M.D.

Well, it's all done. Four years of medical school are now behind me...it's kind of hard to recap it all!

Four years ago things were surprisingly different. I spent the summer working in a pharmacy in Colorado and raising chocolate lab puppies. I came back to KY just in time to drive down to Florida to watch my little brother's baseball tournament. I had a nice tan and crazy blonde hair (not just regular blonde hair, mind you).

I still have vivid memories of orientation week - everyone introducing themselves on the first day, lining up for hours for our IDs, for our TB tests, and filling out paperwork. I think we were all really, really excited. We had no clue what we were in for!

Then, anatomy started. It was awful. It was intimidating and stressful, and I think the worst part was we didn't know each other well enough to talk about what we were going through. Then biochem started, which was almost as overwhelming as anatomy. Blech. This became the beginning of Chris and my friendship, though, so things weren't all bad. :) I think Chris was one of the biggest reasons I passed that class! Springtime rolled around, and with it came neuroscience and physiology - and a nice breath of fresh air! We started spending afternoons playing frisbee and evenings watching House.

Second year came and went sort of as a blur - IID, path and pharm...then the boards. I just remember hours and hours sitting in those chairs at the library being MISERABLE but knowing that soon it would be over and we could move on with our lives. Step 1 came and went and I wasn't too happy with how I did. But I passed, and life went on. (I still made it into my top residency choice so apparently it didn't make too big a difference.) Second year I was overinvolved as well, taking way too many leadership positions at once made me a little crazy but I think better at time management in the end.

Then - Third year! Clinicals! Everything was new, frightening and exciting at the same time. Once I got the hang of them, I really liked almost every rotation - it was nice to know that after all this time putting in hours studying I actually liked what I was going to do with my life. I had made the right decision going to med school after all!

Fourth year was just plain awesome. Except for the stress involving the match, every rotation was what I wanted to do and when I wanted to do it. I even got a month off and married my best friend! I have become much more confident in what I know and, on occasion, I really feel like a doctor. How cool is that!? (I need to write the really awesome story of how I cured my own mom - I'll do that soon!)

Exciting times to come, too! May 15 is graduation (I'll admit - I've already paraded around the house in my cap and gown), June 1 is our closing date for the house, and July 1 starts residency! I'm excited (and very nervous) to start...it definitely will be another adventure.