The Excitement of Rotations

It has been such a blast to begin rotations and get my first taste of "real" medicine. I learned a lot in my first two years, but almost all that knowledge was passed to me by a book. Books are essentially people writing about their ____ (experience, knowledge, dreams, etc) so that people can share the ____ without actually having their own ____. Thus, I am very excited to set the books aside (to a large degree) and brave the world of helping real people.

It really is a test of bravery because the next two years mark the transition from brain to hands - quite a leap. It is not unlike the instant when a baby bird is no longer watching others fly, but is pushed from the nest. I claim the following adjectives... unnerving, intimidating, fun, practical, changing, and novel. I am so glad to be where I am. I am glad that God has carried Melissa and I through the first two years of medical school. I am glad to have such a beautiful, supportive wife as I negotiate my education. I do not believe passing my first two years would have been possible without her continual help.

Here is a list of my rotations thus far and a few highlights from each:

1. July 2008 - Dr. David Asher - OMT specialist at his clinic in Tulsa

• Dr. Asher is a Christian physician who takes care of chronic pain patients. He has designed his practice specifically to cater to his strengths in loving people. He takes over an hour with each patient, using that time to fully explain the confusing medical stuff and to perform thorough OMT on them. He showed me a great example of applying ones strengths in order to love people well.
  

1. Aug 2008 - Dr. Steve Nussbaum and Dr. Barbara Rygiel - two ER docs at their ERgentcare clinic in South Tulsa

• Both docs are also physician Christians! I am so blessed to have had two rotations under Christian preceptors. What a great way to start my clinical education. Melissa and I very aware of the need for more than cold, clinical information. I need watch Christ's love flow through the hands of His servants, so that I can model it.
  
• On this rotation I performed my first stitches!! Very cool! I actually saw several of my patients come back to have their stitches removed, and they healed up very nicely.
• I did two volunteer days at an ER with Dr. Nussbaum. Great chance to get early exposure to emergency medicine, since I am earnestly praying about it as a specialty.
  

1. Sept 2008 - Dr.Pickard - my required Family Medicine rotation at a clinic and hospital

• I took a mini-class on medical jurisprudence. Sounded quite intimidating, but what it amounts to is "how to not get your tail sued off." Said more nicely, "here is the law, follow ye in it." It was actually quite fascinating... now I know what tort means. Yay.
  
• Which brings us to today. I helped definitively save the life of my first person!!! WOAH! I helped on an emergency code and did chest compressions (CPR). I was crazy nervous! (even though all I did was push up and down... not very complicated) The amazing part is that the person who "coded" was successfully rescucitated. Apparently this is actually not very common.
  

I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had to learn. Melissa and I are earnestly praying for direction in the looming life decisions ahead of us. What specialty to choose? What organization shall we partner with? Who will go with us? What nation will we serve in? These questions and many more we are laying before God: He alone knows our path.

If you would like to keep us in prayer, here are a few areas in which we could truly use your prayer:

• Global Health Medical Conference. This is a huge gathering of people with hearts and passions similar to us. Sending organizations, individual missionaries, medical students, fantastic teachers, practical knowledge workshops... the list goes on. We are praying for favor with my November preceptor to get time off for this.
• The next step. We desire to start preparing now for the future God has planned for us. My medical education and Melissa's M.Ed. are like one-size fits-all T-shirts. We want to start focusing our activities and energies to tailor our the "shirt" to our specific calling. While we would love to know many details about the future, we most earnestly desire the next step.