Island Med Student

There are times when my dorkiness shines so brightly that it casts a dark shadow on any potential coolness that I might have once posessed. This is what happened yesterday when Micah told me that I got a package in the mail from Ross University. Micah opened the package because he thought it might contain Visa information. He mentioned to me nonchalantly that the package contained a Ross University photo ID holder, and two luggage tags.

Events like receiving luggage tags in the mail wouldn’t make most adults jump up and down uncontrollably; but I’m not most adults. I tend to have unconventional reactions to small, seemingly meaningless events like buying toilet paper, spotting a bunny rabbit, or accidentally getting two cherries on my banana sundae. I was so excited that I could barely remain seated at my desk at work.

Once I got home and checked out the package, I immediately took out the little paper cards, filled in my contact information, and attached the little ties to the luggage tags. According to the letter Ross sent me, if I tie these tags to my luggage, the baggage handlers will give my luggage priority, and make sure that my stuff makes it on to the plane. I’m not sure if it will work, but it’s worth trying.

As soon as I had my luggage tags ready to go, I tried on my new Ross University ID holder. It fit perfectly around my neck! I inhaled the smell of the brand new leather and adjusted the neck strap so that it fell exactly on my chest. Yes, I get extremely excited over minor occurrences, and no, I don’t care if that makes me a huge dork.

I just read an article in the New York Times magazine concerning organ donation. Thousands of people are dying in the U.S. every year waiting for an organ. The problem with obtaining viable transplant organs is that it’s a voluntary donor based system. It’s illegal in the U.S. to be paid for an organ.

The authors of the article, Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt propose that we use economic principles to deconstruct this problem. They used life insurance as a good example. If you take out a life insurance policy on someone, and sadly they die at a young age, you profit from this tragedy. Organ donation could potentially work the same way.

I think the authors make an excellent point about the value of changing the organ donation system from a voluntary model to a free market model. If a monetary incentive were offered to donors, it would increase the supply of organs for transplant.

There are obvious objections to this model for organ donations. One is that poor people could be tempted to donate their organs without fully understanding the risks. While this is certainly true, is it fair that poor people donate their organs everyday, yet don’t receive a dime of compensation for them?

Another objection is that it’s simply “wrong” to pay someone for an organ. However, we have been doing just this for decades. Egg, sperm and blood donors are compensated for their donations.
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Last week, I faxed in my order for all of my first and second semester textbooks, stethoscope, lab coat, scrubs, and other assorted supplies. The total came to $3,158! Ouch! I didn’t plan on paying for any books or tuition until after I received my first loan disbursement, but Ross University suggested purchasing your books and supplies before you come to the island, so that everything is shipped and waiting for you when you get there. I could have purchased all of my books at a lower price on Amazon.com or some other online retailer, but the expensive shipping costs and taxes made this option end up costing more than going through the bookstore. Since I won’t receive any loan money until August 24th, this purchase had to come out of my savings. Hopefully, I will have enough savings built up by the time I fly to Dominica so that I will be able to cover all of my travel costs and rent if need be.

Today I got an email from the bookstore company saying that they have filled my order and my books and supplies are being shipped to Dominica! It’s strange how these little details fill me with so much giddy excitement and joy!
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I can’t claim that I’ve always “known” that I wanted to be a doctor. The truth is I’ve wanted to be a lot of different things throughout my life: a farmer, a singer in a chick band, a landscaper, a physicist, and even a trapeze performer. It wasn’t until near the end of my senior year in college that it occurred to me that I’d like to pursue a career in medicine. My reasons for endeavoring to become a doctor were plentiful, but the significant ones were: my eagerness to help people, an enthusiasm for investigation and problem solving, and my propensity for challenges. After I obtained my B.S. in psychology, I went back to college to complete my pre-med classes and began working at a state psychiatric hospital.

The next few years of my life solidified my decision to pursue medicine. I had a degree in psychology, and supposedly had learned a lot about human psychology via my undergraduate classes in college. However, I learned a hundred times more about psychology, medicine, and myself during my three years of employment at the psychiatric hospital.

