This is ourselves, under pressure

Today I was volunteered by one of the doctors I work with in the hospital to give a talk on Management of Hypertension at Grand Rounds in July. I mean, I'm flattered because it means that he thinks I'm pretty competent - and I can't deny that I'm kind of excited to present a room full of doctors and interns - but the panic quickly set in when I realized how much information I'll have to sift through and digest between now and then. What do I know about Management of Hypertention? At the moment, remarkably little.

My research has already started. The American Heart Association has some good annually updated guidelines that I was directed to, and I was able to find some good review articles in the New England Journal of Medicine archives (a big thanks to my Dad for providing his username and password).

It actually seems like an interesting topic, especially when considering the cardiovascular complications associated with patients with HIV (particularly notable in patients who have been on multi-drug ARV therapy for any extended period of time). If I come across anything that seems to be of more general interest, I'll be sure to share.

This weekend I am going to be heading inland to check out the Amphitheatre, one of the most striking features of the northern portion of the Drakensberg Mountains. I'm not sure if I'll get around to posting again before I leave, but I'll do my best to get the pictures up as soon as I get home.

Writing these narrative posts is harder than it looks. Seeing so many 'I' statements starts to make me feel queasy, but I guess I'll just have to cope if I'm going to keep writing about this stuff. I'll holler at you guys again soon.