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