First Day of the Last

I remember being in college, every loved to post about their last first day of school. It's probably not true with the amount of grad school happening, but it is still fun to say. That's why I write this post title with a grain of salt. Ross has begun his final year of medical school.

But then you also have residency.

and fellowship.



But at least it is his last first day of his final year of paying tuition. So I will take that.

It is amazing how much difference a year makes. Here he is 3rd year. And also his first day of medical school and white coat ceremony!

Now he's starting his 4th and final year of school before his earns his MD. You can tell I can't care less cos this picture is all awful and blurry looking.



Just kidding of course. He's so close. I will take this time commemorate how far we have come:



How hard he has worked, forged in the flames of Hell adversity.

And everything he has to look forward to: 

And how good he makes scrubs look: 

Before we know it he will be applying for residency.

While You Were Out

Have I explained on the blog before about how Ross and I never take a vacation together?

Okay, well NEVER is not exactly accurate. But it does seem that my employment and his school are forever at odds.

I came back from my super epic New York trip and everyone was asking, "How did you and Ross like New York?!"



Cos yeeeaaaah, we didn't do that together. We also didn't do this, this, nor any of this. But I'm not here to provide you a comprehensive list of all the stuff I do by myself. That's what this blog is for. Instead I just want to feel happy that Ross finally gets a turn to take a little break. He is officially done with his 3rd year of medical school, he has his Step 2 CK out of the way and he is all but ready to apply to residency. He still has a way to go but you learn to celebrate the small victories.

I kicked him outta the house and told him to use what we have left on those beautiful airline vouchers to visit family and friends in Utah. Our motto, as I am pretty sure I have well documented on the blog, is "If you have the time- find the money."

With 4th year and then intern year of residency and so on, you can't count on ever having time. And the money- well after awhile you stop worrying about having so little- so you just find a way.

He's off on an adventure and I am back at work, or sweltering at home in these warm temps. While he is gone I've been doing a complete bedroom over-haul.

Operation: Organization and Donation.



I have to do this while he is gone so I have enough time and space to make a mess and find a solution. On the right you can see that no matter how hard you try there will always be that pile of stuff leftover. That pile of stuff that you're just not quite sure what to do with.



I am proud to say I donated a bunch^ of stuff and threw away even more. It feels good!

My good friend Mary recently started residency at a nearby hospital. She invited me over for dinner so I made a simple dessert. I brought the leftovers to work and people were beside themselves. Really I think it was just nice to have a pick-me-up now that every one is coming back to work after summer break.



In other cooking endeavors, I thought I would make a special treat for Ross's return from Utah and eventual start of a school/ hospital work again.

I present: Brownie-crust Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake!

It is possible that I went a little over-board with the decorations on the top. Like homemade whipped cream!?

I made a Frankenstein recipe combing and piecing together three different recipes.



It involved a brownie crust, topped with a layer of fudge. Next a peanut butter cream cheese cool whip layer, then some Reeses cups and brownie. After that more of the cream cheese mixture, probably more peanut butter cups, a fudge topping then all the decorations.

It was delicious. It sounds kinda hard but it wasn't at all. Except for the brownie part it was no-bake too! 

Back on the Bus

Tonight Ross left in a rush and forgot his ID badge. It's not the end of the world, but I figured it would make his life a lot easier if he had it.

So....

Back on the bus.

The bus gives you lots of good ideas for science projects. Mostly involving Petri dishes. 

Just when I thought my bus days were over for good.

But it was an easy trip and a pretty night.

On the way home I let this guy use my phone to make some calls to his wife. He had a pay as you go phone. Out of minutes and confused by how to access his voicemail, I figured it wasn't a big deal to me.

Maybe letting a stranger borrow my phone wasn't the safest move. But on the hour long ride home I thought about it. Does it really matter? IF he decided to make a break for it and steal it, I'd be out a phone.

And...

