In less than 45 minutes, I will start my last final exam. Ever.

I can hardly believe I’ve made it this far.

In honor of my last days as a med student, I wanted to share my thoughts from my Anatomy lab First Year. We were given the incredible opportunity to learn anatomy by dissecting a Cadaver, and at the end of the year, we honored our Cadavers at a memorial service. I was able to share this with my classmates at the memorial, and today, I share it with you.

Thank you for following me on this journey.

Reflection

I look into my palms and I see a million wrinkles
Insignificant markings that disappear like tiny nerve endings
I remember that I have been given an extraordinary opportunity
Because, I have actually seen tiny nerve endings

I wiggle my fingers and feel a tingling rush
A sense of satisfaction
The kind that comes from holding the soil of the earth
And letting it fall through the spaces between each finger

At first, I struggled to steady my hands
Terrified, eager, nervous, nauseous
My hands no longer tremble
Instead I remember your contribution to my life, my studies, my practice

To be so brave, to allow my hands to touch yours
Your heart, liver, lungs, and brain
In my hands, I feel compassion, gratitude, wonder and joy
With my hands I touched my first patient

Really, I’m not sure. It’s difficult to keep up with patients after you’ve moved on from a shift and I often wonder about the patients I’ve seen. It’s a good sign when a supervisor or classmate stops me in the clinic to let me know one of my previous patients is following up – it means they still believe that what we are doing is a) helping or b) can help. There have been a few who have followed me through a quarter, and in those patients I have seen improvement. I take it on good faith that there are many more who’s lives I’ve touched.

When I first started clinic as a primary, I shared an article with you that my supervisor shared with me: Growing Your Health. In it, I talked about Dr. Victoria Sweet and the two ways Physicians can look at the body. She describes these as the modern and the premodern, the Fast and the Slow, or as a machine to be repaired and as a plant to be tended.

Today, I had the honor and privilege of attending the Bastyr University Spring for Health Luncheon, which benefitted uncompensated care for underserved patients in our community. The guest speaker at today’s event was Dr. Victoria Sweet [!!!].

Can you hear my excitement jumping off the screen?

“Medicine is personal. And when it’s personal, it works” – Dr. Victoria Sweet

Dr. Sweet spoke about her time at San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital and her experience in the art of slow medicine – that is giving the body the tools and time to heal itself.

Gifts from the event

It felt sort of serendipitous to meet Dr. Sweet – she inspired me almost a year ago to continue to take my time when working with my patients [despite the crazy introduction of electronic charting and shortened appointment times]. She made me realize that with one visit, I could shape the way a patient views Naturopathic Medicine. One visit could show someone that taking the time to heal is healthy and natural. She helped me see that even if success is not immediate, it is inevitable and that has helped me overcome personal failures. Dr. Sweet’s point of view inspired me to keep believing in slow medicine, time and gentle healing.

As I near the end of my journey at Bastyr, I am re-inspired. I know I will take my next steps as a Physician and healer with an appreciation of the body and the wonderful healing that can take place when given time and space. I am reminded to ask myself: “what are my patient’s strengths and how can I support them? What can I do to nurture viriditas…?”

I am excited to finally read Dr. Sweet’s book [can't believe I haven't yet!].

I am thankful to be finishing this chapter in my life.

And I am eternally grateful for the patients who allowed me into their lives and gave me the chance to make a difference.

my autographed copy of God’s Hotel.

]]> http://simplemedicine.co/2013/05/07/medicine-is-personal/feed/ 8 To Pragati doctorpre "Medicine is personal. And when it's personal, it works" - Dr. Victoria Sweet Spring for Health Gifts from the event my autographed copy of God's Hotel. http://simplemedicine.co/2013/04/29/we-are-all-human-beings/ http://simplemedicine.co/2013/04/29/we-are-all-human-beings/#comments Mon, 29 Apr 2013 21:37:33 +0000 Pre http://simplemedicine.co/?p=3571 ]]> A very long time ago, when I was an undergraduate student at Rutgers University, I had the opportunity to work with the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG). My personal project was centered on hunger and homelessness. I worked on educating students about “living wage”, volunteered at shelters, tabled for hours, all to raise awareness about these topics. To this day, hunger and homelessness continue to be the focus of my volunteer activities.

