Orientation 2

Today, as part of orientation, we drove around Dixon and the surrounding areas to get a better idea of the area. We were fortunate enough to have two members of our team who have lived around here for quite a while and so they were able to take us around Dixon and Oregon (home of the Liberty statue, the second largest monolithic concrete statue in the world). Since one of our teammates is from Oregon, she was able to fill us in on all the different things that go during the summer, including a one day festival where artists come in and turn corn fields into works of art (think Signs!) that can be viewed by helicopter. Other potential activities included visiting a dude ranch, an organic farm, or a swine slaughterhouse (okay, so that last one doesn't sound nearly as appealing).

As for the program itself, it looks like we'll be spending time with preceptors in different health care professions (public health, hospice care, social work, pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy, and additional time for our own designation), with an emphasis on our own area. The medicine rotation takes place at a primary care clinic in Oregon, IL with a couple of physicians who also help out with the Rockford campus (I'm going to be in Peoria). We will also be working on a community service project that involves figuring out how to disseminate information from a health services directory compiled by last year's interns, and we'll be helping out at a health camp for high school students at NIU for a weekend sometime in June.

The directors also took us out for dinner at a local steakhouse, and we were able to hear a lot of their stories. One of them is an allergist in Rockford who works as faculty in the medical school there and the other works with Hispanic/other underserved populations in addressing health care disparities. As I sat at dinner (I had a rack of lamb) listening to the conversation, I couldn't help but wonder how different my summer would have been had my initial plans had stuck. The fact that I initially turned down this internship only to come back a month later and find that my spot was still open still makes me wonder, and after today, I am even more excited for what these next few weeks will bring.

Having said all this, I'm looking foward to going home this weekend to celebrate a few birthdays.