfway falling into the ocean while the other half is being slowly reclaimed by the jungle. I have found that simple tasks like going to the store here in Dominica take up a large part of your day. I wake up at around 7am and make breakfast for Marisa. I walk her to school and then walk back to our apartment and clean and make lunch for Marisa. Then, I walk back to the apartment, clean and make dinner for Marisa! If I can accomplish one other thing besides those basics, I am happy. I overslept on Saturday and was unable to go to the farmers market but I will try again next week to see if I can get fresh fish and vegetables from the locals. Marisa was not exaggerating, this place is an adventure!"

Playing Doctor

2008-01-23T08:34:00.001-08:00

For our Behavioral Science course this semester, we are required to attend two labs approximately once a week where we meet with patients from the community. For the physical skills lab, we get into groups and practice how to perform a physical exam of the various body systems. Examples would be listening to lung sounds, taking blood pressure, etc. For the behavioral lab, we take turns performing a patient interview and getting a complete history. Our first experience of these labs was Monday. This seems very exciting and a necessary step in becoming doctor but here is the problem; no one has really taught us what to do! You basically show up at the lab rooms dressed up professionally with your fellow students and your cute little white coat and pretend to be a doctor. You walk into the room and there is the patient and your facilitator looks at you and says "go". Excuse me, what?! Go where?! Some of the groups didn't even have facilitators! I am beginning to realize why some people believe ROSS stands for Rely On Self Study. I got through it alright but it was a huge wake-up call. I may be getting through the basic science portion of my medical education just fine, but that didn't mean much when I was pushed into a room with a patient and expected to perform. I have a lot of work to do before next Monday! Oh well, at least I looked cute in my doctor coat.

Back on the rock

2008-01-16T06:05:00.000-08:00

I have begun to realize that my life here in Dominica consists of a series of crises with some medical eduction thrown in here and there. Some of the problems are larger than others, for example being homeless last semester was kind of a big one. But even when I think I have fixed everything so that I can concentrate on school, little problems creep up. Like yesterday, when I hiked home to my new apartment and realized that I had no electricity. I never knew how incredibly difficult it is to function in complete darkness. Thankfully, I am used to taking cold showers from living in PBH last semester so the lack of hot water wasn't that big a deal. But, needless to say, the night was pretty unproductive. Medical school is supposed to be hard, I get it. But, I don't think our US counterparts have to deal with constant diarrhea, killer centipedes, mosquitoes from hell, rolling blackouts, and limited access to supplies. I would kill for a Vons and a Starbucks! I just pray my computer never breaks because I don't think the local shack will be able to fix it. Oh well, if I can get through this, I can get through anything, right?!

DPS Practical 2

2007-12-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

Last semester, we had to invent a fictional patient and write up an interview for our Doctor, Patient, Society class. I posted my interview so everyone could get an idea of what we are learning in the class and see our progress in becoming a doctor. I received a lot of positive feedback about posting it so I have decided to also post this semester's report. For this DPS Practical, our instructions were to create a fictional patient with a clinical presenting problem and write up a case report based on the fictional interview. Click on the picture to read my case report.

So many tests, so little time

2007-12-05T21:16:00.000-08:00

The countdown to the end of the semester has now officially reached single digits! Even though the semester itself is winding down, the stress levels are ramping up. These last two weeks of second semester are truly hell. We have so many tests to take in this short period of time, in fact, I am not sure we do anything else BUT TAKE TESTS! Its like the last leg of a marathon when you are already exhausted but it is still uphill to the finish line. Here is our exam schedule starting last Thursday.

Thursday, Nov. 29: 8AM Neuro Lab
Friday, Nov. 30: 8AM Histology Lab; 1PM Anatomy Lab
Tuesday, Dec. 4: 8AM Anatomy Shelf Exam
Wednesday, Dec. 5: 1PM Neuro Shelf Exam
Friday, Dec. 7: 8AM Physiology Shelf ExamMonday, Dec. 10: 8AM Biochem Shelf Exam
Tuesday, Dec. 11: 8AM Histology Shelf Exam
Thursday, Dec. 13: 1PM Mini Exam 3 (all subjects)

The Shelf Exams are are subject tests created by the NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners) to provide interested medical schools with an external measurement of student progress in a required medical subject. At Ross University, we take shelf exams at the end of a completed course in place of a cumulative final. They are long, difficult and tiring and no one likes taking them. Their only redeeming quality is that they signify the close of this semester and the end of my first year of medical school (if I pass). YAY!

France in the Caribbean

2007-11-25T19:43:00.000-08:00

Every semester, the restaurant Tomatoes charters a boat to go to Les Saintes in Guadeloupe for the day. The island is French, very small, and only about 20 miles from Dominica! I signed up to go this semester and I am so glad I did because it was wonderful. The boat was a beautiful catamaran sailboat. There were bagels and mimosas for the trip there and an open bar with fabulous hor devours for the trip back. It was heaven. I sat on the cargo net in the front and the water occasionally splashed up through the net to keep me cool. I didn't see any whales but it was really fun to see all the flying fish. When we got there, most people rushed to get gelato and real coffee. A lot of people rented scooters to get around for the day. That was the main mode of transportation on the island since it is so small. I wasn't allowed to get a scooter because my friends believed I would drive it off a cliff or something clumsy like that. I didn't really argue because it was probably true. It was so cute there. There was amazing food and shopping. Everyone speaks french there and they use the Euro. There was good wine, cheese, salami, baguettes, and meat for very cheap. Some people brought coolers with ice just so they could stock up and take it back with them. That is definitely what I am doing next time. All in all, I had a wonderful day and will be sure to do it again! (Click on the picture above to see more)