When I came to Seattle, I started working with Hopelink, an organization that helps prevent families from becoming homeless. Hopelink offers continuing education to help adults learn job skills, a food bank, and financial assistance to keep families in their current homes (when a loss of a job or other hardship threatens their shelter). I have also spent time at the Seattle Union Gospel Mission, an organization dedicated to providing emergency care and recovery services to the homeless population in Seattle. I have learned about the difficulties faced by those who are affected by homelessness and what we can do to prevent it. I have also seen first hand the impact of a community working together to help those in need.

When I saw this video today, I had to share. The message is so powerful…We are all human beings.

Anyway, I started thinking about peanut butter and jelly on Merita bread, the chips and apple that came along and the awesome chocolate cookie that was always dessert. Oh, and the carton of milk (chocolate or plain, your choice). We always ate our field trip lunches outside, picnic style. It was always fun. The weather was always perfect. Or maybe it wasn’t, but I seem to remember most of my childhood adventures as perfect.

In celebration of those good ole PB&J’s (which I still enjoy from time to time), I packed a picnic worthy lunch for lecture today.

Lays: you can’t have just one

Enjoy the sun today. It’s lovely outside! (and if you have a picnic, I’m going to be super jealous).

A Danish study, recently published in Heart, has found that resting heart rate is an independent predictor of mortality. The study followed 2,798 subjects for 16 years and over the course of that time, found that those with elevated resting heart rates had a higher risk of mortality. Further, the study found that those individuals with a resting heart rate greater than 90 were at highest risk. The risk of mortality was found to increase 16% per 10 beats per minute.  Compared to subjects with a resting heart rate below 50, those at 71-80 beats per minute had a 51% greater risk of mortality; at 81-90 beats per minute, the risk of mortality doubled, and over 90, it tripled.

A similar study published in Circulation: Heart Failure found similar results. This study analyzed data from Rotterdam Study. This study excluded patients with prevalent heart failure and found similar results: resting heart rate is an independent risk factor for the development of heart failure in healthy older men in the general population.

Naturally, heart rate can vary amongst individuals; stress levels, physical fitness and prescription medications can affect heart rate.  There are several lifestyle changes that benefit the resting heart rate including exercise, decreasing stress, avoiding tobacco products and losing weight, if necessary. It’s not surprising that exercising every day can gradually decrease your resting heart rate; it can also benefit patients who want to lose weight. Healthy stress management can also provide long term benefits. Practices like medication, tai chi and biofeedback can help to lower resting heart rate over time.  Listen to your heart, it might be a substantial predictor of the future.

References:

New York Times, Well Blog

Heart, Elevated resting heart rate, physical fitness and all-cause mortality: a 16-year follow-up in the Copenhagen Male Study

American Heart Association

Circulation: Heart Failure, Resting Heart Rate and the Risk of Heart Failure in Healthy Adults: The Rotterdam Study

Harvard University

I found this and now I love them more.

And for the record, I’ve read every single Roald Dahl book. My second grade self would have been head over heels for this poster.

Happy Spring!

Ben, a real winner.

When Ben Affleck won Best Picture for Argo at the Oscar’s this year, in his speech he said to his wife:

I want to thank you for working on our marriage for 10 Christmases. It’s good, it is work, but it’s the best kind of work, and there’s no one I’d rather work with.

There were mixed reactions in the media to his, both good and bad. Twitter was ablaze with commentary; people said Affleck is “a troubled husband” “awkward” and was implying that his marriage was “on the rocks.” There were the supporters too, those like me, who agree that marriage [or a relationship] IS work. What was so wrong with Affleck expressing his love to his wife by honoring the work they both put into their marriage?

It makes me think that many of us are still largely disillusioned about what it takes to have and keep a strong relationship. We work for all of the good things in our life. We work hard to advance in our careers. We work to get good grades and graduate with a degree. We work hard to maintain physical fitness, emotional wellness and spirituality. Really, everything good in our lives gets “worked” on. So why were people so stricken by this comment? Shouldn’t a good marriage be work?

Love.

Affleck’s wife was smiling at him when the camera panned to her reaction. To me, she seemed to be proud of her husband as he accepted one of the greatest achievements of his career. I obviously have no idea what her real reaction to his statement was. Since you’re here reading my blog, I can tell you my reaction :)

I think he hit the nail on the head. Marriage [or a relationship] is hard work.

I recently finished reading The 5 Love Langages. Have you read it? It has completely blown my mind. The author, Dr. Chapman, sets forth the reasons why he believes relationships dissolve. The information he presents makes so much sense to me. And millions of others, based on the best selling status of the book.

