Whistler

Whistler,  BC July 12- 18

My first official fellowship activity was attending the World Congress on Wilderness Medicine at Whistler Resort in BC. The trip started a little rough as I worked until 3am and then caught a 5:30am flight from the Augusta Regional airport. I was concerned initially when I  arrived at the airport as there was a long line of people crowded in the airport lobby. Then I realized TSA hadn't arrived yet to open security. The rest of the day was a blur flying from Augusta to Atlanta to Toronto to Vancouver and then taking a bus a couple hours up to Whistler. I found some crepes to eat for dinner and collapsed into bed.

The next day began coursework for the DiMM (diploma in mountain medicine) which is a course offered through the UIAA (the people that certify all your rock climbing gear, etc). It was sort of like torture to sit in a classroom and listen to lecture while missing out on the scenery surrounding me. We had lectures about weather, submersion injuries, altitude illness, legal issues, environmental stressors, etc. We also practiced hands on skills including navigations, improvisational ropes systems and knots, and litter and splint creation. I  found out that it take me 70 paces to travel 100 meters.

The conference flew by! I had a great opportunity to meet many of the other fellows across the country in Wilderness medicine. I also got to meet with students with interest in wilderness medicine. It was a great conference to appreciate the awesome things people are doing within the field. The evening lecture regarding scuba diving in antartica was spectacular!

Mike Caudell (my fellowship director) and I rented DH bikes and checked out the world renowned trail system! Luckily no wilderness medicine skills were needed!

I wasn't daring enough to try out the crazy bridged... just this nice wide one with rails :)

Getting Started

Hi! As most know by this point I'm currently down in Augusta, Ga (or really all over the US) completing a 1 year wilderness medicine fellowship through the Dept. of Emergency Medicine at Georgia Health Sciences University (Medical College of Ga). During my recent travels I realized there is so much I'll experience and learn this year I need to do something to keep track of it all - and keep others in the loop of my latest adventures (or misadventures).

So basically this year I'll travel a lot - attending various courses and conferences - and getting some firsthand knowledge of wilderness medicine. I also work attending shifts in the emergency dept here at GHSU. As a recent EM grad this is all new to me!

I moved down to Ga at the end of June after finishing residency at Wake Forest. After being in Winston for 7 years (med school and residency) it was really tough to leave. With much thanks to my parents, Bethany, Liz, Chris Thomas and Chris Greene - and Mrs. Davidson - we packed up a large penske truck and several cars and made the move.

Augusta was as billed - very hot. In fact the temperature inside my new house was 87 (114 outside), despite the air going full force. The house was not quite up to the standard I was used to... but it was shelter. With a window unit A/C in my bedroom - it was more bearable.

The start of work was a little rough. I got a computer password (that didn't actually even work) a couple hours before my first shift. Luckily I feel residency at wake prepared me well for the practice of medicine - and everyone in the dept down here was great - so I survived shift one (did I mention it was 6p -3a on the 4th of July?).