2007-11-19T16:53:00.000-08:00

Because medical students are in desperate need of distraction, IM sports are sort of a big deal here at Ross. I am on a volleyball team, in case you forgot, and finals are this weekend. We are undefeated so far this season and we are looking to stay that way. We made it to semifinals and we are hoping to crush the competition. Volleyball is not the only IM sport here at Ross. In fact, the finals for football, basketball and soccer have been fun to watch even though our second semester teams have not won a single championship. But as fun as all those sports are, there is nothing, I repeat NOTHING, that is a bigger event here than powderpuff football. Once the girls from semesters 1 & 2 take the field against semesters 3 & 4, no one is studying anymore! There are announcers, team colors, raffles, a BBQ, and tranny cheerleaders (that is what I am laughing at in the picture)! It is very exciting and I was very glad for the break. It is supposed to be flag football, but girls are scrappy and fights ensued. Our team lost, but then again the Semester 1 & 2 team has NEVER won. I was thinking about playing next semester, but then again, I don't know if I want to get my hair pulled out by a disgruntled medical student! Wish me luck in volleyball finals! Love to the fam!

PTSD-Post TEST stress disorder

2007-11-06T10:39:00.000-08:00

This semester has not gone well thus far. I can't put my finger exactly on what is wrong, which makes it somewhat difficult to fix. But, I am still here. Haven't packed up my bags quite yet, although I have thought about it many times. It was especially tempting to leave when one of my best friends on the island left for good . His situation is different than mine, but it made me see how easy it would be to just get on a plane and leave this all behind. Of course, then I come to my senses. I want to be a doctor more than anything and I have worked my big butt off to get here. But, it is still a huge struggle. I just finished my second mini exam this morning and I have no idea how I did, so don't bother asking. Amazingly, my family helped me get at least 2 questions right. Thank you daddy for your sleep apnea, all those sleepless nights weren't a total waste. Thank you mommy for your pituitary adenoma with increased prolactin and galactorrhea, sorry if birthing me caused it. Luv to the fam, see you soon! (but not too soon, don't worry)

Exhausted

2007-09-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

I have intentionally not posted any updates to my blog recently. I am sorry to keep everyone in the dark about my activities, but I felt it was for the best. I am having an increasingly difficult time surviving here on the island and in medical school. As a result, every time I have sat down to update my blog only complaining and negativity has come out. I didn't want to worry anyone nor did I think it was productive to whine so I have remained silent. I have been trying to figure out what I need to turn this around. One thing I decided I wanted was some help. Because I have such an incredibly supportive family, my mommy has come to the rescue! She bought a plane ticket and just arrived yesterday to help get me back on track. I realize I am a 26-year-old woman and it feels a little pathetic to need my mommy, but thats what I need right now and it is better than the alternative of failing or quitting. Phil has also been extremely supportive and bought me a new computer to facilitate effective studying (my old computer is giving up faster than I am!) He scanned some pictures from home of my childhood and emailed them to me today. They put a huge smile on my face. And even though he is 3 hours behind in California, he calls me every morning to make sure I get out of bed. I guess what I am trying to say is that when I am working this hard on something this big, I realize it is really the little things that are going to get me through. Like hugs from my mom, cookies from home (thanks Phil), internet messages from the fam (I get them all), and everything that reminds me I am loved and not alone. Thanks to everyone that is helping me through!

Eau de Dominica

2007-09-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

I smell like Ross University. Its an interesting combination of subway, chinese food, the inside of an abdominal cavity, and sweat. I would bottle it under the name Eau de Dominica, but I don't think it would be a big seller. As bad as I smell, I am still pretty happy because it means I dissected the intestines, liver, spleen and gall bladder of my cadaver today! I know it sounds pretty gross, but it is really very fascinating. Random medical fact: The liver accounts for 2.5% of your body weight and is the largest gland in the body. I was literally shocked when we took ours out. My first reaction was that our cadaver had an enlarged liver. But apparently, it is just that big! I realize that I am a complete medical school dork for being this excited over the size and appearance of our internal organs, but that is my life now. Luv to the fam!

Mrs. Dr. Dominica

2007-09-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

I am trying hard to keep it together. I am no longer homeless, but I am not exactly sitting pretty either. I have moved into an old hotel on the beach near campus. The fact that it is on the beach and near campus are the ONLY two advantages to living here. I basically live in a dirty dormitory. The fridge is broken for the second time since I have moved in. The stove doesn't work. I have no microwave. There is no transformer so none of my electronics can be plugged in, including my phone, computer, internet and fan! The water heater decides on its own when it would like to work. It has been raining all weekend so I cannot get the rest of my stuff moved in from my friend's apartment and the water coming out of my shower and sink is brown. I am sick, my ankle still hurts and I think I just developed a UTI. But other than all that, I think I am OK. In fact I actually have some good news (surprising, I know). As of Tuesday, September 4, I am engaged! I am very excited and my friends here on the island threw me a little engagement dinner. They took me to a restaurant in Portsmouth called Blue Bay. It was really nice to get out of Rossville for an evening. It was also especially nice to have some real food. I had freshly caught red snapper in a curry stew, with a breadfruit side dish. It was very good and the company was even better. The girls made me a temporary engagement ring out of a napkin and a diamond earring. It disintegrated in the rain, but it was beautiful while it lasted. Better get back to studying, luv to the fam!

