A Little Motivation from Medical Law

Good teachers not only inspire their students to do well in the class and instill the sense that the knowledge will be important in the future, they make the material so real and applicable that your mind is captivated by the present realness of it all, and you understand that "the future" has come. That is an exciting thought. I'm not going to be a physician in 2, 3, 4 years, I'll be one is a blink of an eye. Time flies just like that. 

It's exciting to be passionate about what I'm learning. The past six months or so, things became very real in terms of the knowledge that I've blessed with acquiring.  

This past week at SGU, we had a week of lectures on medical law. Knowing very little about the specifics of medical law (or even the basics) before these lectures, I'm amazed at how much I've learned and how much I've enjoyed learning about it. Here, I have to give credit to the professor. He was so honest, confident, inspiring and interesting. He said things that he knew to be true and he was not afraid to say them. 

The mean reason for this post is to quote the last 5 minutes of his week of lectures. Here we go.  He started out by saying that in law school he studied the New Testament in GREEK. Then he half remembered a bible verse in Greek (impressive)..., after which he continued in English: 

"In Him there was life, and the life was the light of [the world]." (John 1:4) I think that sentiment probably lies somewhere in the heart of every physician. You people stand for life! Even before the [New Testament] in the Hippocratic Oath it is the same sentiment that motivates physicians. 

'I will neither give a deadly drug to anyone if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. In purity and in holiness I will guard my life and my art.'

People trust in you because they know that that's your motive. And if you drift too far away from that, then you loose their trust and the light begins to go out. 

It is not the possibility of prison that should worry you, it's that somehow you loose track of who you really are... I don't think you will." 

This is it! ( January 12-January 22)

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of your hands.  
                                                    Psalm 138:8


How reassuring to know that our Lord does not abandon us b/c we are the work of His hands. His Love is ever present for us and he is fulfilling and will fulfill every purpose that He has us. This was my New Year's verse or my verse to summarize 2011. New Years seems million years away..because it's 77 degrees outside! Yep...I'm back in Grenada!!!

From the Painted sky, to my plank filled eye

He is God of all, He is everything! -chris august

This semester feels a bit different from my first time on this island. The good is that I know what to expect, I see familiar faces, I have people saying hello to me because they know who I am, I have people inviting me to spend time/study with them, I know where offices/buildings/grocery stores are...this is all very different from last semester. The "bad" thing is is that I don't CONSTANTLY have this " in awe" feelings anymore. This made me a bit confused when I got here at first. Last semester the moment I stepped off the airplane, I was utterly amazed and enthralled by every little detail of the island and the school. I "studied" every wave in the ocean..haha...every tree on campus, every weird thing I saw... I was even amazed by every mosquito that bit me. I wanted to see every sunset, try every new fruit, and jump off every jump-able cliff. While I'm still amazed at the beauty of the ocean, the breathtaking campus, I have a more peaceful love towards everything I see, not so much, "AHHH..i can't breath or think or eat..it's all too beautiful." 


Maybe my primary excitement is MEDICAL SCHOOL!!! Oh, also this term is/was so busy from day ONE. (there is no time to look at sunsets ;)) I really like my classes. I am already learning so much. All my classes are very clinical bases. Even thought we are learning anatomy or histology..we apply everything to a clinical case...which was ALWAYS my favorite part of ANY class!!! 


I'm in a bioethics class which so far is VERY interesting. All about the attributes of a physician. Today I read these two articles. If you have a moment and if you like ethics/healthcare/attributes of physicians -corrupt vs. good (physicians who's primary goal is money or who don't know how to/don't want to deal with death vs. those who really care for patients/families), glace at these articles. 


http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/01/090601fa_fact_gawande?printable=true

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/08/02/100802fa_fact_gawande


***

The weather is VERY different from last term. It rains almost every day a few times a day and some days are pretty cloudy (which is new to me from last term and very beautiful). The water is much colder then last term. Not cold, just colder. Last term, it was like REALLY warm bath water. This term it's room-temperature. :)

Here are some pictures:

Notice the beautiful clouds! The water is not as clear because of the  stronger waves - picking up more sand.

This is the building that I live in. My door is on the top, right side :) I think you should stop by sometime :)  

View from the front door! 

