Friday, March 19, 2010

PGY-I Resident Physician in Internal Medicine at....

...Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan!!! I am very excited that not only will I be at the closest hospital to my hosue that I applied to, but that I am so familiar with the fantastic people and processes that would most likely be quite overwhelming for myself if I were to start off at a brand new place. It is so nice also to just have that weight lifted off my shoulder and constant questioning of "Where will I be?", "Will I have to reapply?", yada yada.

I know I didn't post the day of the Match but even a few days out it feels just as good. I had a small happy dance then afterwards crashed out of emotional exhaustion over these past 4 years. I am sure with my vacation to come after this month, I will be wanting to add up all the hours of sleep I can get! I have been able to get ahold of my fellow residents through Facebook and we have started a little group to get to know each other better! So far there are 12 out of the 37 who have joined in the past few days :o)! They are all so nice and I am really looking forward to working with them. Out of the 37 there are FOUR Ross University students! I am so proud!!! I know we will do an excellent job!

As for now, I am currently (3/23/10) in my first week of infectious disease. I'll tell ya getting the motivation to not just do this last month but get to know a whole new hospital system, people, processes and hospital layout for ONE month is quite challenging. Though I think I realize what indeed is at the end of this month - the END of medical school and the END of my time as a student! Granted I must wait until graduation to officially say so, but April 16th, 2010 - I am calling myself a physician! Then I will have until about the beginning of July to soak it all up!

There is quite the amount of paperwork to be done: first is of course - the contract - and a 44 page packet to seal the deal with busy days of filling out forms. I hurried and got it all day and sent everything out yesterday, as it is due this Friday. I can't see how the resident from outside the country can get it done and mail it in time?! Anyway, the forms are all for limited licensing, controlled substance licensing, health care forms, fingerprinting forms, computer access forms, ACLS/BLS forms... the list goes on. I was able to leave my first day of ID early (hated doing that) and get my fingerprinting out of the way which was the only thing from keeping me to send in my packet. What's next? Yes folks, I am still working on changing my name, lol. It isn't hard but just alot of things you need to change. Basically, I finished the important documents but needed to finish my passport and SSN.

So everything seems all set to start! I will keep you all posted on things as they go! Only about 24 days to go until medical ends!!!

Monday, March 15, 2010

I MATCHED!

Oh yes, I recieved an email from the National Residency Match Program stating: "Congratuations! You have matched!" WOOHOO!!! I am an Internal Medicine physician at "fill-in-the-blank" hospital! haha, I think the anticipation for Thursday surpasses mine for today.

I was pretty confident that I would match but am just ever so curious to know which of the six hospitals grabbed me first! :) I am very happy though I have to admit, not as jumping off the rooftops as I thought I would be?! WHYYYYYY! Come on Jess, it's okay to celebrate! So funny, like I have said before - my family has always been telling me to look back and be proud of all I have done to get to 'x' point. Hopefully this time I can actually be able to do it!

Wow, granted I have my last month of an infectious disease elective - but darnit - I'm a doctor! :) I suppose I should continue in joining in the Facebook fun of congratulating everyone and probably cracking open a beer or two! This week is a celebration and I am so glad that I have it completely off so I can hopefully soak up this week and remember it forever as a time when I look back on these four years; the major- lol major - sacrifices my family and I have made, the energy, tears and doubt all for the feeling of success, accomplishment and privilege of knowing that I am a physician and will forever be for the rest of my life have a greatly blessed chance to serve and improve the lives of others!

Congratulations to all who have found their own success in the match! As promised here is something I had found that I wrote before I began this blog. It was a post on one of the forums I followed, after a 10 month long wait on the LECOM-Erie waitlist for enterance into their medical school. I was a nervous wreck, posted nearly everyday, wondering if I would ever get chosen. It was this day I was passed up and I then decided to attend Ross University and never looked back - enjoy!

~July 28th, 2006 @ 01:24 PM~
"Been a long wait but it's alright...

Thanks everyone! And also to everyone over the past almost 10 months that has let me vent about this school. It has really meant so much to me and been a blessing to be able to come on here and get so much advice and support.

I am still hoping for even these last few hours but I am going to begin to finish up my prep to get ready for Ross! Leaving in a few weeks with my mom so she can help settle me in on the Rock! She's the best!

At least I still get to become a doctor... I really do love ya'll, thanks for everything!"

...Well, looks like I still got that chance to become a doctor and here I am! Congratulations to all and celebrate this moment well!!! :)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

"If I Matched" Day...

