Finally a MD!

Once again I'm starting out my blog apologizing for how long it has taken me to update it. Since my last post I've graduated from medical school with highest honors, enjoyed the holidays with my family and friends and gotten a new puppy.

I meant to take a picture of my diploma so everyone could see it, but I haven't gotten a chance yet so please remind me in the future. It's definitely the most expensive piece of paper I've ever owned! I'll be walking for graduation on June 10, 2011. I'm very excited to share that day with friends and family. It's been something we've all been looking forward to for a long time, and I truly appreciate all of the love and support each of you have given me. I find out where I'll be going for residency later this month so stay tuned!

The holidays were a whirlwind with all of the family coming in and out of town and me flying all over the country for interviews in between. The best part was the fact that my niece, Camila, was able to spend the entire two weeks of her Christmas break with us. What a blessing. She had so much fun and did extremely well considering the length of her stay. The house is definitely more quiet when she's not around. We're hoping that she'll be coming back for Spring Break, so please be praying it works out. We really miss her.




As for our new puppy, she's a chocolate lab, her name is Sweet Bella and she's pretty cute. When we got her she was about 5 weeks old although they told us 10 (Yeah right!) and she weighed between 3-4 lbs. When we took her to the vet they couldn't believe how tiny she was. She's 15 weeks now and weighs approximately 25 lbs. She's definitely a puppy...she drives us crazy with all of the chewing! Therefore, we took her to meet a trainer this evening and will be enrolling her in puppy classes very soon. She's a lot of work, but we're really enjoying having the new addition to our family.



Hope you're all doing well and thanks for checking in!

Happy Holidays!

Hi Everyone,
I apologize for the delay in this post. I wanted to thank everyone who was praying for me and for everything to work out at the University of Washington. God is so good. As I had said before they were telling me it would take 4-6 weeks to prove my residency status, well two weeks later I received an email saying I had been approved as a Washington state resident! In the meantime, they had also decided that my school's malpractice insurance would work until everything was cleared on the UW side if the residency status had been delayed. Thank you, Jesus, and thanks again to everyone who helped me with this process.

After that headache was behind me, I was able to start my first elective at the UW. It was in Pediatric Genetics at Seattle Children's Hospital. The variety of patients I had the privilege of observing was amazing. I had read about most of the diseases, but didn't actually expect to see any of them and there were even a few I had never heard of! The staff was extremely welcoming and I learned a lot. It gave me a new found admiration for Geneticists as well as Biochemistry as a clinical profession. Their ability to notice the slightest details and recognize a disorder or syndrome from them is phenomenal.

Then came Harborview ER. I had been looking forward to this particular elective for quite some time. I knew that it would be hard work, but I also knew that Harborview was known for it's ER since it is the only Trauma 1 center in 5 states. The hours were long and I felt like all I had time to do was eat and sleep, but it was worth it. I was exhausted by the end, but I definitely learned a lot and enjoyed all of the people I worked with. I guess it's a normal thing for Seattle, but I had never been allowed to call an attending by their first name before and at both Children's and Harborview that was the norm. It may not seem like a big deal, but feeling as though you are truly part of the medical team and not an outsider means a lot.

As an added benefit, I discovered that the UW is attempting to start a residency program in ER, so the fact that I was there during this pivotal time was nothing short of a miracle. I was able to interview for their inaugural class! We'll see what happens. At this point, I'm just trusting God to show me where I am supposed to be in the future and what I'm supposed to be doing. If I am supposed to do ER, the fact that it's now available in Seattle is truly a blessing.

I've also gone on a few Med/Peds interviews and have really enjoyed them. I have my next one on Monday in Lexington, KY and will fly onto Shreveport, LA from there. I currently have 14 interviews all over the country, but will probably cancel two of them since I'm not really interested in going to those areas. As you can tell this is a very busy time for me and I have a lot of hard decisions that will need to be made soon. Please keep me in your prayers. I truly want to do God's will.

On a side note, I was supposed to graduate on November 30, 2010 but because Ross did not receive my evaluations in time that has been delayed. I spoke with both departments at the UW today and that should be taken care of now, so hopefully I'll hear good news on Monday :o) God bless you all and I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful holiday season!

