Happy Residency Fate Day aka Match Day 2013!

I'm matched!

And if you have matched too, congratulations!

If you are looking for the SGU Match List then look no further. Of course it is a work in progress but it is being updated so keep refreshing. For those that matched things look good! Congrats on all of your hard work and the fruition of your labor. Enjoy today, you deserve it!

For those that did not and were unsuccessful in SOAP my sincere and heartfelt sympathies to you. It is not fair or right that you should finish four years of medical school and not match into residency, it angers me that SGU cannot do more to help its students and that it is expected that a certain number will not match and that this is "okay". It is not and I am sorry! Please know that I do care and realize that it could have been me... Keep the faith and fix what needs to be fixed, next year you will be successful.

As for me, it is official, we will be moving to Texas as I have matched in one of my top choices at UT Houston in Child Neurology. I am very excited and feel that this program has many strengths and will be a good fit for me! I am a little hesitant to move to TX and am not sure what I think of Houston but we are doing this. That being said, I'm accepting any and all advise on where to live, dog parks to visit, how to make the most out of Houston, etc. We may need to adjust to the humidity and hot weather but I'm sure we will manage. What can you tell me about Houston dear reader?

I'm off to celebrate but just wanted to let everyone know, in case you don't have Facebook or access to me that way. Congrats again to all my classmates and thank you for your support and encouragement.

only a day / countdown recap

Last, but certainly not least, on my 12 day countdown bring us to the horse capitol of the world. Home of blue grass music, bourbon and the Wildcats.

Lexington, KY

I'll say it, it was a pleasant surprise on my interview trail. I spent a few days and thoroughly enjoyed my visit.

And should you ever find yourself in Lexington, here is Spice Island's Guide-
Where to Eat: 
-Shakespeare and Company, a fun place for dinner, drinks or dessert!
-Doodles Cafe, best bet for brunch!

What to do: 
-See at movie at Kentucky Theater, a  throwback movie theatre where you will be treated not with advertisements or previews but real live organ music while you wait for the movie to start!
-Visit Horse Country by going to Keeneland Horse Track, I ran a 5K while I was there but I'm sure attending a horse event would be nice too!
-Go Blue and attend a college game at UK, go Wildcats!

Now a recap for those of you following along in this crazy adventure that is my life (and possibly yours too). The match is tomorrow and I am beyond excited. Wondering where I'll end up? I am!

12 cities, 12 possibilities and tomorrow we will find out where our new home will be...  I really have NO idea which it will be, but it has to be one of these:

Albany,NY
Boston, MA
Brooklyn, NY
Buffalo, NY
Houston, TX
Loma Linda, CA
Lexington, KY
Oakland, CA
Rochester, MN
Springfield, MA
St. Louis, MO
Stony Brook, NY

Best of luck to all my friends and colleagues. Medical school is about to come to an end!

Texas and Two Days!

Two days until the match and Texas is on my mind.

Houston to be exact.

Home of Texas Medical Center.
Home of Mission Control for NASA.

My future home? Only two days and I'll have an answer to that question.

And now, just for fun...

waiting and clues

Three days and I'm getting bored of my own countdown so here are three clues:

It would be an easy move....

4 days, but who is counting?!?

It is official that I have matched but the question remains, where?

What if I match in So Cal? Only 106 miles down the road from San Diego. Just ten minutes from where I am currently finishing my medical school rotations. House hunting would be easy. There would be no change in climate and we could spend our weekends in San Diego or LA.

Did you know?
-Inland Empire is known for its Oranges and was originally named Orange Empire.
-One could ski at Bear Mountain and surf at Long Beach in the same day while stopping at home for lunch.

Give me five!

Tomorrow I will find out IF I matched. Friday I will find out where. So I guess this is my final double countdown day.

For the SGU Match List look no further. Right now it just has those that have pre-matched or matched in Canada. It will be updated on Friday and thereafter. It always takes awhile but the link remains the same.

Five days and today I'm thinking of Minnesota.

