Hello! I’m Brian Dix from the D.P.M. 2011 class. About me – I grew up in Sioux Falls, SD, about 4 hours from Des Moines, and attended South Dakota State University. I have been married to my beautiful wife Amy for a year on April 14. (Note to self: get her flowers or be in the doghouse!) and we live in Pleasant Hill, IA, about 15 minutes from DMU.
About my week – This past week was very relaxing since we didn’t have any tests! We started a new class on Monday called Neuro Anatomy which looks like it will be very interesting with a lot of new terminology! This second semester we have class from 8 til noon every day, plus once a week 2 hours of Physical Diagnosis Lab in the afternoon. P.D. Lab last week was the best lab of the year! We had the opportunity to listen to a wide array of normal and abnormal heart sounds on Harvey, the cardiac simulation mannequin ,and on each other. The coolest part for me was hearing a murmur which sounded like a loud swoosh.
Lastly, the most rewarding part of the whole week came on Saturday as our class had the opportunity to help on a Habitat for Humanity site. The project was at a house acquired by the city, ready to be fixed up. There were two shifts, an 8-12 crew and an 1-4 group. The 8-12 crew concentrated on gutting the house. I was on the second shift. When we arrived at 1, we hauled all of the garbage to the dumpster la few blocks away. I helped remove the shower and cut down three trees. This experience helped me remember how fortunate I really am – that I don’t have to worry about a roof over my head or how I am going to eat that night.
This was just a glimpse into my life as a first year podiatric medical student. The classes aren’t easy, but I just try to focus on one week at a time. I can’t wait for clinical rotations to start!
