Hello! It's been months since we posted, and there's a lot to catch up on, so here goes!
This past May I defended my PhD thesis after a last minute rush of hard work in the late winter and spring. Due to time limits, it was important that I defend by May in order to return to third year medical school, otherwise I would have waited another year to go back. Luckily I managed to get the green light from my committee and had a relatively straightforward defense on May 9th that Whitney was able to attend. The question and answer session afterwards was tough but I made it through and am officially done with my PhD. Unfortunately, the manuscript I submitted on my work was initially rejected by reviewers, so now I need to go back and edit it in order to resubmit. Unfortunately-er I am back in medical school, which means my schedule is now no longer my own and my weeks have become a lot more full of 12 hour days and late-night to overnight shifts. Luckily though, going back to 3rd year has been relatively less painful that I was anticipating, and my first rotation on Pediatrics at BMC has been a lot of fun, with really great year-end residents and a great group of 3rd years. I was a little anxious as the 3rd years just took their USMLE 1 exam and are fresh from memorizing a whole ton of medical minutiae, and they've been together for two years as a class, but they are very welcoming, and as no one knows anything about peds, it's been a more level playing field for me on rounds and I have managed to stay abreast of everything. Despite the long days, finally getting be involved in the patient care as a part of the medical team has been a lot of fun and an exciting application of the medical knowledge I gained several years ago.
I began with three weeks on inpatient care, which involved attending morning sign-out at 6:30 and staying until evening sign-out around 6pm. Evenings involve studying for the shelf exam at the end of every rotation, and so unfortunately time with Whitney has gotten a lot shorter, but we have been making it work by being intentional. My weekends are mostly free for this rotation, but that is not always the case. Next I tackle Ob/Gyn, which has several 24-hour call days and has a lot less downtime. By the end of 3rd year I will have changed significantly as a student and 4th year is a long year of electives, picking your specialty, and interviewing before match day on mid-march 2016. By then we'll know whether or not we are back in Seattle for the future!
Right after defending in May I went alone down to Warren Wilson to watch my sister graduate from college, which was a great chance to see my parents and a cousin who came into town as a surprise. WW is outside of Asheville, a really neat little town to visit with a lot of microbreweries and a distinct hipster vibe. I don't think it's possible to buy clothes that aren't vintage there. But the beer and food is really excellent. North Carolina was much as I remembered it when I was looking at colleges: a whole lotta forest and not a lot of people. The second you get outside of Ashville the forest closes in and hides whatever buildings are right next to the road. The graduation ceremony was great, with the commencement speaker being the host of Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me on NPR, followed by a hog roast and pulled-pork sandwiches. As I don't have any breaks in my schedule until Christmas and then spring break next year, it was a good chance to see my family. Now my sister is off to work for the summer on a 45 acre farm that is a CSA.
The next weekend Whitney and I went down to Princeton, NJ, to see our good friends the Antlitzs! Princeton is a really beautiful school, much better looking than Harvard, and the town is a really fun cute town with a distinct upscale bent hidden in it. Our friends live right on the main strip across from the university, so we were in a prime spot to go on walks during our days there and experience the place. I haven't been to north NJ a lot, but I would return to Princeton in a second! We went out strawberry picking and for a hike and a picnic on one of the days, and the neighborhoods around Princeton almost put Brookline to shame! The houses are HUGE and are really second homes owned by a lot of New Yorkers and Philadelphians.
Meanwhile Whitney is in Seattle this week visiting family while I prepare to spend a week in the nursery. Only two more weeks of Pediatrics!
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