Tim's Blog

Sometimes I feel like I live, eat, breathe, and sleep medical school and NUHS. Somehow, that doesn't leave balance for any personal time, unless one makes it so. I'm a firm believer in Vitamin R (rest, relaxation and rejuvenation...thanks Dr. Louise Edwards) and decided after the engorged schedule of this trimester and a slight lull just before finals, I would take a little time out and have an inexpensive break on a Friday night.

So, this week I will write about a trip to Chicago's Loop, or the section of downtown Chicago encircled by an elevated railway, or the El.

Friday's classes ended and I was on the train with a good friend riding to downtown Chicago! I decided it was time to visit the Christkindlmarket (funny spelling, it's German) held annually on the Honorable Richard J. Daley Plaza (who gets the reference here?). The market is set up as a traditional German and Eastern European winter market with music, food halls, ornaments, trinkets, and even Santa Claus (the European Claus who will actually bring you coal if you are naughty instead of just an idle threat). The plaza is filled with people of all ages and you pretty much stand "elbow to elbow" as you wait in line for the food, to check the vendors, or scrounge in to hear the band a bit better. I'm not normally a crowd kinda guy yet this has been one of my favorite experiences here in Chicago and I go check out the market every year.

After a couple of hours of music, Glühwein (heated spiced wine) and the crowds, we were ready for a break, so we took a stroll around Chicago's Loop to take in a bit of the atmosphere. After some leisurely walking, I ended up at Monk's Pub and the place seemed to be full of the "after 5 Friday crowd", but a great vibe overall! We grabbed a quick bite and a drink, and then took a walk back to the train station for the ride back to Lombard (a quick 40 minutes or so).

The trip was a wonderful time and having a good friend to share the experience with was icing on the cake (in moderation, of course)! The trip was so good, in fact, that I forgot to take a pic of me at the market or with the German accordion players (which I fully intended to do). So, you get a quick pic of me while writing my blog this week. Notice the disheveled hair and forced smile indicative of a 3rd year ND student nearing the end of 7th Trimester. 

I hope you enjoyed my narrative this week. Not much to say about school, just a little trip into the city to "catch my breath" before finals weeks. I'm thankful (yet again) for good friends who can keep me laughing on a train ride during rush hour and multiple times getting lost in the Chicago Loop and their understanding when I said, "If we run into the El, then we know to turn around and go back to the center." 

With that, I plan to take a nice break over the holidays, spend some time with family, catch up on my personal reading list, maybe do some hiking in the Pisgah National Forest back home, and catch up with friends. When I return to school after the holiday break, I will be entering Student Clinic as an Intern, advancing beyond "Observer" status. This means that I will have real patients for the first time! I'll be sure to share the experience along the way.

I hope each of you has a safe and fulfilled holiday season. Personally from me, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Until next January, get plenty of Vitamin R and we will catch back up!

Hi Everyone!

What an event filled week! We started out the second week of the trimester with a presentation in our Advanced Naturopathic Clinical Theory class on a simulated patient case centering on a "Welder with Respiratory Distress." After helping him take care of his bronchitis and getting him back on track to a basis for health, we took our first 'stab' at phlebotomy lab a couple of days later (bad puns are my specialty)! 

Phlebotomy Lab

In phlebotomy lab, we took a few practice turns at drawing blood from fictional patients to make sure that we had the proper technique for a safe blood draw for both patient and future doctor. Once the safety factors were mastered, the technique committed to memory and all checklists covered, we took our first turns at drawing blood from classmates! My partner seemed to have mastered the technique from the first attempt. I barely felt a thing and the entire process was over from start to finish in just a few seconds. Great job, T! I was a little slow on the first try, but had a successful draw on my second attempt. Practice makes perfect as long as your phlebotomy lab partner is willing!

Club Day

My birthday was this past Friday, and it was great! The Student Council sponsored Club Lunch Day, typically the second week of classes, where all clubs on campus set up a table, introduce their club and speak to students who may be interested in each club's focus. This is a great chance to meet all students from those just beginning their degrees to student interns as well as faculty who stop by to grab a bite to eat. Life in medical school is not all work early in the trimester (a few weeks in and I'll be singing a different tune), so Friday evening I had dinner with three great friends and ended up sitting around and chatting about the plans for Saturday!

Cubs vs. Sox

Saturday was the cap on a great week! It was my first trip ever to Wrigley Field to watch the cross-town rivalry between the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox! I'll be clear on this subject, I don't have a stake in the rivalry, so the opinion on the best team in Chicago is best left to the locals! :) I have played baseball since I was a boy (and softball for years as an adult) and always dreamed of visiting both Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago. 

I waited for the right time, and this week was it! A very good friend of mine suggested that we go to the game as a birthday gift and we had a blast! Every time something happened in the first few innings, half the crowd cheered, either for the Cubs or for the Sox. I had never experienced such balance in a huge sports crowd before. Before the night was over however, the Sox fans were the happy bunch and the Cubs fans were resigned to endure another game in a 'rebuilding' year, according to the guy sitting next to me at the game. I was filled with the history of the building, the loyalty of both groups of fans to their teams and their unending support in the face of adversity.

Made me think a little bit about the trailblazing naturopathic docs from about 30-40 years ago--their perseverance and the responsibility we new docs carry into the future. We have many happy patients who have seen the success of naturopathic modalities who have cheered when they have become well. We have many naturopathic doctors who are loyal to the principles of naturopathic care and will stick with us new docs as we enter practice and share the work of educating others about our medicine and its benefits.

Gratefulness

This week I am grateful for the enduring loyalty and respect of Chicago's people. The City of Big Shoulders believes in her teams and will stick by them through the worst of times, while accepting some good-hearted ribbing from their rivals.

I am grateful that my classmates have that same trust, loyalty and belief in each other's ability to learn, improve and perform, not only when we must, yet also when others aren't looking or gratitude may not be forthcoming. That trust in colleagues and patients is one of the best measures of a good doctor, in my opinion, and I believe our school is packed with great docs, from our most senior professors down through the students in their first trimester.

Be well!