Nothing else. My photos are backed up. I don't have any sensitive information on there. And I could get my own pay as you go phone. I'm getting sick of stuff. Stuff is just stuff remember? Instead of thinking of my stuff- for some crazy reason- I decided to trust a stranger, who need the help.
Why? Maybe because I still believe in the humans in humanity, or at least want to. Maybe because I have been there before, many times. In need of a phone and also just in need of help and at the mercy of strangers.

It wasn't altruistic. I hope it was just human.

Arrowhead Regional Medical Center

This is just a rough estimate... but about 3.5 million times these past few months people have asked me what the heck is going on.

Is Ross getting paid now?

What is Ross's specialty?

How does Ross like residency?

When are you going to move next? How long will you be in the area?

Are you going back to Grenada? When does he start? What is his first rotation?

And the list goes on. I thought I would give a quick run down of where we are currently.

Quick Break Down:

Medical school = 4 years (August 2012 - Spring 2016)
      - 2 years "book work" aka Basic Sciences....................................Finished! Grenada years.
      - 2 years in-hospital work aka Rotations/Clerkship/Clinicals.........Current. Redlands, CA years.
After that -and let's not get ahead of ourselves- comes residency and then a fellowship in a specialty.

No, he does not know what kind of doctor he wants to be.

But he has time too!

Ross is starting his 3rd year of medical school at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, CA. The third year consists of "core" or mandated rotations. That means he spends anywhere from 6-12 weeks doing hands-on work and study in a specific study of medicine. The core rotations for the 3rd year are:

Internal Medicine

Family Medicine

OB/GYN

Pediatrics

Psychiatry

Surgery

There can be specific study within each rotation, but that is the general overview. 

Next Spring/ Summer Ross will take the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge exam. Remember the younger sister Step 1 which he took Summer 2014?

After that he will begin the 4th and final year of medical school. You can check back in at that time.

Going back to the present. Ross wanted to check out the hospital before his first day. We also needed to return our rental truck, so we headed west on the I-10.



You can tell I haven't been back in the U.S. very long because I was shocked to see that you had to get through a metal detector just to step foot in the doors. You have to have a reason to go in, with a specific department destination. You can imagine security's confusion when we explained that we just wanted to see the hospital.



The next Monday morning Ross was there, in much less casual clothes, ready to begin his adventures in a REAL meal deal hospital.

Monday August 18th, 2-14

I was really curious to see if it would be a short or long day. We both knew this isn't a "read over the syllabus and get on your way" type of 1st day of school. And indeed it wasn't. Ross texted me later in the day to let me know he was assigned to be on 24 hour call.
Me: Umm.... like you get to come home and if they "page" you, you have to go back?

Wrong. 24 hour call means you get to sit at the hospital and work for 24 hours. Maybe sleeping for an hour or two if they let you. You can definitely say he started his 3rd year off with a bang!



When he came home the next morning he was tired but definitely happy! So it begins!

And for your final and pressing questions... No he is not making money. Yes we are still giving them A LOT of money (at 9% interest thank you very much). No we are not moving anytime soon, at least not for a couple years.

Happy 28 Years of Life!!

As I have mentioned before, I love to go over-the-top on birthdays so I was pretty bummed when I turned out that Ross's birthday would be in the middle of apartment hunting. There was no two ways about that, unfortunately.

We tried to kick things off early and right with some celebrations in Utah. One with his friends and one with his parents. But it was still kind of a bummer. I tried to make it special though.

For lunch we went to this really good italian food place. We got a cannoli for dessert and when Ross was gone using the restroom I asked the waiters if they could bring him a birthday treat so he got some spumoni ice cream too. We were pretty stuffed.



At the end of the very long day we came home and had Ross's favorite birthday dessert, his mom's cheesecake with his favorite Danish Dessert strawberry topping.



All those candles are starting to be a fire hazard.

Opened some presents too.

I hope this was the most happy miserable birthday he has had!