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| Today started off like any other day here at Ross University. Got up, sat down and started studying. Today I've been studying pathology. Problems with the eyes, the skin, the central and peripheral nervous systems, and now the bone and soft tissue. All of this heavy information about what can go wrong with the body. Well I had the impulse to go out onto my deck for a short study break. I was standing there thinking of Tropical Biology, and how we learned that every tropical island has a certain set of things that happens in the first 1000 yards off the sea. First you have a mangrove swamp, then you have dunes, with salt resistant plants, then you have the dune valley, which has your first fresh water in it, and then you slowly move over to non salt resistant plants. Well I'm here to tell you that it's not 100% true. I'm living on a tropical island, only 14°N of the equator, and there are no mangrove swamps, no dunes, and almost every plant on this island is salt resistant. But I digress... As I was standing there thinking of tropical biology, it came to me that I don't really pay all that much attention to the sea. So I looked out, and to my great joy, I saw a whale breaching out of the water and slapping it's tail on the sea. What an amazing sight, and in great contrast to the death and disease of pathology! | | |
| I'm currently attempting to study for my first exam of this semester. Mainly on the cardiac and pulmonary systems. And in the midst of all the fun that Dilated Cardiac Myopathy is, I got the urge to check up on some friends blogs and websites. So being the diligent student that I am, I moved my study notes aside and started up the good-ol' internet. In reading and looking at pictures of my three best friends, I've realized something... We all ended up odd. I've been friends with these three guys since we were all in diapers, we grew up together, church nursery to Sunday school, to Pioneer clubs to the youth group. We were always close, and always getting in trouble together, like by all four of us falling into an open grave at one of the churches pot luck dinners. So back to being odd... I suppose I could redefined that as we couldn't have ended up as more different people. One of my friends, the second youngest, is married, graduated from the Academy (if you don't know which one I'm talking about, than your not from Maryland), and is now a Marine doing those things that only 'The Few, The Proud, The Marines' do. The one closest in age to me is an actor, living in Lancaster, he loves to sing gospel and proclaim the Gospel. The youngest, our Pastors son is head-over-heals in love with a woman I've never met, loves to take modern photography, that it takes me a good 45 minutes to understand one picture of, is into saving the planet, and interesting rock music. Then there's me, I've ended up a half crazy medical student in the Caribbean, who loves classical music, intellectual though and staying out of the sun. It's amazing how people who grew up together, went to school together, knew each other so well, have turned out so different, and odd! | | |
| So I've made it to fourth semester. Kind of crazy, lots of information to learn, not a lot of time to learn it. It's going to be a good time. Found out a couple of my friends are now engaged, another got married over Christmas break. I guess this is the age.  Lord willing an no hurricanes come, I'll be done with Dominica in April and will be moving back to the US for good. Miami here I come, only 99 more days! | | |
| I got back my exam results. It looks like this repeating thing is working. My results were very positive with 1A and 2B's. We get grades for each of the different subjects, not the test as a whole. These results are better than any I got last semester. Hopefully this will continue, so that I can have good padding for the whooping that is awaiting me in fourth semester. Beyond the joy of getting my grades, I have another joy. Cable and Wireless have gotten their acts together and fixed my internet. All I can say is government run and sanctioned monopolies of essential services is the dumbest idea in the world! (I am now getting off my soap box) And now it's time to get back to studying!!!! | | |
| Well, for whoever looks at my blog, they know that I haven't written in a while. I guess that's partly because things are going crazy here on Dominica. If I'm reading my own blog correctly I haven't written since last year, give or take a month or two. So for the update.... - Passed Second Semester
- Aced a lot of my shelf exams
- Took on Third semester
- Failed Pharmacology by 1 point!
- Dr. Szarak made me repeat
- Got angry about repeating
- Realized that it's a good thing to be a third again
- will still be an MD in 2.5 years
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