Winter Ball 2010

Saturday night was the Medical School Winter Ball, also known more fondly as "Med School Prom" by the medical students. I spent the afternoon trying to figure out what to wear. Money is tight and I didn't want to have to buy anything. I tried on all my dresses and couldn't decide what to wear. When Drew came home from the hospital and told me he wanted to wear his khaki suit, it helped me decide on this dress:

I have to apologize for the picture quality as I brought my old camera. Considering there was going to be drinking and dancing, I didn't think bringing my Nikon was a good idea! And although there was some great music played, Drew and I didn't dance to one single song. Although I normally love to dance, we were so busy talking and catching up with everyone we never even made it to the dance floor. It was sooo nice to catch up with all of Drew's med school friends. Here are some more photos from the night.
Below are some gorgeous soon to be doctors with Dr. Constance, the Dean of Student Affairs
Some of Drew's closest friends
The fabulous favors!
The Class of 2010. I can hardly believe these crazy kids are going to be caring for patients as doctors in six months!
A ladies picture

And an action series (the beginning of the somersault......)
And the successful landing

And last but not least, one more picture of my medical student and me.

The night was wonderful, but I must say it was hard not to get too sentimental as I realized it was our last med school prom. I can hardly believe we are starting to begin the "end" of this portion of our journey. This is the first of many "lasts" in the upcoming months.

Done with Interviews until the New Year!

Drew officially has 12 interviews down (and 5 more scheduled for after the new year!). I am relieved that he has a break, but it is also somewhat shocking to realize that Christmas is NEXT week! We are soooo not ready for it! Every time I think things are going to settle or slow down, I am mistaken.
We have been on the road every weekend (mostly for interviews, but have been able to fit a few visits with friends and family in there too). And during the week we are trying to catch up. There is always something. When we are home it feels like all we are doing is getting ready for the next interview. Just unpacking, doing laundry, taking clothes to the dry cleaner (for interviews), picking out conservative clothes for interviews, writing Thank yous for the interviews, and baking homemade goods for the family and friends that are allowing Drew to stay with them... and then packing up again!
Our apartment is a mess, we hardly have any food in the house, the milk in our fridge is five days old, we aren't ready for Christmas, and there is absolutely no sign of the holidays in our train-wreck-of-an-apartment!
Drew and I went out to dinner tonight, because we didn't get home until 7:00 and we had a gift certificate that was going to expire this month. We literally sat at dinner and made a list of the things we need to do before next week. What a pathetic dinner out! But I must say I do feel a little better now.
Oh, and I did manage to get the Christmas cards out this week, finally! I always under estimate how long it will take to get them done!
There is so much I'd like to update about interviews, but there simply enough time! Hopefully one of these days I will get around to it!

We are going to be fine.

Just fine. I realized this today as I was driving home from my weekend visit to see Drew. As we are currently five months out from Match day - the day that we will find out what and where we will be going/staying for the next 6-9 years. And six to nine years is a serious amount of time. This whole process is a big one, because I will have to live with whatever it brings. But after spending this weekend with Drew at Away Rotation #3, it made me realize that home, will be home because I am with Drew. And although I may have a hard time with the future, and I may have adjustment issues and I may have meltdowns in the process; I will adjust. And we will be okay. Spending this weekend in the new town with Drew, there were moments when I could see myself living in that town, and being happy. And I know that it is not the only place I will be able to be happy. Each town and city will have things that make it feel like home. And most importantly, wherever I go, will be with Drew, and that alone will make everything okay. It made me realize that I just have to continue to have faith in God. And he will take care of us. And we will be just fine.

Week 2, Days 9-13

The rest of week two is all lumped together because I really didn't hear much about Drew's week until Saturday.
Tuesday began at the usual time (a little before 5:00 a.m.) but after rounds, rather than watching surgery all day, he decided to go to clinic. In clinic he saw patients who were either scheduled for upcoming surgery or were recovery from a recent surgery. Then Tuesday night Drew was on call. Wednesday when he was post call, they decided to start a surgery late in the day and it didn't go as smoothly and quickly as planned so he was there until 9:30 p.m. By the time Drew got home he was ravaging and got off the phone with me so he could eat. After he finished eating he called me to tell me he was exhausted and asked if I would mind if he went to sleep. This explains why we haven't had much time to talk.
Days 9 -10 = 40.5 hours

