Family Medicine Training

When I had babies and toddlers climbing all over me, demanding my time and energy, and stealing my sleep, I remember thinking that I didn't have much time to do anything beyond keeping them and myself alive.  There was certainly a truth to that.  And yet, when I think back to those days and compare them to what's on my plate now, I think I had it fairly easy.

Life in this current stage is BUSY.  Granted, those same kids are marvelously more independent nowadays.  They can do a lot for themselves and play outside for hours without me needing to literally be out there with them to keep an eye on things.  It's fantastic.  And overall I love this stage way more than the babies and toddlers stage.  This is definitely my sweet spot.

AND it's insanely busy.  Homeschooling is no joke.  It demands so much of my time and energy, in part because I have multiple children doing multiple grades and in part because I really do take my job of Teacher Mom seriously and pour myself into doing a good job for these kids.  Also, my roles and responsibilities in other spheres of life and ministry have only grown and expanded over time, leaving me scrambling most days to even answer one email.

All that to say, I have had no margin to keep up with photos or posting of said photos.  And yet, I've been taking lots of photos because we've been doing lots of things!  Lots and lots of things.

We did not slow down after the holidays - there's no "post-holiday lull" over here like there is the Midwest in which people hunker down and hibernate for a bit after all the holiday craziness.  We just kept rolling.  In January we hosted a two-week training event for all the first-year Family Medicine residents.  They traveled from all the sites and converged here in Chogoria for ALSO, ACLS, BLS, PALS, and ATLS.  It was a great time of preparing these new residents for the clinical rotations which followed, as well as giving them a chance to get to know each other and the faculty better as they started the program.

I have to brag on my husband, who did a lot of planning and organizing to arrange the courses, visiting faculty, transportation and housing logistics, and a day trip to the mountain for everyone.  Afterwards, we received incredibly positive feedback from the residents, with one of them saying that this time in Chogoria will always be a cherished memory.

I was so encouraged because 1) my husband really did work hard to make everything run smoothly; and 2) the residency is my husband's heartbeat and the reason we ended up in Kenya at all.  So hearing such glowing reports is a boost for the spirit!

Here are some photos of hands-on learning, including a "goat lab" to learn how to put in a chest tube and a trach.

The day trip to the mountain happened because we wanted to give everyone something fun to do on the weekend off, and also because Mt. Kenya is the icon of our region and we just wanted to show her off!  It was an absolutely perfect day.  We hiked to Nithi Falls and the Mau Mau caves, then made a quick stop at Lake Ellis before heading back to the bandas for lunch.  (There's a restaurant at the bandas now - the first time ever! - and they did a great job accommodating our large group, plus the food was great).

The homeschool families tagged along for the day's adventures, which was wonderful because none of the kids had been to the waterfall or caves before so it was a perfect opportunity.  Plus, as Eli has always said, Family Medicine is such a great specialty because it cares about families!  So it was a no-brainer to bring the kids and moms along for the day.

Also, breathing mountain air is good for the soul.  So very good for the soul.

We are so thankful for these people: for the faculty that works so well together and does a wonderful job teaching and training the residents; for the residents who work hard to learn well and show up day after day even though their education is demanding; and for our kids who live this life with us as we focus on training up future generations of quality, Christ-centered Family Medicine physicians for Africa.