live from the fish hook capital of Canada!

what a claim to fame... Kenora is also the home of 'Husky the Muskie'. Apparently it is the feisty muskies that are responsible for many of those pesky injuries. I've only worked 4 shifts in the ER, and already i've removed as many hooks from various rueful anglers. I'm becoming an expert at the string technique, passed on to an observant MD from native fishermen in New Zealand who've done it that way, albeit without aseptic technique for thousands of years (or so i've heard). It's quite a slick method, that much is sure.

for more info, refer to http://www.ncemi.org/cse/cse1017.htm

I'm in Kenora for a 4-week ER block, to round out my first year of residency.
Yikes! i can't believe it's almost half-finished already! it's remarkable how much has happened in the interim, how much i've learned...

in other news, since my last post life has been quite full and juicy-

- i met my boyfriend at that halloween party - spending time getting to know him may have something to do with the decreased posting frequency thereafter... i came as a super hero and he had a fabulous home-made 'Doc Oc' costume (ie. a super villain) i guess it's inevitable that sparks would fly!

- work wise - after a couple of months of fam med in TBay, i moved on to a busy month of ER at the Regional Health Centre, also in TBay. That was interrupted by a short 'green Christmas' vacation at Glenmount.

In January, i did an international elective in Nigeria - joining my parents and an eclectic interdisciplinary team of 'Friends of Mkar' for a medical mission for 3.5 weeks. It was overwhelming. I'll post more about it sometime, if i can figure out how and what of those experiences to share in this medium... I had some pretty major reverse culture shock upon return. The busy surgery rotation i came back to forced me to shelf a lot of the stuff i was processing, but i did (and still do) take out parts of it to ponder and grapple with and mourn over and marvel at from time to time. A lot of it is still steeping.

Chris and i visited some friends of mine in Toronto for a lovely wedding in February, and had a good time with them despite both being sick with a doubly nasty cold. We also spent a pleasant day with my parents and brother who also happened to be there that weekend.

My surgery rotation consisted of about 5 weeks of Gen Surg and 2 weeks of Ortho, for both of them I worked with fabulous preceptors, so there was tons of good learning and lots of practical skill refinement and some very memorable patients.

In the middle of all that i took a Wilderness Advanced Life Support course, including taking part in a late-night mock disaster wilderness rescue scenario! It was an interesting mix of personalities in the intensive 4-day course - in the end i think i learned almost as much about group dynamics as i did about wilderness medicine.

After surgery and before my obs/gyn rotation, i joined a bunch of my friends from high school for a leisurely week at a resort in the Dominican for another wedding. There's nothing quite like love to get people together, is there?

I do enjoy obstetrics, and as a woman physician obs and gyn issues will inevitably have a significant representation within my practice i'm sure. Many of my experiences and discussions i had with my preceptors and nurses from that rotation will be invaluable in the future.

Next was a week of 'mandatory' academic activities - highlights included Grad for my colleagues in the year ahead, with a great party at some friend's camp afterwards (i had my first dip in the Lake of the season too - not Superior, but chilly enough, thanks!) Then we loaded into a bus and made our way to Marathon for the 'mines & mills - occupational medicine' focus for a few days. it was great to catch up with friends there! I took ACLS the following weekend, and upon successful completion of the written and 'mega code' tests on Sunday afternoon, i loaded up my car and drove for 6 h to get here. My first shift was at 8 the next morning, and it was a busy one!

and now, this post has come full-circle, so you're up to date in broad strokes. i may fill in some of the memorable and poignant details later. or maybe i'll just move on and comment on the hear and now observations and meandering thoughts...