The campus kind of has three levels, my building is on the upper most lever, so you can see the rest of the campus :) 

View from the kitchen window..you can see a bit of the ocean ( or sea).

View from the bedroom window. 

Before school started, the school held an ice-cream social for the students. 

Making food ( chili) and freezing some for my first week of school!  I tried to start out on a smart , organized foot. lol

                                                           White Coat Ceremony! 

The physician who put on my coat was wonderful! He lead the ceremony. He said, "On this day, January 16, in the year of our Lord, 2012...  I was so amazed and joyful  at how he said the date, that I loved him right away. He talked about how being a physician is all about being a servant and a true physician always has the needs of others in from of his/her own. One more amazing physician that i've met and was blessed by! He shook my hand, congratulated me and put the while coat on. 

With my wonderful friend, JENN! 

The MD, MPH group

BOOKS!!! 

Cutting up a papaya. 

The seeds and the inner connecting layer can by used in a salad. (Thank you google) 

The papaya seeds tastes like pepper, this I discovered on my own , with out the help of google, which makes them a perfect salad dressing. COOL!

Desk and bookshelf. My roommates have beautifully decorated rooms, so I thought  I would try to  to make my  room pleasant..now if I can only keep it clean :) 

Feels like HOME :) 

Med school schedule for the term :) 

My roommate loves to bake and SHARE :) 

Good NIGHT! Praying for my family and church family at HOME! Love  everyone :) 

 The was found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

-this version is credited to Mother Teresa

The Sea

He gathers the waters of the sea into jars; 

he puts the deep into storehouses. 

Let all the earth fear the LORD; 

let all the people of the world revere him.

Psalms 33:7-8

Perfection! 

Hello! 

This past week has been wonderful! It's so GOOD to keep in touch with family and friends through skype... Thank you for that!!! Here are a few pictures from this week! 

Coming home from church on Sunday.

Sunset on Sunday night. The picture turned out very dark and much more dramatic than the actual sunset. (This was taken by the library.)

                                                                     

Fruit that I got on Monday!

Guava

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guava

On Tuesday my morning class was let out earlier. Since I had some time, I asked a friend to go the the beach and she agreed! :) So, Tuesday, August 30, 2011 was my first time swimming in the Caribbean Sea! We stayed at the beach for about an hour and then took the bus back to campus. 

Mary and I.

Very exciting!

On Wednesday, I jumped off a cliff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( A little, very safe cliff...I would not jump off anything unsafe! :) I have great love and respect for water - it is amazing, yet very dangerous.  I almost want to give a lecture about water and cliff jumping safely right now, but I will not. ;)

The next two pictures are just to prove that I do study and go to class :) 

Hope everyone is doing well! 

Love, 

Yuliya

Bible Study

God knows exactly what we need and when we need it! God is good!

Today I had the joy of praying with fellow believers in a small group bible study. We will be studying the book of James on Friday evenings. ( I will think of my favorite ppl back home having their Bible study at the same time! :)

The goal and purpose of our group is summed up in Ephesians 4 where Paul is writing about unity in the body of Christ.

"...I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with each other in love. ...until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." Ephesians 4: 1-2, 13

                                                                           ***
Being active and bold in sharing our faith.  Easier said than done. The enemy does trick me into believing that the people around me don't really wants to hear about Jesus. Everyone seems set and oh so very happy in their ways and me talking to them about Jesus or questioning something they believe/do would be an unwelcome intrusion (especially to "educated" graduate/med students).

Please pray for opportunities for good conversations about life/faith. I'm praying that I am a good witness through my deeds.  Also praying for more friendliness and love to flow out of me for all the students I meet.
Please message or email me about ways that I can pray for you. (Or comment on the blog.) Ukraine team... you guys and gals are on my mind! Sundays school teachers!!! I'll pray for you as you prep!

                                                                           ***
Usually at this time of year I would say something like, "Wow, I can't believe that it's almost the end of August!" Right now though, I'm SO happy that I'm in school! So, I am very happy that it's August/September!!!) Yay! :)

Good night!

  

Going to the Market

Hello!

