A First Time for Everything

Lessons learned on base today:
1. Wear a watch set on military time so I don't screw it up. 
2. When in doubt of rank, ma'am and sir work just fine.
3. If you don't have work to do, ask for work to do. 
4. Lunch on base is SUPER cheap. 
5. White coats serve as a decent umbrella in the rain. 


Made it through my first day of rotations - phew! My preceptor is really awesome and got us oriented to the medical center. We met majority of the 10 other students (that's a LOT for one preceptor) who are from all over: Tennessee, Hawaii, Ohio, Arizona. I started out the day counseling patients on new medications, and I attempted to learn the basics of the computer system. It was a bit challenging. After lunch, I learned how to prepack prescriptions for ER and pre-flight use which was pretty cool. I got to spend most of that time getting to know some of the other students which was really great. 


I had to get my Tdap shot which didn't hurt at all until a couple hours later when my arm started throbbing. Needless to say, I won't be playing any lacrosse in the next couple of days. 


In order to celebrate our first day completed, we ventured downtown to a bar called Humpy's known for their halibut tacos. Unknowingly, on a Wednesday night it's the place to be... to watch hockey. Yep, we're in Alaska. After grabbing a table on the back patio next to a heater (it's a bit cold here), our waitress asked to see our IDs. Both Celeste and myself accidently left our IDs back at the apartment, and so we were promptly asked to leave the premises. After getting kicked out and attempting to get into 2 other restaurants and well, failed, we settled on Rumrunner's. 

Rumrunner's Bar pictured with my three roommates: Becca, Celeste, and Jessica.

I had a halibut sandwich that was really good and beer battered fries that I would go back for. I figured while in Alaska I need to try out the local fish, so you'll probably be seeing more reports of halibut, salmon, etc. Also, I'll probably try reindeer - as they stuff just about anything with reindeer meat. 


Since my body thinks it's passed midnight (as I'm still not adjusted to this time change), it's time to attempt sleeping in this perpetually lit city. I'm hoping the rain/cloud coverage today will darken the sky just a bit.