Well one week of medical school is done... a lot more to go. After the first week I just have to stop for a second and think of how much information can be thrown at you and how much one can actually retain if the willingness is there. The highlight of the week has had to be the dissection of our cadaver. We focused on the superficial and deep back muscles, innervation and blood and will move on to the shoulder and arm this week. Having a brand new school has the advantage of great ventilation so leaving the lab at the end of the day does not coincide w. smelling like formaldehyde for the rest of the day. A normal week day consists of waking up a 545 exercising, catching a bus at 7, class until 4 and then studying at school until 8, returning eating and studying some more. Although this may or may not sound daunting and excessive to some I can assure you that it is actually fun and rewarding!!

A huge advantage of this school is that the professors are here to teach, there is no research conducted so they have our attention 100 % of the time. They really have our backs and are willing to do what it takes to get us where we need to go.

Getting up early and running every morning has been an interesting experience. Although it is an island there are many wild animals that one may come across and indeed the early am is a great time to spot them. I have trotted across a group of monkeys, a horse (still not sure what was up with that), and watched a cat take a bird out mid flight.

Tropical Storm Maria has been brewing south of St. Kitts for a few days now and from Friday night on the entire island has been on high alert. Furniture has come inside, storm shutters have gone up and supplies and water have been purchased. Originally the storm was supposed to pass directly over the island but shifted and the worst part of the storm passed us by. The only real downside to the storm was that it canceled the white coat ceremony until next weekend. For those unfamiliar the white coat ceremony is where our class is officially welcomed into the school by dawning our white lab coats and taking a pledge uphold the standards of medicine and its education. So until next week we all must wait.

Well that is it for now, if there is anything anyone wants to hear more about let me know and I will expand, elaborate, and delve into new topics.

Joel