Half way through November and halfway through my third rotation. I spend most of my days in the ER in Pocatello seeing a lot of urgent care stuff but not a lot of emergent care. In the ER here the PAs do a lot of the easy stuff seen in the ER and the docs cover the really emergent situations. I get to work with the docs sometimes but usually I spend most of my time with the PAs. To tell you the truth most people couldn't care less if the student was there or not. You have to make yourself known and volunteer/ask for different assignments. I've got to see some pretty cool stuff in the past two weeks though. Probably the most exciting was participating in a "code." For those that don't know when a code is called in a hospital it means that a person has crashed and is in need of resuscitation. I was part of the CPR team. Unfortunately for the pt it was an unsuccessful code, but that's part of the business. Other things I've been a part of have been simple suturing/stapling, splinting, and saving lives...one sore throat at a time. In the off times I've been out playing flag football with some classmates (see pic above), going to Jazz games, watching Bond movies, and enjoying my sleep. While on my journeys through the ER I have come across some interesting information. Apparently the space shuttle has been docked with the international space station for quite some time and, if you catch it at the right time, you can see them pass overhead. Right now it passes overhead every two hours or so at night, but you have to catch it just at the right time because if you don't it will be eclipsed by the earth's shadow. If any of you are interested here is the website to follow the path http://www.n2yo.com and to check the times it flies over click on the 5-day prediction with graphics link. My preceptor is the one who actually showed me this website. It's actually quite exciting to watch as it passes overhead and then fades away as it passes behind the earth's shadow. The following videos were taken this evening and last night. In the first one it passed behind some trees before disappearing and in the second one it's kind of hard to know that it's moving, but you see it fade away. So that's basically what's been going on. Not a whole heck of a lot to report on. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and most people I know will be heading home for the holidays...except for me. From my experience back at McKay-Dee I've learned that the best times to see interesting cases weekends and holidays so I figured that I'll take a shift in the ER for Thanksgiving. I'll make it home for Christmas though. "Yo man let's get outta here!" "Werd to ya motha"
Over 400 years ago there was a group of people who left their mother country in search of freedom, freedom from religious persecution. They braved the frigid waters of the Atlantic and settled in a land unknown to them. Coming from an industrialized nation such as England these people had little knowledge and skill when it came to tilling and taking care of the land. Had it not been for the indigenous people of the time, these early settlers would have perished. But providence wouldn't have it, so this people flourished in the land. Years later they would rise up in a declaration of independence against that same mother land whom they still paid tribute to. Again the battle cry of freedom was raised; freedom from wrongful taxation, freedom from an oppressive monarchy, freedom to live how they chose to live. The war progressed and many feared that this little nation would easily be suppressed by the powerful English infantry and navy. Again, providence wouldn't have it and this nation prevailed against all odds. As history looks back on this war there are many who still marvel that these thirteen little colonies could defeat the most powerful nation in the world. An thus the United States of America was born. Over the years the United States gradually turned into a land of opportunity, a land of hope, a land of new beginnings. Millions would immigrate from their homelands, where their families have lived for thousands of years, in hopes of obtaining a better life for their children. Many came to escape oppression from their government. Despite their situation these people came to live the "American Dream." This concept continues this day with thousands of people immigrating every year (be it legally or illegally). However, what is this "American Dream"? The Declaration of Independence states that "…held certain truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness." James Truslow Adams, who coined the term "American Dream" in his book Epic America (1931), states the following: "The American Dream is "that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position." If you were to look up "American Dream" in Wikipedia you would find this statement: "The American Dream is belief in the freedom that allows citizens and residents of the United States to pursue their goals in life through hard work and bravery. Today, it often refers to one's material prosperity, which is dependent upon one's abilities and work ethic, and not on a rigid class structure." I ask you this question...do you still believe in the American Dream? Do you believe that through hard work, personal sacrifice, and personal responsibility you can achieve your goals? Do you believe that each person is "innately capable" of making their own progress? Or have you abandoned this dream and sought out a new one, one of entitlement and "I deserve"? Unfortunately it is my belief that the people of this country are living that new dream.
