Alicia organized a trip to Pendleton County, West Virginia through the Stritch School of Medicine's Global Health Fund program. Seven Stritch students, two nurses, and a doctor went to learn about rural health care and be exposed to a culture very different from ours in Chicago. I tagged along to document the experience. :]

The students shadowed physicians at the Pendleton Community Care Clinic, taught basic health and nutrition lessons to grade school students, held a health fair in the clinic parking lot, hosted a dinner and discussion for local community members, and spent a few days working with Almost Heaven Habitat for Humanity. We also met a wonderful family who opened a lot of doors for us in the community. They gave us an incredible tour of their 600-acre farm which has been in their family for eight(!) generations and introduced us to some of the local residents who shared their stories with us.

(The title of this post is, of course, a reference to the famous John Denver song.)

Alicia's PCM (Patient-Centered Medicine) group decided to get their awesome facilitators, Dr. J and Dr. Leischner, a group photo as an end-of-year thank you gift. (In case you couldn't tell, my inspiration was a Grey's Anatomy promo poster.) Enjoy!

Each year, the Stritch M1s choose a class service project, and this year's cause was Rebuilding Together (similar to Habitat for Humanity). Saturday, April 24 was the organization's National Rebuilding Day, and about forty Stritch students (and some of their loved ones) converged on two houses to undertake various renovation projects.

The house to which we were assigned was in Berwyn and is owned by Luiz -- a super sweet Hispanic grandmother who has her cat and several of her grandchildren living with her. A couple of skilled electricians replaced some light fixtures and electrical outlets, and the rest of our unskilled (construction-wise) crew did a lot of interior painting. The house looked great when we were finished, if I do say so myself. :] Kudos to Jen, Luke, and the other house captains who put in a lot of work organizing this event!

It seems that M1s will jump (pun intended) at any chance to let M2s prove their athletic superiority over them, and this year's annual M1 vs. M2 basketball game was no exception. Actually, two games were played -- first, the "B" team engaged in a lawless, no-holds-barred game of streetball, and then the "A" team hit the court and let professional refs settle their disputes. A good time was had by all, and no one was seriously injured this time.

Keep an eye out on Facebook for upcoming photos from Jen Heim -- another pro photog on the sidelines!

Alicia and I attended a talent show at Stritch on March 19 as the culmination of their HIV/AIDS Awareness Week. In case being in medical school wasn't a feat enough in itself, it turns out many of Alicia's classmates also have some amazing musical talent -- not fair! :P I wish I had some video for you to hear for yourself, but you'll just have to trust me that everyone sounded great!