Nanook of the North

Holy Christ I am a bad blogger! Regrets to everyone out there who reads this to keep up with me, I have no valid excuse except for a bad case of writer's block. Again, a quick rundown of the past month:

Costa Rica:
Finished up in San Jose, had a blast and have missed it since I left. The last week we were there I spent my days in an STD clinic specifically designed for the control of prostitution-spread venereal diseases. They have quite a bit of syphilis and the clap down there, but surprisingly have very little gonorrhea, mostly due to eradication programs. I was sweating off my skin down there, but after coming back to the states in October, it wasn't so bad. I will miss my Tico family down there, and all the faculty at the school. It was a great experience and I recommend anyone to go there if they have the opportunity.

Coming back to the states was a little original. I flew into PDX late Friday evening, searched around the parking lot for an hour to find my car a great buddy had dropped off. Then went back to Hillsbo' and spent the night. Next morning drove back to Seattle and then 6 hours to the hometown for the night. Flew out for Anchorage, AK the next day, unpacked (unzipped the luggage and threw it on the bed), slept till 6am for a new day, new rotation, and new medicine at Elmendorf AFB.

Alaska:
Wow, still getting my feet underneath me here. Trying to get back into medicine after 12 weeks off (remember surgery barely counts as medicine)is way harder than I expected. It was like the first day of a new high school all over again. Everyone is running around because they know what they are doing and where to go. You just gawk and stand there, hoping some AV-Club guy will throw you a bone and help you out. My preceptor is a PA, but he's also the administrator for the department, so he sees more boardrooms than patients. The other docs have been filling in, but since their schedules are basically planned with a dart board, it's kinda catch-as-catch can. I was hit with a load of bricks the first day, but I think after the 1st week I am quickly picking up speed.

Sorry this post isn't my usual funny, right now it's all about getting as much said as I can. More pictures and jokes to come soon.
JW