Things you should know about my MN rank:

1. The program rocks.

2. Gypsy girl is from MN and she is awesome so I think her state must be awesome too.

3. The State abbreviation is the reverse of my home state. NM. MN. I think this is kind of cool.

4. There are over 10,000 natural lakes in the state, but NONE in Olmsted county where Rochester is located, go figure!

5. Home of this lovely couple: Fran and Marlo Cowan, married for 62 years when this was filmed. And what is better than that?

Under the Arch and I don't mean McDonald's!

Six days left and six programs left to think about.... Let's go to Saint Louis for the day.

Sunrise: 6:22a

Current Temp: 67 F 

We can go visit the Chess Hall of Fame, grab some coffee from Kayak's and then take a stroll through Forrest Park...

Saint Loius is also home of Purina Farms, so if I match here Sancho can become an agility dog in 2013!

Down to single digits... From here to there!

So the countdown continues....

9, 8, 7-

I  know missed a few posts. The days have slipped away due to the craziness that is my neurosurgery rotation.  I have had little time to do more than work/eat/sleep/repeat. Things learned on Neuro Sx this time so far include 1) Do NOT fall off a ladder 2) denial is a powerful thing but if you are loosing your vision or hearing (or both) the proper time to see a neurosurgeon is probably way past! 3) Being in the OR is fun if you get to operate on the brain, it is humbling, amazing and so cool.

Of the cities/programs I've been contemplating these three share the common denominator of being general pediatric programs. I would be happy at any of them. Sure I want to do Child Neurology but I also realize I am more of a pediatrician than a neurologist so spending three years instead of two to do a full pediatric residency would not be a bad thing.

And since they are all great peds programs, all academic, all awesome I have to do something to contrast them so here are a few random pics and facts.


"From here to there and there to here, funny things are everywhere." 
-Dr. Seuss

Springfield, MA

-Birthplace of and home to The Dr. Seuss National Monument and museum
-9% Registered Republicans
-Hoop City (Basketball was invented here)

Oakland, CA

-47th largest city in the US
-# of dog parks: 5
-260 sunny days per year

Albany,  NY

-The Capitol of NY since 1797 and longest continuously chartered city in the US
-Home of a very good college friend of mine and super awesome med school classmate of Dr Boyfriend, both of which have amazing families that we love (aka we have people here!)

-Santa Claus, and the first celebration of the feast of St. Nicholas in America, probably originated in Albany (imported from the Netherlands). -Reference here

Just six days to match, I'm excited, are you?

My love for Child Neurology was born here

Countdown to residency fate day: 10 days

The setting: Stony Brook, Long Island

The reason to rank: Dr. Krupp = Pediatric MS Center= My falling in love with Child Neurology



In the video is Dr. Krupp, my mentor and the reason I am applying for Child Neurology. I worked in her lab for three years before medical school and the study describes some of what I did and the importance of neurocognitive testing in this pediatric population. A friend recently told me that this sounded "so completely motivating and boring at the same time". Exactly, my friend, exactly!

Brooklyn also starts with B...

11 days until match and my countdown continues...

The second city that Dr. Boyfriend and I co-habitated in was none other than NYC. We lived in Manhattan for three years while Dr. Boyfriend went to Medical School at SUNY Downstate and I worked in Midtown. Thus if I were to match at his Alma Mater we would have no problems living in Brooklyn and readjusting to the big city life. I like NYC and while the last time I was there I was a bit of snob insisting on Manhattan living or bust, I think I could embrace the Brooklyn borough just fine. I have many friends still in the NYC area not to mention Dr. Boyfriend's entire family. And most importantly it is THE CITY so it is kind of hard to be too down-trodden about this possibility.

The list of Brooklyn awesomeness would be long so I'll give you the short version. Or skip my list and just watch the montage. Brooklyn to me in a nutshell is Park Slope, coffee options galore, Prospect Park, 24 hour everything, good food, diversity, familiar grounds, brunch options that never end, driving distance to that other B city I just so happen to love and so much more.



