Playing Army

Today I took a brief break from practicing procedures on cadavers and played Army for a couple of hours. After putting a chest tube and interosseous line (like an IV, but directly into the bone) into someone who really isn't going to benefit from either, I changed out of my scrubs and into dress clothes to meet with Major General Bostick, the Commanding General of the US Army Recruiting Command, and his entire entourage. I, along with Dr. Hitchcock, the Military Medicine Interest Group advisor and retired Air Force major, showed them around the medical center and all the cool things we have there. In the process, I got coins.

The one on the left is from MG Bostick, the one on the right is from LTC Rice, the commanding officer of the 3rd Medical Recruiting Battalion. And the backs:

After the tour, I ran home to change into my class B uniform (green skirt, green short sleeved shirt with 2LT bars on the shoulders) and headed for the restaurant to socialize with people with much higher ranks than my own. Fortunately, there were a couple of dental students there, too, so I wasn't alone in my second lieutenant-ness. After that, it was running home again, changing back into my scrubs, and heading back to school to do a kidney biopsy on someone with much larger issues than that (another cadaver). All of the running around made me a bit tired, but they're paying for my education, so it's the least I could do. Besides, it got me coins :)