Once again, all I can say is wow :). These last two weeks have been incredibly packed, but I have been loving every minute of it. The main reason I didn't write last week is because I had my first paper due (yes I am working over here, haha), and had to devote a lot of time to researching and narrowing down a very broad topic for my sociological and psychological studies module. Along with writing the paper, the week after I got back from Dublin I had one of the most interesting Practice of Medicine classes so far. Paid, professional actors came in and gave the class different scenarios to work out in order to give us practice talking to patients. I'm happy to say I didn't have any problems with the task of dealing with a talkative patient, but it was interesting to watch a lot of my classmates go through the process and see how they dealt with different problems. I also had a lot of other good news last week, mainly in that I got accepted into the masters program in Bioethics at Case and that I am a grandbig in my sorority Phi Mu. In regards to the masters program, as a result of getting accepted into the Integrated Graduate Studies Program at CWRU, I will graduate with a B.A. in Psychology, two minors in chemistry and biology, and a M.A. in Bioethics all in four years. I am really excited about the masters since I have taken a few bioethics courses before and have absolutely loved them. I am also really excited to be a grandbig to Mara G., (Mara is my little's (Alexa F.'s) little) and am so happy that my sorority family is growing.
Last weekend, along with writing my paper, I spent Saturday exploring Portobello market in Notting Hill with a few friends. I didn't buy too much for myself, but I did manage to get another amazing cupcake from the Hummingbird bakery. The market was amazing and was filled with everything from vintage jewelery to freshly made crepes. There is still so much of London that I need to see, and I can't wait to spend a few weekends exploring. I also went on a hunt to watch the Canada vs. U.S. Gold metal hockey game on Sunday night which ended up turning into a night walk around London with another group of friends. We did eventually find a bar that was showing the game, but due to the building being filled to capacity and the fact that there was no places to sit, I ended up ducking out early. It was definitely an experience though, mainly because most people were rooting for Canada.
With paper writing and classes, this past week was mostly devoted to studying and writing. One of the coolest parts of the week was again the Practice of Medicine class where we learned how to take medical histories. The class was made even more exciting because the guest lecturer went to Case for his residency. I love how well known my undergrad institution is in the medical field and I hope it will assist me on my path to medical school.
All in all, my favorite parts in the past two weeks definitely occurred during the past few days. This past weekend I went to Wales for the IFSA Butler Adventure Weekend. Since the trip was originally included in our tuition fees, over 200 students studying abroad in London left Friday morning for a five hour coach ride to northern Wales. After arriving at the Queen Victoria Hotel in Llanberis, we had a buffet dinner and then had a pub quiz with various categories. While the hotel reminded me a little bit of the hotel from "The Shinning," I had a great time Friday night exploring the building and talking to one of my roommates for the weekend.
Saturday morning we had to be up bright and early for our two adventures. Since I registered early, I got my first choices and was able to go on the half day hike and go repelling. When I signed up for the half day hike, I was definitely thinking more along the lines of nature walk, but while my heart was racing, I made it to the top of one of the mountains in Snowdonia. I felt fantastic after the hike, and am hoping I get to do a little more hiking when I get back to the states. I also did repelling in the afternoon, which was a blast, even though I was admittedly a little scared. Since I've done repelling before in tenth grade, I knew what to expect. Nevertheless, standing on the side of a cliff made me over think my fear of heights. It was definitely worth it though, and I am so glad that Butler put this trip together for us since I would never have organized something like that on my own. Saturday night we had a wonderful dinner at the hotel and had a pretty amusing dance party afterwards. While the music was not exactly what the majority of us wanted to hear, we all had a good time dancing and meeting new people.
Sunday morning we woke up early for breakfast and headed to the seaside town of Llandudno before heading back to London. The town and the weather was beautiful, and I'm glad I got to walk along the pier and have inexpensive fish and chips. We then got back on the bus and went home, all while singing songs and catching up with people from the first orientation.
Finally, even though I was exhausted from the weekend, yesterday was absolutely incredible. I began my day at 6:30 in the morning, and saw two abdominal myomectomys (the removal of fibroids) for three hours, one cardiopulmonary bypass surgery with six bypass grafts for four and a half hours, and nine general practice consolations for three hours. While the abdominal myomectomys and gp consultations were incredibly interesting, my favorite part was definitely the cardiopumonary bypass surgery. Don't read the rest of this paragraph if you get squimish!!!! Anyways, Josh, another one of my classmates from the Practice of Medicine Class, and I were always positioned perfectly so that we could have easily reached out and touched everything during the surgeries. While I have seen a a ton of different Ob/Gyn surgeries, the bypass was so different than anything I had ever seen before. This was mainly because we saw them use a surgical saw to cut open the patent's sternum and then saw the lungs working and the heart pumping. Due to the surgery being a bypass, we also saw them shut the lungs and heart off while the cardiac surgeon placed grafts from the I.M.A.s, a radial artery, and a long saphgnous vein around the blockage in one of the arteries. Finally, it was incredible to see the surgeons tie the chest back together with surgical steel. It was so interesting, and all of the doctors were wonderful in that they answered all of my questions. I also liked how the doctors were listening to Led Zeppelin and ACDC while they were preforming the surgery since it reminded me of surgical experiences I have had while shadowing in the U.S.A. While the bypass surgery was a lot bloodier than I thought it would be, Josh and I learned so much that could not have been possibly taught in a classroom.
I am really excited about the rest of this week as well since I will be doing a lot more shadowing, seeing the musical Wicked again, and going on another day trip with Butler. I am definitely expecting the next few months to be even busier than then the first two, and I am so happy to have this opportunity to study abroad. Keep sending emails and I miss everyone back home in the U.S. :).
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