Adventuring in Fairbanks

I just finished my first week of surgery rotation in Fairbanks, AK. I'm starting this rotation after 12 weeks of doing nothing related to medicine. Well, not exactly nothing - I had 6 weeks of psychiatry (the neglected underbelly of the medical world, not because it isn't important, but because it operates blind, with unpredictable pathology refractory to what few "treatments" are available) and then 6 weeks of nothing related to medical school (blissful, beautiful stress-free nothing). And despite my best efforts, time passes, so now I'm back in the med school game again.

A decision: I decided to expand my last year - meaning I will take 2 years to do my fourth year. This is great because it enables me to do some last minute adventuring before I graduate, postpone decisions I'm not quite "ready" to make, and basically revel in studentdom for that much longer. This is terrible because it means I am a student for that much longer.

A few first week tidbits to share.

1) I have heard arguments on both sides and I've officially decided that Fairbanks is not the best of what Alaska has to offer. That's really all I have to say about that.

2) Dr. Montano is an old cowboy who has been operating in Fairbanks probably before the hospital was even built. He's done surgeries that people spend 8 years in residency learning how to do. He's cowboy defined, and it's unsafe for patients, but he's grandfathered in because he has been doing it for so long. The other surgeons had to band together to convince him to stop doing craniotomies (hole in the head). He's thin and spindly, crotchety and irreverent. Reminds me of Harry Dean Stanton. He's the definition of a libertarian. And he's got a great sense of humor.

I told him Ross had told me to tell the docs that they shouldn't be mean to me. He said, "I couldn't be hard on you - it'd be like being mean to a puppy."

He found out I was from Idaho (I emphasized Idaho over California - it seemed like a wise decision) and his second question was, "Are you Morman?" He's not subtle.

His daughter is a pediatrician in Anchorage and he told me I shouldn't be a pediatrician cause I won't make any money.

He also has 5 houses, I think.

That's it for now. More stories to come.