Christmas Time!

Salt water pool at the condo....amazing when there are good waves comin in

There's a turtle here.....can you find it??

Greg on Christmas Eve playing in the waves

Part of our condo in Kona

Mele Kalikimaka!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and it is sunny and warm here! Definitely does not feel like Christmas except for the palm trees wrapped in lights. We've done some snorkeling and boogie boarding. It has been awesome spending time with Greg's family........We've been BBQ-ing and relaxin everyday. Hope you are enjoying the holidays with your loved ones.
:) Natalie and Greg

School's Out! Time to start vacation!!

Natalie and Chad goofing off in class.....stolen from Nina's page :)

Natalie and Nina back at school.....(I stole this one too)

I'm finally done with class back on campus. Let me tell you about having to sit in class after being able to be up and busy all day with patients, it is tough! But it was great to see people in class.....and always good to hear about rotations so you know what to expect.

So we arrive at the airport this morning with smiles only to find out that our flight to Kona has been delayed. You are probably reading this and not feeling sorry for us, we understand cause we get to go to Hawaii!! We're very excited to spend Christmas with the Miller clan, this is our first with them.

Greg will be in Hawaii until 1/1 and I start my surgical rotation on 1/2. I am working with a general surgeon and I have no idea what I am going to be doing. I have heard from classmates that surgical rotations vary a lot. So I may be clamping, retracting, and closing and get some good suturing experience or I may just be observing for the next month. I'll definitely miss being able to see patients in the clinic setting, which I have discovered I absolutely love! Regardless, I'll be on a nice laid back island with sunshine :)

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!!!
Take care,
:) Natalie

I'm in Unalaska!

I've been in Dutch Harbor for 3 days and have had quite the exciting start! I landed on Sunday late afternoon got settled in and started clinic on Monday at 9am. Worked all day with my preceptor and thought the day was over at 5pm.

I got to fly with a flight paramedic and flight nurse out of Dutch to transport a patient to Anchorage. The patient was having cardiac problems but was stable for most of the flight. The pt then crashed just as we were landing, the nurse and paramedic had to shock him. Then once he got into the ambulance his blood pressure sky rocketed and we had lights and sirens all the way to the hospital. It was CRAZY! I can't wait to fly again if they have room! We stayed the night in Anchorage and flew back to Dutch this morning. I came home took a shower and went to the clinic for the rest of the afternoon.

They have housing for me here and a car.....driving a nice little Jimmy. My house is a 3 bedroom place with a full kitchen that looks out to a lake and a mountain. The mountains here remind me of Kauai. The clinic I work at is the Iliuliuk Family Health Clinic. They have a couple of doctors, a few PAs and a NP. The patients are pretty diverse, a lot of local residents, but also part timers like crabmen/fishermen and cannery processors.

If the rain dies down tomorrow I'll try taking some pictures, but as of now I am literally hoping that I don't blow away when I go outside. Seriously rain from every direction out here.....and it hasn't stopped all day! Pacific Northwest has nothing on Dutch! It really is pretty amazing out here, I really like it!

Hope everyone is doing well!!!
Take Care,
:) natalie

There is always something going on in Dutch/Unalaska

Well I am getting settled in to life here in the Aleutians. Went on a great hike this last weekend with my preceptor and his family. It was absolutely beautiful.....the weather changes here every 15 minutes, so a hike in the sun can quickly turn into wind and rain.

I did get to go to the jail and give a prisoner an injection. I don't ever want to go to jail. When the door closed behind me in the cell, that was enough for me!

Yesterday a patient came in from one of the crab boats that is being filmed for the Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. So keep your eyes peeled if you watch the show. I had to sign a release so I'm on a little bit of the footage!

And now for the story behind my new nickname at the clinic Dunkin Donuts Miller. A patient of ours came in to have an infection looked at and he offered to take me on a boat tour. He works on a fishing boat that also does processing. So Dr. Baines thought it would be a good idea for me to get an idea of what people are doing when they injure themselves at work and come into the clinic. So I was very appreciative that they let me go on the boat so I brought along a box of donuts for the crew, because as you know I love donuts. We had to cross over 2 boats to get to the patient's boat. He was ahead of me as we were crossing from boat #2 to #3.....lost his balance with the donuts in his hand and fell overboard!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe. The crew got him out, he was probably in the water for 2 minutes or so and then they took him inside to warm him up......so there ya go, Dunkin Donuts Miller :)

It has finally snowed here! But nothing that sticks....but it is gorgeous in the mountains around us!!

Got to get back to it! Have a great week everyone!

Back Home

Well I am back in Oregon after 3 months! I thought I would be coming home to a rotation in Hillsboro that would allow me to be home every night, but that rotation fell through.......so now I am back down in Springfield at the family practice clinic I was at this summer. It's great to be able to start a rotation and not have the anxiety of a new preceptor and a new place to live. And I do get to come home on the weekends, which after being away, IS SO NICE!!!!


Now that I am not Dutch Harbor probably not going to have the experience of seeing a patient after they have been hit in the head with a frying pan multiple times then flying them 3 hours in a medevac. Dutch really was such a great experience, I'd go back for another rotation in a heartbeat! But I'd rather have Greg there with me :)


The nice thing about being back at Springfield is being able to fine tune my skills with chronic and acute care things that I will most likely be seeing in my own practice. It's all about time management......working on not taking 30 minutes to diagnose strep throat!! And it is great to be back with my preceptor from this summer....hopefully he'll notice some progress from this summer :)


Hope everyone is doing well! And getting ready to celebrate the holidays!!!
Take Care
:) Natalie