Thursday was a refreshingly short day. He started at the usual time, just before 5:00 a.m. and was done by 6:30 p.m. Drew was quite excited to be done early but spent most of the evening studying and researching a presentation topic before heading to bed. Before the end of this rotation he will have to make a presentation to the residents and attendings, and I believe it will factor into his overall evaluation.
Day 11 = 13.5 hours

Friday Drew started at the usual time and was on call that night. There was a fourth year medical student who goes to the school there and was volunteering for the night (often times if you want to match at your home program you will volunteer on nights and weekends to help make sure you match there). The residents said that Drew could go home if he wanted to because they had the other student's help, but he opted not to, and stayed. I guess they had a really interesting case that night. A patient came in that had fallen down the stairs. He had some sub-cranial bleeding (don't quote me on this I am repeating it from memory). He was responsive/alert when he arrived at the hospital but the scan showed bleeding in his brain. While he was there he became non-responsive and they had to rush him to the operating room. Saturday Drew was post call and done by 11:30 a.m.
Days 12-13 = 30.5

So while Drew and I did not have plans to see each other until the end of this first away rotation (I wanted him to sleep and study during his time off) we did see each other this weekend. I have missed him like crazy and really have not had much time to talk with him. The majority of our communication is via text message and includes encouraging words alongs with "miss you's" and "love you's". So when the opportunity arose we decided to meet up for the weekend. As soon as we picked him up from the train I started asking him tons of questions. Here are a few things that I learned . . .
Things are not the most organized (but not necessarily disorganized) in the sense that there isn't anywhere that Drew is really supposed to be. His first two weeks were cranial focused and his last two weeks will be spine focused. But this focus more pertains to what patients he will see on rounds in the morning, it doesn't really have anything to do with what surgeries he sees everyday. Also he has the option of watching surgeries or going to clinic. They don't assign him to one or the other, he can just pick. I think this is somewhat of an adjustment for Drew because he doesn't really know where he should be and is just trying his best to help out as much as possible without getting in the way. Unlike in medical school where they told him what he could do, here he is trying to anticipate what he should do, and is constantly asking what he can do to help.
He has seen quite a lot of surgeries as the hospital he is at has an extremely high volume of patients. A few of the surgeries he has seen are: tumors (both benign and malignant), aneurysms, cranial bleeding, spinal fusions and scoliosis. (I'm sure he has seen others as well, but that is all I can remember. )
The first week was quite an adjustment for Drew in that he experienced extreme exhaustion and hunger, but he seems to have turned the corner this week. He says that he is still extremely tired when his alarm goes off every morning at a little after three (and at times has wanted to throw/destroy his alarm) but by the time he is on his way to the hospital he is already thinking about what he will get to do/see that day, and how he can improve. He is kept so busy during the day he doesn't seem to have time to feel or think about being tired. To me, the thought of functioning on this schedule seems insane, but he seems to think that all of the residents are extremely well adjusted to the schedule and says that they rarely appear tired. I imagine that must be the case, as many residents in all specialties manage to function in high pressure situations on little sleep for several years during residency - I suppose your body has no choice but to adjust.
As for me I feel much better after having seen Drew, and now knowing that he is doing well, I'm hoping that being apart will only get easier from here on out. I'll post more about this weekend later this week!

Days 4-6

Days four through six (Thursday-Saturday) are lumped together because they pretty much were one long endless day for Drew. He went in a little before 5 a.m. and although he was not on call Thursday night there was a really neat surgery, so he decided to stay. By the time he got out of surgery it was nearly 11:00 p.m. At that point he left the hospital briefly to run out and purchase some deodorant and a toothbrush. He decided it was easier just to spend the night rather than travel back home since he had to be back in a few hours anyways. Then Friday was another busy call night in which he only got about 2 hours of sleep. Saturday he was post call, and finally left around 12:30 p.m. when he told the Resident he was pretty much at the end of his rope. Hopefully they won't look down on him for that but he had been there since Thursday morning, and was exhausted and hungry. He hadn't eaten in nearly 24 hours and had only gotten about 7 hours of sleep the past two nights combined (neither of which I imagine are out of the ordinary for a surgical resident - they just learn to adjust and handle it after a while).
For those of you who don't know my husband he is kind of a neat/clean freak. And I'm not complaining because I would rather him be obsessively clean than, dirty! Anyways in the three days that he was in the hospital (and we couldn't really communicate), all I could think about was how he was probably going crazy wearing the same clothes for three days straight. Drew is the kinda guy who would shower several times a day if he could, and will never wear a shirt more than once even if he only had it on for 5 minutes. Although it means a lot of laundry for me, I guess its good for patients... I mean who wants a dirty doctor? Anyways, somehow he managed to survive but once he got off on Saturday he made sure to let me know that he needed to get off the phone so that he could promptly shower and eat! I finally heard from him around 7:30 p.m. when he woke up from his "nap."
He was fortunate to have all of Sunday off so that he could rest, study and refresh for week number two. He is planning on bringing more snacks and powerbars this week so that he can eat whenever he has a free minute. I'm hoping he is feeling a little bit more comfortable and adjusted to the hours and schedule, now that he has survived his first week.
Days 4, 5, and 6 = 55.5 hours*
*There is no limit of maximum hours per week for students because they are learning, not working, and they are there of their own free will.

