Missionary Orthopod in the Making

Wells the folks at the USMLE now have $495 of my money, so Step 1 is paid for…now I just have to pass the thing. I must admit that this test tends to be on my mind a lot. You learn so much during your second year, and you have to try your best now to not let the newly learned information slip away as the year goes by, because it “Could be on Step 1”. It seems like my teachers make that previous statement a whole lot; the test really isn’t long enough to include everything that they say will be on there, so I don’t pay them much mind. I focus mainly on UsmleWorld and its 2000+ questions and First Aid. I feel that right now I am truly doing my best to prepare, and I really hope that it pays off in the end. I’m not trying to kill the thing, but a score in the 230s would make my day.

So enough with Step 1 talk. Right now in class we are learning about pulmonary pathophysiology, renal and pulmonary pathology, cardiovascular preventative medicine, and antibiotics. I’m the most excited about learning the antibiotics because its really starting to make me feell ike a doctor. Know what to give a patient if they have TB, or community acquired pneumonia, or T. gondii is pretty cool. In microbiology we have also been learning about parasites and I must say that the helminths (worms) are THE MOST DISGUSTING THINGS ON THIS EARTH. The concept of a worm larva boring into your skin as you are walking barefoot, traveling to your lung, causing you to cough, and then getting coughed up and swallowed so it can go to your small intestine and grow into a tangible worm is simply evil. My classmate who did a lot of missionary work in Peru was talking about how many of the rural people had worms, and it was so common there that people would cough some times and spit out a whole glob of worms. EEEWWWWWWWWWWW!!! I tell you, I love medicine but somethings still really gross me out. I think I would probably take draining an anal abscess over dealing with helminths.

I got a really pleasant surprise this past week that I wanted to share with you. I don’t know if you remember my experiences on my mission trip this past summer in Zambia, Africa but I helped deliver a baby and the mother named him after me. Here is a picture of him when he was first delivered:

Well, this past week, his father e-mailed me with some pictures of their son (Jaysson Mwale) and I was so cool to see how much he had grown. It is kind of wierd having a namesake that is so far away but it is kind of cool too. Here is an updated picture of him:

You know, there are just so many joys to doing missionary work, and having a child named after you is one of them. I have to admit that my fire for service and missionary work has sometimes dwindled due to the stress of medical school, but seeing these pictures rekindles it every time. I must also say that being at Loma Linda and going to our Missions Interest Group meetings has really helped to rekindle that fire too. At these meetings I get to listen to missionary doctors who have come home for a sort period of time and their stories are so amazing. From hearing their stories I’ve realized that a missionary hospital can’t really survive without support from your physician friends back home, whether that be monetary or medical supplies. I’ve also learned that you can make a much bigger impact if you assimilate your culture with theirs, because people will truly get to know Christ better in their cultural context than in mine. I honestly can’t wait to finally go over and serve, but I have to complete this medical school journey for now.

P.S.- I know some people may read the paragraph above and think that I am so selfless, but just like most medical students I constantly think about how good life would be to get into a top residency like neurosurgery or dermatology, make a ton of money, live in some exclusive million dollar neighborhood where we are the only black couple, lol, etc., etc. I certainly think about those things and to those who are smart enough and lucky enough do live those types of lives, I am at times envious. But every time I think like that I have to beat those thoughts down, because for me and to all those that Christ has called (which I believe is everyone, lol), the Bible calls us to a life of service to those who don’t have. Not just patching up poor Mexican and poor Blacks up in the ER, but getting into their lives on a more personal level where they can see the Jesus inside you. So yeah, don’t think that I’m all that selfless; I constantly have to remind myself of what Christ would prefer me to do, and head that way, or else I wold certainly head the wrong way.