Wait, So November Already Happened?

   I can't believe today is December 1st.  That means that I somehow got through my crazy month of juggling EM shifts with back-to-back-to-back interviews.  That also means that I only have two more blocks of 4th year left.  TWO MORE BLOCKS.  Right now, I'm on a long-awaited 2 blocks of "vacation", after which I only have 1 month of anatomy didactics, and then I finish my year off with 1 month of Family Planning.  Actually, I originally planned these two months of "vacation" to accommodate interviews, however, I somehow ended up doing most of my interviews in November during my EM rotation.  I don't know how I managed to do it, because for the entire month, I was either working, traveling or interviewing.  I think I survived last month with the help of some of my dear friends: hypomania, melatonin and caffeine.  I only have 3 interviews left, which are very spread out over the next two months, but I'm holding out hope for more last minute interview invitations.  I mean, it's not like I'm doing anything anyway.

   Well, that's not true.  I actually am working on my research during this time, but I still have a lot of free time.  And damn, it sure feels good.  I've been catching up on my previously ever-lengthening To-Do List, binge-watching tv, re-reading the Harry Potter series... You know, all the awesome things that regular people do.

   Interview season has been crazy.  People said that it actually ends up being kinda fun, and they were right!  Once I stopped worrying so much about getting enough interview invitations to have enough places to rank in order to match (try saying that all in one breath!), I really started to enjoy the process.  It's been fun and exciting traveling to new places, meeting new people, exploring other programs and what they're all about.  And the interviews are much different than medical school interviews.  This time around, I often get the feeling that they are recruiting me.  Also, for those of you who were ever in a sorority, the whole residency interview/match process is so similar to sorority recruitment/rush that it's quite scary.  I never would have thought all the things I learned during sorority recruitment would come in handy later, but they really have.

   I'm sure I'll start blogging more now that I have more free time.  I'd also really like to re-vamp my blog layout and design before starting residency, but I am somewhat computer illiterate, so if anyone knows any good websites or tools to use, please share! :)

View from one of my Philly hotels

Chicago O'Hare

BF and I managed to get a couple of interviews together.  Here we are at Dunkin Donuts.  Don't judge.

This is how I relax before an interview  hahaha

This is also how I relax before/after an interview

I've gotten very accustomed to changing into/out-of my suit in bathrooms

Residency Rush

   How is it almost September?! Time is just flying by.  So far, 4th year rocks!  It was super intense in the beginning, but things have calmed down now, and my residency application is really starting to come together.  I have my personal statement done, my letters of recommendation uploaded into ERAS, and I've taken Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS.  Really, I just need to enter things from my CV into ERAS, and I'm finished!  I'm applying to a grand total of 32 programs. Normally, you don't have to apply to this many programs for OB/Gyn, but I'm couples-matching* which complicates things, and I just like to be extra cautious.  BF is applying for General Surgery, and we're applying all over the East Coast, all over the West Coast, and some random places in between.

   My amazing OB/Gyn advisor** has put together a series of workshops on applying to OB/Gyn residency for us MS4s, and today we talked about interviewing.  From what it sounds like, it is exactly like rushing for a sorority.  You go and interview, and they sit down with your picture, say what they thought about you, and rank you in order of how badly they want you to match there.  It is a "mutual selection process," where the programs rank the candidates, and the candidates rank the programs.  Then some crazy computer algorithm takes these rank lists and computes where you are supposed to match. And come that special day in March, you open up an envelope, and the piece of paper inside tells you exactly where you'll be spending the next 3-5 years of your life.  (This is the equivalent of a sorority bid).
There's no negotiating, no waitlists, no choosing between different acceptances.  The decision-making is done for you, and fate nudges you in the right direction.


* For you non-medical folk: couples-matching is basically where you apply to residency programs as a package deal with your significant other, that way you HAVE to end up in the same geographical region

** Who, by the way, I totally wanna be her when I grow up. She is amazing.

   Speaking of sorority rush, I recently went to a super fun wine and cheese event for the local Gamma Phi alumnae chapter.  It was a lot of fun, and I hope I have time to go to more events this year.

 Alpha Iota Alumnae!

Happy Medical Monday!

   Happy Medical Monday, y'all!  Last week BF and I drove to LA to take Step 2 CS.  It was actually pretty tough!  You see 12 standardized patients (actors pretending to have things wrong with them) in about 8 hours, which was exhausting.  Props to primary care docs who do it day in and day out, because it takes a lot out of you.  Anyway, I'm pretty sure we passed, especially considering U.S. med students have a 97% pass rate on the first time taking it.  It's nice to have that over with!  

We were lucky enough to visit some friends while in LA!

Gamma Phi friends!

J, my bestie!

