El fin... Almost

As my time here in New Mexico draws to a close, I find myself experiencing the familiar mixture of sadness and excitement... I've had a blast, shared some amazing experiences, and developed friendships that I am sure will last for the rest of my life. Sharing the experiences of rock climbing in Socorro, slaying the gnar in Taos, and riding the rollercoaster of match day has solidified us as a team in many ways... I'm a bit saddened to be leaving this exceptional group of people. However, as the time draws near for the final exam and my journey back East, I am also excited about the next adventure...

The final exam for the wilderness medicine course will be conducted this Friday on Sandia peak... We will work as mountain rescue teams: locating, stabilizing, packaging, treating, and extricating injured patients from the hill... Beats the hell out of a Scantron. Afterwards, we will part ways, off to wrap up the last few months of medical school and prepare for our fast approaching internships...

I will be hitting the road at the ass crack of dawn Saturday in order to spend a bit of time with the fam before jumping on a plane for India. Elizabeth and I will be in Himachal Pradesh for the next month, treating the exiled Tibetan Buddhist monks in Dharamsala before heading out into the Himalayan foothills to set up clinics in the rural villages. After being on the road since around Christmas, I am excited to see my lady, my dog, and my family... You guys are incredible and I love you all... that reminds me:

Happy Birthday Roo!

New Mexico, way better than Old Mexico...

Que onda?

So... after ending my stint in Telluride with a string of powder days, having to reroute after Lizard Head pass was closed by an avalanche, and a quick jaunt out to L.A. for the damn Step 2 CS, I've finally settled into my home for the month of March. Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico, will be base camp for a month-long wilderness medicine course. We will learn search and rescue techniques, camp in some of the most beautiful areas on the planet, and work as the medical teams for the Bataan Memorial Death March Marathon. We will hone our improvisational medicine skills, learn to survive in the bush, and walk the razor's edge of our physical limits... Kinda like summer camp if Silky was in charge... Hoo-ah!

It's gonna be a blast... In only four days we've already learned a ton of improv and evac techniques, experienced hypothermia firsthand, and gotten to ski/bike/rockclimb/hike like crazy... This weekend we will spend learning survival techniques and land nav at Cabezon, a volcanic rock formation some 70 miles into the desert. Then, we'll head north to Taos to study avalanche science and high altitude illness while living in self-dug snowcaves. I've heard the snow is great right now, so I'm definitely planning to put the new sticks to work.

After a day off, its back to work in Socorro with the Abq mountain rescue team teaching us some high-angle rope rescue techniques for use on more gnarly terrain. We'll get to hoist up from Blackhawks courtesy of the NM National Guard, then head south to set up for the Bataan Marathon. Take all these ridiculously fun lessons, roll them around with some awesome desert hiking/mtn biking/rock climbing, then sprinkle it with some of that steep and deep Taos powder and you have one helluva good time... Man I love 4th year electives!

Now 'scuse me, I gotta study...