EEEEeeeeekkkkkk! Twelve noon tomorrow! I will find out if I have indeed matched into an Internal Medicine residency program :)! Yes folks, I will be hopefully contracted in to be an employee, better said - a physician - at hospital on my ranked list. Me. A physician. Okay, not gonna lie, that is majorly cool to say! Me, a doctor. Lately sounding more like something that is more overdue than before when it was something funny and unbelievable to say, lol.

I posted on Facebook on how embarassing it would be to NOT match and to have told everyone, haha. Ah well, you know me - just telling it like it is and whatever happens, happens. To be honest, I am really not that worried about tomorrow. It is the anticipation for Thursday that is just starting to get to me. Funny looking at some forums and how freaked out people are getting - just about tomorrow!

Anyway, I think that it will come down to my top two choices. What are they? Tsk, tsk, tsk... Patience people! ;) I really don't see myself going past #2 but at most I see myself going to my #3 choice as I have gotten a great vibe from the program. That's it! If tomorrow equals a match, Thursday equals me completing my residency in most likely my top three spots. Not too shabby.

So, I leave my final question before my time as a student is setting and residency rises: Do I start to party and celebrate tomorrow? Wait until Thursday? Both? Believe it or not, this is my question haha. I definitely know that Wednesday will already be crazy with St. Paddy's Day... Hmm, maybe I should just commit to a week of celebration, haha! Welp, I am not sure what else to leave you all with but that this is a great feeling. I am more feeling a sigh of exhaustion and "it's about time" than "WOOHOO", but maybe that will change. Maybe it is just me but that's how I feel.

I am gonna dig up on old post from a forum for tomorrow if all goes well - from before I started on the island, lol. Quite nostalgic post, lol! So, yep - there it is... After starting this blog in August of 2006, here I am hopefully to post tomorrow about my new employment as an Internal Medicine physician! :) Thank you all for your love and support (even during my hiatuses, lol). Catch you on the flipside ;)!

Friday, March 12, 2010

It's the Final Countownnnnn! (by Europe, lol)

It is official, there is one month left of medical school! I have just finished my anesthesia rotation of two weeks and am now on a little mini vacation for the next 10 days to celebrate St. Paddy's Day and of course, Match Day 2010! First off, anesthesia was really awesome. As compared to my pulmonary and GI months, which were all consult months, anesthesia was much different than anything I've done lately. Even back when I was in my surgery rotation over a year ago (wow...) I had always wondered what was going on behind those sheets with all those monitors and such.

For one thing, I actually was able to SIT through a Whipple procedure this time, haha. But really, it was great to learn the ins and outs of how they work and felt I got way more than 2 weeks worth of knowledge. While the organization for the rotation was a bit lacking, I was able to work with one particular resident at least 4-5 times who was extremely talented at teaching students and especially relating it to the field in which they were interested. For me, he tried to relate anesthesia to medicine, in particular to the ICU and vent management. Of course, there was teaching on general anesthesia too as is done in surgery. The days were not too long, except for those days when they had 6:30am lecture, lol. My days ended almost always between 3 and 3:30pm, though most students got out much earlier.

I was able to do multiple intubations though and definitely became more comfortable with them. and LMAs as well. Mostly though it was just taking in all the knowledge that the residents could offer. On my last day, I was able to leave around 1pm and was so happy. I was able to take my mom out to lunch one last time and thank the medical education department for allowing me to come and rotate there as Ross is not an affiliated hospital. After, I walked out the doors of Henry Ford Hospital after a near 10 month experience. On the shuttle back to my car, I looked back thinking whether or not I would return this coming July for my residency...

...Yes, it all comes down to this week! Match Week! What is in store for this week? Well, Monday 3/15/10: we all find out IF we matched. This is what we might see though email or our NRMP website:

1. Congratulations, you have matched! *YAY*
2. We are sorry, you did not match to any position. (...Boo...)
3. You are NOT matched because you did not submit a certified rank order list. (Submitted one so doesn't apply to me, but man if you missed the deadline - that would suuuuuuck!)
4. You are NOT matched because you are withdrawn. (Not withdrawn, doesn't apply)

Also, there are a couple more for preliminary applicants, those who did not apply categorical position...

