Nevis and St. Kitts

~ Mount Nevis in mid April 2009

Well my time on Nevis has finally come to a close.  I was there for 20 months with a two and a half month break and then one last flight there and back for the second exit exam.  Twenty months in a foreign country, I never thought that would happen when I was an undergraduate that is for sure.  It is amazing though how time has flown by because I really feel as if that twenty months was more like six.  It was an amazing time on Nevis and I will break it down from Med 1 to the second exit exam piece by piece.

~ Ferry To St. Kitts in Med 1

~ Ed, Neal, Anustoop, and Me @ Diwali 2007

~ Good Friends and later roommates Dave and Ryan 2007

~ My best friend Ryan and I Med 1 2007

Med 1:

Med 1 was a grueling time period because I had just broken up with a girlfriend of 4 years in college and was on a tiny remote island that no one had ever heard of where I came from.  Med 1 included Anatomy, Embryology, Histology, and Anatomy Lab.  There were a lot of kinks to roll out because it was something new, very few white kids which was a big change from the Catholic University that I attended in undergrad and foreign professors with very thick accents.  I had the toughest time with Histology, but Anatomy Lab and Anatomy would be my passion for learning this semester.  I struggled more with the lab than anything else and contrary to what the professors stated, the lab actually brought down my score in Anatomy.  Now they have made the lab worth less points, but sure does not help me.  The worst thing about Med 1 had to be the skinning of the cadavers.  I will never forget that as long as I live because it made me feel almost like a psychopath.  It was quite creepy to skin a human being and anyone that kills people and dismembers them has to be a sick individual because it is quite disgusting.  The best thing about Med 1 though was also the Anatomy Lab because after Block 2 Jennifer and I started meeting in the lab at 6 a.m. to go over the cadavers and make sure we knew our stuff.  She probably helped me more than she thought she did.  Somehow by the grace of God we ended up in the same lab group.  So needless to say, my soon to be wife and I met over dead bodies. Can’t wait to tell that story to my grandchildren!

Med 1 also had a ton of stress relief because I had a wonderful group of caring and fun friends to hang out with.  There was Matt, Shannon, Ryan, Ed, Dave, Adam, and Sean.  Plus I had some other people that weren’t a core group of friends, but were great to talk to like Anoosh, Neal, Kunal, Osei, and Ruby.  It was a fun atmosphere and I really knew that I could make it through Med 1 as long as all of them were around me and were getting through with me.  We went to all the Block parties and had a wonderful time and it was probably some of the best times I had on all of Nevis.

~Sarena, Ryan, and I in St. Kitts in February 2008

~Mom and I in the Anatomy Lab Christmas 2007

~ Dad and I in front of my rental house, Christmas 2007

Med 2:

After Med 1 my parents came to Nevis instead of me going home.  It was a great time and was a wonderful Christmas.  They enjoyed it much more than me though because you sort of get island fever after awhile and really look forward to leaving.  It was nice though to have someone that I knew come and see me and they got to see all the stuff that I was dealing with and better understood why I was so stressed out I think.  Additionally, Jen and her boyfriend at the time Johnathon were both on the island over Christmas and New Year’s Eve.  I actually hung out with them over New Year’s Eve and it was quite a good time.  I am pretty sure Jen even bought my dinner that night as well as a bunch of drinks.  It was very relaxing except for the 40+ year old that was so wasted she could barely walk and was hitting on me.  That was sort of scary and Jen and Johnathon did not really help the situation telling me to go for it…
Med 2 did not start out well in Biochemistry.  Biochemistry was the bane of my existence in Med 2.  I had an A in Physiology but a C in Biochemistry and was forced to pull that up by letting Physiology suffer.  Needless to say I ended with both as a C.  I made it through though and Biochemistry would be my lowest grade in all of medical school.  It was a big wake up call however.   The other two classes went uneventful and on to Med 3 I went.  The sad part was that both of my roommates struggled in Physiology and would be part Med 3 and Med 2 for the next semester.  This made hanging out much more tough and Med 3 was very tough so I am sure I was crabby all the time.  Our good times of hanging out were fewer and farther between after that point.

The only other good thing that came out of Med 2 was Jennifer.  After about half the semester into Med 2 Jennifer and Johnathon broke up.  I know its not necessarily good for her but it was good for me.  I never really thought of her as more than a friend, but little did I know that we would throw a party for St. Patrick’s Day and things would get to a level much more than friends.  I was playing DJ and I invited Jen to come and surprisingly she said she would come.  Now one must remember that Jen never went out all of Med 1 and most of Med 2 because she was taking medical school seriously and was getting straight A’s.  So for her to say she was coming was odd but awesome all at the same time.  We had quite a big crowd and it was a ton of fun.  Everyone was dancing and hanging out when Jen came up and pecked me on the lips while we were talking.  I was confused and sort of taken back because secretly since Med 1 I wanted to kiss her and be able to be with her but put that on the back burner of the stove because of her boyfriend.  Now at this point, there was no boyfriend.  So I went out onto the porch and talked to her, made out with her, and the rest is history.

~ Jen and I at Chevy’s July 2008

~ Jen and I @ the Marriott Pool

~ Ryan and I @ Ryan’s B-day Party AKA Ryapolooza!

