The last two weeks have certainly felt busy and even though I have done so much, I still feel like I still have so much to do! My classes have been good, we had our first round of early assessment quizzes and I was randomly assigned all of my trimester presentations early this tri, so balancing studying with other course requirements has proven to require a lot of work.

Outside of class, clinic life is amazing! At this point I have finished my training period and now am able to take histories, perform exams, and treat the patients. While I feel confident and comfortable with the process, there have been several instances of learning that have thrown me for a loop. For example, just last week I had a visit with a patient that did not speak ANY English. We were able to work through the whole visit, including analyzing X-rays taken overseas, with the help of a translator, and ended the day by providing care. While the process took a while to complete, it was incredibly rewarding reaching the end result.

Personal life has been busy too! I was unfortunate enough to come down with the flu and spent a couple of days stuck in bed recovering. After that, scholarship applications were released so I have begun working to get those done all while prepping for my family to come out and visit.

My parents came out to spend the long Presidents’ Day weekend here hanging out with me and exploring the area.

We drove out through Tampa and Sarasota and were lucky to see some manatees! This was my first time seeing them and I was very excited…for about the first 10 minutes and then I realized that they don’t really do much. Either way, we enjoyed seeing them float around, come up for air, and splash their tails from time to time – we certainly don’t have any animals like that back at home in New Mexico!

As always, if you have any questions, please email me at [email protected].