Away Rotation #1

Drew left on Sunday for his first away rotation (which started Monday).
(Drew boarding the train)
With the expectation of having high expenses for residency applications (fees, plane tickets, gas, hotel rooms, etc.) we are trying to save money wherever we can. For Drew's first two away rotations he is able to stay with his sister - this is obviously saving us quite a bit of money. I spoke with another MS4 wife whose husband just finished up an away rotation at this program to try and get an idea about this first rotation. She said that her hubby pretty much was at the hospital all the time and therefore ate three meals there most days. Being the penny pincher that I am I thought it would be a good idea to send Drew with a whole bunch of easy meals and pre-packaged snacks. We purchased canned ravioli, mac n cheese, and individually wrapped snacks like power bars, cracker, chips, pop tarts and breakfast bars. Although I am sure he will still eat at the hospital a lot I hope he won't have to use the vending machines and can minimize his meals at the hospital - but who knows I might be being totally unrealistic.
Tomorrow I'll update on how on how Day 1 went...

New Year

The "Medical Year" begins every year on July 1st. People joke that you never want to get sick/hospitalized at the beginning of July - this is because July is when the medical graduates officially become residents, and the former residents become attendings... so lots of people are new at their jobs! This July 1st Drew finished the last of his third year exams and officially became a fourth year medical student! He is in his final year of medical school and we are in our final year of acquiring student debt! Woo hoo! Drew also got his "pin" (log-in and password) for applying to residency programs. This means that he can start putting together his applications even though they can't actually be submitted until September 1st. It is crazy to think that this is the beginning of the whole application process - from what I've heard this year is going to fly by! Only 254 days till "Match Day" and 319 days until graduation - but believe it or not, I'm in no rush... I'm happy right where we are.
So although it is a bit late,
Congrats to those of you in medicine (or those of you supportive spouses) for surviving another year of the very long training process - and Good luck in this new year!

Residency Match

So my main experience with being married to a medical spouse is that for the most part, I had no idea what I was in for. Year by year it seems like I don't know whats going on until we get there. And as a planner, I hate not knowing what is going on. I spend much of my time trying to find out what happens next. For that reason I want to explain the whole "Match Process" for any of you MS1 or MS2 spouses out there who are curious as to how it works. I know I was always curious as to the process and my husbands answer was always, "just wait" or "we'll know when we have to do anything." I have also found that most people (who aren't married or related to a medical student) have no idea about the whole process that is involved in "matching" to your residency program. Therefore I am going to take this opportunity to describe the process (based on my understanding).*
The match process begins in July of a medical student's fourth and final year of school. This is when a fourth year gets a password to log-in to the match website. At this time medical students can start entering information into their application. Then in August (the 15th) a students applications can officially be sent to schools. The match website (www.NRMP.org is the main site but some programs use www.sfmatch.org, or www.auanet.org) sends or submits the applications out to the different programs (selected by the applicant). Then usually in October and November the programs send out invitations for interviews. Programs are selective in granting interviews and therefore if an applicant doesn't get an interview they are out of the running for a spot. Medical students can choose to accept or deny these interviews but if they deny an interview, it takes them out of the running. Interviews usually take place in November, December and early January. Interviews usually last at least one day. Often times they are two days; the first evening is a reception and the second day will include a tour and the actual interview. (Some programs invite spouses to the reception - which is a nice opportunity for them to visit the city and learn more about the program). The next step in the process is the rank list.
Starting in January every student will rank the programs they interviewed with. This is another step where an applicant can eliminate a program by not ranking them. At the end of February (the 24th at midnight next year) the rank lists are officially due and must be submitted. All programs will also submit a list ranking their candidates by order of preference. The match process is weighed in favor of the applicants in the sense that the match system will look at a student's list and look to their first pick, if their first pick has them ranked number one they match (or if their program takes six and they are ranked in the top six then they will match there). If a program has a student ranked number one but that student has them ranked five, the match process will first see if that student matches with their top four. This is why it is necessary for all applicants to make sure they rank their programs in order of their preference. All of the matching is done electronically or by computer and it tries to match students to their highest (or lowest if you are referring to numbers) ranked program. Hypothetically the more places a student ranks should increase their chances of matching. Many students will apply to programs across the country. Between the cost of applications, travel and hotels, many students will spend several thousands of dollars on this process. Usually your financial aid office can help you take out special loans to cover the additional expenses.
Then the third Monday in March (the 15th of 2010) students will receive an email informing them of whether or not that matched. Then that afternoon the match program will release what programs still have openings so that the students who did not initially match can "scramble match." This scrambling process happens in a matter of days and results in people matching at programs that they didn't apply to, interview with, or rank. Then later that week, on the third Thursday in March (the 18th of 2010) most schools will host a match day reception where all the students will gather with friends and family. At the reception all students will be handed an envelope which contains their future. They have no idea what it is going to say, it could include any of the umteen (however many) programs they rank. And that's it... nine months of applying, interviewing and worrying and you find out where you are going in an instant.

