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!

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!

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!

The answer I SHOULD have given....

     Are either of your parents physicians? 

     Who else in your family is a physician?

     What do your parents do?

These are all questions that I that got asked at my last interview.... I was a bit taken aback. But I answered in brief.

Are either of your parents physicians? 
No.

Who else in your family is a physician?
No one. I will be the first. No one else has a graduate degree. Just me.

What do your parents do?
My mom is a nurse. Right now she works to help manage an Assisted Living Home. In the past she has worked in home health care, private practice and as a floor nurse in different settings. She has done a little bit of everything.

My dad is the Safety Manager for an Oil Supply Company. He does all of the employee safety training and is the first responder when someone in the field gets injured and needs to be taken for medical care.
---
Yep, this is what I said. Boring... True, but my responses pretty much answered the interviewers questions and they had little else to ask or follow with.
---
However, I have been thinking.... Why was I asked this? What did the interviewer really want to know?

Maybe she really meant....Do I have a role model that was a physician? Do I have any sense of how difficult training will be or what it is like to be a physician? Am I smart enough? Why do I want to become a doctor? Is this a family career or something personal? Why did I choose this career?

I have no idea why I was asked this (repeatedly) during my last interview but it bothers me... It bothers me enough that I will not rank this program as high as perhaps it deserves.

I applied and was granted an interview so someone had to think I was worth the time. So why then should I be made to feel as though I am not up to the task or not good enough to train at this program? Obviously this was not explicitly stated to me, but this is how I ended up feeling....  But I think, no, I KNOW, that I AM capable and worthy and so I am stuck on the WHY???? What was the purpose of this line of questioning? What does it matter? Do my parents define me? If my father had walked out when I was 3 or my mother had died when I was 13 would this change who I am enough to affect what kind of doctor I am going to be? Or was this just a stuck up NewYork style interview?

If you, dear reader, have a different perspective or think maybe I was over-reacting or misinterpreting this line of questioning I would love to hear your thoughts....

Otherwise, this is what I SHOULD have said.


Are either of your parents physicians? 
No. But they were both amazing role models to me. I learned how important it is to care and give back to the community from my dad and I was inspired to enter the medical profession by my mother who worked in many different settings as a RN.

Who else in your family is a physician?
No one. I am PROUD to be the first.

What do your parents do?
My parents do many things.

My dad is a Safety Manager for an Oil Supply Company.... But it was he that taught me the importance of community service. My earliest memories of him are helping to construct a homeless shelter/temporary apartment in our church basement. It was to be a place for an out of luck family to stay in while the parents sought work and got back on their feet. The apartment had a kitchen stocked with food, a desk for the children to sit and do their homework. A living area. Two bedrooms. It was sparsely decorated and very basic but it offered a chance for a family that would otherwise have to separate with dad at one homeless shelter and mom and the kids at another. I remember how much it meant to my dad to be a part of something bigger. My dad cares about people and has made sure that I always thought about others too. He made sure that I not only appreciated the resources and family that I was lucky to have but also that I did something to help those who were not as lucky.

My mother is a nurse. I remember hearing lots of stories about doctors of all kinds from her. She loved some and thought others were rude, arrogant and not good for their patients. She taught me what she knew of medicine and instilled in me a basic love of taking care of people.

My parents do many things, but first and foremost they love me and have done a good job raising me which is why I am  here today. So, have I answered your questions?

Yes, these are the answers I SHOULD have given...