The basic foundation of the book is that every individual speaks a different “love language” and that among the 5 languages, there are different dialects. It isn’t uncommon for two people who speak different love languages to attract one another. This is why the feeling of being “in love” is so exciting! We are with someone totally unlike ourselves. As long as we are in the “in love” phase, we fail to see any flaws in the other person. It is when we come out of that phase and into the what usually becomes marriage or a long term relationship that we start to see differences. We start to realize things; we notice that he doesn’t spend time with me or she never acknowledges how hard I work. And we can’t figure out why we no longer feel love or loved.

Dr. Chapman talks about how this realization requires that we must put work into our relationship in a way that makes sense to our partner. For example if you want to feel acknowledged by your significant other and so you acknowledge everything they do to make them feel loved, chances are this will mean very little to them if it isn’t their primary love language. You can feel like you are putting ample work into your relationship but getting nowhere. But, if you learn your partner’s love language and put that energy towards showing love in a way that make sense to him/her, you will drastically improve the way your partner feels love.

See: mind blown.

I encourage you to read the book and to not be afraid to work on your relationships. Because Ben was right, it’s the best kind of work.

When I started this blog, I didn’t think that would happen. I thought there would always be lots to say, especially since I am always learning so much.

My Naturopath gave me a prescription a few months ago. It was a breathing exercise [yes, she really did "prescribe" this!] And even though the directions were given to me in September, I only recently started following them, I really need to work on my compliance. I think the exercise is really calming. In moments when my mind racing and I feel like I could go in a million directions all at once, this little Rx has helped.

Box Breathing and Visualization:

1. Inhale for four seconds, and imagine you are drawing the upward stroke of what will become a box.

2. Hold your breath for four seconds, and imagine you are drawing the first horizontal stroke of your box.

3. Exhale for four seconds as you complete the downward stroke of your box.

4. Hold your breath for another four seconds as you finish your last horizontal stroke.

Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. [Until your mind clears and a sense of calmness prevails]

Happy Breathing!

That means I am one month closer to saying good-bye to Seattle. Good-bye to the Pacific Northwest. To the very tall Evergreens and the subtly beautiful foggy mornings.

It’s a mix of emotions I never thought I would experience. Perhaps because it feels so final. 

I feel as though I’m scrambling to remember all the things I won’t be able to do when I no longer live in Seattle.

And maybe this isn’t good-bye. Maybe it’s just “so long, until we meet again”

Pacific Northwest Bucket List:

• Vist Cape Disappointment, again
• Pick apples on a farm
• Have a bonfire at Golden Gardens
• Spend as much time with my friends as possible
• Try as many microbrews as I can
• Experience the Fremont Solstice Festival
• Ride the ferry to Orcas Island
• Pick Lavender in Sequim
• Eat at my favorite Thai Restaurant 
• and get as much of Molly Moon’s as I can
• Visit the Goonies house in Astoria, Oregon
• Visit Mount St. Helen’s
• Attend another performance by the Pacific Northwest Ballet  and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra
• Take the pups to Marymoor as much as possible
• Run a half marathon in Vancouver, BC
• Eat another Voodoo Doughnut
• Visit the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC
• Catch the Mariners and the Tigers play at Safeco Field

Snowy Evergreens

If you have any other suggestions for my list, I would love to hear them!

At 8:31am, 29 years ago, I came into this world laughing.

That’s how my mom and dad tell it, anyway.

My twenties took me from Atlanta to New Jersey, Orlando to Seattle. I met some of my very best friends in my 20′s. I found the love of my life. I learned a lot. I think my 20 year old self would be really proud of my 29 year old self. My 20′s also helped me figure out who I want to be when I ‘grow up.’ They showed me that there really is no place like home.

Cheers to my last year of the best decade of my life so far! Cheers to finally making my way home again and to always knowing that I have incredible friends, no matter where I end up.

And of course, thanks Mom and Dad! Not only did you give me the BEST birthday ever (0123) but you’re the reason that I am so very blessed.

Happy Birthday, to me!

Some highlights from my 28th year:

I got engaged…

We got a new addition to our family…

I felt the sand between my toes in Ireland…

I finally saw the Eiffel Tower…

I visited the coast of Washington and Oregon

Got to spend a weekend with my favorite people in Atlanta…

Ran my favorite race to date, on a cold and foggy Seattle morning…

Had many incredible opportunities…

Learned a whole lot…

and finally celebrated the New Year in Seattle.

It’s not the end…just the beginning.