Homeless in the 3rd world

2007-09-03T07:19:00.000-07:00

I would have liked to start the semester off on a good note. Unfortunately, you don't always get what you want. Due to the hurricane, my apartment complex tried to accommodate as many 1st semester students as possible while the rest of us were on break. Unfortunately for me, some of these students decided not to leave their newly acquired apartments and the hotel refuses to kick them out! I did sign a lease last semester and put down a large deposit so I argued with the front desk until they gave me a key for an empty room that they warned me was not clean yet. After being homeless for 2 days, I didn't really care so I took it anyway. How bad could it be, right? Excited to finally be moving in, I ran up the stairs (well maybe I hobbled, my ankle still hurts a bit) and threw open the door. A surprised, naked, and sleeping first semester student had apparently not been cleaned out of the room yet. Luckily, I have a lot of really great friends here who have taken me in so I don't have to sleep in a tree. Oh yeah, and medical school started yesterday. Great.

not much better today

2007-08-13T20:27:00.001-07:00

Ending on a good note...

2007-08-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

Three days, I had only three more days to get through and I couldn't make it. Well, I fell and hurt myself the day I got here so I guess it is only fitting that I fall and hurt myself before I leave. Yesterday night, I sprained my ankle. Its bad. There is a huge hematoma (yes, I am already using big medical words in everyday life) and I need X-rays. I have decided to wait until I get home to get the X-rays because I have a final in 3 days and I cant afford to lose what little time I have left to study. I did get it checked out at the clinic on campus and its not an emergency so don't fret. Wish me luck on these next couple days (just don't tell me to "break a leg"...because I might).

Oye Vey!

2007-08-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

These are the both the longest two weeks of my life and the shortest. They are long because I cannot wait another second to come home and visit my family and friends. However, there is so much to do in the next two weeks, including taking two tests, moving to a new apartment, getting my loan money worked out, and preparing for the next semester, that it seems there are not enough hours in the day to do it all. To top it all off, I got bit by a centipede on Friday. It was just a baby, but so am I, so it really really hurt. My whole hand was burning for 3 hours. It still hurts like a really sore muscle. Those things are really dangerous and if it had been bigger, I probably would have needed to go to the hospital! I really don't have time for that! I haven't had many problems with bugs here so far, besides the mosquitoes and ants of course. I am a little concerned for next semester because my new apartment is right on the ocean. Also, it has been raining a lot lately which has whipped the mosquitoes into a feeding frenzy. My legs seem to be the main dish. I hope I make it home in one piece. ("Oye Vey" t-shirt courtesy of Chris Savage THANKS CHRIS)

Hang in there

2007-07-28T14:10:00.000-07:00

I have decided to put post-it notes with encouraging statements up all over my apartment and surround myself with positivity. Everywhere I look I see "You can do it" and "Just hang in there". I think it is helping because I am freaking out less often. I do have a valid reason to freak out. In the next two weeks we have 2 practical exams and 1 mini exam. The week after that we have our FINAL! I can't believe I am this close to finishing my first semester of medical school. If you would have asked me at the beginning of the semester if I could do this, I am not sure my answer would have been very positive. But now it is so close! Granted, I think it helped immensely that I took a break for a few days to go to St Maartin with some friends. We got away from this whole medical school subculture and acted like normal 26-year-olds are supposed to act. We ate real food; I actually had steak that I know wasn't goat meat! We relaxed on a perfect white sand beach with turquoise water. It was just what the doctor ordered (pun intended)! Now I am refreshed and determined the finish the semester off right. Gotta go study, luv to the fam!

Girls just want to have fun!

2007-07-28T14:07:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile its ok to have a little fun, right?

DPS test

2007-07-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

We had a test today for our Doctor, Patient, Society course in which we are given a patient with a particular complaint. We get to make up a dialog with this fictitious patient exploring the problem and narrowing down the possible diagnosis. Since we are only first semester students, this is more an exercise in interviewing and creating a history of the present illness, rather than trying to actually diagnose someone. It was a pretty easy test and I can't imagine anyone not getting an A. I have posted a link to my patient interview here. The patient I created has angina caused by coronary heart disease. You should be able to see that my questions and answers lead to angina and try to rule out other common causes of chest pain. I don't know about you, but I think I'm gonna be a pretty darn good doctor someday!

medschool art

2007-07-20T15:47:00.001-07:00

Most people decorate their walls with lovely art and pictures of their family. I have 4 foot tall white boards with the clotting cascade written out in different colors. At first I just thought it was for study purposes. But now that that particular test is over and its time to erase the white board, I find myself not wanting to! Not only did I work very hard writing and rewriting it until it was burned into my memory, but I sort of consider it medschool art. I did finally erase it (I need the space to map out the cardiac cycle) but I made sure to take a picture or my finest work to date. Enjoy!

