First Patients

Greetings everyone,

All the upperclassmen at SMU are filled with advice and warnings. They warned, second semester is the hardest. While all advice I've been given hasn't been correct, these warnings were right on. I'm so sorry that my phone calls/updates are few and far in between.

To add salt to the wound, we had some very sad news last night. Dr. Sreenathan, the dean of student services and our neuroscience professor has just received news that his mother has become terminally ill. He is flying to India on Saturday for the remainder of the semester. With extra classes in the day and evening this week, we will finish our course. I think he is an amazing man for taking time to teach us before he goes to see his mother-something I can say I would not be strong enough to do. However-that adds a lot to our plate as students this week. Today, we have 3 extra hours of neuroscience, tomorrow six. I don't even like to think about Wednesday will bring. I feel bad for many of my classmates whose family members are here to visit (white coat is Saturday), because they will have almost no time to spend together.

Switching gears a bit-I had an amazing experience in Cayman this Saturday. The Cayman Heart Fund had a heart fair on the island for local citizens. At the fair, citizens come in for free screening-BMI (height/weight calculation), blood pressure, and glucose & cholesterol screenings, followed by a consultant with a doctor to talk about lifestyle improvements or if medication was necessary. It is a great opportunity for the citizens to be checked, and a great opportunity for the medical students helping to practice basic medical skills. For the first 3 hours, myself and 3 other students (2 4th semesters, 1 2nd semester, and myself), took the blood pressure of 123 patients. I was nervous-obviously, but the process went smoothly, and wearing a white coat and having patients trust you was exactly what I needed to jumpstart the second half of this difficult semester. Every blood pressure that I took-with the exception of one-was prehypertensive or hypertensive (above normal). I took the blood pressure of a 32 year old woman who had never had her blood pressure taken. The next three hours I spent away from the equipment, screening the citizens before they began. I asked medical questions, as well as questions about lifestyle and daily stress. I met an eldery woman whose house has burned down twice in the past five years, and whose husband died last month. She managed to squeeze out a smile, and told me not to feel bad because "God is good".

I am so thankful for the volunteer opportunity, and a chance to have my head somewhere other than my Physiology book. Please keep my neuroscience professors mother in your prayers. I miss you all terribly.

And still, God is so good to me.