This is a true story

Yesterday I was at my favorite grocery store in Atlanta, buying lots of delicious groceries (Florida corn is 39 cents an ear right now!) doing my thing, enjoying a nice afternoon to myself.  So I get to the checkout line, and while I’m being rung up, the cashier asks me if I could help her with some information. Her English isn’t great, so I grab my license and I’m assuming she’s carding me (I bought more than just the corn).  She laughs and explains that actually, she’s having a problem. She’s been having a problem with her eye for the last 2 months and she’s not sure where to go.  I ask dose she have health insurance? She does not. She also doesn’t live in a county served by Grady. Hmm.

Well this would be the end of the conversation, except she randomly  happened to select, out of all the patrons of this very large retail establishment, a first year Emory medical student.  Do I know where she can go for free or low cost medical care? Yes, of course I do. I happen to volunteer in one of our (that’s right, we have several) student-run free clinics a few times a month.  This is my thing, this is what I do.  How did she select me? No particular reason. Just the universe working in mysterious ways.

So we exchanged phone numbers, and I got in touch with the clinic directors, and now hopefully I’ll be seeing my new friend soon in the clinic.

How cool is that?

I’m a blogger

My grandparents would be so proud if they knew what that word meant. I can’t believe Dwight hasn’t even written one post yet. Slacker. I like this idea of current students blogging, hopefully for the benefit of prospective students. I remember being so nervous/excited/anxious right before orientation started because I just didn’t know what to expect. Now I feel like that was 100 years ago, and I can barely remember what it was like to not be a medical student. For the record, being a medical student is way better than not being a medical student.

Right at this very moment, what I’m most excited for is my cardiology exam this Friday. Just kidding. My feelings towards that are more the diaphoretic, tachycardia inducing type. You know, like in heart failure. What’s actually exciting is the following week, which is Spring Break! This year, I’m specifically looking forward to my first trip to Puerto Rico! I’m going with the Medical Spanish Interest Group down to Ponce School of Medicine to hang out with students there, round in the clinics, and hopefully improve my medical Spanish. Also I hope I can learn about Puerto Rican culture. Especially the beach culture, I really want to examine the beach culture carefully. How is the beach in the afternoon? Who likes to hang out at the beach? What kind of food is most commonly enjoyed at the beach? You get the idea. The worst part about things to look forward to is how hard they make focusing on the present. Now back to the pathophysiology….

[ignore that date, this is actually from 4/08/11]