Spring fling, summer wonder?

I know I haven't blogged in the longest time. Quite a few significant things have happened since the last time I blogged. Right before said trip to San Diego, the Boy proposed in a most romantic way -- violins and music halls and heartfelt speeches aplenty. Thus began a whirlwind wedding planning craze, since we, or mainly I, wanted to get married before I started working 80-hour weeks. Most of the major details were finalized 1 month into the engagement and we've only had to take two trips to San Antonio, which is where it's going to be, to plan the wedding. Lots of twiddling thumbs later, plus one final month of medical school classes, I am in the final month of planning, i.e. the craziest one, according to most brides. Most of it is small details I've been ignoring, like how to transport the wedding party from one place to another, or what the wedding program will look like, or the logistics of getting the reception room set up with favors, music (since we are self-DJing,) and cake (self-delivery.) A lot of this wedding, as you may notice, is do-it-yourself, in some ways to cut costs, in others to just simplify things. We're not into huge showy displays of opulence/grandeur, so a small, simple wedding is right up our alley. If you're coming to the wedding, look out for small, unique touches that I've tried to personalize the wedding with. Hope you'll have fun, because I've put in quite enough of my final med school vacation-hours planning it. ;P

Addendum: I also matched! Staying in Houston for residency in pediatrics. Yay!

Apologies...

...for the super long hiatus. I don't have any good excuses for not writing, save being extra lazy. I've finished my required rotations, ending with a 2-week dermatology selective at the VA. The hours were chill - 9.15 to 4 every day. However, after the 4000th actinic keratosis that needed freezing off or the 1000th basal/squamous cell carcinoma that needed shaving off (with an old fashioned razor blade!) I have to say it got rather repetitive. All the other med students with me were 4th years, so we shared the same laid-back attitude towards the rotation.

Right now, since I'm not working crazy hours for no pay, I am actually earning my keep (well part of it) with part-time babysitting for a local family and work-study at the local children's hospital playroom. And I joined the YMCA to take advantage of their group exercise classes so I might actually get fit. Long working hours exacerbated by the need to study during free time kinda gets in the way of my fitness. I know it'll all go to pot during residency, but at least I'll try to be fit for now.

Thanksgiving was nice. We ate, we shopped, and we relaxed. What's there more to say? ;)

Christmas plans: Flying to San Diego Dec 17 for a wedding. Taking a side trip to Vegas for a day and staying at the Venetian. Watching Phantom and pigging out at buffets. Should be fun! Then back to Houston Dec 22 and leaving for San Antonio with the parents and the boy, so that both sets of parents can meet for the first time! Will be spending Christmas there. Am currently scouting the web for good deals, as I am compiling gifts for everyone. :)

New year's? Who knows. Maybe a cosy dinner party for friends. We'll see.

Applications, allergy and immunology

I've been on my new elective, pediatric allergy and immunology, for a couple weeks now. So far, it's been pretty cool. Definitely beats Obgyn hours! The material is interesting, especially the primary immunodeficiencies. The allergy part is cool, but only when you delve beyond allergic rhinitis. :P Think weird food allergies and playing detective to figure out what sometimes isn't an obvious allergen. Definitely a career choice to keep in mind. Doesn't hurt that the hours and the compensation are great.

A word on Obgyn, the only rotation during which I failed to make an update. Let's just say that some parts of it were as bad, if not worse, than expected, while others were a pleasant surprise. However, all the bad parts came in the first 6 weeks, making me say to myself, "if this had been my first rotation, I think I would have quit med school!" Of course, it was said in frustration, but it pretty much sums up the fact that I felt I was treated the worst on this rotation compared to every other rotation I've been on.

On another note, ERAS time is upon us. My classmates are applying to several programs across the country and anxiously awaiting interview invites. I submitted my application on 9/2/08 and am idly checking on the ERAS website daily to see if my letters of recommendation have been uploaded by my dean's office. (Last check: no.)

I also registered for Step 2 CK and CS, thus making my bank account $1,475 poorer. Add the $120 spent on ERAS and $40 on NRMP and I am further in the hole. Need some income! Med school is expensive, if you didn't already know. Bleah.

Anywho, taking my residency application photo tomorrow. Gotta look snazzy in my suit! Practicing my photo-ready smile. :P

In Memoriam

... of a great man.

The world of pediatrics is sad to see you go. You were such an inspiration and someone I greatly looked up to for your compassion, your genuine niceness and most of all, your immense intellect. We will work hard to continue your legacy at the hospital you built from scratch.

We love you and miss you dearly.

:'(

Reflections

I've just edited my blog sidebar to reflect the fact that I've "graduated" into 4th year. Looking back, I'm pretty proud of my third year accomplishments -- completing a grueling surgery clerkship (with honors and my first high shelf score to boot,) almost simultaneously ruling out adult neurology as a career and ruling pediatrics in (with an even higher shelf score,) finishing step 1 with a decent score, finetuning my pediatric aspirations (gen peds for now, but keeping subspecialties in mind,) obtaining a certain metallic handshake, and completing a q3-5 call (it varied depending on the week) sub-internship!

Phew, that seems like a lot of stuff crammed into a year, but time sure went by slowly while I was stuck in the OR retracting, studying for the step, or waiting for patients on call!