Now I don't want people getting confused with my motives for that last video. It was not in any way an attack against President Elect Barack Obama, but more against the mindset of miss Peggy Joe and the millions of other Americans out there that have that same sense of entitlement about them. There are many who believe that the government owes them or should regulate all aspects of human life; healthcare, education, business, oil, etc. With the government running everything these people, like Peggy Joe, believe that all their problems will be solved. "If I help him then he'll help me," she says. Our founding fathers did not believe in this principle. Those Rights that they (and we) believe in are 1)Life 2)Liberty and 3)Pursuit of Happiness and they established this democratic government to protect those rights. You have the right to life and liberty and our government must and will protect those rights. However, you do not have the right to be happy but rather to pursue after happiness. That right to pursue happiness is protected by our government but it doesn't guarantee it, nor will it ever. In essence what this means is that you have the right of protection from your government, but not to free handouts. Why wouldn't our founding fathers establish a government that helped offered more programs to its people, or offered more help? Because they knew that if the people depended upon its government to provide for them then this people could never become self sufficient. It's the whole "Give a man/Teach a man to fish" concept. Another important lesson to learn here is that if there is a problem, then we the people need to step up and fix it. We should take care of the poor among us, not the government. A colleague of mine wrote about this in his blog about Universal Healthcare. In a nutshell he states that the spirit of charity and gratitude are taken away with this type of believe. To finish my ranting and raving, live the American Dream! Live it to its fullest potential but realize that you have to pursue after it, it's not going to be given to you. Don't let a sense of entitlement persuade you into thinking that the government is going to make everything all right, because it won't. Socialism didn't work for Russia and it surely won't work for us. President Benson counseled back in 1977 that "the people should support the government but the government shouldn't support the people." Abraham Lincoln coined a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people," a urged the American people in his Gettysburg Address to work and make every effort possible towards maintaining that government and our American Dream.
2/4/09 I was perusing the Glenn Beck Page and found this article. Read point 6.
Congratulation to Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. On 11/7/08 he got his 1000th victory with the Utah Jazz making him the first coach to notch over 1000 wins with one team (career total is about 1092 wins). To lead a team to that many victory means that you have to spend a long time with that one particular team. In Coach Sloan's case that's 21 years with the Jazz. Now those years haven't been all fun and games but his coaching style has made the Jazz offense one of the best in the league. Over these past years he has been criticized by many Utah fans for not letting the Jazz players play basketball like the rest of the nation. His game isn't about show boating, fancy passes, live-or-die by the three, and many other style of play that's been growing in the NBA. His style of basketball isn't fancy and many times doesn't aesthetically appeal to the average viewer, but it wins games. It's fundamental basketball at its best. Setting plays for each other, constant ball movement, pick-n-roll (it worked beautifully with Stockton to Malone and now it's back with Williams to Boozer), high-lows, all lead to one thing; team play. Everyone touches the ball and has an opportunity to score. If the Jazz lose a game it's wasn't because the all-star of the team was didn't perform well but rather because they didn't play together as a team. In other words, they didn't play Sloan basketball. Two years ago when the Jazz got blown out in game 3 against the Warriors in the second round of the playoffs Sloan told the team, "OK you played the way you wanted to and lost. Next time we play my game." Anyone remember what happened next game? The Jazz blew out the Warriors at Golden State. They would later go on to win that series 4-1. So even though his coaching style might not be what the fans want to see, it gives the true fans what they want...a winning season. When talking about Sloan you can't overlook one of the qualities he's most known for, his temper. All though it has become more under control over the past couple of years, it's still a treat seeing him up and yelling at the refs. You know he's about to get a T or thrown out when Phil Johnson gets up to calm him down. Now
Now Coach Sloan did get his 1000th victory tonight, however, those of us who went to the game knew it wasn't the victory he would've hoped for. A win is a win yes, but when you let a 31 point half time lead slip away and only win by 7 against a team that had one of the worst records last year, and only scored 29 points in the first half of this game then you know that temper of Sloan came out in the locker room. A career changing moment, a first timer in NBA history, and thousands of fans cheering his name as the seconds ticked away, Jerry Sloan walked off the court like it was just another game. That's the way he plays and coaches and that's the way he will continue to coach. It's a winning combination. So congratulations to Coach Sloan for becoming the first coach in sports history to achieve 1000 wins with one single team. The following are a few pics from that game.
Half way through November and halfway through my third rotation. I spend most of my days in the ER in Pocatello seeing a lot of urgent care stuff but not a lot of emergent care. In the ER here the PAs do a lot of the easy stuff seen in the ER and the docs cover the really emergent situations. I get to work with the docs sometimes but usually I spend most of my time with the PAs. To tell you the truth most people couldn't care less if the student was there or not. You have to make yourself known and volunteer/ask for different assignments. I've got to see some pretty cool stuff in the past two weeks though. Probably the most exciting was participating in a "code." For those that don't know when a code is called in a hospital it means that a person has crashed and is in need of resuscitation. I was part of the CPR team. Unfortunately for the pt it was an unsuccessful code, but that's part of the business. Other things I've been a part of have been simple suturing/stapling, splinting, and saving lives...one sore throat at a time.
Posts
