let loose at the elementary school

Today was my first day of clinical. Up until now, I have had plenty of lecture/theory time in an over-air conditioned classroom and some decent hours in a smelly mildewing lab room. At last, we were set loose to practice our newly acquired skills on some of the cutest and funnest patients-- children!

What is it about me? Why do I love kids so much? Have I always been able to connect with them, and really identify with them? Maybe. Or it could be the last few years of exposure to my step siblings, and how I miss them so much now. Regardless of the reason, the moment I set foot at the Elementary School I felt at home and in place.

Each of us were assigned to a different classroom. My assignment: Developmentally Challenged Preschool.

I have to admit that when I went yesterday to buy my stethoscope, I was thinking about the kids. Rather than go with boring and traditional black, I went for the purple one. I could imagine myself already.... the kids would see me as fun, nice, cool blonde haired girl in teal scrubs. The one with the pretty purple stethoscope. The little girls would love me, and we would be best friends by the end of the day.

My classroom wasn't filled with the 7 year old girls like I had planned, but the new possibilities immediately perked me up. I found myself with tiny kids ages 3 and 4, mostly diagnosed with Autism and Down Syndrome. I immediately fell in love. They were absolutely adorable, and so fun. Definitely challenging, since their social skills are not the same as typical pre school kids. The first little girl I interacted with had already picked out just the right toys for the occasion: a doctors kit! She pulled out a little plastic stethoscope and I jumped to my feet to retrieve my brand new purple stethoscope. Although she could not communicate with me verbally, I could tell by her nonverbal behavior that she was as thrilled with my purple stethoscope as I was. I knew it would be a good day.

While playing with the kids, one wasted no time in attaching himself to my hip. He was totally adorable, and a little more socially adapted. He scooted closer and closer to me and before I knew it I had found myself a little shadow for the day.

My educational task for the day was to pick a student and apply the Denver II test to see if the student was following the pattern and trend for growth. We learned about this test in class and practiced it a bit. With a fairly cooperative preschooler, we hopped on one foot, long jumped, drew stick figures, counted blocks, named colors and played word games. I charted my findings accordingly, and get to write a paper about it tonight.

After lunch, my kids were exhausted. Following the teachers schedule, they watched Sesame Street and went down for a 1 hour nap. This gave me 1.5 hours to catch up on homework and cruise the school. I found myself an inviting picnic bench on the playground and settled in. As I browsed my work, children of each of the grade levels came out for recess. With each recess, came another batch of curious students to my study spot.

My favorite of these onlookers consisted of 3 first grade girls. They were outgoing and talkative, keeping me busy with questions and answers. They were very curious about my scrubs, my homework and why I was at school. When I told them I was going to be a nurse, they shot into a discussion of "what I am going to be when I grow up". Sitting live, right in front of me, was a future doctor, teacher, and a candy shop owner. I tried to suppress my laughter as they vividly described their reasoning for their picks. When the bell rang, I could tell it was hard for them to peel themselves away from the picnic table and from our quality discussion. They marched back to class with their arms locked over eachothers shoulder, best friends forever. I couldn't help but think back to that age and how it felt. I remembered my best friends, and can proudly call those girls some of my best friends still.

Overall, the day was an awesome experience. I loved everything about it and I am really excited that I was assigned to a Developmentally Challenged group rather then a regular class. I am incredibly intrigued by Autism in particular, thanks to some reading up on it from a few years ago. I am excited to learn more about it.

Tomorrow I go back and do the same stuff, and I also get to spend some time in the School Health Center doing physical exams! Looks like I get to pull out the purple stethoscope again :-)