~ Car Wreck July 2008

Med 3:  Med 3 was filled with hope and despair all at the same time.  I began working on my Masters in Health Administration this semester and also took on the Med 3 workload that included:  Microbiology, Immunology, Neurology, Genetics, Microbiology Lab, and Epidemiology.  It was quite the workload with accounting stuffed in on top, but I made it through without too much struggle this time.  Jen and I grew a lot closer and I spent the majority of my non-study time with her.  We watched a lot of In-treatment and  Entourage.  We also had a really great time just getting to know each other better.  I learned a lot about Canada and I hope she learned a lot about the  United States.

It was not without its down side however.  My good friend Adam transferred to Saint George’s in the Cayman Islands and my other friend Ryan finished out the semester but went to SGU afterword with Adam.  Then I was left with only three of my good friends left:  Sean, Dave, and Ed.  Also, I got in the car wreck that I am sure some remember.  It ended up costing me almost $11,000 + EC after it was all said and done with legal fees and everything.  So there was definitely bad mixed in with the good.

~ Jen and I @ Dolphin Stadium Oct. 5, 2008

~ Jen and I in St. Maartin

~ Stolen from Jen, Plane in St. Maartin landing

~ Sarena’s Birthday Party 2008

Med 4:  This semester was a lot of work, but seemed a bit easier than previous semesters.  This was the semester that I did the most fun things in terms of traveling and exploring.  I went to St. Maartin with Jen and I went to a Miami Dolphin’s game with Jen.  Both were amazing and we had earned both trips.  Other than the trips we pretty much just hung out and studied our Pharmacology and Pathology.  I continued with my MBA in Healthcare Administration and did well and things were rather uneventful.  School was slow and steady and there was only minimal stress.  The only bad things that occured were more friends transferring.  At the end of the semester I found out Sean and Dave were transferring over to UMHS on St. Kitts which left only myself and Ed out of our original friends.  It was sort of sad to see all these people leaving and made me feel like maybe I was supposed to be leaving.  I stuck with it though mainly because of Jen and all the help she gave me in terms of support.  Additionally, Jen and I moved in together this semester and it was quite a nice change.  Rent was more expensive for me, but less for her so that worked out well plus we had a prime location.  Other than the kitchen flooding on occasion it was a wonderful time living at Mount Nevis Hotel.

~ Michelle and I @ grad April 2009

~ Ed, Ali, and myself @ grad April 2009

~ Family @ Shipwreck April 2009

~ Mount Nevis Hotel Sunset April 2009

Med 5:  Med 5 was a struggle right from the start.  I felt like there was far too much to learn in far too little of a time period.  It was scary to think that I might have to fly back down to the island and re-take the exam.  Our classes included Pathology 2, Introduction to Clinical Medicine, and Introduction to Clinical Medicine Lab.  I have never learned as much as I did in the ICM Lab portion.  Dr. Butcher did a masterful job of pulling things together and helping us do a good job on the quick physical exam.  I learned more during that class than I had in most of the others combined when it came to patient care and patient interaction.  This was the class that really helped to keep me on the path to becoming a doctor.  We had three weeks of no classes in order to prepare for the Comp Shelf.  However, I still had my MBA stuff to do and failed to pass.  My parents were down for the graduation and it was nice to explore Nevis one last time with them as well as the snorkling trip, but I knew in my heart that I would be back just one more time.

~Windward Beach, Nevis 2009

~ Best View of the Atlantic Ocean, Nevis 2009

Re-Take:  The re-take was uneventful.  I flew down only the day before the exam.  I knew it would be super tough.  I like to think that our class is pretty smart and there were 22 of us back to re-take the Comp Shelf.  It was a very tough exam and by the time I got to 100 all I could think about was how I had failed and let my future wife and all my family down.  I was saddened when I finally got out of the exam because I knew I had failed.  I went to the ferry with Ed and Hanna and we went to the Marriott and swam in the beautiful pool for a couple of hours.  It was the most relaxed I had been in about 6 months.  I did not think about anything and actually got to see Nevis and St. Kitts for the beauty it actually has.

I woke up early the next morning and rode the ferry to Nevis again to go to court for the car wreck (see above Med 3).  I sat out in the hot boiling sun on the ferry in a long sleeve shirt, black pants, and tie sweating the whole ride over.  I got to the court and had to wait another two hours because we were the last case of the day.  I get into the court room and thank goodness the air conditioning is blaring.  I tell my side of the story, control my temper even when the cross examining attorney tries to rile me up.  Then Mr. Dore gives his side of the story.  The Magistrate proceeds to lecture me for about 15 minutes on how I am driving too fast on the island for the roads that are present.  At this point, I figure that I am screwed.  However, low and behold, the Magistrate turns to Mr. Dore and lectures him for 30 minutes about how if he was not in the road the accident would have never occurred.  It was a wonderful feeling listening to that.  She got done lecturing us both, paused, then said judgment for the Plaintiff in the amount of $11,600 EC.  I wanted to jump up with glee because it was an amazing feeling because I was only the first or second student to ever have justice on the island not to mention that I am white.  I know this may sound racist, but in reality white people treated the people of Nevis very poorly for many years so for a Nevisian judge to rule in favor of an American and against a Nevisian it was pretty amazing.  I must thank my lawyer Jackie here because she did an amazing job and it would have been impossible without her.

So that is my 20+ month experience on Nevis in a nutshell.  It is a wonderful island with many aspects that are unchanged and would be a great vacation spot.  MUA has been a wonderful experience for me and if nothing else I got my soon to be wife out of it.  What more could you ask for?!?