Hey Mark, Why are you in Australia?
This update has the potential of being Gianormous, Let's see how it goes.
A couple weeks ago we did a week of lectures in the Australian Rainforest. That's right folks, my whole class went camping for a week together. It was so beautiful. Each day we would hike our books and a fold-up chair to a clearing where we could setup a white-board and learn about Ear, Eye, and Throat diseases. We took our otoscopes(ear lights) and pen-lights and checked everybody in the camp for ear infections or tonsillitis(we learned much more than that but we'll keep it simple yea?). Most afternoons we would walk to the swimming hole through the sugar cane fields and swim and lounge in the sun reading books. Absolutely breathtaking.
Here's the picture of the walk to the swimming hole:
And then on the way we would sometimes stop and grab a snack for the road, nothing like some fresh sugarcane for some quick energy.
And then once we got to the water hole I caught this alligator:
Just kidding that last picture was taken at the zoo a while back. All-in-all the week in the rainforest was so refreshing. It was great to get out of town, and I think I remember the lecture materials much better when I'm out in nature. It's like that one famous psychologist says, that you remember things better that have emotional attachment. Like studying eye diseases while green ants bite your feet :-). I've been home from camping for about a week and I've spent the time in lectures on respiratory infections and CPR training, and catching up on homework(since I didn't touch my schoolbooks while I was camping.)
Some have asked what I'm doing over here in Australia. Some people just heard that I was going to move to australia for 6 months. "oh mark, that's so like you!" (I bet you all think I'm a nomad)
So why did I move to Australia? Maybe we'll start from the beginning?
I'm sure you all remember I used to love computers. I was big into LAN parties and gaming. I thought for sure that I was going to be a computer hardware engineer, but after my first job as a computer technician at age 16, I hated computers. I've tried ever since to distance myself from technology. Junior year in high school I had an excellent chemistry teacher, and I was one of the freak kids in school who enjoyed stoichiometry. And unrelated, it was about the time I started thinking about a career in medicine. The human body fascinates me. I love to understand the physiology(function) of each part of the body and how systems works together to enable a human being to exist and thrive. Did you know that a single egg cell, after being fertilized, grows into 100 trillion cells in just 283 days? These days we call this enormous growth "pregnancy."
So after high school I moved to Scotland to do my DTS(you can scroll down this journal to read about that). During that time and some time spent in africa, I began to realize what I wanted in life, and also began to see how needy the world is. So what was I going to do to help? A week after I moved back home from europe, I dove back into my studies, still concentrating on life science courses, emphasizing completing the courses needed to go on to Chiropractic College(although the pre-requisite classes for med school, nursing, and dentistry are all similar so I left those options open also.) After a few years of study I now have enough undergraduate credits to move on to a graduate schooling.(for those uncertain with the USA naming scheme, undergraduate is College/University, and graduate means post-university studies)
So there is the life of Mark thus far. I think I want to be a doctor(either chiropractic or an MD). But before I dive into that, I came to australia to do a YWAM(http://www.ywam.org) program affiliated with University of the Nations(http://uofnkona.edu). I think it's a course that perfectly suits my motivations. It's called the Introduction to Primary Health Care. (http://www.reeftooutback.com/phcs.aspx)
In this course we have a three month lecture phase here in townsville where we are studying Vital signs, Anatomy and Physiology, Target tropical diseases, Respiratory infections, HIV/AIDs, Skin Diseases & Parasites, Malaria, Emergency wound care & Management, Fevers, STDs, Disease control, Prenatal Care, Curative Care, Essential Medicines, Nutrition & Malnourishment, Water & Sanitation. We have studied most of these things over the past 10 weeks and this week we are going over vaccinations. Tomorrow I'll be learning how to give sutures. Who knows what we do the week after that, but so far it's been a roller coaster ride packed full of useful information and practical application.
for example, here is a pic of my classmate amanda and I dissecting some kidneys and hearts:
Hey speaking of practical application, after we complete this twelve week lecture phase, we leave on december 26th for Papua New Guinea which will mark the start of our two month practical application of all this stuff we've learned. We'll be in Papua New guinea and Indonesia(Irian Jaya) for two months on a medical mission.
In my travels, I have seen so many people in desperate need of such simple things. Like Food. And basic Health Care. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs indicates that a fulfillment of primary human necessities, like health, food, sleep, and shelter must precede the ability to feel safe, which is necessary to understand love and belonging, which is required in order to recognize one's own value and role in society. My ambition for being here as part of this medical team is to learn how to care for people.To see them achieve something they might never have been able to do before. And to see if all this is right for me(thinking of a future in medicine).
I guess I want to share some of my dreams with y'all in an effort to help you understand what I'm up to. Contrary to what you may believe, I'm not a vagabond... :-)
On a lighter note, the papayas are really nice here. Whenever I make a papaya milkshake it makes me feel like this:
And also I'm trying on the neck beard. What do you think?
-Mark
P.S. Everybody please send me personal e-mails at markjohansen@gmail.com. I love to hear from everyone.
