Doggone It, No Kiddin'!

Fun fact of the day: Rapid decompression can cause your teeth to explode.  No kiddin'.

Fast plane

Today we spent the entire day with Lt White, an aerospace physiologist who is the self-proclaimed "oldest first lieutenant in the Air Force."  (He really wasn't that old, but certainly older than the typical first lieutenant.)  He taught us all about the changes the body goes through and the adaptations it must make to the unique stresses of altitude, especially rapid changes in altitude.  We learned about the 4 different kinds of hypoxia (hypoxic, hypemic, stagnant, and histotoxic), decompression sickness and its manifestations, and, among many other things, the unique difficulties associated with trapped gas inside the body (e.g. in the Eustacian tubes, the bowels, and, yes, teeth).  In medical school, I typically feel as though I'm just going to class because I have to, out of obligation.  Today, I was sad when class ended after 8 hours.  I want to be here; I want to learn as much as I possibly can about flight medicine.  This is the first time since being accepted to medical school that I have felt this amped-up about anything career-related. There's no doubt in my mind: I want to be a flight surgeon.  I'm not going to give away any surprises, but I am so incredibly excited for the next 2 days -- well, really, the rest of the 2 weeks.  Ahh!

Camo plane

After classes were over, a few of us drove over to Lackland AFB to get some uniform shopping done but also just to check out the base.  It's like a city in there; it's huge!  We stumbled upon a parade field surrounded by models of historic planes, so for your viewing pleasure, I have included a few.

Big plane

Fat plane

Stealthy plane

Michelle-sized plane