Second piece of news: The M3 year lottery has officially opened. This means my classmates and I are busy pouring over the 12 available rotation groups to decide which one best fits our schedules or fields of interest.

Our required rotations next year include psychology, obstetrics & gynecology, internal medicine, family medicine, neurology, pediatrics and surgery.

In just a few weeks (ok, more like 6) our groups will be revealed and our futures will be somewhat more certain. For now, M3 year remains part of the nebulous black hole that exists between summer break and graduation.

I have so much to report! Unusual, coming from someone who does little besides sitting at a desk reading syllabi and downing extra large coffees.

This past weekend I participated in a dental school-sponsored event called Missions of Mercy Project (or MOM, for short). Several times a year, the dental hygiene students, dental students and faculty put on these massive events to provide free dental services to rural communities. Field clinics are set up, resembling a MASH unit with portable dental chairs, dental units, x-ray machines and sterilization facilities. Patients start lining up the night before to ensure that they have a place in line that guarantees that they will receive treatment.

It was unlike anything I've ever experienced, really. Some patients I spoke with did spend the night outside, others arrived from 2:30am and onwards to save a spot in line for treatment. We were set up in a high school, where the auditorium housed triage, hallways held lines of patients sorted by big yellow signs reading extractions, oral surgery, and hygiene. Finally, the gymnasium was ground zero, where all the magic was happening. Rows of portable dental chairs were lined up: hygiene on one end, fillings and extractions in the middle and surgery on the other end. I stood on the sideline for at least an hour just taking it all in. The smell of drilled teeth filled the air. Towards the end of the day, I shadowed a young dentist in the extractions area. Our patient said he had been in pain from a decayed wisdom tooth for six months and he was ready to get it removed. It took less than 10 minutes to drill and extract the tooth. A couple of stitches, and he was on his merry way. What an awesome gift!

The med students' role was less glamorous. We worked on the front line, ahead of triage, making sure the patients were fit for their dental procedures. In two days we screened about 700 patients' blood pressures, blood sugars, and medical histories. Things moved quickly, but I did note the excitement in some patients. In particular, one woman told me she had had had all her teeth removed earlier this year and was going to receive a full set of dentures that day. Others were more tense and afraid...justifiably so. One surgeon told us he had removed all of four patients' teeth that day. It was a bloody, gut-wrenching scene in the gym. But I am trying to focus on those who came away from the day smiling.

From the desk of Almost-Dr. V:

When prepping for exams, it is of utmost importance that one stay hydrated and color coordinated.

In case I didn't make myself clear in my last couple of posts, I LOVE GI. Intestinal mucosa, hepatobiliary tree, Ampulla of Vater. I. Love. It. All.

In other news, I am participating in a school-wide Ironman challenge on top of the other fitness activities I mentioned before. It's not the real deal; we get nine weeks to complete 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of cycling, and 15,000 meters of rowing (or a lot of swimming if you prefer, and I do, but it takes longer and I have to keep up with med school afterall). Still, it's fun and we get a commemorative T-shirt for completing the challenge. I hope to finish a little early so I can focus on running for the 10k coming up in March!

And this is the new me. Well, kind of. I started this little strength training routine back in December, when I could barely lift the 45 lb bar and my chin-up count was 2. Now I am squatting 100 lbs, benching 75, and I did 11 chin-ups the other day! I feel stronger than ever.

And here is another gem from the syllabus:

"Always remember this mandamus, never forget to put your finger in the patient's anus."

Loving the GI course!

“HERE IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF ACUTE GASTRITIS, AND THIS ONE IS KIND OF FUN BECAUSE HERE WE SEE FUNGAL HYPHAE”

(Borrowed from the lovely Almost-Dr. K's blog.)

Plus, today, I got to listen to lectures on bowel disimpaction and diarrhea for hours on end in secret at the coffee shop. What the other patrons don't know can't hurt them.