Because I worked at a state facility, the patient population was much different than that of a private hospital. The patients had severe mental illnesses; many of them were homeless; most of them were hospitalized involuntarily; and they were all from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition, I worked on the acute/admissions unit, which means I was assigned to the most acutely ill patients. In fact, my unit was so challenging that it was usually only considered to be a temporary assignment. Most techs, nurses and doctors requested to be transferred off of my unit after a 6 month period. I stayed on the unit for over 3 years.

As a psychiatric technician, I took the vital signs of the patients, led various group therapy sessions, and most importantly, ensured the safety of all the patients. These were not easy tasks as the patients frequently screamed obscenities at me, physically attacked me and other patients, and attempted to harm themselves. My work conditions were exacting and stressful, to put it mildly; but I found to my amazement that I thrived in this atmosphere. There were certainly times when I felt overwhelmed and drained by the demanding nature of my work, but the majority of the time I rose to the challenge of caring for and helping all of my patients. Some days I came home from work physically and emotionally drained from my shift, but I felt a sense of satisfaction and pride that I had managed to survive another day at the hospital, and potentially helped some people along the way. Every day I would actually look forward to going to work. I had never felt this way about any job before in my life.

Even though many of my patients were chronically ill, and had bleak prognoses, there were always glimmers of hope. Some patients’ conditions actually improved, and they were either discharged or transferred to a more stable unit. I clearly remember one patient who had been particularly ill when he was admitted to the hospital. He was a middle aged man with a very disheveled appearance, who I’ll call John. He was suffering from a severe psychosis after experiencing a traumatic event. John was almost completely catatonic and had not spoken a word for 4 weeks. At first, all of the doctors and staff would frequently attempt to interact with and engage John. However, after months of hospitalization and many different dosages and combinations of medications, John’s symptoms showed absolutely no improvement. I learned that acceding to the prevailing practices is not really my forte. Every day, I continued to go into John’s room and talk to him. I’d ask him questions about his past and would tell him stories about my life. I even told him (what I would consider to be funny) jokes to see if I could cause him to smile. One day, I walked into John’s room with some fresh towels and I asked him where he’d like for me to set them down. “Over there on the chair,” he replied. I had to hold back my shock. I placed the towels on the chair and continued to ask him questions, to which he responded. I sat in his room for over an hour, discussing his family and some of the circumstances that culminated in his hospitalization. After I left John’s room, I told the doctors about our conversation and they were all amazed.

Eventually, John’s condition improved significantly and he was discharged from the hospital. Before he left the hospital he came to thank me for not giving up on him. He told me that he may never have come out of his catatonic state had it not been for me. He felt as though the whole world had given up on him, yet I never stopped treating him like a human being. John’s words left a penetrating impression in my mind. He truly believed that my unwaivering persistence had helped him through a most difficult period of his life. That was one of the moments that I knew I wanted to work in medicine. I had impacted someone’s life on a profound level, and I had done so by merely doing what came naturally to me.

Fast forward almost 7 years into the future, and here I am, beginning a new chapter in my life. I am currently attending Ross University School of Medicine, located on Dominica, a small country in the Caribbean. There are many reasons why I chose to attend a Caribbean medical school, but I will share those in a later blog entry.

I created this website as an attempt to chronicle my experiences as I make my way through medical school. I hope you enjoy my blog, which will be an attempt to document all of my encouragements, discouragements, adventures, misadventures, personal anecdotes, confessions, apprehensions, successes, setbacks, contemplations, and meditations. I also have a Photos Section, which will serve as a visual addendum to my medical school epic.

Thank you for visiting IslandMedStudent.com. This site is intended to be a true reflection of myself: constantly evolving, hopefully progressing, and awkwardly mutating. I document my experiences because it helps me to understand and appreciate myself, and I am gratified when my words educate, provocate, or inspire others. I’m always open to new ideas and paths of exploration, so please don’t hesitate to share any of your thoughts or suggestions with me.

I hope you enjoy my site.

~The Island Med Student
(Kendra)