First week

My first week in Birmingham has been amazing! I feel like I've seen and done far more already than I ever expected. The teaching is wonderful, and I'm learning from some of the top names in the infectious disease field. I feel really lucky to be here.

Monday and Tuesdays I work with HIV patients in the VA hospital and at an outpatient clinic. It's pretty amazing to see the many faces of HIV patients. There are a fair share of indigent and homosexual patients, but also business men, health professionals, and just your typical average Joe. The patients seem to be very used to their disease and are pretty compliant with their medications. It's pretty amazing to work with them, and to see the power of medicine. I've only seen a couple of unfortunate people so far with AIDS.

Wednesdays and Thursdays I work at the health department in an STD clinic. There is a major syphilis epidemic in Birmingham, so every patient that walks in the door is automatically tested. I have free range to do everything in this clinic. I call the patient back, obtain a detailed history (a little bit too detailed!), do a complete exam (I won't provide details online!), and take the specimen back to the lab where I do all the staining, wet mounts (even the whiff test!), and pregnancy tests. I report to my preceptor, then go back in to treat and counsel the patient. It's neat to see so many patients, and I'm starting to feel comfortable talking casually about embarrassing health problems.

Finally, Fridays I'm on the ID service at the UAB hospital. The attention and teaching is stellar. Even the attending will pause to make sure I'm understanding (to the extent that I can) the complexities of each patient. The realm and extent of infectious disease amazes me, and the service gets consults from all over the hospital. So that's pretty much my week, with some free lunches, lectures, and Grand Rounds thrown in as well.

On my down time, I must say that I've been having a big time with Ann Wade. My Uncle Jimmy took us to a 5 star restaurant which was the best food I have ever eaten in my entire life! I ordered lamb with pearl onion gratin, sweet potato puree, and Swiss chard. Yesterday we ran a ten mile race and had a blast. We ended up chatting the whole time, which made the race go by so fast! Last night we went ice skating and went out to a Mexican restaurant. Tonight I'm hosting a dinner party for Ann Wade and some friends I've met here. It's been a perfect weekend and a perfect week down in the deep South :)