Home stretch

2007-07-17T22:40:00.000-07:00

I have always found it interesting that many doctors seem to be extremely unhealthy and are some of the worst patients. Well, after only 2 months of medical school I am starting to see why that is. There is no time for sleeping, cooking, exercising, OR FUN! So the result of this is fat, stressed, smoking, binge drinking hypocritical doctors preaching about healthy lifestyles and preventative medicine! Don't get me wrong, they are right about prevention. We just can't seem to work it into our own lives, go figure. I am officially one month away from being done with semester 1 of medical school. I passed my second mini exam (except for not doing very well in anatomy) and I have only one mini exam, three practical exams and a final left. Wow, I think I stressed myself out just writing about it. Maybe ill go start smoking or binging on french fries to make myself feel better. Luv to the fam, Ill be home soon!

sleep

2007-07-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

Now that the mini is over, I get to catch up on some sleep. In fact, I miss sleep so much that I usually don't even wait to get home!

real food!

2007-07-05T16:19:00.000-07:00

Any special occasion here in Dominica is a wonderful excuse to go out to eat at a "real restaurant". Last week was my friend Nhi's birthday so we gladly took our hour break from studying to go to Tomatoes, a restaurant owned by a professor. At home it would be considered a neighborhood cafe, but here all we eat is "the shacks" so eating on real plates is pretty fancy. For her birthday we went all out and bought her a REAL DIET COKE to have with dinner. We were all very excited. All you can really get here is regular coke or coke light, which is made in st lucia with some strange sweetener. Its disgusting. After the diet coke excitement and some chocolate cake we dragged ourselves back to the library to study for the multiple tests we have in the coming week. I just had my Histology lab practical and now I am in total study mode for our next mini exam on monday. I think the school is trying to mess with our heads a little by calling it a mini exam because they are a really BIG deal. Needless to say, we are all very stressed as if the rest of our lives depend on this test...oh wait, they do! Wish me luck! Love to the fam!

Missing!

2007-06-27T07:17:00.000-07:00

I have just had an interesting couple of days so I thought I would share. Apparently I was missing. Let me explain. Monday evening I became extremely sick after eating at "the shacks". A little stomach ache and a few trips to the bathroom (appropriately referred to as a "shack attack") is normal, but what I had was something else entirely. I began vomiting at around 9PM and didn't really stop until morning. At around 2AM, after dry heaving for a few hours, I decided to call my mother. I am still not sure if I called her out of habit, for sympathy, or because I thought I was dying. At around 5AM I passed out on a bench on campus outside the bathroom and woke up covered in a mosquito blanket. I dragged myself home for a few precious hours of sleep. In the past I have had academic problems resulting from my constantly getting sick and I refuse to let that happen here so I was determined to attend my classes and lab. Apparently, my mother called me back in the morning before I went to school and in my delirium I said I would take a shower and go to the health clinic on campus. Instead I took a shower and went right to school. When my mother couldn't reach me she decided I had passed out in the shower and was dying alone in my apartment. She called security on campus and the search for the missing girl began. The troops mobilized and began interrupting classes and labs searching for Marisa Evans because "her mom is extremely worried about her." If I wasn't already infamous as being "the girl who falls" I am certainly well known now for being the missing child. Thanks mom. I realize this can be avoided in the future by calling my mother and letting her know I am OK. I guess I was just a little busy with MEDSCHOOL! Now that I am found, I hope they can take down the missing child posters, they are a little embarrassing. Love to the fam!

doctor stuff

2007-06-25T19:30:00.000-07:00

During the first few weeks of school, I became a member of the American Medical Students Association (AMSA) by joining the Ross University chapter here on campus. There are a lot of great reasons to be a part of this association, but I was mostly interested in volunteering for their health fair in Portsmouth and attending the various clinics they host. You can read more about our chapter here. After the first mini exam, an AMSA health fair was held in town for the local Dominicans. We provided free screenings including blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and pulmonary functioning to identify high risk individuals. We then had several doctors from our campus consult and treat these individuals. The community seems to really like having us there and we enjoy the chance to get our faces out of the books and do something that reminds us what we are working for. I had a great time (as you can see from the picture) even though I had to wake up ridiculously early. A couple days later, AMSA put on a suture clinic for the students and we all learned how to stitch up a grapefruit. I did OK, but lets just say I don't think Ill ever make it as a plastic surgeon (sorry aunt terry!) Even though I am having a hard time here with all the hours of studying and barely any time for play, I will try to keep doing the "doctor stuff" that reminds me of my goal. That should keep me sane enough for now.

2007-06-20T07:17:00.002-07:00

I live in the library, and this is what I do all day.

One Step Closer

2007-06-15T15:54:00.000-07:00

...yes, I'm alive, but just barely. As I am sure you all know, I had my first medical school exam on monday and the anatomy practical last friday. It was hard, really hard. All of the four semesters here on the island had their exams at the same time, so the week before the test you could feel the stress surrounding you. It was a terrible environment to be in, so I did most of my studying at home. That turned out to be a pretty bad place to study as well as it was isolating and too easy to get distracted with things like TV, music and chores (yes I do some chores). Somehow, I made it to monday and got through the test without any major snags. It was extremely challenging, like taking 5 undergraduate finals at once in my hardest classes after only 4 weeks of school! After the test, everyone made it down to the beach for a student government sponsored party. I have never seen so many depressed people laying on a beach in paradise at once. Apparently, I am not the only one who thought it was hard. Drinks were had (and sorely needed) and we eventually perked up and partied the night away. We had just finished our first medical school exam for goodness sakes!

