nome. where the iditarod ends. (i'll miss it by a month. darn it!)
this is a hundred year old historic church. my apartment is the brown building in the back.
downtown nome. bars, bars, liquor stores, a couple of restaurants and gift shops. it kind of feels like a step back in time.
this is looking at nome from down the road. i can't wait to post the same photo once the ice comes in...finally, an entry....
the town of nome is generally a quiet village, sled dogs howling from time to time, located right on the water. no foreign policy experts here, unless they've been out to the islands where you can see russia on a clear day. there are lots of bars, less churches and just a couple of restaurants. mostly dirt roads around modest houses. outside of town is tundra and some good size hills. i haven't had much of a chance to explore yet, though i'm still hoping to check out some of the other communities on the road system and go for a hike or two. i hear there is plenty to do, but mostly i've worked, studied or slept.
which leads me to claim, after one month, that i do believe this has been one of the most challenging and emotionally exhausting months of my entire life. on day 2, i was told to start pulling charts and seeing patients. well, heck this is a clinical rotation - of course it makes sense to start pulling charts right away. what they failed to mention is that i don't really have a preceptor to train, educate, supervise me or otherwise. i do get people to sign charts and answer questions, but education only comes to me if i am very assertive and prod people for advice. fortunately, everyone is very friendly and a couple of folks go out of their way to teach a bit.
how it works... the students who rotate through here see all the walk-ins that come in the clinic - which is a bit like an urgent care center. (sore throats, fractures, abdominal pain, prenatal visits, pretty much a smattering of everything - which i kind of feel like i know slim to nothing about... and often, slim left town.) every fourth night, i pull an overnight shift working in the emergency room. again, the students are the front line. sadly, the vast majority of what i see at the late hours entails dealing with drunk people in various nefarious states of being. it is easy to see losing compassion when so much energy is spent on this issue at the expense of truly sick and injured people. arrggghh.
after 3 weeks of this, poor sleep, and lots of anxiety, i took advantage last week of the opportunity to go out to savoonga two times to perform sports and employment physicals. i am also helping with community health aide training this week as another means to catch my breath. when i pulled an overnight shift sunday, i actually felt a bit less anxious. i start back at the clinic on thursday hoping that i'll be ready to go again.
well, so as to not bore folks, i'll cut this posting short. enjoy the photos. next entry... trips to savoonga. (for your continued education, feel free to peruse the nome, ak link listed under "tour locations links".
