Wow, it’s June already. I think the last time I wrote anything was March. Which is probably the last time I even logged into my blog… I know eveyone is waiting on parasthesias… sorry, “pins and needles” on what I want to say, so without further adieu.
I am technically now a 3rd year medical student. I’ve completed all my coursework and gotten my grades ( best semester yet – thank you Jesus!) Unfortunately, I still have this small little thing called Step 1 to deal with. Quickly, Step 1 is the first step (I know, shocking) of a three part board exam that all doctors must take. We take Step 1 after our 2nd year, Step 2 after our 3rd year, and Step 3 after our first year of residency, or intern year. Step 1 covers anything and everything that we should have learned in these past two years – and some things that we might not have learned. It’s an important part of residency application, and the higher you score, the more “control” you have over where you go and what you do. Needless to stay, pretty durn important…
I take boards on June 15th. I would covet your prayers from here on out, especially on June 15th. After I sleep for about 14 hours, I’ll have 12 days off to relax. Jen and I will get to go to Birmingham to see my family over Father’s Day weekend, and I’ll also hopefully play a few rounds of golf. Rotations start June 28th. Still working on what I’m doing the first month, but I’m leaning towards either Cardiology or Pathology. I have a vacation month in July and August, then do Anesthesiology, Orthopedic Surgery, Family Practice, my second “unknown” rotation, then I start my core rotations, which are all of the basics – Surgery, Psychiatry (in January, probably going to be busy…) Pediatrics, OB/GYN, then Medicine for two months. At that point, I’ll take Step 2 of boards, then start 4th year – wow, last year of med school!
I was talking with some good friends recently about how far we’ve come and how we got here. It is amazing that two years ago, I hadn’t found out yet about school, and here I am, a third year. I have had some really hard days (and nights… and mornings) these past two years. God has graciously sustained me and given me strength and peace and peace in difficult period of time. But then I thought, “How many people would give anything to be where I am right now?” So try as I might to not complain, I still complain. It’s still hard, but it’s still what I chose to do and God had planned for me to do.
To all of you who are reading this, most likely you’re a good friend of mine. You have probably seen a Facebook post or read a previous blog post or saw Jen or something and thought, “Where’s Waldo?” Well, I get to re-enter society on June 15th, so hopefully we can reconnect. Thank you so much for your prayers and your thoughts. Thank you for thinking about Jen and calling her and asking her to go do things when I haven’t been able to.
And most importantly, praise be to God. Thank you, Jesus, for dying in my place. Thank you for, by your death, buying every good thing in my life, and turning bad things to good in Your will. You are the greatest of all time. There is no other God I would rather serve.
Oh, FYI… We take a full-length practice exam tomorrow, so, just like the real thing, I’m taking the night off. That’s why I’m writing now. Don;t worry, plenty of studying awaits me tomorrow evening through next Monday.
Excellence in Everything, and All to the Glory of God 