This week the campus-wide depression has gotten even worse. The school has continuously tormented us by sending out bits and pieces of information about how we did. First we got the answer key, then we got our answer sheet, then they told us what questions would be thrown out, then they told us the break up of which questions counted for which class, then told us the minimum passing scores, and finally today we got our grades. Some people are elated, others are enraged. Either way, most people are just happy its over. So now we start the sprint to our next test, which is just 3 weeks away! I did pretty good, a lot of people here would kill me for my grades...but I can do better! I officially got 1 A, 3 B's, and 1 C. Now that I know the testing style of my professors, I should be able to determine what to give my focus to and should be able to rock the next test! I'm always going for the A, but am only now learning to be kind to myself when I don't get it. This is supposed to be a learning experience, not a punishment. So, I am learning that this is the hardest thing I have ever attempted to do...but I'm still doing it and I am successfully one step closer! Love to the fam, catcha later!

studying anatomy

2007-06-07T19:04:00.001-07:00

DSC00514
Originally uploaded by mevans2381

Today ended up being a good day after all...I studied at the beach for a few hours! This picture would be good for the Ross University Medical School brochure, don't you think?!

Whiner

2007-06-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

I was just looking over my recent posts and realized that they are mostly whining in nature. Let me explain...I have good days and bad days here. I don't want anyone to get the impression that I am wholly unhappy. I actually love it here! I love the island, I love that I am in medschool and finally pursuing my dream. I love what I am learning and find it extremely interesting and I am generally pleased with my circumstances. The whining and complaining comes from the stress of learning everything so quickly and then being tested on it. Like I said, there are good days and bad days. For example, yesterday was a good day. The weather was nice, I was upbeat and enthusiastic, difficult concepts seemed to be finally coming together for me, I was letting myself have some free time without feeling completely guilty about it, and I studied outside in my favorite spot (see pictures). Today, unfortunately, is looking to be one of the bad days. I woke up late, I'm out of toilet paper, and my anatomy practical exam is tomorrow. I think I'll go study in my favorite spot under the tree and try to make this a good day! Wish me luck!

Things I Miss

2007-06-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

Things I miss while I am here on Dominica:

1) Family and friends (obviously)
2) Going to the movies (especially the movie popcorn!)
3) In-N-Out Burger with grilled onions add pickle and extra lettuce
4) $1 Diet Cokes with free refills!!
5) Starbucks Venti Soy Latte
6) Costco
7) Karen Evans' laundy service (and occasionally Phil's laundry service)
8) Tivo
9) See's candy
10) My car
11) Evenly paved roads
12) Street names and addresses (try telling someone how to get to your house using cows and palm trees as landmarks!)
13) Only needing 1 shower a day
14) Trader Joe's
15) Free weekends!!

I will post updates to this list as they occur to me.

I see dead people...everyday.

2007-06-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

So far, I have been hesitant in writing about my anatomy lab dissections. I was concerned that some people (yes dad, that means you) would not be able to stomach it. But, after working on our cadaver almost on a daily basis for the past few weeks, I have decided to share my experiences. It is, after all, a big part of my life right now. So, just to get everyone up to speed, anatomy lab is an important course during the first two semesters and it involves dissecting a cadaver entirely. We also have periodic exams where we have to identify structures and answer questions relating to them. The lab is set up so that only 1/3 of the class is in lab at one time. In addition, we are divided into tables of 7 students, with each table getting one body. Our cadaver is male, 76 years old, and died of lung cancer late last year.
I really like my lab group, we get along very well and share the responsibilities pretty equally. The first day of dissection was probably the weirdest. You walk in, practically pass out from the smell of formaldehyde (in fact several students hit the floor), open up your cadaver bag and there is this dead person laying on your table. That might sound insensitive, but I assure you its not. Its this very strange reality that I have yet to get used to. It sort of hits me in waves while I am dissecting. I am focused and involved in dissecting out a particular nerve bundle, and then I accidentally brush my arm against our cadaver's nose and blurt out "I'm sorry" before I can catch myself. Very weird. Anyway, the point is that I am cutting open a human body, which is weird, but also fascinating and beautiful. I don't particularly enjoy going home covered in cadaver juice, but other than that, its a wonderful experience! (Sorry I don't have pictures, but I think it would be sort of disrespectful and I'm pretty sure its against the rules.)

100 MPH

2007-05-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I have been receiving a lot of concerned emails, so I want to assure everyone I am fine. The semester is picking up speed and we have our first exam next friday so I have been ridiculously busy. I also got a little bit of a cold (which I do not have time for), but I think I am recovering. I let myself sleep in today and I feel much better. It seems like my body was just trying to tell me something ("LET ME SLEEP!") and I finally listened. As for my stress level, it is steadily climbing. I am continuing to walk down to the beach for sunset most days, which is keeping me semi-sane. I have also found a spot on campus for short study breaks. I don't have a picture yet, but I promise to post one soon. The spot is under a huge tree on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There are these amazing roots that hang down in bundles as if the tree was growing from the sky down instead of the ground up. I sit underneath in the shade and drink a fresh mango juice while resisting the temptation to swing on the roots like tarzan. OK, back to studying! (the picture is tonight's sunset)

Chat with me!

