So, I'm alive. But I feel really bad about not posting in several months. But here's what happened.
Cruise.
Observership.
School.
Tests.
Oh, you wanted more? Well, fine.
So, in June, went with the fam and friends on a cruise to Mexico. It was wonderful and relaxing and I came back all tan and stuff. Oh, and I got a some of those feathers in my hair right before we left. And it was amazing. I've never seen water so blue and uninterrupted by anything but our boat. Sometimes Creation is overwhelming in its beauty. We also really enjoyed our excursion inland to see Chichen Itza. We learned a lot about the Mayan culture and their activities, standards of beauty (consanguinous deformity was hot!!), and beliefs. But it rained. A lot. And we were very wet.
I took off the whole month of June, which was an excellent decision. Besides the cruise, I spent my time lazily - shopping, cooking, reading - and watched TV at night with Carlisle like the old people we are. It was wonderful.
Then in July I started my observership, which is basically like job shadowing that you get paid for. I was lucky enough to be in Med/Peds (internal medicine and pediatrics) with the top dog in that program, who is an amazing doctor with whom I was very blessed to work. I spent most of my time either at the hypertension clinic or at a med/peds clinic. Both were interesting and very different. I enjoyed the environment at the hypertension clinic, and I preferred working with adults there. But then I would go to the med/peds clinic and do well-baby checkups (so cute!) and be really sad when my next patient was a grownup. So what does that mean? I want to do oncology and show support and love to dying people. I just don't know how old I want them to be. Maybe I can decide next year on rotation. Maybe.
There were two weeks between observership and school, most of which I spent at home. Then I came back a few days before class started to get all situated. I love buying school supplies. Pens, pads of paper, highlighters, index cards, notebooks, colored pencils...
When school started back, it was a bit overwhelming. Basically, all our time spent in gross lab last year has been replaced by lecture hours. There is a lot of information. Most people stop going to class second year because the lectures are podcast and transcribed, so the attendance dwindled significantly after the first couple days. I'm actually at home now. It's fun. The other major difference between the scheduling first and second year is the testing. So, first year the tests are scattered. They were mostly on Mondays for us, and we would have three or four in a day. Those were not happy days. Then we would do it again in a couple weeks. Now, all the tests are given in one week every six weeks. So, five weeks of class, then last week we had just tests. One test a day for five days, like finals week in college. The good thing about that is that each day you just study for whatever you have the next day or maybe the day after that. The bad thing is that you have to study each day after taking a test. It is an exhausting week. I haven't yet decided if I prefer having one bad day every couple weeks or one bad week followed by a really awesome two weeks or so. But we're making it. The first test week went well, so that bodes well for the year.
The best thing is that this year we learn what goes wrong and a little about how to fix it. My motivation to study and learn is greatly boosted by how relevant and useful the material can be. Hopefully that will be enough to get me through studying for the Step 1 exam at the end of the year. But I won't think about that today. I'll think about it tomorrow.
It's shaping up to be a great year. Carlisle and I have been visiting First Baptist Jackson, which we've enjoyed. Several college friends have moved down here now. It feels so...settled. Which is nice. And now the weather is slowly but surely transitioning into my favorite season. I will be watching lots of football and painting my nails in muted earth tones.
I feel like this post is not very long or entertaining. But maybe now that I've remembered I have a blog, I will do better. Maybe? Well, here's a little info to tide you over.
Reading: Beowulf, October Vogue, and The 17 Day Diet
Watching: The Big Bang Theory, The Office, Pan Am, and Modern Family
Listening to: soundtracks to Wicked, West Side Story, and Hairspray
Things Carlisle and I will be doing in the near future: going to the gun range, playing putt putt golf, and going to the zooMy new favorite thing: my Farrah Fawcett bangs
Procrastinating: cleaning
About to: make lunch (it's late, I know)
Want to: take a nap
But must: look at microbiology
Until next time,
Erin
