White Coat Ceremony

Even though I'm not officially a doctor yet, I sure look the part now!

What is the White Coat Ceremony? It was started by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation to welcome entering medical students. We recited the Hippocratic Oath which outlines our responsibilites to the profession and community. It was first started in 1993 so is relatively new.

Our speaker was a graduate of Harvard Medical School and now teaches palliative care at Northwestern. The ceremony is about humanism and professionalism and he spoke about his experiences as a doctor that eases pain for chronically ill patients. Quite interesting. Then all of our names were called and we had a faculty member put the coat on us on stage. Pretty cool.

Then there was a nice reception outdoors and Ashley and I had a toast. I already have my sleeves rolled up for some hard work ahead of me!

One week down, 16 to go...

This week did not consist of gorgeous pictures of the outdoors. I was mostly indoors in the air-conditioned lecture halls and libraries. Let's see what I did today:

histology!

Luckily, this looks very familiar to me thanks to Dr. Lee. It is keratinized stratified squamous epithelium. Or skin.

Oh and I did a lot of biochem. We're doing regulation of blood volume, sodium levels, acidosis and alkalosis. It's really more physiology than biochem. I think next week is amino acids and more biochem-like.

Bioethics is just a 1-credit course that lasts for 4 weeks. I've taken a few courses on it at the U doing research and such so it is mostly review.

Anatomy is hard! Even though I took anatomy (like 5 years ago) I don't remember going quite this in depth. We start lab next week with the cadavers, small group case studies, and physical examinations of each other. The guys have to take their shirts off since we're doing the back and girls have to wear sports bras! I heard this is true at many med schools.

Tomorrow is the White Coat Ceremony so I am excited for that. I will get some pictures for the blog!

Classes have started

Well, I knew this was going to be hard. My full-time job is to study so that is what I will be doing most of the time. The school keeps repeating DON'T GET BEHIND! I am taking Anatomy/Embryology, Histology, Biochemistry, and Bioethics. So far, most of the histology and anatomy is review thanks to be a dermatology histotechnician and working in anesthesiology (knowing spine anatomy). But after this week, my experience won't help too much...oh well.

I found out my address in case anyone wants to send a letter or carepackage. I would love to hear from you!

Carrie McShane, Box No. 118

St. George's University

P.O. Box 7

University Centre

St. George's

Grenada, West Indies

This morning, I went to the gym. There is all new equipment!!! It was looking pretty sad last week. There was actually supposed to be a whole new student centre (with a gym) on the edge of campus but construction stopped since it would be a 3-story building at the end of the airport runway! I don't know how that plan even started...

Then I went and got my packets for anatomy and biochem and they are huge. And I signed up to be a CPR Instructor since I have taken CPR as a lifeguard for about 10 years now. It will be good experience for me to teach what I know!

I am cooking some pasta so I'd better check on that and head to class.

Aquarium

So after a day of academic orientation (learning skills for studying, time management, and stress reduction) and security orientation (Grenada is surprisingly very safe), we went out on the town. Well, out on the bus. Hundreds (maybe thousands?) of students took the bus out to Aquarium, a club/restaurant attached to a ritzy resort in Grenada.

http://www.aquarium-grenada.com/

<-- Silly pic of me with the official Aquarium Mermaid

It was dark out so the view wasn't perfect but we could still see the capital lights in the distance. Enjoying a beer by the sea can't be beat.

Here's Ashley, me, and Meg -->

It was a nice way to start the semester. It was fun and didn't get crazy. This morning I went to the beach and checked out the Orphanage Student Organization. Students go to Grand Anse Beach and play with local orphan children and make a meal for them. I guess there are fundraisers and stuff during the year too. Tomorrow there is a bazaar to sign up for clubs. I'm excited for that!

Today, I was supposed to go to Grand Etang National Forest and Annandale Falls (which I have pictures of from my Aunt Marie and Uncle Bill!) but it was pouring all afternoon. I will have to go some weekend or wait until next semester and go with the newbies. There is a BBQ tonight and then I think I'm going to chill out. It seems like the calm before the storm!

Photo Gallery

So I have decided to post my pictures on kodakgallery.com. Here is the link:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=16tgxb6h.a9jwpqtt&x=0&y=y2ci12&localeid=en_US&cm_mmc=site_email-_-site_share-_-core-_-view_photos_button

Hopefully that works!

I don't have orientation until 1PM today so I'm just dinking around in my room. I have been emailing/Facebooking my roommate and she came in late last night while I was sleeping. This morning, I was surprised to see that it was a completely different girl! Katie is a sweet girl though and I think we will be fine :) She is from Peru originally and then lived in NY for 5 years and Florida for the last year.

I should go for a walk and buy a new waterbottle today since I already lost mine. Bummer!

I have a full afternoon/night of orientation: academic, computer system ANGEL, and dorm. There is also a Welcome Back party at Aquarium and I am getting ready with a few of the girls beforehand. I'll keep you updated!

First Week in Grenada

So visiting 4 airports in one day is not recommended. I started at 5AM CST and got to my dorm at 11:30PM AST. I basically stayed up long enough to unpack and realize my internet didn't work. The next few days have gone MUCH better though!

I was adventurous and went to Grand Anse for groceries at IGA. I just got one of the school shuttles and got off where everyone else got off. Nothing seems to be labeled in Grenada. IGA looks just like a US supermarket except everything is in EC (Eastern Caribbean currency in Grenada) and looks super expensive. Then you realize it is still super expensive.

I also bought a local cell phone, went on a mini-tour of campus, registered, picked up about 800 lbs of textbooks, and went on a tour of the country capital St. George. St. George had some sweet markets:

I also met with my Footsteps Buddy, Becky. She is in her last semester and is from MN too :) I have the inside now! We even went to the first of many Wednesday night gatherings Stewart's, a bar in the True Blue Resort.

I went to Grand Anse Beach today and walked along the beach. It is one of the top 10 beaches in the world!!! I will definitely go back for a relaxing Saturday or two.