Jennifer Somers, MS-2, Alternate Student Trustee, UWSOM, SeattleReprinted from July 2007 Washington Family Physician
The fourth annual student and resident retreat held January 6-7, 2007 at Hyak Lodge at Snoqualmie Pass was an absolute blast. Twenty-three students, two residents, many spouses – and 10 kids – attended the retreat. It was the WAFP’s largest student retreat so far and it had the added excitement of a power outage! The power outage only lasted until mid-afternoon, but the students and staff were very relieved to see it restored for the night because it was going to be cold!
On Saturday morning Dr. Jeff Christenson opened the retreat with a talk about High Altitude Medicine. It was a very interesting introduction to the respiratory system for the first-year medical students and a nice review for the second-year students. His expertise in high altitude medicine came from his experiences in Flagstaff, Arizona (7,000 ft) where he worked with patients who had illnesses due to the altitude. The experiences and clinical vignettes that Dr. Christenson shared were exciting, inspiring – and a little bit terrifying for someone who does not like heights! He also had good preventive advice for those who are serious climbers.
Dr. Gregg VandeKieft led a discussion about maintaining social activism and interest after medical school. He addressed burnout, entitlement and overwork as three of the main reasons that doctors do not engage in social activity after graduation from medical school. Dr. VandeKieft also engaged the students to brainstorm ways to prevent burnout and to maintain the idealism with which they originally entered school.
Dr. Amanda Keerbs followed with a question-and-answer session about family medicine residency and the trajectory for medical students. Dr. Wali Martin and other residents assisted Dr. Keerbs by answering questions about the application process for residency and choosing family medicine as a career. This was a much-needed session for students because the path seems so long and confusing.
Our final talk of the day was an interactive session led by Dr. Jeffrey Walker. He introduced the students to plant medicines and brought samples of many of the medicines he spoke about so that students could try the substances themselves. This was a fun session which involved experiencing traditional medicines through samples and burning others to purify the group and give thanks. Dr. Walker also offered a quiz on plant uses and a session on wilderness survival. Dr. Walker was engaging and humorous, while also modeling great respect for traditional medicines and survival strategies in the wilderness. Before dinner, for those students who were willing to brave the cold, he taught how to correctly break cedar boughs in order to make a shelter if you just happen to get caught outside in the winter.
The evening was enjoyed by all. Games were played, football was watched, and many great conversations took place. I went to bed before the ultimate Pictionary contest ended, due to early morning Nordic skiing plans, but I heard that everyone had a great time. Thanks to Dr. Wali Martin and J.J. Chen for planning this fantastic event and thanks to the WAFP for making this kind of learning and bonding possible.