Coming to Terms

Time to end the little hiatus and deliver some more posts. It has been a revealing couple of months lately, with a lot of change, with the majority being positive. From skiing to rectal exams, I have got to experience a whole lot of new things, so I'll share the best bits down below.

3rd Year Baby!
Alright, so I've come to that point in my medical studies where I can for a brief moment peek my head up above the books for a second and get to experience some "real" doctor work. Every Wednesday we have a 4 hour shift of Internal Medicine here at the regional hospital in the Endocrinology Ward. So it is a whole lot of old people with diabetes and hyperthyroidism and what not, but it makes a good change from only reading about it. It is here, however, that the language barrier becomes more evident, as there is no chance that a 60 year old Polish woman is going to know any English. It becomes necessary to use a translator when taking patient history and that does hinder a little the patient-doctor relationship. However, using the little Polish I do know combined with a friendly translator gets the job done. Guess it will be up to me to learn some more. 

My attractive classmates getting ready for some Internal Medicine

Rectal Exams

All you men out there know, that there comes a time in all of our lives, when we have to live with the fact that another man has stuck his index finger up our anus, and into the rectum. Rest assured my fellows, you are in good hands. Using the hospital dummies (as in the dolls, not the patients in the psychiatric ward) we practiced proper technique and what to feel for in regards to prostate tumors. Now these dummies felt very life-like (I am guessing) so it was definitively a bit scarring, but as the Americans say:

Peter displaying proper technique

Skiing

As most of my readers know, I am Swedish. Born in Jönköping and raised in the metropolitan hub that is Hagafors, deep in the Småland Woods. Being Swedish, one really should know how to ski, but that is one thing that evaded me as I grew up. Granted, moving to Mozambique at the age of 11 didn't help things. In any case, this was a wrong I was most adamant to correct, and thus I jumped at the chance when my good friend Nicklas asked if I was up for some skiing around New Years. We packed the car and drove up to Sälen, a Ski resort in the Swedish mountains, locally known as fjällen. It took me a little while to learn, but after a couple falls and mishaps I got the hang of it, and managed to ride some of the steeper slopes. Exhilarating would be an understatement, knowing that at any given moment you could crash and crack all your bones has a certain magnificent feel about. Keeping this up, it is just a question of time until I become an action junkie. Also, the stunning scenery at the top of the mountain added that extra little bit of magic.

Furthest North I have been in Sweden, and this place is only half-way up the country.

So 2014 is up next, and from the little I can tell of it so far, it is set to be a pretty decent year. Time will tell!

Oh, and in other news: A Swede at Arsenal!