Beauty in Small Things: Salem Edition

     Salem gets its own entry to my "Beauty in Small Things" series rather than getting lumped in with all of Massachusetts because, quite frankly, it deserves it. I wasn't quite sure how I'd feel about this town before I moved here, but it sure has grown on me. This summer I so enjoyed taking walks, exploring, and trying to find all the parks. I pondered waiting to do this post until later so I could include some fall foliage, but I feel like all the loveliness of fall in New England will deserve it's own post too. It already seems like fall is truly here, and today I was happy as clam crunching leaves as I walked home under a drizzly sky. So until I can get out and document some of the loveliness of Massachusetts in autumn, here's some beautiful small things from Salem this summer.

Casablanca lilies on the 4th of July

Yellow Salsify (Tragopodon dubius)

Door of Grace Church

Seemingly fall colors back in July

Purple Dragon (Lamium maculatum)

Clematis

Echinacea and daisies

In Greenlawn Cemetery

Black-crowned Night Heron and Snapping Turtle

Bittersweet Nightshade (Solanaceae Solanum dulcamara)

Bittersweet Nightshade berries

I love this door

Wild rosebuds

Musk Mallow (Malva moschata)

Juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron, possibly one making the transition from juvenile to adult

Adult Black-crowned Night Heron

Cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Lantana camara

A rather pretty, but shy butterfly. The other side of its wings was orange.

Butterfly Bush aka Summer Lilac (Buddleja davidii)

Crown vetch (Securiga varia) 

One of the kittens up for adoption at the Northeast Animal Shelter. He kept trying to hit my camera. 

Second Year Begins

Stormy fall weather is coming to Salem and I love it.

The benefits of living in a town with a Farmers' Market

     In what was a surprise to probably no one, there has been no easing into the second year of the PA program. Exactly two weeks after classes started we already had our first exam in clinical medicine. In those two weeks we'd managed to cover preventive medicine, dermatology, and infectious diseases (a rather broad subject covering everything from HIV to salmonella to candidasis to rabies to botulism to hepatitis C to Lyme disease and so on). We didn't just learn about these conditions though; we also learned how to diagnose and treat them. It was a lot of material in a very short amount of time. We made it though. We learned the material, we took the exam, and we passed. Just one week later we faced our first clinical therapeutics exam. Next Monday we'll have our first history and physical exam, and so it goes. 

I think everyone was felt very official when we
got our medical equipment.

      Second year may have began with a running start, but I don't think anyone in the program is complaining, much. It's nice to be in classes that really feel practical. we're finally learning how to diagnose and treat conditions, rather than simply learning endless lists of drugs or going over how to do research. In our Patient History and Examination lab we've been able to break out our new medical kits and start performing exams on each other. It's been fun, though some exams have certainly been easier to perform than others. Thankfully most of us have friends and roommates willing to be patients for us to practice all sorts of physical examinations (such as blood pressure reading, eye and lung exams, etc.) as we hone our skills. We have to get everything down because starting in January we'll be doing these exams on "model" patients and patients at Boston's Healthcare for the Homeless, and then in May we'll began our clinical clerkships. It's rather exciting. 
     Here's one other tidbit before I call it a post and get back to studying for the H & P exam. One thing we noticed last year is that in PA school (and probably in any sort of health professions training really) you learn to become comfortable with things that often make others squeamish. We've certainly stopped being embarrassed about discussing some typically "sensitive" subjects in public. Fellow riders on the T may not have been expecting three nice-looking girls to discuss STIs so freely, but as we studied for our first two exams, we had no problem discussing HIV, hepatitis C, syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea during our commutes. I will say though that we tried to remain aware of our surroundings and generally focused our discussions on treatments, medications, and dosing for each condition, rather than going in symptoms or details on how each was acquired. We figured that might be a bit too much information for those around us. 

Getting up early for work and school can be a pain, but there are some great perks.

Beauty in Small Things: Pacific Northwest Edition (10/30)

     Today marks the end of my first week of second year. It is so very good to be back. The summer break was great, but I think everyone in my program is ready to get started on our last year of classes. Before things get too crazy though, I have a few more posts I'm working on, including another edition of "Beauty in Small Things" (I still have one more in the works). Today's post is all pictures from the Pacific Northwest. There are so many pictures I could add to this post, but I'm restraining myself to ones that were taken on my recent visit home. Most are from Oregon, but there are some that were taken at my grandparents' house north of Seattle. Enjoy, and if you know the names of any of the plants I left unlabeled, let me know. 

Delicious Oregon blueberries

Queen Anne's Lace (Daucus carota) 

Succulent and moss in the Oneonta Gorge

Coconut shell in the Oneonta Gorge

Cairn in the Oneonta Gorge

Moss in the Oneonta Gorge

Fish in the Oneonta Creek, possibly a River Brown trout

Roses in the International Rose Test Garden

Lavender Dream Shrubs

Every rose has its thorns.

Over the Moon Tea Hybrid

Fuchsia, I believe this is the variety known as "DebRon's Blackberry Jeli"

Roses at home

Female Corn Spider (Argiope aurantia) 

The body is approximately 1" long

Closeup of an oak tree I've been growing since kindergarten 

Pansies with a slightly less pleasant guest waiting at the center 

Common chicory (Cichorium intybus)  

Bumblebee pollinating the chicory 

Million Bells Petunia (Calibrachoa) 

Blackberry leaves 

A variety of Dianthus flowers, possibly Dianthus alpinus 

Succulents in my grandma's garden 

My granddaddy's paint area 

My little second cousin has some adorable curls 

Toddler feet