1) I FINISHED THIRD YEAR!! My last two clerkships of the year, Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry, were finished in May and June, respectively. I really really loved Emergency Medicine, especially the crazy cases of foreign objects being found in ears or hands being chopped up with lawn mowers, but ultimately I realized the cases I loved the most were the Peds cases, thus confirming my choice of going into Pediatrics! :) ...Psych, on the other hand, was ...ok. The hours were amazing, but I didn't love the rotation. I just couldn't see myself interacting in that way with patients for the rest of my life. So, it was a great way to end, 'cuz the rotation was so chill, but I was happy it was over at the end!
2) I MOVED TO ORANGE COUNTY - After third year was over, I stuck around Michigan for a week, packing up and moving and celebrating one of my best friends from med school's weddings !! After that, I headed on the plane, on moved in with S for two months! It was so fun. I love Orange County (and Southern California in general) SO much.
3) I TOOK AND KICKED BUTT ON STEP 2 CK - I studied for step 2 for a grand total of 2 weeks in the OC and I was TERRIFIED of how I would do. Walking out of the exam, I thought I failed for sure. It was so long and I ran out of time, barely reading through questions on 3/8 of the sections. So, I thought I was doomed. Well, after a LONNNGGG 3.5 weeks of waiting, I finally got my score...and I was SOOO happy! I scored higher than I ever even thought possible - a whole 10 points higher than my highest practice test, and 17 points higher than step 1 (wahoo!)
4) I TOOK (and am still waiting on my score) STEP 2 CS - I was scheduled to take CS in Chicago, but when I got an email with an opening in Los Angeles only two days from the email, I jumped on it! Thus, this test came and went before I could even blink. Step 2 CS is a clinical based test, with 12 fake patients that grade you on 1) if you can speak english clearly, 2) if you can be sympathetic to patients, and 3) if you can interview and write competent notes. So, who knows how I did, but hopefully I was nice and well spoken enough to pass...CROSS YOUR FINGERS!
5) I COMPLETED AN AMAZING PEDIATRICS SUB-I - I had a fantastic month doing an away rotation at a hospital I really love. If you follow me on facebook, you know which one, but I am going to try to keep things more ambiguous on here for privacy! :) But, basically, this hospital was everything I could want for in a residency program. There was incredible teachers, a huge variety of competent specialists in so many different fields, and really amazing residents that I could totally see myself working well with. It was crazy long hours and I had very very few days off, but I never complained, because of how happy I was there and with the field of Pediatrics. Again, I definitely know I made the right career choice! :)
6) I MOVED BACK HOME TO ELK GROVE - Two days ago, after the completion of my sub-I and my exams, I headed up north to my parents house for one more month away! This month, I will be doing a Pediatrics Cardiology elective. It should be really great and I should learn a lot, but I am kind of nervous because a) I am terrrrribllleeee at hearing murmurs, and 2) I have zero exposure to the field, so I might look incredibly incompetent. Hopefully not!
Well thats all for now! I will try to be better at blogging! Goodnight! :)