My classes are going well! I am very glad in the decision to do the MPH program. Most topics that fall under public health have always interested me; however, it was not until junior year at the UofM that I recognized those things that I enjoyed as public health issues and not just as "medicine" in general. If I were to do just an MD degree, I think I would have missed a big part of why I want to go into medicine and what I want to do with it.

I think at this school I will also get more of international education, which is important for Public Health and Medicine.  Most of this world is similar to Grenada (Ukraine,...) in terms of health indicators and health care, so by studying/working here I will be prepared to work "anywhere" in the world! :) ( Which is an exciting thought!)

Here are two pictures that have nothing to do with this post. 

The hallway to my room. It looks much better on this pic than in real life. Usually it's the opposite in pictures ...lol

The building where I live.

Today, I went to the local market! Here are some pictures. 

First encounter with plantain bananas. I did not buy any b/c I had no idea of what to do with them. Maybe I should be more adventurous? :) 

http://grabemsnacks.com/what-is-a-plantain.html

Maybe I'll buy them some other time instead of potatoes.

Drinking Coconut Water 

This is an avocado! I've never seen such huge avocados.

Preparing my market-bought lunch! 

The avocado was very smooth - almost like butter (in consistency, not in taste). I put it in a salad instead of salad dressing/oil.  Also because I don't have any salad dressing! haha. 

Well, one week in Grenada has passed by! I know and already feel that this semester will fly by. That thought reminds me to work hard and be excited for each and every day! 

Reflections and Events from the First Weekend Part II

News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. -Matthew 4:24

"How powerful the Physician was; he healed all that were brought to him, though ever so many. Nor was it some particular disease, that Christ set up for the cure of, but he healed that that were sick of diverse diseases, for His word was a panpharmacon - a solve for every sore." - Matthew Henry

What can Jesus not do? He can do absolutely everything. Human doctors can only know so much and can only heal so much. They have limited knowledge and limited resources. But we can come to Jesus with every kind of human pain and he will know what to do. He gives us a brand new heart for free. That's the best deal in town...guaranteed! :) I hope to learn Medicine from Jesus...He is the best Teacher also. I want to resemble Him in my future career. My prayer is to be the kind of doctor who not only heals physical ailments but also be the vessel through whom God will heal spiritual sickness.

***

Today I went to a church service. The student group is called Student Christian Association (SCA). This was bittersweet. It was good to be in fellowship of other believers, but at the same time, I wanted to be home with my home church. The service was mostly an introduction to SCA plus some worship through music. The president of the club is a 5th term med student. There are two local visiting pastors that come and preach once in a while, otherwise, all the teaching, serving, music,... is done by students.

The students leading the worship through song.

No one person was alike. Every person in that room was a unique as people get, still there is unity between us all as brothers and sisters. I think this is a little piece of heaven to be worshiping God with people from all over the world. As much as I want to be worshiping God at home with all the people I know, I hope and pray to find good fellowship here. 

The guy leading talked about using our gifts here in Grenada to serve God. He urged us to get involved in a Bible study, the music team, the children's ministy etc...

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.- 1 Peter 4: 10-11

And then he talked about one of my favorite verses in the Bible:

 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters... Colossians 3:23

He encouraged us to always be willing to serve God using the resources that God gave us. At this time in our lives...the greatest resource we have is our energy.

A little quote of the day :) "God does not need your ability, he needs your availability. "


PS.  I met a guy, Stas, who is Ukrainian. He moved to the US when he was 11 years old. His wife, who is possibly Indian???, is studying Medicine. They are both Christians and are about to have a baby! They both lead bible studies.

***

I found something that really made me smile...

Some people really know how to make their "mark" in this world. :) 

Thank you! Hello to you too! :) 

:) nice! I found this sat morning. Then sat evening and today I met 3 people who speak Russian/Ukrainian. 

***

Tonight, there was a BAZAAR..where we could buy food and other things. The school gave first term students 35 dollars EC to spend in coupons that had to used at the bazaar. That is about 14 dollars US. So I bought 5 bananas, 5 mangoes, a mango smoothie, a sandwich for lunch tomorrow, and a piece pizza for dinner tomorrow. :) 

Students in line for mangoes and bananas. 

A little video of the bazaar. Please check facebook for a better video.

Good night!