Week 11 (wait what?)

Wow...  I just realized how long it's been since my last post.

In the midst of all those double speed lectures it feels like my life is on double speed.  oh well...  Today we start the Respiratory Module of our last block.  We finished with Cardiovascular yesterday, and I was sad to see it go.  Really enjoyed the Heart.  It's not like its the last I've seen of it though.  oh no.  plenty of studying to do, not counting the time we go over it again in semester 3.

I'm trying to think of interesting things to write about, but honestly my life is pretty dull.  Lecture every day, Radiology and/or anatomy on tuesdays and thursdays.  PBL on Fridays.

Church on sundays.  RCF is amazing.  I love churches like this, we all come from different places, we definitely don't agree on everything, sometimes not on much of anything, but somehow everybody cares about and supports each other.  The worship is contemporary, and it's an escape to spend time with God.  I've been bad about setting time aside during the week... It seems that I get caught up in the struggle to stay on top of the material and forget the more important things at times.

Other things on the island are great.  It continues to amaze me how much of the grass here is mowed with weed eaters... no matter what, there's always someone somewhere that you can hear buzzing away as you walk around outside.   (Someday I'll add pictures here...)

Looking forward to christmas break and coming home for a couple weeks.

I gotta go now, Dr Shams is starting in on Respiratory Physiology, and to better I pay attention, the easier to decipher the notes later.

God Bless....

colin

Week 4...

wow...  seems so weird that I've been here 6 weeks already...

I'm in a pretty good routine.  which is to say I haven't really got one.  I try to work when awake.  thats about it.

The weather's been pretty crazy...  I remember people in Ohio telling me if I didn't like the weather, I should wait 10 minutes.   Even crazier here...  Wednesday we got visited by Tropical depression Orphelia.  (weird name for anything, not to mention a storm)  that was spectacular.  It was only a depression because the winds weren't very bad... 20 mph or so...  but the rain...  geez...  I think we got a foot of rain in 12 hours...  some of the roads that I normally walk down going to campus?  I was literally wading down them... about 6 in of flowing water on them.   I think we've probably got 6 feet of rain since i've been here...

So today I'm spending all afternoon studying and catching up on some lectures...  Should be fun.  lol embryology and some other stuff.  That was a fun class, if a little detail heavy.  so gotta study

Friday's our Mini 1 Part 2 (for those who don't know what that means I'll explain.)

Our curriculum is an example of the new style of Medical education that schools in the US have started to turn to.  Instead of being a traditional style, or what is called a discipline-based education, we have a systems-based education.  Discipline based is where you have a class on Histology, a class on Anatomy, a class on Biochemistry, etc.  with midterms, finals, and what have you.
In a Systems based curriculum, they have taken all those disciplines and coordinated them so that when we deal with the histology of the liver, we are also dealing with the biochemistry of the liver, and the anatomy of the liver.  It allows for the different classes to reinforce each other rather than compete with each other.  Supposedly It makes things easier to learn, and so far I have to agree.  It's something thats only possible in a school like a medical school where they only have one program.

So what that means, is that instead of each prof making up exams, they just make up questions that they contribute to a collective midterm, called a Mini.  our semesters are split into 3 blocks, each of which is 2 modules.  at the end of each block we have a Mini that covers that block and that block alone.  After a semester's Mini 3 we have a week to study before a comprehensive final for that semester.

To help us adjust to the system, they actually split Mini 1 into 2 parts and we had part one after about 2.5 weeks.  the second part of it will be the end of next week, at the end of Block 1.  So I'm a week short of being 1/12th done with my time on the island...  It's started to go fast...

Well, I need to head back to the books...
email me if you want.
I'm not great at replying but I am good at checking it. and its the fastest way to get my attention if you need to.

Diving and more.

