Indiana University and Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya have had a partnership for about 20 years now. They created AMPATH, the academic model for prevention and treatment of HIV, which was nominated for a Nobel Prize this past year.

http://www.medicine.iupui.edu/kenya/

I am lucky enough to be spending my Oct/Nov over in Kenya working with the Moi University med school hospital and with AMPATH. I got here Oct 4 and will be here until Nov 27. I am trying to keep a blog of my experiences for family/friends to see. I don't always have internet access or the time to update it daily. Hopefully I get one out every week or so. Check it out:

keithmd.blogspot.com

I always think that I need to make a huge production out of this post since I haven't written in forever, so I procrastinate time after time.

x 2 years.

So here it is:


I'm still alive, just busy.

...Lunch packed up, my boots tied tight, I hope I don't get in a fight.

Wow... what a summer. I just got back from Hawaii this past weekend and have been trying my best to adjust my sleep and eating habits six hours forward. WAIT! Before I go on- let me give you my new cell phone #:

812-371-1612 (Columbus, IN)

Ok... so Hawaii was amazing. I thought I may have been getting over-hyped about it, but it was everything I thought it would be. If you google image a Hawaii photo search and get a bunch of amazing, beutiful pictures, know that that is how it really is. Along just about every highway, every coast, every mountain you can find scenery like that over and over. Me, Ryan, Kristen (Smith), and Nadine packed every day full of events, including:

Swimming under waterfall
Playing/swiming with sea turtles
Jumping off large 40-50 ft rocks into water
Pearl Harbor
Hikes through forest/jungle/bamboo to scenic lookouts
Beach
Boogie Boarding
Luau
Downtown Waikiki and Honolulu
Military grocery store shopping

Anyway, we had a great time and I am trying not to be too depressed about studying every day, every hour. I decided I'm moving there for residency after med school.

I'm also taking classes 9 am-5 pm every Sat/Sun to become a certified fire-fighter in November. I hope I don't run into a giant time crisis (but I probably will).

Well, I'm at the hospital and I'm going to go study now.

By the way nice pic! That's awesome you were in the same flight. Nice chant, too. I'm getting very nervous already for the amount of junk we have to know on the boards...

Later everyone!

Keith

OK! To catch everybody WAY up on my life…

My name is Keith Earley, Jr. and I am a second year med student at Indiana University. I attended Florida College and lived in Florida for four years. Many of you may know me from… blah, blah blah.

The past year has been crazy! Med school was sometimes awesome and interesting, sometimes stressful and extreme. They say that the first year is supposed to be the hardest. If you can make it through the first, then you should be fine. Good.

I can only recall a few details between last August and now, so I’ll try to hit the highlights…
-Visited Chicago, Illinois Amish country, and the mind-melting state of Iowa on a family trip over Christmas break
-In February (within the span of a few days)
--I was commissioned into the Air Force
--I was the passenger in a motor vehicle accident that totaled our car
--I began dating the driver of that car (Nadine Wakim) who is also a med student at school with me. Can I get an “Amen!” for amazing girlfriends? I am truly blessed
-Went on a cruise for Spring break with Nadine and two other med students to the Bahamas, Grand Cayman and Costa Maya. That was one of my favorite Spring breaks ever! Everything was sooo good- the food, the entertainment, the excursions, the company… awesome.
-Med school ended in May and I began to work as a summer intern in the hospital. I worked in surgery for two weeks and ER for one week. I really liked surgery (for the most part) and thought that the ER was pretty cool, too.
-June was spent at Officer Training School (OTS) at Maxwell Air Force base, Alabama. That was a crazy experience… I worked very hard, but learned and experienced so much. It wasn’t so much a physical boot camp as it was a mental boot camp. For example, I got more sleep in the two days of a weekend than I did the entire rest of the week combined. In the end, I loved it. (Pictures can be found at http://photos.yahoo.com/keithearley83)
-July 7-25 I will be in Bolivia hiking and camping with Pablo and his brothers. Right now I am in the middle of a six-day spacer between that and OTS where I get to catch up as much as possible with my girlfriend and with Ryan Drumm who came to visit for a few days.
-I am no longer living in the giant mansion house with all the people. I am now in a smaller version of the Baptist house with three other people. The house is a complete wreck right now because we are remodeling and all our junk is sitting around, completely unorganized. I try to spend as little time as possible here because the mess and clutter clouds my mind to no end.
-In August Nadine, Ryan and I are taking a trip to Oahu, Hawaii. I am taking advantage of my new military discounts and we are staying here for $55/night.

I tell myself that I will get back from Bolivia and share all about my experiences there and put up pictures from that trip and the others I just mentioned, but who knows what will really happen. I’ll do my best… how’s that? There is so much missing from that list it’s not funny, but I have to pack for Bolivia because I leave tomorrow! I’ll talk to you later. Bye!

Where do I begin? First of all, I am in Muncie, Indiana attending med school through Indiana University (one of the 9 regional centers). It's been great so far. A little stressful, a lot of what I want to be doing.

My new phone number is: (765)-760-3380
Cingular!

I live in a house with seven girls. And three guys. It's called the Baptist House. It's the old Ball Family mansion. It's a cheap Christian place where I won't be by myself that's only 5 minutes from campus (and not everyone there goes to a Baptist church).

Anatomy and lab is my favorite part so far. Lab is crazy- I've never had so much hands-on experience with anything dead so far. I've done just about everything from cutting and peeling skin off to cutting out the heart to peeling the spongy lung tissue away from the bronchi and naming the different branches to making burnt offerings. Yesterday we used a bone saw to cut the top of the skull off and the back of the vertebral discs. Today we are going to take out the brain and spinal column as one piece- like the predator. I've explored just about every nerve, vessel, cavity and nameable object in the body (minus the arms and legs). My cadaver is a 50 year old lady who died of ovarian cancer, that apparently became everything-below-the-lungs cancer.

There are only 14 other students here, so it feels a lot like FC again (minus chapel). One teacher even had a get together for the other teachers and students one Friday. We're on a block schedule- we will finish medical histology and gross anatomy in only 10 weeks, then biochem in 6 weeks!

I saw Paul McCartney as part of a wonderful two-day trip/vacation Tampa! It was AWESOME!! It only made me want to see him again. This was his setlist.

Lunch time! I hope everyone in Gainesville is doing great... are you?

PS- GO GATORS!!