Pulmonology and sutures

This week we wrapped up the pulmonology unit. The exam on Friday covered asthma, COPD, ARDS, Interstitial Lung Disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Lung Cancer, Pneumonia, sputum cultures, Spirometry, and chest x-rays. All great stuff to know.

We had a few more lectures in Behavioral Medicine: Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, Psychosis, and all of the Pharmacology that goes along with those.

We had some more lectures in Surgery. I'm not sure if they intended it to be this way, but there are a bunch of students that are terrified of surgery now. They basically emphasized how rigid the OR can be. There are plenty of ways to make someone mad or to mess up.

Friday we practiced our suturing on pig's feet. That was the highlight of the week. It was definitely fun and a great break from the usual 8-5 in the classroom. I meant to take some pictures of my not-so-pretty sutures, but I forgot. We should be doing some more this week, so I will be sure to get some pictures then.

I am really enjoying the program. We have a great faculty and they all seem to care about us and making sure we learn what we need to know. As we visit our patients in the hospital each week, we have two wonderful advisers who go out of their way to accommodate our schedules and hand pick good patients for us to see. I have heard from many students that they were told by faculty from other institutions that they should not consider Duke because they don't care about their students. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So far, this semester has been a little less time consuming. I have been able to spend much more time with my family, which has been a great blessing for me and for them. Hopefully it will stay this way.