Speaking of which, I can't stop fantasizing about the birthday feast. Assorted champagnes. Beef bourguignon. A cake for every decade. My bestest pals. Le sigh.
But that's still 2 months off.
The second year of medical school, however, kicks off on Monday. I must say that I am glad to be back (hmmm...will I still think that in 2 weeks?). My 5700 mile summer was a blast, but it's time for a fixed schedule. Time to focus on work (and working out). Time to make this happen. Let's do this thing.
What, exactly, does this mean? Well, we have the regular curriculum that takes us through April and into part of May. And it's no small stakes: endocrine, cardio, nephro, cranial manual med, rectal and pelvic exams, GI, etc. Eek. Then we have about a month off. Then we have Step 1 of the Boards (and for me that means both the COMLEX and the USMLE--oh, woot). Step 1 is tricky, because it will dictate your postgraduate options. Only the very best scores are considered competitive for areas like ophthalmology, dermatology, neurosurgery (meh, who cares) or orthopaedics.
Lucky for me, I want Internal Medicine--there are tons of those residencies. But that doesn't mean I can screw off. As Dr. Howard (I so want to be his BFF) advised me on Tuesday, "Get the very best Step 1 score you can, so you can get the very best residency that you can and set yourself up for the very best fellowship." And I should probably listen to what he says because he's Harvard, Johns Hopkins and Stanford trained, with time spent on Harvard faculty. Yeah, kinda credible.
So the ripple effect of this Step 1 will continue for years. Note to self: Better not F it up.
Most importantly, however, the next 9 1/2 months will probably fly by. Way faster than the last year has. Before I know it, I'll be back in the emerald hills of the Pacific NW.
Go get'em Boo! Work like Hell, and then sit back and watch it work for you.
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