Well today was fun.  Walked down to the school for my campus tour at 9, only to find out it had been rescheduled for this afternoon at 2:30.  Went to the bank and set up my account. Found out that I shouldn't buy a cell phone til friday when they're cheaper, checked out a student sale on the deck where I scored a couple of cheap surge protectors and ate a good beef hotdog with kraut. Went to my apartment and found out I can move in tomorrow.  Then we walked over to the dive shop and I cancelled my dive for the afternoon because of the tour I was scheduled for.  Absolutely melting by this point we went to Rituals, a sweet starbucksish coffee shop here and got some iced coffee.  Ran into Tim, a new friend from RCF there reading his Bible and he offered to give me his own version of the tour.  so we did that.  it was cool

In the afternoon we went diving.  Epic.  saw tons of fish.  even saved some from some abandoned crab pots that we stopped and freed some fish from.

great day.

notice I ended up skipping the official tour to go diving after all.  I recommend that choice to everyone. :D

Dominica, here I am...

So I had written this large post with details of the entire trip down here and for some reason when I let someone make an internet call it all went away... lol  so I'll spare you.  good trip down,  enjoyed San Juan.  seeing the standard US highway signs with spanish on them is a trip.

Dominica is amazing.  the locals are incredibly friendly!  Friday we went out for seafood.  spend 100 EC dollars on a lobster dinner with drinks.  thats about 40 US for 2 people to eat very well!  so good prices.

We're staying at the Comfortel de Champ.  It's this cool hotel at the top of the hill.  Amazing view!  however, I would definitely hate to stay here during school.  It's a huge hill to walk up :D.  Good exercise.

Saturday morning we rode down to Roseau on the bus that Ross U. provides every weekend.  Cool little town.  (to the shoppers out there, you would love it) tons of market space on the streets and even more little shops.  Some cool old buildings that I'm sure have been around since the British Colony days.  We browsed the IGA, found a card reader for my camera, (thought I was stuck without it), ate some amazing chinese food (apparently foreigners on this island are supposed to survive on chinese food and fried chicken), and ended up at a coffee shop called rituals.  Professional as any starbucks back home, they made us some very good blended iced coffees.   Saturday afternoon we walked around the campus after we got back, went and ate some KFC!!!!  and were headed back to the hotel when we were blessed with what I later found out was the edge of Tropical Storm (or is it hurricane by now?) Irene.  Supper was hamburgers on the deck.  so-so food.

Today (that would be sunday), we went to Ross Christian Fellowship in the morning.  It's a wonderful group of saints, supporting each other as best they can during their time here at Ross.  I met 3 different Professors at church and a really amazing guy who is dedicated to Mission medicine and brought his cool family down with him!  We headed out after lunch to meet them for snorkeling but most of them were already heading back in.  It seems the storm made to water too murky to bother with.  Dad and I went out for about an hour but it was mostly worthless.  The water was fantastic though!  We ate lunch at KFC again.  I think I like that place.  Made reservations to dive a reef tomorrow afternoon.  And ate supper at the HONG KONG chinese restaurant.  :D

So that was my weekend.  Some Internet phone calls mixed in... some other stuff...

Tomorrow starts with a campus tour.  Hope to get a bank account set up, and maybe buy a local cell phone.  We'll see.

Thank you all for your prayers and support.  God is Good, All the Time!

In Christ,

Colin

Ps. I don't know how to put pictures on here yet but I'll figure it out when I get a chance.  Maybe tomorrow night.

On the way...

Well we're stopped for the night in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Found out that I don't have anything with me to read the card in my camera.  Oh well, I'll figure something out.  Anyways, a better update later, I'm exhausted.

All Glory To God.

Starting out...

Well I was reading blogs by medical students, and I thougth, "why not?"  So I'm going to give it a try.

I'm Colin.  I am a 27 year old about to start medical school at Ross University in September 2011.  I have a lot to say but usually think better of it before it gets said, so this seems like a good way to get some of my thoughts and experiences recorded for the enjoyment of others.

Today I finally have a lease agreement in hand for an apartment that seems to have what I'm looking for.  I plan to stay at the Hamylton Place apartments, at least for the first semester.  It was a bit of a toss-up between them and what seemed to have a nicer kitchen at the Christie Alcid apartments, but in the end the close proximity to campus won out.  I certainly hope I know what I'm getting myself into.  It's supposed to be close to the back gate to campus and close to the beach as well... we shall see...

Anyhow, you can pray for me.  Seems like the to-do list is getting smaller every day.  Thank you Lord for your guidance and peace...

God Be with you All!