Is it still healthy if you eat the whole pan?

Healthy modification to brownies:

Brownie Mix

1/2 c fat free yogurt

Amount of water on the box

moist and delishhhh!

Survival of the Fittest

After two long weeks of 6:30 AM wake up calls, sitting in a near arctic cold classroom, and listening to endless speakers explain procedures we will “understand later”… we are done with bootcamp! This week we focused on our inpatient/outpatient rotations. Don’t be fooled by the word “bootcamp”… most of it was spent chatting with the dietitians or playing the jelly belly game. (The candy shop is only a hop, skip, and a jump away from our classroom. Who knew guessing jelly belly flavors could be that entertaining?!) We even made it to the library two times this week to work on our study guides. It feels good to refresh our minds of the endless lab values and nutritional calculations we did in our undergrad.

Yesterday was one of my most informative, yet disturbing, days of my new life in Charleston. Because outpatient rotations focus so much on dietary recalls and understanding the Charleston “cuisine”, one of our preceptors gave a powerpoint covering this area. I had no idea of the things I didn’t know. Things I learned today…

1. Nabs = fluorescent orange peanut butter crackers with 190 calories and 15 g of fat

2. A glass of tea = 2 cups of sugar per quart

3. Fat back is a usual addition to meat, bean, and rice

4. Ham hock can be added to about any dish to take away any hope of it being healthy, including vegetables

5. Grits are eaten most every morning and sometimes night…. With 2 sticks of butter and bacon fat of course

6. Red beans are cooked with lard, lard, and more lard

7. Hush puppies = deep fried cornbread

Lets just say that I spent this half an hour in horror. I felt as though I gained 3 pounds just listening to this speech. South Carolina is one of the top 5 most obese states for a reason! Let’s hope I don’t need a translator at my first patient counseling session. I am officially a Yankee.

Our apartment is wonderful and we love our living situation. We have our routine down… Jo makes coffee at 6:45 each morning, Julie reminds Jo of keys/wallet/anything of importance each time we leave the house, Jo tries to convince Julie to eat breakfast, Julie watches her reality shows, and Jo goes to Tae-Bo. Somewhere in between we laugh, talk, and continue to grow in our friendship.

We celebrated the end of orientation yesterday. We all feel truly blessed to be in this prestigious teaching hospital. Adorned in our brand new brown scrubs, Jo and I will begin our inpatient rotations in a few days (pictures later, don’t worry).

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we begin our first day on Tuesday!

Not for the faint of heart

If you have wondered the reason behind the ever increasing gaps in our blogs, it is due to the fact that we now go to bed at 9 and spend our Friday evenings grocery shopping. It would seem we are not yet acclimated to hospital life. We have however, discovered that vanilla caramel coffee mate creates a coffee experience similar to that found at Duncan Donuts, lunches are best packed the night before, and how to best place band-aids for blister prevention. We have also become experts at the hospital shuttle schedule and took great joy in all the flustered and confused newcomers this morning. Ahh, the joys of being a seasoned professional. That being said, we have found our new routine to be a bit tiring, though familiar. Being in a classroom trying to become oriented takes a great deal of concentration and has proved somewhat draining. The good news is "boot camp" is not nearly as intimidating as we feared. We are so blessed to be a part of a teaching hospital where, "I don't know but I will look it up," is an acceptable answer and every question is treated with respect.

So, that is the update for now. We are tired but content, a bit apprehensive, but ready to hit the floor and meet our first patients ( that happens Tuesday, by the way). I'm sure we will have many a story after that!

Clarification: I was unsure why my mom was so perplexed by the last blog...until I re-read it. I probably should have mentioned we were being fit for our TB masks. Its standard precaution in the hospital. Sorry!! Sometimes I get all dramatic and caught up in the writing, forgetting I have to fill in the facts!

Pot of Gold

This morning started like every other morning this week. We were up before dawn, brewed coffee to go, made small talk with the other interns. By 9 our routine was interrupted by a strange little man with floppy gray hair. He was charged with fitting our TB masks. He entered with a few well intentioned but somewhat perplexing jokes, but nothing serious. Then things got weird. He whipped out what seemed to be a cross between a beekeepers mask and those sacks executioners put over their prisoners head. One by one we found ourselves peering through the plastic eye hole as the sack was placed over our heads. It didn't stop there. Our friend then proceeded to squirt some sort of foul tasting spray into our hood until our face of disgust was satisfactory, proving we indeed tasted the unknown substance. Next, we were each assigned a duck mask much like the typical paper isolation masks worn in a hospital, only in place of the normal rounded shape these were fashioned more like a bill. Very chic. After properly securing the duck mask we again were placed under the hood. This time it was filled with an even stronger dose of the horrid mystery spray. Much to the amusement of our floppy haired friend and the seven interns not currently being victimized, the hooded intern was instructed to read a scientific passage. It began innocently with the formation of rainbows, but it ended with, you guessed it, a pot of gold. Generally, I feel my Samford career prepared my quite well for my internship, but today I found a hole in my training. What a surprising morning.