2007-05-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

I just added a widget to my side panel that allows you to chat with me in real time if I am online. For all you tech savvy folks, I'm sure this seems simple, but I better explain it for the rest of us! There is a box on the right side of this website that says "chat with me". If you type me a message (don't forget to say who you are) we can have a conversation and I can type back to you. The messages are private so nothing will appear on the website for anyone else to see. If you still can't figure it out, remember I check my emails daily and I have a free internet phone. So, don't be shy and say HI!

dig, set, spike!

2007-05-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

I have joined an intermural sand volleyball team here at Ross and we had our first game today! I know what you are thinking...how do I have time for this? Well, I'm glad you asked! Actually, I have spoken to many professors, counselors and successful students and one piece of advice that has been consistent with everyone I talk to is to maintain a BALANCE. It is really easy to get burned out here since it is a lot of material covered in a very short period of time. It seems to be very important to stay healthy by including both physical activity and fun in my day. Thus, I have joined a volleyball team and I love it. We won today (yay!) and I think we are pretty good for an IM team. Hopefully we can go undefeated (that's my competitive side coming out). OK, back to studying.

White Coat Ceremony

2007-05-18T22:56:00.001-07:00

Thursday afternoon, Ross Medical School held its traditional white coat ceremony for the incoming class. The ceremony welcomes new students into the medical profession and is intended to remind them of their responsibilities from the first day of training. Principles of medical ethics are introduced as standards of conduct. The ritual emphasizes the primacy of the doctor-patient relationship. It encourages them to enter into a psychological contract in which they accept the obligations inherent in the practice of medicine: to be excellent in science, to be compassionate, and to lead lives of "uprightness and honor." The message transmitted is that doctors should "care" as well as "cure." At the end of the ceremony, the students are "cloaked" in their white coats by faculty members and recite part of the Hippocratic Oath. I have to admit I am glad that I attended. Besides pulling my head out of a book for a few hours, the ceremony helped me to refocus on my goals and provided a moment of recognition for all the hard work it has taken just to get to this point. And there was free food!

Bring it on!

2007-05-14T20:23:00.000-07:00

One week down, a million to go. After six nervous breakdowns in as many days, I have decided that I can do this! However, it will probably drive me a little crazy. I have already started talking to myself out loud on the way to school “trapezius, latisumus dorsi, come on Marisa you know this!” Fortunately, that kind of behavior is normal around here, so I haven’t been locked up quite yet. I have discovered very quickly that when upperclassmen and professors tell you that time management is crucial, THEY AREN’T KIDDING. There are literally not enough hours in the day to learn the amount of material that we are expected to have mastered by the next morning. The result of this problem is there are students that know everything about very few subjects, and those who know barely anything about many subjects. Apparently, the later is what we are aiming for to pass the tests, although you end feeling really stupid and lost most of the time. The consequence of this system is that we become jack-of-all-trades and master of none. What is sort of funny about this time crunch situation is that we are in the Caribbean, which operates on “island time”. This means that you have a list of ten things to get done (bank, buy electricity, get food, print lecture notes, etc.) and you will most likely get done with one. This creates a lot of additional stress, considering most students here are A-type personalities and not exactly “chill.” For example, I went with a friend into town today to run some errands and she needed to purchase an external hard drive for her computer. Normally, this would be a simple task (hop in the car to a best buy and swipe your credit card). Instead, it took us 1 hour to find a store that carries one and another hour for the store clerk to call his boss to drive over from home and determine how much it costs so that he could properly ring it up, etc. I think after 30 minutes my friend was about to give them a thousand dollars for it just so we could go! I am trying to take a lesson from the local people and “chill” occasionally. On that note, I have decided that no matter what, I will walk down to the beach and watch the sunset every night. The calm water and beautiful colors are natural stress relievers. Just look at how pretty it is! Miss you all!

Hold on tight

2007-05-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Several people have commented to me that I have disappeared lately. I want to assure everyone that I am alive and well. If I have been unavailable lately, it is only because I JUST STARTED MEDICAL SCHOOL! I know this is something that I am supposed to be ready for, but I have to admit I am feeling more than slightly overwhelmed. We officially started classes on Monday, so this is only my 3rd day of medical school and I'm exhausted. This is a really interesting feeling because it is not as if I didn't expect this (in fact, I have received advice from so many medical students, doctors and professors here I could write a book!). But, I am incredibly stressed out regardless of my preparations. I'm going to try to accept that there is an adjustment period and at some point I will find a study pattern that works for me. But until then, I'm just going to be a little crazy. OK, I am working on about 4 hours of sleep so I am going to take a nap now, but please know that even if I don't answer your phone calls or respond to emails right away, they are still much appreciated and I miss you all very much. Click on the picture above to see the last island tour I took to the freshwater lake (a lake at high altitude within the crater of an old volcano), Trafalger falls (twin waterfalls in the rain forest that trickle into warm sulfur springs), and Scott's Head (the point at which the Caribbean sea meets the Atlantic ocean). More stories to come...

Hazardous

2007-05-03T13:49:00.001-07:00

I was supposed to have orientation today, but instead I ended up in the health clinic. Yes, that’s right, I hurt myself again. I picked up the 15+ books that are required for my 1st semester, and subsequently fell walking with them around campus. A rock in the pavement ripped through my jeans and punctured a hole in my leg about 1/3 inch deep and 1/3 inch wide. It really wasn’t bleeding very much so a few students helped me get a ride to the health clinic where they patched me up. I am supposed to go back in the morning when the doctor is there to see if I need a stitch. This makes boo boo number two and I have been here for little over a week. I can only imagine what the nurses already think of me. The best part was that when I first fell, about 20 students rushed over to help and instead just stood around me staring. That is 20 future doctors, none of which knew at all what to do…classic.

