To be honest, I was nervous about Soldotna in the winter, but it was one of the best months I’ve had yet in my whole medical education. The clinic is amazing, as others have explained. The docs up there are top notch, I think I saw more complex patients up in a day there than I would in a week in Seattle, and all being completely managed by internists! It’s awesome. I have prescribed triple-therapy for a patient with MAI pneumonia, high dose steroids for a UC flare, and amio-loaded someone for refractory a-fib in clinic without any specialist help. The clinic runs smoothly, they have a fully functioning EMR and laptops for everyone. The support staff is wonderful and I became friends with several of the nurses and MAs.

There is still plenty to do in Soldotna wintertime, though I will say it’s the coldest weather I’ve ever been in. The scenery is just incredible. We went to Homer and Seward, like others have posted about, but it was a cool different feel to be there in the dead of winter with only the locals and the awe-inspiring views. We went cross country skiing (right out of the backyard if you want!), snowshoing, dogsledding, and ate wonderful meals at all of the doctors houses.
Don’t pass this rotation up!!