As my time comes to a close...

Choosing Fairbanks, AK for my 20 week clinical rotation was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. It has been such a great adventure. I have been able to see and do so many things, meet some very interesting people, see some of the most beautiful views on Earth, and taken a new appreciation to life.


I have 2 weeks left here, and my departure is going to be bittersweet. I am very much excited to come home and be with my family and see friends, but Alaska has become a second home. A small piece of my heart will stay here when I leave. I have come to really enjoy working with the staff here in the Rehab department, and I have been offered to come back and work here. Justin and I have discussed the situation, and would both love to live here, we'll just have to see how things go in the next couple months with Justin's work at the lab, my graduation, and the wedding. :D




I've been trying to decide how I would describe my time here in Alaska, and I just can't find the right words to give it justice. The land is beautiful, the people are wonderful - often bizarre! and it definitely has it's extremes! A couple weeks ago I went cross country skiing at -38' F. If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be enjoying outdoor activities at such extreme temperatures, I would have laughed - hard. The weather really isn't that far off from an elongated cold, windy winter in the Midwest, but the hours of daylight sure gets to ya. Today, we had less than 5 hours of daylight. We are only about 2 weeks from the solstice, so the days shouldn't get much shorter. I was able to see a bit of the sun today outside of one my patient's windows. I actually thanked them for having their blinds open. Although I don't see much of the sun on days that I work (sunrise after 10 and sets just after 3), it sure does create some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I have seen the Aurora once while I've been here, and hope to get a colorful show before I leave - we'll have to see. And just for reference if you ever spend time in the winter at this latitude, you need to have about 5x the amount of vitamin D in your diet. I learned the hard way, increased my dosage, and have learned to appreciate the darkness. You can have quite a bit of fun with a headlamp and a full moon reflecting off all the snow!

On the work side of things - the culture and society of Alaska has made the job as a physical therapist slightly different from what it would be "outside" (what everyone up here calls the lower 48). I have worked with a patient who was riding his bike to work and hit a moose - needless to say, he was pretty banged up. I have written a goal for a 65 year old woman to be able to walk a mile over uneven ground while carrying her heavy rifle so she could hunt for her food for winter. Patients who are healing from shoulder surgery often have to chop wood to heat their cabins. A young man we saw in the hospital was hit by a snow machine (snow mobile) and broke his leg (some of the craziest x-rays I have ever seen) and after the bones didn't heal - had to have his leg amputated. This wouldn't be such a big deal, but he lives in an Arctic village, and we had to make sure he could walk the 50 feet with crutches and ice grips to get to his out-house. On that note, I learned what a "honey bucket" is. Although it sounds nice initially, it is not. Think of a make-shift commode in your house that you use when it's -60' and you can't even go outside to the outhouse!!


Just as a few more randoms about Alaska... Alaskan Amber is one of the best beers I've had in my life. You have to plug in your car for 4-5 months out of the year so that you can start it in the morning. The roads aren't plowed for the most part - just drive over the snow until it is packed then throw down some gravel into the intersections. Getting dressed to go outside is quite the task. The most beautiful drive (picture above) I have ever taken is between Los Anchorage (big city!) and Fairbanks along Denali Park and through Bison Gulch - glacier blue streams and rivers wind along the highway with beautiful mountain slopes on either side. Puffins are the funniest birds to watch - they eat so much food that they can't fly and just paddle over the water really fast to escape getting run over by boats! And the glaciers are really melting, and I'm glad that I was lucky enough to play on a few of them, because at this rate they won't be around much longer.


So as I start packing and preparing for my departure, I think back to the last 5 months and the time when Justin was able to be here with me. It has been such a wonderful experience, and I can't wait for the next chance that I have to come back.