January 30--Big Day of Connections

Love is not something we give or get; it is something that we nurture and grow, a connection that can only be cultivated between two people when it exists within each one of them--we can only love others as much as we love ourselves. 
--Brene Brown

    Today is a before-and-after writing about my Monday. 

    Before--I'm spending the day at KS College of Osteopathic Medicine. Part of the day is general training, then the afternoon includes my first actual Encounters with students where I pretend to be a patient who has gained too much weight. (Let's just say I don't have to pretend very hard!) I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited. It is a great environment with amazing technology, and I'll get to meet a lot of folks. A friend who works there tells me that the students are equally excited about these Encounters. 

    After--what a BLAST! I was a little stressed getting hooked into the Ipad to use for evaluations, and figuring out the procedural stuff around the Encounters. The actual Encounters were so much fun. I did four, with a pair of 2nd-year student doctors in each. There were two sets of women and two sets of men. They all did great overall, but I'd say the women were the winners. One of the men actually called me "obese," which was discouraged. The Encounters are recorded and also evaluated by the instructors and students. 

    The next Encounters involve baby-birthing, and yes, they have manikins for that. Stay tuned!

        Leta