That's the first time today I've turned on this computer. I can see already that my time will be all eaten up by school. When there is just an hour or two between classes, it disappears so quickly I don't believe there was really an hour there. I did get a lot done today, though. Printed and made copies of things, got my government check (student aid from Fannie Mae, bailed out by you and me) and deposited it in my bank. Got some antifungal stuff at the local drugstore for my funky raft guide toenails. One of which has been really bothering me. Worked a 4+ hour shift at the "information desk". And first thing in the morning I went to a class called Clinical Physical Diagnosis and later to Lab Diagnosis Lab. There's a Lab Diagnosis Lecture too, haven't been to that yet. I also spent a little time sunning up on the roof, but the sun felt low and weak and was behind a veil of clouds at 3:30pm today. Already it seems like fall.
Lab Diagnosis Lab is called "Stab Lab" by the students, with a mixture of affection and dread. I get the idea that most of these students have no intention of becoming proficient at drawing blood or evaluating urine, but this is EXACTLY what I am in medical school to learn. I fully intend to have my own microscope and centrifuge and a few other odds and ends that allow me to assess people's fluids and tissues, and culture microbes, without having to send it off and await someone else's assessment. I was pleased to find that using the tourniquette it is much easier to palpate veins. So THAT is why they use it!
I am so happy to now spend a year studying diagnosis instead of basic science. Phew. I think I may have made it past the hardest part for me....the drudgery of the basics, the drumming in of basic scientific and medical language that the youth in my group were learning for the first time. Oh, if I had only known this was what I wanted to study in 1989, when I became a raft guide with a new bachelor's degree. I would have such a lead on where I am now.....but it must have happened for a reason. I must trust that those years I spent cooking in the sun and floating on the cold clear waters did something for me that no other experience could have.