Prayer Request

Hi Everyone, I'll keep this short and sweet tonight or at least I'll try. I debated on even posting this, but I have a prayer request and thought you all could join me in it. As I've said in previous posts, I'm trying to get rotations at the University of Washington. First let me say that when this first came up they weren't sure we would have enough time to get through registration let alone find electives that I was interested in. That said, although every step of the process has had a few added hurdles, I am currently a registered student at the UW and I was able to get both of the electives that I was interested in: Emergency Medicine at Harborview and Pediatric Genetics at Seattle Children's Hospital!!

As exciting as that is, I've recently come upon another hurdle...I don't think after this that there will even be an option of other hurdles. At least I REALLY hope not! Anyway now they are questioning my Washington State resident status since I have been away at school. I've contacted the residency department and they gave me an application to fill out, which includes a RIDICULOUS amount of documents to be submitted with it, and have told me that the process will take 4-6 weeks. Well friends, that's where your prayers come in. My electives are supposed to start in 3 weeks and in order to start them I am supposed to have my tuition paid in full.

As it stands right now, with "out of state" tuition the bill is over $8600. Obviously I cannot afford that, so I contacted every department I've worked with during the application process so far and let them know about the speed bump I've run into. Today they called the residency department who said there's really no way to speed up my application as there are over a 1,000 applications to be processed and only 2 people doing it. They said MAYBE 3 weeks will be enough time but they won't make any promises. The only suggestion they could offer was that I not have to pay tuition before I start my electives until this is all taken care of, but in order to do that I have to get approval from the Vice Dean of the school because I would not be covered by the UW's malpractice insurance. Can you believe I'm already having to deal with malpractice insurance??? The thing is my school covers me for it, but it's the policy at the UW that students must be covered under theirs.

I should be hearing back from them early next week, so please be praying about this. It is completely out of my hands now; I've done absolutely everything I can. I just don't want everything I've been working towards these last 3 months to fall through just because I've been going to school outside of Washington for the last two years. I really don't think there is any way (crossing my fingers) that they could deny my residency, but I am concerned about the timeline and that there might be a late fee if they agree to let me delay paying the tuition. I honestly can't afford to pay more than I already will be. Alright well I think you get the picture. Thank you for reading and for the prayers I know you'll be sending my way. I love you all!!

Tired

I feel like being tired is a constant state of mind now. No matter how much sleep I get, it's never enough. I guess that's just life in medical school.



Anyway, it's been quite awhile since I updated, so here goes. I am now in Santa Barbara, CA doing a sub-I in Internal Medicine at Cottage Hospital. A sub-I is basically like any other elective, but you have more responsibility...like getting to write notes! That may not seem like a big deal, but considering next year I'll be writing multiple notes a day, I definitely need the practice. My goal from this rotation is to be able to write an admit and progress note along with the assessment and plan completely on my own. Here's a huge jellyfish we saw the other day while walking along the pier.



I've also had some luck with getting electives back home. It LOOKS like I'll be able to do an emergency medicine and pediatric elective at the University of Washington. I'm so excited! Thank you Andersen family! I'll definitely keep everyone posted about that.



Last but not least in August, while I was in NYC and Boston, I found out that I PASSED my boards!! Yay!! Thank you, Jesus and everyone who continually prays for me. I truly appreciate all of your support. I was fortunate enough to be able to celebrate this accomplishment with some of my family in Boston and they threw a little party for me complete with a present :o)



They also took me up to Newport Rhode Island and we went through a couple of the mansions there. Absolutely breathtaking!



That means it's now time for me to apply for residency programs. I've deciced to apply for Emergency medicine and combined Med-Peds programs. I also decided to apply for a couple Family medicine programs in WA. I sent in my application and I'm pretty nervous about it. I just hope that I make the right decision as to what God wants me to do and where He wants me to go for the next few years. Hope you're all doing well and that I see you soon! Love, Nicole

Hi Everyone and a special hello to Andy and Sharon, who reminded me I needed to update my blog :o) As I'm sure most of you know, I'm finally done with my big exam. I took it last Monday and what can I say? I'm just so glad it's over. It was one of those exams where you really don't know what to think when you walk out. Some of the questions were easy and I knew the answer before I even saw the answer choices, but others were more difficult and I had to narrow it down. It's frusterating because I can usually get it down to two choices, but after that I feel like I play eeny meeny miny mo. All I can do now is trust in God and believe that he helped me to get the score I was hoping for. I won't get my results for about a month (torture I know), but I'll definitely let you know as soon as I do :o) Thank you to each and every one of you who prayed for me that day and the days leading up to it. I felt your love and support the entire day.

