The Match; Intro to Neuro

The Match was Friday. Im so excited for my m4 buddies and looking forward to visiting many of them on the interview trail! Hard to believe it is time to start thinking that way, but less than one year until our Match now!!

The orientation for Neuro took less than thirty minutes and we were free to go do online modules and such. M and I got through with all of them (yes, all) by 1:30 PM and were able to spend the rest of the day playing online, reading, wasting time. Still one of my most productive days of the year. Haha.

Call tomorrow night. Neuro call will inherently be better than surgery call a)because I get to go home b)because there's no beeper and c)because it isn't surgery.

LilaGrace comes home Sunday. I can't wait to be a puppy mommy! 6 more nights until my little wiggle worm joins me. :)

When everyone said it couldn't be done... ducks fly together!

Well it's been quite a week since the last update. The beginning of the week was lots of neuro class and lab filled with overall freak-out/gunner mode to try to get a grasp on some of the material... still not sure how that worked out, but I've definitely decided I don't study well on my own.

Let's see, the PIG roast was Thursday night and went very well. Our turnout was double last year. I think we hit the nail on the head with Sal & Mookie's. The officers from this year and next year worked together pretty well (I think) and I am looking forward to a great year in PIG with my team!!

Friday was an interesting/stressful day. Friday morning we had our first patient "history/interview taking". And yes, it was a psych patient. An inpatient from the psych unit. Made for a.. difficult history taking to learn on. One would think that we could our first history on a mock patient, each other, or a regular internal medicine patient. Instead, we sifted through both history taking and psychiatrics at once. Thankfully, the six years of psych undergrad/grad school helped me be more comfortable around the population, but it was still quite a shocker introduction to "clinical medicine".

After the psychiatric interviews, M & I went to the nursing home to see "our patient" who was in somewhat depressive/psychiatric crisis of her own. It was heartbreaking to see her hurting. Definitely a tough day on the "clinical" side of M1. And I say "clinical" with a grain of salt, because we really don't get any clinical experience of note this year.

Friday night was study and relax time and the rest of the weekend was hard core preparation for the hell that was today: In essence, five tests in one. Psychiatry, Histology (Written & Practical), and Neuro (Written & Practical). It was our first tests in psych and neuro so of course those were stressful. And neuro wasn't a piece of cake. However, like all bad (or good, I suppose) test days, things turned around quickly with the right food, right movies (Mighty Ducks & D2), and best friends a girl could ask for.

Thanks God, for making this Easter one to remember. Amidst my complaining, whining, and utter confusion, you managed to show grace beyond measure, as always. Thank you for reminding me of the best gift of all - your Son. Thank you for giving me the call to do Your work in this world, keep me under Your wings, and be with us as we finish the last 5 weeks and 4 days of M1 year!!

Estimated amount of glucose used by an adult human brain each day, expressed in M&Ms: 250 - Harper's

Well well, this has been quite a week.

Neuro is ... interesting, but tough. There's so much to learn in so little time. And of course we got super spoiled in Jan/Feb with no 8 AM classes, no labs, and free weekends. All of the sudden, all of that's out the window. Basically, it's almost like we've returned to first semester hell - it's just that now it's only one class to really worry about instead of 3/4.

Monday we had our PIG officer meeting for next year... and now that it's official, I can finally share that yours truly is going to be president :) I'm very excited about that responsibility and very much so looking forward to it. In other PIG news, we've been busy baking and selling at the bake sale last week and preparing for the Roast next Thursday from 5:30-8. If you haven't bought a ticket, there's still plenty of time (you can even get one at the door - but if you're sure you're coming, please buy early!). There's gonna be awesome food (all you can eat pizza and ice cream at Sal & Mookie's) and even better door prizes.... and the proceeds go to the kids at Batson, so come on out!

Of course, PIG news has to be the best thing going on in my life right now (and the AMAZING girls that will be working beside me... including my VP, none other than M!!), but there was one more "good" thing this week. Tuesday we started Psych. For the first time since medical school started, we're in a class that I actually have experience in. Lots and lots of experience. I decided after day 1 that I wouldn't be attending any more of those lectures that weren't mandatory, because it's all review (thanks WCU - Graduate Dept of Psych) and I can use the time to study for neuro.

Phys boards came back, best one yet! :)

It's been mainly study-study-study, but M and I did take some time out last night after the Neuro review with Dr. H to have a little fun. Pizza at Mellow Mushroom (they've got a new one - the Hot Potato Pie - and it's droolworthy), followed by "New Moon" and the Sims. Yup, old school fun right there. It was a well needed and well deserved break after a week that felt like it wouldn't end.

I'm still overwhelmed and worried but I know that God's in control and He'll never fail me. I've got the best friends in the world walking this journey beside me... and although they say misery loves company, I must disagree. Because even the stuff that just isn't fun at all isn't miserable when we're together :).

Hang in there, M1's. 7 weeks til summer!!