Summer 2011

Seems like I should pick up where I left off even though I find it a little odd writing about 2011 when we are well into 2012.

The Thailand Summer Selective course I took through the university was an amazing experience. The first week of alternative medicine was kind of a bummer for me. The course material was not very good and then on top of that I got really sick with a bad case of infectious gastroenteritis. The scary part is that I had just finished physiology and understood what was happening to me. I was losing a lot of bicarbonate and was getting metabolic acidosis. My respiratory rate increased to compensate to dump the excess carbon dioxide. My legs started cramping and I knew that meant I was becoming hypokalemic. I drank sports drinks to replace the ions I was losing. With the help of some antibiotics I recovered just in time for the 2nd week of the course.

Week 2 at Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok was fantastic. In the day time I rotated through several specialties in the hospital and was able to apply what I had learned in the last year of medical school to understand what I was seeing. I really connected well with the hospital staff and local medical students there, they treated me like one of their own. I didn’t want it to end. At night I explored all the craziness that Bangkok has to offer. I definitely did my fair share of bar hopping and clubbing, but I couldn’t go too crazy because I had to be up early the next day for the hospital again.  When the course finally came to the end I was very sad to leave. I felt at home in Bangkok. I hope I will have the opportunity to visit again.

Next stop: South Korea! In undergrad I had many friends that either worked or studied at the international/foreign exchange section of my college. After we all graduated several of them had ended up work in or returning home to South Korea. I spent two weeks exploring and catching up with old friends. It was a dream come true to finally visit all the places I had heard about for so long, especially the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone separating the North and South.

Flying back to the US to prepare for my return to Grenada was the most depressing flight I have ever taken. I didn’t want to go back to the rock. I even thought about taking a leave of absence from the university so that I could avoid reality for just a little bit longer. But finally I bit the bullet and came back to start Term 3-4.

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