Just attended the wedding of two of my classmates who've been dating since mid first year of med school. Goes to show how much time's passed and how our lives are moving on, despite how much I still feel in limbo when it comes to the "real-life" growing-up thing. I've definitely advanced in terms of my professional school life, but I still feel like time stood still in my maturity level in terms of my personal life. Not that my relationship with the boy hasn't grown and strengthened over time; I just feel like my adult life (you know, the whole job and earning money thing) has been put on hold during med school. The best way to express this feeling is that during my birthday this year, I still felt like I was the age at which I entered med school!

Anyhow, looking forward:
1) Vacay for 2 glorious hospital-free weeks, including a spa relaxation (postponed birthday present) and some time in San Antonio (which may include another spa treatment at a nice, nice hotel,) and food and shopping!

2) Ob-gyn - oh please, please don't let the residents tie me to the spit and roast me.

3) Pedi allergy/immuno -- will I like sneezing, wheezing, and immunosuppressed-ing?

4) Selectives/step 2 CK - get those dang things out of the way, quick!

5) Possible 2 month long vacay before 2009 rolls along!

6) Hmm, another 2 month vacay? -glee- Maybe some Mexico-ing/Europe-ing/Caribbean-cruising. Oh and how could I forget Singapore-ing??!

7) Capstone course - learning what to do in a code (as opposed to just standing there hyperventilating.) Learning more real-doctor-y stuff. Step 2 CS at some point.

8) Match day!

9) Glorious graduation! Marking the end of paychecklessness and the eventual beginning of indentured servitude. Cue deep indebtedness to the government and its loan-collecting middlemen.

Pedi neuro

You'd think pedi neuro would be a cross between these two stereotypes: (comics courtesy of theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com)
And it kinda is, except it's probably more of the former than the latter. Since I have found that I swing more towards the latter stereotype and unable to get excited by the academic neuro-babble that permeated most of the heated discussions in pedi neuro, I think I will be applying to the pediatric match for now. I definitely enjoyed most the patient interaction and the talking to parents part of pedi neuro, but then it wouldn't have mattered if it had been pedi derm, pedi rheum, or any other pedi subspecialty. Most memorable moments: A sweet 9 y.o. girl with CP (cerebral palsy) in a wheelchair whom I spent almost the entire visit playing fetch (she threw, I fetched) with and who gave me sloppy kiss, a hug and a drawing at the end of it and asked me to come home with her; a shy little boy whom I made silly faces at during the visit and who impulsively came over and hugged my legs (he was that little :) ) before leaving; the little boy in a foster home who carried a little monkey notebook in his pocket wherever he went and who tore out a page, drew a little face on it and gave it to me.

The poor kids with severe cerebral palsy and mental retardation and the most profoundly autistic kids, i.e. the ones who could not interact with me, made me the most depressed. Remembering that seizures were my least favorite part of adult neuro clinic makes pedi neuro with its abundant seizure patients very much less desirable. To me, the range of pedi neuro cases seems very narrow -- seizures, headaches, MRCP, autism, ADHD, developmental delay, and then a whole bunch of obscure, extremely rare diseases. I just can't get excited over the same cases over and over, nor can I bring myself to be interested in obscurity. I am definitely not trying to diss pedi neurologists, because they are a much needed workforce in pediatrics and I greatly admire the work they do. I guess it just isn't for me.

Stepping right along

I got my step scores back a couple weeks ago. I reached my goal, so I am happy. :)

In other news, I've finished Family Medicine, that is to say, if I passed all 3 freaking exams. Talk about exam overload. Anyway, the month was pretty chill as expected. 830-5pm everyday and my preceptor even threw in a couple half days here and there. Drug rep breakfasts and lunches everyday -- even though I felt a little guilty taking the free food in the beginning and continued to bring my own lunch, I eventually caved the last week. My preceptor even invited a couple nurses and me to a drug rep sponsored lunch at a Japanese restaurant on my last day. Yummy sushi is all I will say. Patients at my preceptor's were mainly chronic disease management (diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia) with your acute upper respiratory infections thrown in. Rather routine after a while. I brightened up everytime the patient was a kiddo. Yay for little kiddies. I got sick in the second week with a vicious bug -- knocked me out a couple days and left me with a lingering cough. My last day, the nurses and medical assistants said to me, "you're the only med student who talks to us! the only time the others talked to us was when there was something the doctor needed us to do and even then, all they said was, 'Black flag!'" That was sad. Med students, don't you know the key thing to thriving in a clinic environment is getting on the staff's good side? Ya gotta get off the high horse and start making friends. I thought to myself, if I didn't make friends with them, it would make for a pretty lonely month with no one to chat with in between patients! My preceptor was always busy seeing other patients while I waited to present mine. At the end, he said I did well and even offered to write a letter of recommendation. I am going to take him up on it; I'm not going to refuse a volunteered letter! However, he did advise me against pediatrics, citing low pay for lots of work. :P What can I say? I've certainly heard that before... In the end though, as another family doc in his practice later told me, I've gotta do what I love, or I won't be happy. Can money buy me happiness though? That's certainly debatable. Can all the shoes in the world make me happy? ;) I am of course being tongue-in-cheek. It's a very personal question and all I can say at this point, not having struggled with money issues or private practice issues yet, is I want to love what I do at the end of the day.