Our new Monday morning home.

In other news, Shelly turned 23 yesterday! The eight of us went to a great little place called Social and then for a little stroll on the water to celebrate. I threw in a few pictures. Do try to contain your jealousy :)

Calm Before the Storm

By 7:3o this morning Julie and I found ourselves standing down town at the bus stop, coffee mug in hand, raccoon eyes skillfully disguised, anxiously awaiting the hospital shuttle. Our first day was underway...only 280 to go. We were feeling somewhat confident as we pridefully rejected the help of our resident security officer and boarded the bus. We were neither lost nor confused, thank you. Of course they say pride comes before a fall and we were humbled as the bus came to a stop near an unfamiliar side of the hospital and we found ourselves clueless as to where we should disembark.

Not long after we found ourselves in settled into ART 2008, our new home for 5 months of Mondays, and were presented with a 4 inch binder. Free school supplies? No, no, just our SYLLABUS! And so it begins.

Tonight Julie and I twiddle our thumbs and enjoyed the calm...before the storm. On a less dramatic note we are both excited about the months to come and both commented that the whole experience seems "very right."

Street Corner Symphony

This morning Julie and I woke up with an agenda: see Charleston, seek employment. After an unintentional detour across the bridge and to the beach (we have decided to keep swimsuits in the car if such an accident should occur again), we made our way downtown to the farmer's market. Booth after booth of fresh produce covered the historic Marion Square with plenty of prime seating for people watching! For the record, the Starbucks across the street is air-conditioned and a perfect people watching alternative for the heat intolerant like us. Hello, humidity!

After practicing a little self-restraint and promising to return when our fridge wasn't stuffed, we moved on to Fresh Berry. This sweet little frozen yogurt shop is probably Julie's heaven on earth. She claims a "minor" obsession with the tasty treat, but I think she underestimates her love. Regardless, I was introduced to mango and vanilla swirl with graham cracker crumbles, fresh kiwi, and pineapple chunks. Who knew low fat, low cal, frozen, and chocked full of probiotics could be so delicious! Lucky for Julie, she should soon be receiving an employee discount and I am left to wonder, "What's in it for the roommate?"

After a little window shopping we headed back to the car where we learned our lesson for the day: police here are quite particular about the way you park! We were greeted with cheerful little yellow envelopes oh the windshield that sweetly stated, "For your convenience place fine in this envelope and deposit it in any of the yellow courtesy boxes on or near meter posts." Courtesy boxes, huh? I thought this was the south! Turns out there is a particular direction you must parallel park. No room for creativity. Better luck next time!

Outside the farmers market

Obsession.

Hostess with the Mostess

Jo and I offered to host our first dietetic intern party Friday night. Of course our first question was, "what should we make?!" We made our way to Harris Teeter (local grocery store). I got another reminder of how friendly southerners are after a few lengthy conversations with employees. Note to self: give myself more time to run errands! We decided to make veggie pizza, watermelon cilantro and lime salad, and home made key lime pie. The afternoon was spent chopping, baking, and bonding in the kitchen.

Our 6 other interns came over to spend a relaxing evening to get to know each other better. The 8 of us are from very different parts of the country, ranging from Wisconsin to New York to Georgia. We all seem like we are going to work together very well. Can't wait for our program to finally begin!

MUSC 2009-2010 Dietetic Interns

Home Sweet Home

First things first... for those of you who don't know our journey, here's how it began. On April 19th, Julie and Johanna who were many miles apart both read "You have been matched to MUSC Dietetic Internship". Our prayers had been answered. Now to start the planning. After some intense facebook stalking and a few short messages, they decided to take the plunge. They became roommates.

The process of finding an apartment in Charleston became proved difficult while Johanna fled the country to work at a malnutrition clinic in Haiti, leaving Julie alone to find a home. But the stars somehow aligned and they found a beautiful apartment in a gated community, 15 minutes from the beach.

Johanna and the Brandon's arrived first to spend some time settling in and exploring the city. With a fully stocked kitchen and furnished bedroom, they spent the majority of the time sitting indian style on the floor because Julie had all the furniture!

Julie finally made her way down from Cincinnati with some helping hands and only minor Uhaul problems. With her team of moving men (Chris and Tom), interior designer (Mom), and director (her, of course!) the move was a success.

J & J finally met on August 11th, more as friends than strangers. Let the good times roll...

For your viewing pleasure:

Kitchen ... where the magic happens

Living Room

Julie's Room

Johanna's room

A great moving man!

Humble Beginnings

After 2 Uhauls, 10 hours of driving, a monsoon, and too many boxes to count... WE HAVE LANDED. We are no longer tourists in this beautiful city, we are residents. Organic chemistry is behind us, we have traded our text books for scrubs, and now we begin.

To catch you up...