Wilderness Medicine

George has had several rotations during Medical school that he has enjoyed, but I think Wilderness Medicine takes the cake.

Two weeks of kayaking, rock climbing, hiking and camping. Oh, and back-boarding, shelter-building, water-purifying and orienteering. Two weeks of learning life-saving skills by essentially playing. I was so jealous and for once, George wasn't disheartened to wake up in the morning to go to work.

He attended this rotation with Chris Bailey (a good friend of ours) and some other friends he's made along the way in his class, Sam being one of them that I actually know. These pictures are not in order, but they give you a general idea of what he did. Thanks to Sunny and Sam for posting the pictures on Facebook so I could steal them. :)

One day they learned how to rescue people who had been in accidents. I think they rescued people from cars, too, and learned how to secure them for removal from the scene of the accident.

George being a model victim.

Dr. Charlton (the dude in grey holding his face) was the one who headed up most of this rotation and taught the students the rescue skills. I think he even paid for some of it out of his own pocket!

I'd trust these guys to rescue me. I think...

Learning different knots and when to use them.

Sam and George trying out their harnesses they tied. Nice face, Sam.

Uh, that's the biggest tadpole I've ever seen. And no, this was not part of the training. Just a side effect of being in a large group of college students.

They learned how to clear a spot for a helicopter to land and got to learn about Pegasus, the life flight helicopter that is used by UVa's hospital.

Chris Bailey looking very excited.

Part of their rotation was learning gun safety as well. They went out to a farm and learned how to load and unload different types of firearms. They were going to shoot them, too, but there was a farmer plowing a field close by, so they didn't get to actually fire them.

A scary sight. And no, I'm not talking about the guns. More like the line of almost doctors that will start practicing medicine in a couple months.

 Chris looks so comfortable holding that gun.

And of course there was time to goof around, too. Just don't fall on George's car, Chris. Thanks.

Another day they learned how to rock climb and repel.

Here is Dr. Charlton talking some of the classmates through the outdoor climb.

Later, they went to an indoor gym to have fun practice some more.

Use your legs, not your arms!

George belaying a classmate.

Chris showing them how it's done. This guy's been rock climbing with his family for years, so he's a pro.

Learning the in's and out's of climbing.

Nice calves!

Made it!

Apparently they even got to shoot crossbows one day.

I think it was the same day they learned how to build shelters and start fires.

Enjoying the fruit of their labors after building a fire.

One way to purify water.

"Team Titan" (Sam's dog) and their shelter.

Another day was spent learning water safety. How do you learn water safety? By going kayaking, of course!

Chris

George in a double with...

Sam and Titan.

Most of the group.

The last part of the rotation was an over-night camping trip. The night was spent eating, drinking and playing games.

Playing charades without using your face.

Playing charades using JUST your face. Apparently, George was Wolverine.

After spending an uncomfortable night in sleeping bags and tents, the students were organized into three teams that completed a 10 mile obstacle race of sorts that tested how well they learned their new wilderness survival skills.

Getting their bearings...

They had to orienteer to several different points along the way and at each point met some kind of challenge. They had to rescue people, answer questions, purify water, build shelters...

...and fires.

George's team won by about 5 minutes! Good job, guys!

George had a great time doing Wilderness Medicine and even commented that it may have converted him to the outdoors. A big deal coming from a guy who had never really been camping until a few months ago!