IV lab, true courage

Today we had our IV lab, and I must admit I really enjoyed it! I had no trouble hitting the vein or inserting the catheter with hardly any blood spill. A lot of the students were freaking out about sticking each other, and yes we practiced on each other, but it's really not that big a deal. Like so many things in life, confidence in your task will see you through! Studying all the material is great, but when we finally get to put it into practice and gain these valuable skills that could potentially save someone's life one day, THAT'S what I'm here for. Ok, IV's can be very routine and mundane in a hospital setting, but in the field they can be the difference between life and death. We also learned and practiced immobilizing head and spine injuries today, and got to hit up the gym during class hours, so really it was a great day. Later this week is musculo-skeletal injuries, including a splinting/immobilization lab, and then Test 5 on Monday. My average after 4 tests is 98.25%, which I'm obviously very happy with. Our class picks orders in 2 weeks, which of course I will NOT be doing because I'm dental. It should be interesting to see where most of our class ends up assigned to in the fleet. Hopefully good things come to those who wait, and my orders in (hopefully) December are awesome. And HOPEFULLY they announce the holiday exodus schedule soon so I can buy a plane ticket and figure out when I'm going home to Maryland!

On a serious note, I'd like to express the admiration I have for some of my fellow shipmates whom I now call friends. The Corps School curriculum is very demanding, and requires a lot out of us both mentally and physically. I can often devote my full attention to studies and life here in Great Lakes, but for some of those around me they are balancing this life with the one back home. Absent wife and kids, financial concerns, and personal tragedy are just a few of the major burdens that my friends here have to deal with while they work full time on becoming a Corpsman. Despite this, they still manage to carry on and move closer to entering the ranks of the most decorated rate in all of the armed services. I can not imagine the hardships they must endure, but I'm proud to serve along side of them, and I admire the courage they display every day just by being here and accomplishing the mission at hand.

"Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point."
-C.S. Lewis

A day in the life of a Corps student...

Killing some time before Taps, so i figured I'd give all of those who follow this blog (and thus my life) a glimpse into what it's like to be a Hospital Corps student. Assuming anyone does actually read this! So I hope you understand military time, because that's actually how I think now.

0520: Wake up
0520-0600: Shave, dress, clean room so it's inspection ready
0610-0700: Chow
0700: Muster in the classroom
0700-1030: Classroom didactic instruction (or the occasional lab)
1030-1200: Chow
1200-1530: Classroom didactic instruction (or the occasional PT session from HM1)
1600: Liberty call Liberty call! Free time begins, civilian clothing authorized
1600-1730: Run errands at the big Nex across base, PT, Study, or relax
1730-1900: Chow
1900-2100: Night Study. As EPO I have to help conduct this every other night
2100-2130: Hygiene
2200: Taps Taps, lights out

That's basically how most of the days during the week run. Now that we've got our phase 2, weekends involve a lot of eating, sleeping, and finding fun off base. This weekend will also involve a lot of studying, as Test 4 is on Monday. So there you have it. Today we spent the last half of class PTing and practicing our firefighter carry on the beach. For something we might be practicing in combat one day, it was way too much fun. I'm thinking about practicing it on my fellow shipmates in the barracks, although then we might end up practicing our first aid skills too.

phase 2

Secured test 3 yesterday, which means we also got our phase 2 liberty cards. Phase 2 = no weekend curfew, and CIVILIAN clothes! Yes, we do look sharp in our NSUs, but it felt pretty good to put on a pair of jeans and walk around in a Who t-shirt. I got a 97% on test 3, missed 2 questions, even though at least 1 was a computer error that effected the whole class. Second test in a row this has happened. Is it crappy? yes. Do I really care about not having perfect scores anymore? no. Doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to do the best I can on every test and lab, and get those top of the class orders! It's good to not be type A :-)

Our focus is not shifting from the anatomy and physiology to the EMT related material, which is good because this is the section I don't know a lot about and am most eager to learn. I'll probably hit up the "Brady" book we got while I'm doing laundry, see what kind of good stuff we're getting in to.

HM1 (our active duty instructor) has been on leave all week, so we haven't PTd as a class in almost 2 weeks. I really enjoyed the beach workout he put us through, so unlike most of the class I can't wait for him to get back on Monday and start whipping us back into shape. Yeah, I've been PTing on my own, but not nearly as much as I'd like due to studying and EPO duties. Having an FMF instructor means you get the good PT workouts during class hours. Last time he worked us out, I had trouble walking down stairs for a week. Love it.

EPO

This past week has been pretty busy. We had our first (of 12) exam on Monday. 70 questions, and I was one of four students in our nearly 70 strong class to get a perfect score, so I was pretty pumped about that. The 100%, combined with my participation in helping my shipmates out at night study, earned me the title of EPO (again!). EPO in "A" school is a much bigger deal, with a lot more responsibility. The class and teacher expect the EPO to always be on their game, and keep up the good grades. My responsibilities will include conducting night study 1900-2100 Sunday-Thursday night with the other EPOs (there are 4 of us total). The best part about being EPO is that I get out of duty. This means that this weekend is my last duty weekend, AND that when the rest of Bravo duty section has duty weekend again in a month, I'll get to actually see and spend time with my parents when they come visit Chicago. So yeah, pretty happy about that, since if I didn't make EPO I'd be stuck on the Corps compound all weekend when my parents were here and couldn't see them at all.

Having duty weekend isn't so bad now because we've got Test 2 on Monday, which mean nothing but study study study all weekend anyway. Test 3 is Friday, so we'll be cramming during the week too. A lot of the material now is Anatomy and Physiology, which is mostly review for me, but its still a LOT of information we learn in a very short amount of time. But I'm here to study and be the best Corpsman I can be, not party and let my grades slip. Thank god I did that already in college! ;-) I'm sure eventually we'll have some free time to enjoy ourselves again, but until then we hit the books and get PT in wherever we can. I'm hoping to get my long distance running back up to wear it used to be, but wearing boots and dress shoes all the time does a number on your knees. Hopefully by the end of October I'll be in good enough running shape to run a good 10 miler again. Not that I have any races coming up... yeah Corps school sucks your life away.

After sweepers are done tonight, I'm gonna hit up the elliptical or treadmill in the basement, PT/study, hygiene, and call it a night. Quarterdeck chow relief again tomorrow. The life of a Corpsman to be goes on!