That's all I've got for today.

B is for....

Beantown.
Boston.
Best (city, ever)!
Boyfriend (the person I feel in love with in Boston almost 11 years ago)
Bruins.
Beanpot.
BU.
BC sucks (sorry Nutmeg)!
Boylston Street.
Brighton.
Braintree.
Bunker Hill.
Big Dig.
Belong.

12 days until the match, 12 possibilities and today I'm dreaming of Boston...

Because I like lemonade....

I am an optimist. I may be accused of being a Pollyanna and sure I most often have on rose-colored glasses (literally, I have rose-red glasses!) but I like that about myself. I don't enjoy being depressed or anxious and I really do want the best out of life, for myself and for everyone else.

And while I like being positive I also have huge expectations. I expect the most and best out of others (and myself) and thus am quite often disappointed. Rarely can a person measure up to my ridiculous expectations and for sure I am the worst culprit of falling short. But the thing is, I can often empathize with the person and see the good in the situation and move on. Being optimistic means I forgive and forget and yet still expect better next time.

What am I trying to say? I'm not sure I even know... this post may be a bit of a ramble but I suppose I just want to say that I realize how lucky I am. I do not take my life and the opportunities I've been given for granted. Sure I've worked hard and going to medical school was not the easy path for me. I sacrificed much for this life/career but I've never felt entitled to it. I realize that a certain amount of luck and genes and a ton of support from my parents, husband, friends has made where I am today possible. Yet I have to say that the struggles, the work, the time invested has been worth it. And for the most part I've enjoyed it and I think know I will love being a doctor! So that is good...

I am so grateful that in just a few weeks (okay 2 and 3/7 weeks, aka 17 days) I will find out where I matched (granted that I do, but the optimist in me doesn't actually believe that not matching is a possibility). And in 17 days we will find out where we will be moving and living and working for the next five years and that is oh so exciting!

Also, I was also going to share some big news with my family and friends on Match Day. You see I am 8+ weeks pregnant and had planned to announce both at the same time. However the pregnancy is not viable and so I'm going to be medically induced this weekend and that kind of sucks. Because I was excited to be pregnant and it was mostly good. The polyuria, constipation, sore boobs, insomnia and fatigue not so much... But the knowing I was pregnant and the minimal morning sickness. The possibility of a brand new baby was inspiring and exciting and good. Of course it was also a bit scary and the timing was less than ideal. It won't be so horrible to NOT be 6 months pregnant when I start residency. There is something to be said for establishing oneself as a person/resident and making an impression before being the "pregnant resident" so for that reason I can say there is a silver lining. Oh and I am very happy to be drinking my two favorite beverages again (coffee and wine). I didn't miss them as much as I feared but I welcome them both back with welcome arms. Being caffeinated on 3 hours of sleep is a definite positive and I do love me some Pinot Noir so I can't say I'm sad that I no longer have to abstain with dinner....

So yeah, lemonade really is okay.

I guess that's all I've got for now. Happy Hump Day!

dog days and date nights

I'm in San Diego for the weekend and it is glorious.

I spent the day with my puppy. We went to the dog park and farmers market. I gave hime a bath and made the apartment smell nice (not like a dog). I visited Dr. Boyfriend at work for lunch and lounged around all afternoon reading, painting my nails and watching West Wing on Netflix.

And right now it is time for date night. We are going to a hot new restaurant and then maybe a movie, depending upon how long dinner takes and how awake I am. Either way, I'm just happy to be here.

20 days until match. The waiting continues but life goes on.

Happy Saturday and weekend to you!

One week and one day

Until my ROL (rank order list) is due...

This part is torture. The waiting. I went on a second look today and now I have absolutely nothing else to do but hurry up and wait! (31 days until match, but who's counting???)

I pretty much know how I am ranking programs but still that doesn't mean that I don't spend the greater part of each day trying to decide if #3 should maybe be #6 and #5 should move to #3.... Does it matter more where I live or how the adult neuro year is structured? How important is the PD? Do I want to be at an ultra-academic setting or something more service orientated? Resident run or educationally focused?

