A Cup A Day

Only a few more hours left in 2012 and I just couldn’t resist getting one more cup in before the ‘new year.’ Obviously, I’ve had a little bit of a cup sabbatical in December … now don’t get me wrong, coffee was still consumed (perhaps even more copiously than usual) and I had lots of opportunities for art (check out the Med School’s cover art)… sadly just not on cups.  However, the last few weeks have been quite the ride and I’d be remiss not to share:

So, the month of fun all started with my SPI (Standard Patient Interview….)which is a turbo scary exam, with fake patients and professors watching in via video camera. There I am, in my white coat, in the fake exam room, with my fake patient feeling pretty good so far.  I’m teaching her wall squats with a ball when all the sudden the lights start to flicker.

ON.           OFF.            ON.               OFF.

I’m  pretty nervous and I try to do some education about always exercising in proper lighting and start floundering trying to figure out what is going on.

OFF.  ON.   OFF. ON…….then comes the classic Romagnoli wit (also known as “foot in mouth disease”):

“Well, maybe we’ve got a poltergeist“

   POLTERGEIST!!

   Then my professor comes over the loudspeaker:

“Um, Cristina the ball is on the light switch“

    —–> AND FACE PALM

*womp womp

Ok, time to shake it off and move forward to exam week. Its Monday morning and my classmates and I have been studying nonstop for our musculoskeletal practical exam…or as I like to call it OSCE part II – The Reckoning. Barbara is about to practice and AC Joint mobilization on me, when

!!!!!!ZAP!!!!! 

ouch

I felt a crazy zing surge up my body and into my ears…

Wait, what happened? ! ? A little dazed and confused I look down at my smoking shoe and the exploded power cord of the exam table. What followed was many hours in the ER. Blerg! My exams were all pushed back, I had one killer head ache and mega sore foot. My consolation prize: Hanging out with Dr. Costello and some delicious cookies from my classmate Seema. All in all not too bad considering.

mmmm, lighting bolt sugar cookies…adorable and delicious!

Life goes on after electrocution (most of the time) and I had a full week of exams to ‘look forward to’ … so I spent many hours with my classmates and books at Himmelfarb, the med school library. *zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Finishing the crazy week off trying to get my classmates the new GW PT apparel they ordered for the holidays:

Which turned out to be a fiasco … however, with the help of my wonderful friends and colleagues Cait and Nora, we made the best of a bad situation and got as many people as many items as possible. (And let me just say those items turned out pretty darn sweet!)

However, by the time I made it home to Florida I was running on fumes …. but there is nothing like a big hug from my dad, a palm tree covered in Christmas lights, and a very very very long night sleep can’t fix.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  And here is to a happy and prosperous new year! !

See you in 2013 ~ ❤ Cristina

(my lucky number 🙂 )