This is Ollie

One of my old roommates and UCLA besties!

   Now I just need to sort out my personal statement.  I spent 6 hours working on it yesterday, and now I have my second draft, but it still needs a lot of work.  I'm meeting with some of my OB/Gyn advisors this morning, which I'm nervous about because what's left of my confidence doesn't need to be beaten down anymore, but hopefully they can point me in the right direction. 

I Must Be A Masochist

   TGS2CKIO. (Thank goodness Step 2 CK is over).  The actual test was a bit harder than I anticipated, but if I score anywhere near my practice test score, I'll be happy.  Unlike Step 1, however, the 9 hours seemed to fly by.  At least it's over! And I am so glad BF and I got it out of the way, especially while all the material from third year was "fresh" in our minds.  Fingers crossed while I wait for my score!

   Since the test, our week off has been a whirlwind.  I jet-setted off to Atlanta for a special Medical Students For Choice conference, which was inspiration and re-charging as always.  I got to meet some  really incredible med students, some of which even have blogs too!  Check them out if you're interested in reading other medical-related blogs!

• Dr Coffee's Brain Banter
• Spelled Like Latte-Man

My last minute packing list, with an extra addition

   And while I was in ATL, I got to visit my sorority friend H, who works at the aquarium and gets to ride dolphins! Amazing.  She even took me to the aquarium and I got to see the spectacular dolphin show she performs in!

ATL

   When I got back from Atlanta, BF and I went wine-tasting in Napa with our moms, which was super fun.

   And Melvie learned how to swim!

  This week break went by way too fast, and we already start up again tomorrow.  My first acting internship (aka "AI" - a fourth year elective where you work your butt off) is the Surgical ICU.  I know, I know.  It's quite ironic that I chose to subject myself to this particularly brutal AI, especially considering what a tough time I had on my surgery rotation.  But my main goal is to learn how to take care of really sick patients, and I'm even hoping to get a letter of recommendation out of it, if all goes well.  I also think I'm in a much better place to handle it, now that I've built up a much thicker skin than when I started out third year.  The schedule is gonna be the roughest I've had to far - Q3, which means you work a 24-30 hour shift, then a 12 hours shift, then repeat.  Over and over and over.  For a month.  So, I'm pretty scared, but I'm hoping it will all be worth it in the end.  

Melvie Has a Girlfriend

   My lovely friend from college, J, was in town this last weekend.  So we decided to introduce our dogs, Melvie and Pretty (short for "The Prettiest Princess").  They instantly fell in love.  Well, more like Melvie was smitten with Pretty.  She was trying to play it cool.

J, Pretty, Me, and Melvie

Switch dogs!

Melvie is infatuated with Pretty

I was cracking up because Melvie kept running towards BF, who was taking the pictures

Melvie putting his arm around Pretty

Melvie and Pretty, star-crossed lovers

Another Year Older, A Teeny Bit Wiser?

   It's my birthday tomorrow, and I was sure that being on my surgery rotation meant that I would just have to forget about having any sort of festive celebration this year.  I was completely surprised, however, when my friends/BF pulled through and made it absolutely amazing.  Two of my sorority friends from LA showed up at my door, which completely caught me off guard.  I didn't even know they were in town!  Then, later I went to dinner at a BBQ restaurant which has my favorite mac and cheese, and all my friends showed up!  What an awesome surprise :) and BF put it all together with my friends.  I'm so lucky to have such an amazing BF and friends!

  I really wasn't expecting anything to happen this year, which is fine, but this was just so fun.  Watch this video my friends took of my surprise to see how shocked I was:

Peru: Land of llamas and ruins

    I really wanted to do something fun after taking boards, a sort of "last hurrah" before starting third year.  So last year, I told my sorority friend J (who I have traveled with in the past to Cabo, Vegas, etc) that I wanted to go on a big trip.  She has traveled a lot, so she has been to tons of places all over the world.  I told her I didn't really care where we went, I just wanted to get away - FAR FAR AWAY - after boards were over.  We decided on Peru, which wasn't exactly a lay-on-the-beach-with-a-cocktail kind of trip, but it was a blast!

Carpooled to the airport with A and Y (who went to Taiwan)

Had to pee REALLY bad on a 2 hour taxi to Ollantaytambo, so pulled over on the side of the road.  Thanks, J, for capturing the moment...

Incan healer at work

Mirror where we could see eachother laying in bed. We thought it was funny.

This is from a cooking class we took.  After she cut up this raw beef, she just put the knife right back into the knife block without even rinsing it... I thought, "I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that."

Llamas errywhere

My favorite pic from the entire trip

Look how tiny I am!

Part of an odd painting I saw in a museum

Llama three-way