These are the questions that I am pondering again and again. #1 and #2 are set and have been for some time. #11 and #12 have no hopes of moving up. But the rest of the programs are in limbo and seem to change positions in my mind by the hour.

So that is it. I'm stuck in limbo. Kind of like how several of my patients are "stuck" in the hospital waiting for placement. All I know is that our health care system is very inefficient. Because the cost of staying in the hospital when you have no active medical issues is enormous. But SNFs/Rehab Centers do not want to accept certain insurance plans or Medicaid and thus the patients are "stuck."

I'm worried that one of my patient's is going to get pneumonia and die before she is placed. And there is no reason for this.  Her nurse is mad at me because I dared write an order for her to be out of bed every day (she suffered a stroke and thus needs assistance to ambulate due to severe right sided hemiparesis). And PT/OT should be coming daily to do rehab with her but they do not have the time or resources to do so, thus she sits in bed on neutropenic precautions because she just finished chemo and I'm very worried that she won't survive this hospital admission. Which is now a week too long and looking to last much longer as per case management as she has been denied from 7 SNFs thus far.

And if that isn't enough, I have another patient that is a ward of state, also waiting for placement. She has been hospitalized for over 3 months and the last 2 months are in excess of her medical needs but she is stuck too.

Being stuck kind of reminds me of my Family Medicine Inpatient rotation at this same hospital and this post which I wrote over a year ago. I guess some things never change. Every year students wait for the match and every day patients sit in the hospital waiting for placement... We are all stuck in our own way but at least I know when my waiting will be up which is more than I can say for my patients. So for that I am grateful. I may complain but I realize how much of a privilege and honor it is to be able to wait for the match and to match and I do not take any of this lightly.... And I still have a week and a day to play with my ROL!

Interview trail rehash and random updates on my current state of mind

Greetings from the trail! I had my 3rd to final interview yesterday and am staying for the weekend to hang out with friends that just happen to live here. Now that the interview season is almost over it doesn't seem so bad. Tiring, yes. Expensive, absolutely. But sometimes fun (I did get to explore quite a few new cities/areas) and always informative. Places I expected to like and rank highly disappointed me. Places I really didn't have any expectations for turned out to be amazing or have the happiest residents and most involved Program Directors. I have no idea how I'm going to rank places. I know which programs I loved and which ones I would rather not have to deal with but all of the middle is a muddle. And since I am applying for  Child Neuro and each place has one or two spots per year it is like fellowship in that I could realistically match at my #5 or #8 and so that is hard.... I just have to make a list and leave it up to the NMRP computer to do its thing. But until then I am agonizing daily...

62 days until Match. Not that I'm counting. Dr.  Boyfriend's iPhone is though, so I get periodic reminders. He is more anxious  than I am which makes sense because the match going to determine where we end up, where he has to find a job, where we live for the next 5 years. I view this as fun and exciting. He views it as nerve-wracking and scary. Reality is probably somewhere in the middle. (But then again I am the girl that moved 15 times in my first 16 years of life and will have rotated at 9 different hospitals by the time I graduate from medical school, so maybe change is not a huge deal to me.)

In other news, I LOVE genetics. My attending is awesome. The patients are super interesting and I am learning a lot. Clinic is just so much better than a textbook. So far (in my only 2.5 days of patients because I've been away interviewing) I've seen at least one of each diagnosis: Neurofibramotosis, Beckwith-Wiedeman Syndrome, Gaucher's Disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Klinefelter's, Potter's Syndrome in utero, William's Syndrome, Trisomy 21 and cleft palate as well as rule outs for Marfan's and Legius Syndrome. And these are just the confirmed by genetic testing diagnosed patients. There were others that are still being worked up. So interesting, so cool, plus Miami Children's is a great hospital and I love what I'm doing. That's all I've got today. Happy Saturday!