mighty to save: Raise Your Glass

To the last days of MY FIRST YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL.

Okay, so technically I'm not done-done until June 30th. But they launch us into 2nd year classes on May 16th so we can cover all the necessary material before the Boards next year.

A moment to appreciate what this means: Claire is in medical school? Wait, for real? That's still how I feel though I hide it well. I honestly don't know what I've convinced myself I've been doing here for the last year, but in my mind it still isn't medical school, isn't the place I will be trained for a life-long career. Back in September I wrote a post on grasping reality.

Here is my conclusion:
There are 3 purposes I am set to discover while here.
1. Why completely alone and why in Israel?
2. Why medical school?
3. Why MSIH?

The Lord in His mercy helped me catch back onto His reality and His work in my life - losing sight of the sun to your orbit is fairly disorienting. :) He has more than once answered my cries for affirmation and clear vision as to why I'm here when my heart is aching to be closer to friends and family. There is no doubt in my mind that I would not know Him like I do and like I will if I were still in the United States. He has, as it were, taken me into my own 40 days in the wilderness to prepare me for the ministry to come. And I would not be able to look into His promises for the future and into His heart for His people if I were not in Israel.

BUT, we're still in the process of trying to figure out the other two points. I find I am still grappling with the idea that I am in medical school - trying to now figure out why THAT is the case, and why in THIS specific program for International Health. This process sounds completely upside-down I know, clearly I wouldn't have to understand the 1st part if the rest weren't true. But God knows if I were not firmly planted in purpose and perspective on the first issue, I would have high-tailed it out of here by now. :)

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Month-to-month highlights! Please note: I am telling you as much as I can remember. Because really my weeks blur together in a mesh of (from Sunday-Saturday) wake up, go to class, maybe bring my lunch or maybe buy it on campus, finish class before dark on Mon/Wed/Thur, debate whether I have enough energy to go on a run (the motivating factor here is if I need to stop at the grocery, I LOVE going to the grocery/Shuq/veggie market a little too much for my wallet's good - the owner's probably think I only own running clothes), cook or pull together dinner, bake if I'm really lucky and have time, study, Skype with fam, then the best part of my day - my quiet time and sleep. Bible study on Wednesday nights! A highlight! Church on Saturday mornings. The occasional birthday or out-to-dinner. Hmm, mix in interesting conversations with classmates throughout the school day and that just about does it. :)

January: Wine and Dine tour in the hills outside of Jerusalem!
I brought a bottle of wine from Tsuba boutique vineyard home for Easter and another one that will age well to celebrate with post-med school graduation.
Also took a module entitled 'International Health Organizations' featuring the structure and set-up of governmental and non-governmental organizations around the world. My module after that was 'International Child's Health' - for my final project I went through around a hundred sites to showcase those that work with Refugee children, the measures they're using, and surveys they've given to actual children in camps to give voice to their suffering. It was completely devastating to look at the pictures of violence and abuse in a place that should be safe. Schools were cited as one of the scariest places for these kids to go, and many children wrote about how much they want their parents (for those that aren't orphans) to care about them enough to discuss physical/sexual safety and provide discipline. Stability seems to be the impossible situation for children in the camps, whether through quality (and SAFE!) educational facilities or activity centers. Anywhere the children can be monitored and use their time constructively. Even those with the innocence torn out from under them by wars crave a childhood instinctively molded in their hearts. Simple, fun, and safe.
Health care is best given in an environment of trust and mutual understanding - I can only imagine how incredible it would be to provide children with that activity center AND medicine at the same time.

February: Geneva, Switzerland with my AMAZING grandparents!!
One of the highlights of my semester. I did not exhibit an ounce of self-control when it came to opportunities to indulge in cheese fondue, chocolate, breads, and French pastries galore. I justified this by acknowledging these were all things we definitely do NOT have in Israel.

March: Jerusalem, Tensions, International Child's Health (see above), and Cardiovascular Disease Week.
Quick visit to Jerusalem for Purim - a festival that honors Esther similar to Halloween (everyone dresses in costumes). Not sure I understand the correlation fully. Things got a little sticky with our Hamas neighbors 20 miles west of here. The day I went to Ashkelon for CV week there were 2 rockets in Beer Sheva, a few in Ashkelon, and maybe 50-60 total around the desert? We were convinced another war was going to break out. CV Week - I observed the MI (Heart Attack) wing of the hospital and took a patient history on a man that was in for his second major heart attack. The moral of the story is truly to NOT SMOKE. This is especially true for Israel. In the States it is more sided to the diet and exercise component that is a main risk for heart disease. But I'm finding that the greatest factors are obesity and smoking together. It's like licking the petri dish of O157:H7 EColi and betting you won't get intense diarrhea.

April: You know your world revolves around studying, particularly Microbiology, when you begin emotionally reacting to flash cards and other inanimate sources of information.

Case 1: In order to test myself with my Microcards, I will cover the name of the disease and read the clinical vignette, noting the important characteristics, diagnostic tools, and treatments for the organism. Here we have "A child with altered mental status and seizures...His mother had similar flu-like symptoms a week before her son and treated both herself and her child with aspirin." At this point in reading the card I threw my arms in the air in exasperation and muttered, "Oh, Come on! REYES SYNDROME HELLO. You do NOT give your child Aspirin when they have the FLU!" It looks like I might have to work on my patience and non-judgmental doctor attitude a little more than I anticipated.

Case 2: You're driving when a commercial with the tag line "Immunize your children" comes on the radio. You shout (loudly) "YES YOU SHOULD VACCINATE YOUR CHILDREN!" and give the car next to you an emphatic nod (as if they heard you). I mean, come on, do you want your infant to be extra susceptible to meningitis (Hib) or pneumonia (PCV) or deteriorating myelin sheaths and a black exudate on their tonsils (DTap). It's bad enough they only have to eat a taste of honey to flop into your arms with botulism (I'm never letting my children eat honey).

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Just returned from an INCREDIBLE break at home for Pesach. It is always, always a joy to be with my family and rest in the comforts of their support. I spent most of my time relaxing with them, playing outside, driving around to appointments or studying for Pharmacology. The first Sunday I was back I got to drop-in on my old Sunday School and see so many people I came to admire and love over my time home last year! Church is SUCH A BLESSING! I'll never, ever take a church home and community for granted. :)

4 finals down and 3 to go.
Speaking of which, I should probably get back to Pathology...