Well, here we are again. I'm a little later than usual with a summer update, but things have been busy since I got home in late May. To start with, I went to a reunion at Macalester with the Traditions, the men's a capella group I was in there. It was a blast. Josh and I stayed in a dorm room together, surrounded by other Traditions and reunionites.



It felt a lot like being in college again. It even smelled the same. Though now this dorm has an elevator, which would have made getting to and from storage in the attic a lot easier. Oh well. There was much frivolity, usually involving singing, liquor, or in true Trads fashion, the combination of the two.




It also proved to be a great time to catch up with many of my other friends who were in town for their 10th reunion. Hold on to your hats/seats, but my 10th is coming up. It's unlikely that I'll get to attend, but it's amazing to think about. By that time I will have lived in Cork for as long as I lived in Boston. And who knows what's next?!

That weekend was also host to a local street fair, Grand Old Day or something like that (it happens on Grand Ave.) I got to eat cheese curds, talk with an old friend, and see my friend Casey perform in his hip hop role, rather than as a goofy a capella singer. An excellent weekend all around.

The day after I returned from there I started at Baystate Hospital for my month-long elective in emergency medicine. If I was a better person I would have done more writing as I went through that experience, but I'm not, so I didn't. It was a great month though. From the staff at the parking lot through to the Chief of the department, everyone was friendly, helpful, and seemed happy to be doing what they were doing. It was eye opening, considering how cranky the nurses and porters tend to be in the Boston area. I got to examine and take histories from patients, help form treatment plans, learn (and utilize) new suturing skills, spend time in the sim lab, have tutorials, drink bad coffee, and spend an evening with some paramedics. I loved it. So many patients, so much pathology. My first shift epitomized what I love about emergency medicine. As I walked in, there was a patient crashing after a crack binge, someone who had had a stroke, and a child having an asthma attack. There are few, if any, situations outside of an emergency department where all of those people present at once.

A couple of patients stick in my mind. One was a 100 year old man from Kerry. He didn't seem at all surprised or interested that I greeted him in Irish, but his children were delighted. He was fine. 100 years old and didn't need a single pill. Another woman came in with benign positional vertigo, which anyone who has had it will tell you is far from benign. Anyway, in the course of investigating her illness we ran some bloods and it turned out she had a million platelets. The normal number would be somewhere between 150-400. I never did find out what that was all about.

As soon as that month ended, I was straight into studying for the USMLE Step 2, a continuation of the licensing exam I took last summer. Lots of studying. I did much better this year than last, which is a relief. The scores are an important part of my application for residency, especially coming from a school abroad. One of the exams (it was a 2-parter) brought me to Philadelphia where I got to catch up with some more old friends.

It wasn't all work, though. I had 2 wonderful weekends in Maine with Kate, and lots of visits in between, since it turns out Middle St. is closer to her job than her own apartment. She was also able to join us on the Cape for a few days which was excellent.

All in all it was an excellent summer. The work was rewarding, and my time with Kate and my family was marvelous. Or "grand, like" in the local vernacular. This brings us to the start of the school year, which we're all expecting to be my last. But that's for a different post.

So long, and thanks for all the fish.