Spring Break

Yikes, you all are way overdue for an update.  I have officially made it to spring break! These past couple of weeks have been filled with exams and my brain is ready for a break.  But as much as I’d like to do absolutely nothing for 9 straight days, I have a ton of readings to catch up on and photography projects to complete. 

Yesterday morning I had my first day of gross room rotations, but I want to wait until after my second day to share the experience with you all (look for that post in 2 weeks).

However, I do want to share some exciting news that our class found out about this week.  Cherie, our program director, announced that she has been working on a possible new clinical rotation site for us…in Los Angeles!! Nothing is finalized yet, but a friend of hers recently opened a new lab in LA and is interested in letting us have a six-week rotation there.  It sounds like we would be able to see some of the surgical procedures in the OR and then gross those resected specimens as usual.  It would be great to see what goes on in the OR and exactly how these specimens end up on our lab benches.

The whole time Cherie was talking about it I couldn’t help think of what an amazing experience it would be, but in the back of my head I knew that I couldn’t afford the plane tickets or living expenses there. But get this – they are paying for our airfare and an apartment! This is a dream come true.  This experience is all I’ve been thinking about since she mentioned it; I can’t contain my excitement.

However, there is a downside. It seems as if only half of our class can go, which means we may have to do a lottery (may the odds be ever in my favor).  I’d be devastated if I wasn’t able to go.  I can already picture it now: grossing specimens in a beautiful, new laboratory and exploring the city with my free time.  And if the timing worked out maybe I’d even be able to skip out on 6 weeks of winter weather and instead be in sunny LA!