Supposedly, this day opens up the Scramble as well, which is literally - a scramble
- for open spots in different programs nationwide. Giving homage to 3/17 - St. Paddy's Day! Yes folks, due to be a sloppy mess but great times with friends! Finally, Thursday 3/18 is Match Day, where we all find out WHERE we matched. Our school kinda goes with the flow of other schools, depending on where you are rotating. If the affiliated school as a luncheon or something, our students tend to tag along and follow their tradition. Me? I was able to get this week off to celebrate on my own without the hooplah of being around other students. I just wanted to take this time for myself and be with family and friends for this week of my life. I am sure however it works out, I will be happy with it but just in case, I want them around me :P...

So, the week is near upon us and I am not nervous at all - just merely starting to get anxious. I go on studentdoctor.net alot for some advice or to vent and also valuemd.com (better for IMGs) and I cannot believe how scared and nervous they are. Maybe it is just me but I am happy with all the places I ranked and granted, while I might be a tad disappointed where I end up - I will know it was meant for a reason. I don't see how worrying and stressing these last days does anything. In my opinion, what's done is done - there is no changing it once our rank list was submitted. It is in God's hands and best just to cut loose and enjoy life as best you can!

In light of this, that is what I am about to do - off to Malarkey's with my friends to have some good times! More to come soon enough... :)

Thursday, March 04, 2010

We're gettin' there folks!

I am stumped at what to write about. I am chosing to hold off on my post about Match Day and my rankings until the day comes. I guess though I can start talking about it a little - gotta get ya a little thirsty for more later! Then I guess I will just figure something out as I go along.

So... it has come down to this nearly four years in the making of this blog - Match Day 2010. The day when I will find out where I will be obtaining my residency training in internal medicine for the next three years. Like I said before, I applied to 15 places and got 8 interviews:

St. Mary Mercy, Livonia MI
University of Toledo, Toldeo OH
Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit MI
St. John Hospital, Detroit MI
St. Joseph Mercy, Ann Arbor MI
Detroit Medical Center, Detroit MI
St. Vincent Mercy, Toledo OH
Synergy Medical Education Alliance, Saginaw MI

Of these I chose 6, leaving out Synergy and University of Toledo. As you all know I did most of my third year at Synergy and loved it. In the end though, this just proved to be to far away that I was willing to commute. I was getting enough invites from local places, I chose to decline. As for the latter, again I had the other 7 offers and felt that I would be in good contention for a residency spot with those I had interviewed at, particularly in Michigan - so I chose to decline. No real downsides to the programs, just a personal choice. This left 6 hospitals to rank in my ranking list.

First off, you must register with the NRMP (National Residency Match Program) which of course comes with a fee (come on, by now you know better than to think that we were gonna get out of ANYTHING without a fee). When the time comes and your ERAS application is submitted, it will be time for the rank list to open, approximately in late January of your match year. You get around a month to mull it over and in late February, your decision is final. It is this day that you are committed to joining the residency program you match. Not only does your list have to be final but the hospitals must submit their final list the same day as well. DUN DUN DUN - that's it. Then the near one month wait for the magical computers to do their work, lol. So I will tell you all how I ranked two weeks from today, March 18th 2010. And yes, it IS the day after St. Paddy's Day. Though what student would really take any time off, away from their patients to celebrate during this week. Really now, quite selfish! Psh, I wouldddd! I have one week left of anesthesia then an entire week off. Surely enough, as usual I will be going stir crazy with nothing to do but perhaps i can catch up on some research lol. I am real excited for a week off before my last month of school. Wow, last month. So insane to REALLY look back. Makes the last four weeks seem like a joke compared to all the rest.

Sigh, so what now? What else can I talk about today. I'm about to consolidate my loans lol. Did I tell you that? I got my grand bill in the mail and I am going to write it all out with the zeros for effect, haha: $220,000.00... Maybe I should have enlarged the font! I am taking donations! :P Ah well, knew this was coming so not much of a topic starter.

I guess I could talk about my anesthesia rotation, even though this is my first of two weeks. Umm, really like it alot! Besides the fact that I am in the OR (vomit) I am loving learning about the medications, being taught by tying in ICU vent monitoring and getting my hand at intubations. Ever since my surgery rotation, I have always been curious as to what exactly was being done behind those sheets. I am getting a boat load of knowledge in this and am getting pretty comfortable in monitoring the patient's sedation, paralytics, respirations and much more! Kinda nice to sit and chat with the resident and while being taught still, being able to take a break when we both notice something that needs to be adjusted in the medications. It is great experience though think two weeks will suffice for the time being...

Well, sorry that I don't have more to talk about. I will try and brainstorm for more ideas. Any burning questions out there, lol? Anyhoo, I'll be around! You stay classy ;)...