Cabrits National Park

2007-05-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

One of the activities that Ross provided was a trip to the Cabrits National Park, including the historic Fort Shirley. When you get there, you can immediately tell that you are in a protected park. Everything is very clean and natural and there is no trash littering the paths like you see in town. It is very calm and beautiful. I think I will frequently visit there when I need a study break as it is an easy hike and only 5 minutes from school. Fort Shirley is an 18th century British garrison that was used to protect the island from French invasion. Most of the buildings are in ruins and half-hidden within the forest. I took some pictures to give you an idea of what it is like.

Embarrassing...

2007-04-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

OK, I didnt want to do this...but my mom insists that its funny and people will think it is cute. Click on the picture below to see an embarrassing video of me trying to cross a river to get to a waterfall in the rainforest. In my defense, I am only freaking out a little and that is only because there was some fish or a bug that got in my shoe.

Portsmouth Market

2007-04-30T07:08:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday there is an outdoor market in Portsmouth where everyone goes to get fresh fruits, veggies and fish. There is a much larger one in Roseau, but the school will not provide transportation there until school starts. After waking up at 5AM, my mother and I hiked to the school with our money and high hopes to catch the van into town. The market was incredible. Fresh, colorful foods were set up on tables and in baskets. The “coconut guy” was selling jelly coconuts out the back of his truck so we of course had to try some. I’m glad I quickly got out of the way because he starting swinging his machete to peel and cut the top off of two coconuts for us. We grabbed a straw and drank the juice out before giving it back to him so he could lop it in half and carve us a spoon out of the skin to eat the flesh on the inside. Mom loved it so much she had two!

We bought a bounty of food (pictured above) for very cheap. I got 2 pounds of tuna and mahi mahi for about 4 dollars! We learned that when the conch shell blows, the fisherman have come in with freshly caught fish. They clean it and cut it for you right there. I have never seen my mom have so much fun. She bought a roasted plantain and perused the merchandise happily. The hike back with all the food was a little difficult, especially since we bought a dozen eggs, but it was worth it. That night we ate mahi mahi (and cous cous that mom brought from home). We had a little bit of trouble when we tried to cook the local Dasheen root (like taro root) because apparently you are not supposed to touch the skin when it is wet (my moms arms and hand were on fire for about 2 hours), but other than that, I think I will have no problem surviving off the local food. Link to Market Photos

my see's fix

2007-04-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Before leaving for the island, my mother and I shipped ourselves a package to arrive around the same time we did. Thankfully, it arrived. However, this left us with the mess of going to pick it up and get it home. It isn’t as if we could just hop in our car, run down to the nearest Fedex and drive it back. We got specific directions from an older student on how to go about getting a taxi into town and getting our package through customs and back to the apartment. Following the directions carefully, we walked down to the main road and waited for a van to drive by with an “H” in the license plate (apparently that indicates that it is for hire). We asked them if they were going to Portsmouth and hopped in. Once we got into town, we were let off on a random corner and had to find the post office, which ended up being on the second floor of a completely unmarked building (don’t ask). After customs rifled through it and charged us some arbitrary fee, we had to split the contents between our two backpacks and pray we could make the trek back home with an additional 25 pounds of food strapped to our backs (because walking in humid 93 degree weather uphill wasn’t difficult enough). Was all that worth the cans of tuna, peanut butter, and sees candy suckers…I think so!

Dominica Day 3

2007-04-27T16:01:00.001-07:00

Ross has arranged free sightseeing tours to various parts of the island for all new students, so my mother and I have been busy taking advantage of that. The trip to the capitol, Roseau, was a beautiful 1-hour drive down the west side of the island. Roseau is the largest city here and is a strange mix of upscale stores and cafes clearly intended for tourists nestled among typical markets and outdoor vendors you might find in any impoverished area or underdeveloped country. I bought a pretty straw basket woven by one of the local Carib Indians. Next, we went to their equivalent of a Wal-Mart to get more essentials for the apartment, like plates, dishtowels, and matches for the stove (which is hooked up to a propane tank like a BBQ, so of course my father doesn’t want me to use it because he thinks I might blow myself up). Before we left, we ate lunch and drank fresh guava and passion juice at a sweet little café overlooking the incredibly blue water. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon, if you ask me.

Would only happen to me...

2007-04-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

My first blog was mostly just an overview of how we got here without many details. So, here are a few stories about what has happened here in Dominica so far:

For the last leg of the flight to Dominica, you must take a smaller plane, so there is a weight limit for checked luggage. After painstakingly packing up my life’s necessities to take with me I realized we were 30 pounds overweight and had to toss stuff overboard, so to speak. I dumped over 30 pounds of toiletries and over-the-counter medications! Even after all this, I have heard horror stories of the luggage never making it to Dominica so I was pretty worried. Our luggage miraculously made it safe and sound. However, once we got to the airport, I was so focused on finding our van and checking in with our school that I completely left our luggage in the terminal while boarding the van. If it wasn’t for mom screaming about it, I would be here naked and penniless right now. Thanks mom!

