The clinic wasn't too busy Monday, but I did get to see a really nasty set of tonsils that are coming out soon, and I learned all about trigger finger, a condition where the groove a tendon in the hand slides through becomes enflamed or narrower and the tendon can get caught on the groove, leaving a person’s finger as if they were holding a trigger ( Read more... )

This weekend was a lot of fun.  Friday morning I drove out past Dollywood, through the Smoky Mountains, and had lunch on Clingman's Dome, the highest peak in the whole range.

This is the view from Clingman's Dome.  Notice the clouds on the right side, just a few feet away from me, that rolled in for a minute and covered the mountain just after I ( Read more... )

The past two days have been really busy, so I’ve gotten to pack a lot of learning into each day.  Mary is letting me do adult exams on my own now instead of just the kids.  I love doing the adult exams, but now there is a whole new set of questions I have to remember to ask that I didn’t need to do with the kids (i.e. did you get your mammogram? ( Read more... )

Monday at the clinic we saw some pretty interesting cases and ended up not leaving until about 8:15 pm.  I usually am done by 7 or 7:15, but the last handful took a while.

Some of the interesting cases were:

Three people with depression.  One’s was an elderly woman whose husband was cheating on her with the trampy older woman across the street, but ( Read more... )

This weekend was very low key.  Friday I went to Rugby, this old English settlement that has a present population of 85 people.  Many of the original structures have been restored so it is kind of cute.  There wasn’t much there, but a few weeks ago they had the Rugby Festival where they do all sorts of old English games and crafts and such. That is ( Read more... )

This morning I went back to the Children’s Center.  Sheila (the one I work with at the schools and also the one who first brought me to the Children’s Center) had a family emergency so she asked if I could take her place at the exam.  She was not doing the exam, just assisting.  It is required by law that there is another medical person-doesn’t ( Read more... )

“TURN YOUR HEAD AND COUGH”

I learned all about that today.  I also learned that 17-year-old guys are NOT my favorite population to work with, and I imagine 24-year-old girls are not their preferred providers for physicals. And he didn’t look happy when I asked him, in front of his mom, if he did a monthly testicular self-exam.

This kid came in for a ( Read more... )

So I made a pretty big decision this weekend.  Country music apparently brings me mental clarity.  I have decided to change my specialty from pediatrics to family medicine. I wrote a letter to my school today, and I hope that I will be able to make the curriculum switch.

I love working with kids, especially the elementary school age group.  They ( Read more... )

Tuesday morning I woke feeling like a  90-year-old granny.  My hips were killing me from the previous day’s trek, but it was an easy day at the elementary school clinic so I kept my moaning to a minimum.  So far, the clinic hasn’t been very busy.  Since school is out, they are not getting the sick student population (or the kids who want to go home ( Read more... )

So this entry will be short because I am TIRED.  I went for a hike today with the Smoky Mountain Hiking Club and the North Carolina Mountain Club to Max Patch and Lemon Gap in North Carolina.  It is part of the Appalachian Trail.  It was an 11.2 mile hike done in a little over 6 hours.  It is an intermediate level hike according to the club, but ( Read more... )