18 month update part 1

It's been sometime since my last update. Last time I wrote about finishing Step 1 (of 3). That was Summer of 2011. After that I went to France and Italy for 2 weeks before 3rd year, my clinical years, began. The clinical years are different from the first 2 years. Instead of being stuck in a classroom all day and learning about the foundations of medicine, medical students are thrusted into the high paced wards of hospitals, the freeze of operating rooms (temperature and temperaments), and many other environments where we have to deal with patients, nurses, and doctors.

This is where we transition from thinking like a student to thinking like a doctor, while striving for top grades in both standardized multiple choice exams and the subjective impressions of our attendings and residents. I had a tough time of it, although I was always a fast learner, there were many things to adjust to and I had trouble sorting it all out. Every rotation was different and new and something I'd never seen before. The learning curve was steep, but I eventually got over the hump.

At the end of the Spring of 2012, I went and took Step 2 of my board exam. I scored well. And I started my 4th year with much more confidence and with a renewed sense of purpose and enjoyment in finally getting the hang of medicine, at least at my level. There is still much to learn, in the words of my attending who said "after 35 years of practicing medicine, I feel like everything is finally clicking together."

I lost my father in the Spring of 2012, April 6th. He had another stroke, he bled into his brain. We withdrew his care, meaning he would only get medication for pain control. I slept and sat in his hospital room and watched him for a week. He was like in a coma, so we couldn't talk to him, though my family thought he could listen. It was hard to watch him for a week, it makes you doubt. I still think about it now. I felt empty after he passed. It's been a few months now, and I think I'm back to my normal happy self.

I also got a girlfriend in 2011. I successfully wooed a classmate, I don't think she knew what she was getting into =). We have been together now for almost 2 years. I love her very much and she says she loves me too. She helped me become well again after my father passed. It's too bad they have never met. We decided to couples match, meaning our residency ranking will be coupled so that we could stay together in the same city during residency, more later.