Pages from the Philips Seeking God's leading in medical missions

Pictures from Mussoorie & Herbertpur

The dog days of June...the heat and lack of rain in Texas since we returned back to Texas have been intense.  The kids seem to have recovered from jet lag fairly well although our whole family seems to still be suffering from GI problems.  I think similar to what happened the last time we were in Assam, we might have all picked up Giardia again and so it might be about time for us all to get a course of tinidazole in our system.

Work has been going well - working a month of nights after coming back from India has been easier due to not having to worry about jet lag.  However, there has been a lot of paperwork that needs to get done to finish my residency and so I've spent several days these past few weeks working all night and then spending most of the day getting things done for the residency which has led to several 3-4 hour sleep days.  On top of that, I had all 4 of my wisdom teeth removed yesterday which was actually a much more pleasant experience than I thought it would be.  I was quite amazed by the effect of nitrous oxide, midazolam, fentanyl and propofol in my system!  I don't remember much of the surgery and for most of the day yesterday was in a narcotics-induced stupor.  Today has been a little more painful but quite bearable and if it was not for the side effect of dizziness from the narcotics I would feel like I was back to 100%.  Here's to praying for no dry sockets in the next few days and being able to go back to work on Monday night!

I also had my orientation with the organization I'll be working with for the next few years - Emergency Medicine Consultants.  I was so impressed with them during my orientation and feel they really have both the physicians and patients's needs at heart much more than the survival of the company.  They have put together a wonderful group of support staff that I think will make my life as an ER doctor as manageable as possible so that I can focus on the most important part of my job which is caring for patients well.  EMC helps to coordinate my scheduling, keeps track of my credentialing at different hospitals and contracts with another company to get all my billing done.  I'm excited to be part of this group (about 120 physicians all together serving at 12 hospitals in the area).  They have several contracts which they have held for over 35 years!  They seem very family centered and we were excited to see so many staff members who have stayed with this group for several decades which I think speaks to the quality support they provide.  I'll find out soon for myself as I work my first shift on July 5th.  Right now I'm planning on working primarily at Hunt Regional Medical Center in Greenville and Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Kaufman with about two shifts a month as an attending at Parkland Hospital.  We chose these two hospitals because they are rural enough that I'm often on my own without much in the way of subspecialty support and thus we thought it would help prepare us well for long term work in India when we'll be in a similar situation.

Finally, we wanted to share some final sets of pictures from India.  The following are pictures from our visit to Mussoorie to see Landour Hospital where we met Joe and Sima Weaver and from our last weeks at Herbertpur Hospital.  I wanted to try a different way to show a slideshow and so have created a video with music on animoto which I've posted below.  Let us know if you like the slideshows better this way as opposed to previous versions.  Also at the bottom of the post are individual pictures you can click on in case you just want to look at a few pictures.  Have a wonderful week!