So you're probably wondering what I'm up to now. I'm currently working on my residency applications and trying to get all of that in order. The process is electronic so you'd think it'd be easy and straight forward, but of course they figure out a way to remind you that as much time/work we've put into becoming a doctor, you still don't know anything! I asked a friend of mine about something on the application the other day and he said, "Yeah, I don't know...I put no." Grrrrreat...

On Monday I'll be going back to NY for a month. Unfortunately I gave up my apartment so I'm currently homeless. Luckily I know quite a few people that are willing to let me stay at their places for awhile. I have a feeling I'm going to be doing a lot of couch surfing! Oh well, at least it's only a month and hopefully I'll be able to figure something better out when I get there.

After NY I'll be going to Santa Barbara for a month and then HOPEFULLY coming back to Washington to do some electives through the UW. It's a long process, but they're trying to work with me. I'm saying a lot of prayers because not only would I get to come home, but I'd be able to work at some of THE best hospitals in the country. God is SO good! I have to try not to get too excited though because if it doesn't work out I'll have to either stay in California (hopefully) or go back to NY for my last elective. That's right. My last elective. I should be done by either the end of October or November and then I'll have 6-9 months off where I'll be doing interviews and preparing for residency.

Well I better get back to work. Thanks again for your support!

Four More Weeks

I can't believe my test is only FOUR weeks from today. I've been studying, but I feel like it will never be enough. I recently started doing USMLE World, which is the main question bank everyone suggests and I was doing really well the first few days, but the last couple? Yeah, I'm not sure what's going on. I'm still doing better than most, but I want to kick butt on this exam! I know there's only so much I can do, I just hope it's sticking.

I'm currently doing an elective in Infectious Disease and it's going well. We set up a schedule where only one student stays late per day and everyone one else gets to go home and study, which is great. The doctor even offered to write us a letter of recommendation on Friday :o)

I only have two more weeks in NYC. My mom and her friend, Julie, are coming on June 29th to help me move. It's a good thing they're coming too because I'm going to have to move to another apartment for 2 days, since my lease ends on the 30th, which is a Wednesday but my rotation doesn't end until Friday the 2nd. Luckily my wonderful landlord is letting me stay in a studio for those two days. I'm looking forward to their visit, I just wish I had more time to show them around and really enjoy my last couple of days here.

I'm having a going away party next Friday so that should be fun. We're starting out at Max Brenner's for dessert and then going out afterwards. I have mixed feelings about leaving because I'm going to miss my friends, but I'm really looking forward to coming home and having a break. After this elective I'll only have 12 more weeks of rotations before I finish medical school. I can't believe I can say that already. It seems like just yesterday I was going to Dominica. These past couple years have flown by...I can only imagine how the next few will go.

Thanks for reading and please keep me in your prayers. I'm studying as much as possible, but I'm definitely getting a little nervous. ONLY 4 WEEKS LEFT! Ack! Better get to bed so I can get up and study before church tomorrow. Love you all and thanks again for your support!

Study, Study, Study

As you can probably tell, all I feel like I do anymore is study. I'm currently studying for Step 2 CK, which I've signed up to take July 19th. As I go through the information it all looks familiar, but then I read a question and of course I pick the wrong answer. lol I keep telling myself that it will be worth it in the long run, but if I'm honest I'm just really tired and ready to be done. I don't know why I feel so burnt out especially when I haven't studied more than a couple days at a time for the last year and a half, but I do. My goal is a 250 on Step 2 and that's not going to be easy. I'm praying for guidance, recall and understanding.

My mom will be coming at the end of June to help me pack up and move back home. We'll be stopping in Boston for a couple of days on the way home, which I'm really looking forward to. I'm excited to be coming back to the west coast eventhough I'm going to miss NYC and all of my friends here. I'm trying to get the rest of my electives set up there, so cross your fingers. Right now I've applied to a hospital in California and am trying to see if it'd be possible to get some electives back home as well. I have 8 more weeks to fill and then my schedule will be set and it will be time to start the residency application process. I should be graduating at the end of October/November. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. Eventhough I'll be graduating then, the Graduation Ceremony itself won't be til June of next year. I know this is a short post, but please keep me in your prayers. I'm getting nervous about everything I have to do over the next couple of months. Thanks again for reading!