P.P.S. I need help with finances for the medical mission.
A couple weeks ago we did a week of lectures in the Australian Rainforest. That's right folks, my whole class went camping for a week together. It was so beautiful. Each day we would hike our books and a fold-up chair to a clearing where we could setup a white-board and learn about Ear, Eye, and Throat diseases. We took our otoscopes(ear lights) and pen-lights and checked everybody in the camp for ear infections or tonsillitis(we learned much more than that but we'll keep it simple yea?). Most afternoons we would walk to the swimming hole through the sugar cane fields and swim and lounge in the sun reading books. Absolutely breathtaking.
Here's the picture of the walk to the swimming hole:
And then on the way we would sometimes stop and grab a snack for the road, nothing like some fresh sugarcane for some quick energy.
And then once we got to the water hole I caught this alligator:
Just kidding that last picture was taken at the zoo a while back. All-in-all the week in the rainforest was so refreshing. It was great to get out of town, and I think I remember the lecture materials much better when I'm out in nature. It's like that one famous psychologist says, that you remember things better that have emotional attachment. Like studying eye diseases while green ants bite your feet :-). I've been home from camping for about a week and I've spent the time in lectures on respiratory infections and CPR training, and catching up on homework(since I didn't touch my schoolbooks while I was camping.)
Some have asked what I'm doing over here in Australia. Some people just heard that I was going to move to australia for 6 months. "oh mark, that's so like you!" (I bet you all think I'm a nomad)
So why did I move to Australia? Maybe we'll start from the beginning?
I'm sure you all remember I used to love computers. I was big into LAN parties and gaming. I thought for sure that I was going to be a computer hardware engineer, but after my first job as a computer technician at age 16, I hated computers. I've tried ever since to distance myself from technology. Junior year in high school I had an excellent chemistry teacher, and I was one of the freak kids in school who enjoyed stoichiometry. And unrelated, it was about the time I started thinking about a career in medicine. The human body fascinates me. I love to understand the physiology(function) of each part of the body and how systems works together to enable a human being to exist and thrive. Did you know that a single egg cell, after being fertilized, grows into 100 trillion cells in just 283 days? These days we call this enormous growth "pregnancy."
So after high school I moved to Scotland to do my DTS(you can scroll down this journal to read about that). During that time and some time spent in africa, I began to realize what I wanted in life, and also began to see how needy the world is. So what was I going to do to help? A week after I moved back home from europe, I dove back into my studies, still concentrating on life science courses, emphasizing completing the courses needed to go on to Chiropractic College(although the pre-requisite classes for med school, nursing, and dentistry are all similar so I left those options open also.) After a few years of study I now have enough undergraduate credits to move on to a graduate schooling.(for those uncertain with the USA naming scheme, undergraduate is College/University, and graduate means post-university studies)
So there is the life of Mark thus far. I think I want to be a doctor(either chiropractic or an MD). But before I dive into that, I came to australia to do a YWAM(http://www.ywam.org) program affiliated with University of the Nations(http://uofnkona.edu). I think it's a course that perfectly suits my motivations. It's called the Introduction to Primary Health Care. (http://www.reeftooutback.com/phcs.aspx)
In this course we have a three month lecture phase here in townsville where we are studying Vital signs, Anatomy and Physiology, Target tropical diseases, Respiratory infections, HIV/AIDs, Skin Diseases & Parasites, Malaria, Emergency wound care & Management, Fevers, STDs, Disease control, Prenatal Care, Curative Care, Essential Medicines, Nutrition & Malnourishment, Water & Sanitation. We have studied most of these things over the past 10 weeks and this week we are going over vaccinations. Tomorrow I'll be learning how to give sutures. Who knows what we do the week after that, but so far it's been a roller coaster ride packed full of useful information and practical application.
for example, here is a pic of my classmate amanda and I dissecting some kidneys and hearts:
Hey speaking of practical application, after we complete this twelve week lecture phase, we leave on december 26th for Papua New Guinea which will mark the start of our two month practical application of all this stuff we've learned. We'll be in Papua New guinea and Indonesia(Irian Jaya) for two months on a medical mission.
In my travels, I have seen so many people in desperate need of such simple things. Like Food. And basic Health Care. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs indicates that a fulfillment of primary human necessities, like health, food, sleep, and shelter must precede the ability to feel safe, which is necessary to understand love and belonging, which is required in order to recognize one's own value and role in society. My ambition for being here as part of this medical team is to learn how to care for people.To see them achieve something they might never have been able to do before. And to see if all this is right for me(thinking of a future in medicine).
I guess I want to share some of my dreams with y'all in an effort to help you understand what I'm up to. Contrary to what you may believe, I'm not a vagabond... :-)
On a lighter note, the papayas are really nice here. Whenever I make a papaya milkshake it makes me feel like this:
And also I'm trying on the neck beard. What do you think?
-Mark
P.S. Everybody please send me personal e-mails at markjohansen@gmail.com. I love to hear from everyone.
P.P.S. I need help with finances for the medical mission.