surprise, i’m going to be a street medic, mom!

Posted on March.4.2012 by erika

I found out this weekend that I have a spot reserved for street medic training. I’m very excited for this opportunity. At this point, my most loyal reader (I’ll call her “Mom”) is probably saying to herself, “Hmmm, what’s this about?” because I haven’t had the chance to tell her yet. So, Mom, this post is for you.  Continue reading →

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high school nicknames

Posted on February.28.2012 by erika

In high school, a few of us kids who were interested in medicine had the opportunity to shadow a physician. In my junior year in high school, the closest I got to medicine was when Dr. Mance, my pediatrician, allowed me to perform a urinalysis on my own pee (I was stoked when I found out I had ketones in my urine; Dr. Mance wasn’t). So I was excited at the possibility of getting closer to medicine.

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watching my language

Posted on February.23.2012 by erika

So, yesterday I had my Physical Assessment Assessment. This is where you pair up with a classmate and perform a head-to-toe physical exam (minus examining the boy and girl parts) while the clinical instructor sits in the room and stares at you with arms folded, occasionally flipping through the Physical Assessment Assessment Guide to check off each correctly performed task, and tells you whether you passed or failed.

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el corazón (the heart)

Posted on February.22.2012 by erika

For the next two weeks, my fellow classmates and I are studying the cardiovascular system in Pathophysiology and Pharmacology class. The exam will likely be a tough one, because 1) our instructor is a nurse whose expertise is in cardiology, and 2) the heart is a complex organ of chambers and muscles and electricity.

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adventures in the emergency room

Posted on February.21.2012 by erika

I’ve been to the ER quite a few times in my life. Often, as an infant for renal issues. A few times, as a child for clumsiness. Infrequently, as an adult for out-of-control migraines that left me curled up in the fetal position and crying for Mommy. And weekly as a volunteer at St. Luke’s Medical Center the summer between my first and second years in college, where I helped triage the victims of a gang fight, someone who drove a nail through their leg, and many, many MIs.  ER was my favorite TV show (Noah Wyle was so cute), and I dreamed of being a doctor in a fast-paced trauma center.

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