Residency Match Resources
For those of you who want to know more about residency programs, here is a great website: Freida Online Search . Here is another link of deadlines and dates for this years upcoming match.
*This is just my basic, informal, and lay-person's understanding of the process - do not rely on my statements or representations. Also the process will vary for medical students in the military and those applying for certain specialties such a urology.

Acceptance #2

Drew got his second acceptance to do a sub-I rotation! We are really excited because this is the one he applied to way back in March and we have been nervously waiting on a response! He will now have 2 differen four week sub-I/away rotations this fall. We are still waiting on a third program but they just started reviewing applications last week so we aren't getting nervous quite yet... and now that he has gotten accepted into two programs there is a little less pressure. I've been doing a little dance in my head all day because at work I don't think anyone really cares about these things...who thought I would get so excited to be apart from my husband?!

Today...

Well last week (Wed) I called opposing counsel and requested that they send me an electronic copy of their discovery requests. I wanted the document in electronic format so that I could type the answers in the document rather than having to retype the entire document. First of all when I called to make this request the attorney was out so I left a message with his support staff asking for someone to email it to me. Ya know, email, figuring that would be the easiest way to send me the document. So after I didn't get a call back for two days (Fri) I called again. So the assistant answering the phone sounded annoyed and was like "well I gave him the message." I was extremely nice and explained that we were closing in on a deadline and asked her if she could tell him I called again. Twenty minutes later I get a call back, same assistant. This time she tells me that the attorney is dictating (transcribing) a letter to me. Confused I try to explain that I was requesting an electronic version of the request but before I could get it out the woman interrupted me saying "I know what you requested! And I am telling you that he is dictating a letter." Surprised at this response I didn't know what to say so I just said, okay and thanked her for the message and hung up. A few minutes later I realized that if the attorney had to send me a letter to respond to my request I at least needed the letter faxed to me because if it was put in the mail I wouldn't get it till next week (today). So I decided to call back, knowing that I was going to further annoy the less than patient assistant. When I called back before I could even make my request she told me that the letter the attorney was dictating was just stating that he would be making me a disk with the document on it. Although I knew I'd have to wait for the disk to come in the mail I didn't feel like pushing it and just gave up on the idea of getting it emailed to me. So today in the mail came my disk. . . .

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)
A three inch floppy disk! I was shocked. The attorney seriously sent me a document on a three inch hard floppy disk. Seriously? I mean computers don't even come with floppy disk drives anymore! I have to use a special attachment in order to read the freakin' thing because none of our office computers have a floppy disk drives! I've heard of attorneys not being in this century as far technology but seriously don't drag me into your timewarp!

Also today we found out that Drew got accepted to do a Sub-Internship for the program he applied to for October! We got the medical information to the the August program I talked about last week but still haven't heard anything from them or from the September program.
Last week Drew finished up Pediatrics and this week has marked the start of Family Medicine. It is his FINAL clerkship/rotation of third year! Only six more weeks and he will officially be a fourth year medical student!