While walking back to my apartment from a school tour, my mother picked up a fallen coconut from the side of the road and decided she was going to take it home to eat. Apparently, mom has seen “Cast Away” with Tom Hanks one too many times because we don’t have any utensils in the apartment for breaking open a coconut! She has been working on it in the kitchen for the last few days and has about 1/3 of the skin off. I would say that she will never get into it, but she looks pretty determined. All I know is that coconut better be darn good.

If you saw my pictures from the last blog, you may remember the incredibly steep, rocky, slippery pathway that I have to take to and from school. Well I finally slipped on it today. Even though it wasn’t immediately painful, I could tell it was pretty bad and was gonna be bloody. I ripped a hole in the knee of my pants and cut a triangle shape into my skin. Luckily, there was a taxi van driving nearby and a student was in the back. She was nice and of course jumped at the chance to use her medical skills. She grabbed her first aid kit and patched me up. We even got a free ride back to our apartment. I am trying to look at everything that happens here in a positive light. So, if anything, I learned that if I am feeling lazy and don’t want to walk the hills backs home, I just have to injure myself in front of a medical student!

The Beginning

2007-04-24T16:49:00.000-07:00

It has been over 24 hours since my mother and I arrived in Dominica and we are still alive...barely. Getting here wasn't so bad except for not being able to sleep on the red eye flight because of a cranky baby. On the last leg of our flight, we were pretty much over water the entire trip in a jet propeller plane that was loud and small. It was less than pleasant. But, approaching the island was amazing. Directly out of the blue water, all of the sudden, we see dark green mountains surrounded by wispy white clouds. All I could think was 'Welcome to Jurassic Park'.

Once we got into the airport, it was a whole different world than we are used to. It was shocking how much it reminded me of Ghana. It was chaos, but it worked, and we got through customs, found our luggage (thank GOD!) and hopped on the bus to Ross University. The ride was a roller coaster, so dramamine was provided and I am glad I took it because one girl in our bus threw up!

After a quick check-in at the University, my mother and I headed off to my apartment that we had arranged prior to arrival. I was expecting the worst, so I was pleasantly surprised. We have everything we need, including air conditioning in the bedroom (we all know how it is to be around my mother in the heat) and a stove, fridge, shower etc. There are locks on the doors and bars on the windows (see, you don't have to worry, dad and phil) and ants every time I open anything. I guess I am going to have to learn to be a neat freak along with learning to be a doctor.

That evening, we went on a small student-operated campus tour. It was very informative and everyone is so nice and helpful. You can tell they completely understand what a shock it is to come here from the U.S. and adjust to this lifestyle at the same time as embarking on probably the most difficult academic endeavor we will ever face. I got a lot of great advice, had some really bad Chinese food and went home to pass out.

Today, we took a quick tour of Portsmouth, which is the closest town to the school, and then set out on our own to get some errands done. I had realized that, despite our careful planning and packing, we had forgotten some basic things. For example, I took a shower and then had to dry myself with the bed sheets because I forgot a towel (good thing we remembered the bed sheets though, huh?). Today was mostly errands because we needed electricity (you have to buy it in advance here and use it like cell phone minutes), food, a local cell phone, a local bank account, and internet access. We did spend some time on campus and at the beach and I uploaded some pictures of it (make sure to read the captions so you know what you are looking at). To view, click on the picture and it will take you to a new website called Picassa to show you my album there. There will be plenty more pictures to come, so don't worry. Love to all my family and friends, I miss you already.

Dominica Day 1&2

P.A.C.E. Program

2007-04-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Last week I received an email from Ross inviting me to join their PACE program (an honors program). The program was described in the email as consisting of a smaller group of qualified individuals who appear to have the potential to benefit from an interactive curriculum. It was designed for: 1) enhanced faculty-student interaction; 2) a student-directed learning schedule; and 3) a strong clinical integration with basic sciences. I have been invited to join based on my academic performance and MCAT scores, in addition to my varied extracurricular activities. Yay! I will learn more about the program and its benefits once I get to the island and I can decide then whether or not I would like to join. This is very exciting to me because it gives me a sense of validation. I know that I should be proud of my accomplishments and confident enough to feel that I belong at Ross...but its nice to know that Ross thinks so too!

Dominica links

2007-04-06T17:20:00.000-07:00

Click on the following links if you want to explore Ross University or the island of Dominica. My mother will accompany me to the island to help me set up my apartment at Harmony Apartments (check out my view!). I have my ticket (thank you Bubbe and Zeyda!) and we are officially leaving from San Diego on April 22.

Keep in touch!

2007-04-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

Several people have asked about how to get in touch with me or send me mail while I am on Dominica. Here is all the info...

Sending me mail:
If anyone wants to send me mail, FedEx and UPS takes 5 days for letters and USPS takes 2 weeks, packages take longer.

Marisa Evans
c/o Ross University School of Medicine
P.O. Box 266
Roseau
Commonwealth of Dominica
West Indies

Phone/Internet:
I will only be using my cell phone for emergencies and checking the voicemail once a week. I set up a Skype account and an AIM account for computer messaging and I will have an internet phone number that you can call like a regular phone with a 310 area code (los angeles). Email me if you want the phone number.

Skype: mapisa2381
AIM: ursmelly4