It's been TOO long!

It has been FAR too long and I'm not sure anyone checks this blog anymore but I thought it was time to resurrect it from the dead! I now live in Chicago, the suburb of Hinsdale to be exact. I have lived here since August and have signed a 12 mo lease so the plan is to be here until August of this year. I am officially a 3rd year intern and have already completed two of my clinical rotations!! My first was a 12 week rotation in Internal Medicine. I completed 6 weeks of outpatient care at my physicians clinic. It was a great experience and an excellent way to get my feet wet for my first rotation. They were an extremely busy clinic and many days I was at the clinic from 8 am to 8:30 pm or later. I worked frequent weekends, saturday mornings at the clinic and rounding in the hospital on saturday and sundays. For the second 6 weeks of the rotation I did inpatient care at two different hospitals and four nursing homes. I enjoyed this a great deal, more so than the time spent in the clinic. I loved going to the nursing homes and taking care of the residents there. I also enjoyed rounding on patients at the hospitals. It was a fast paced environment and every day was something new. I was able to see some fascinating cases and take care of very ill people. I learned so much from the experience and my attending physician was a very knowledgeable and kind man. My most recent rotation, which I just finished on Friday, was Family Practice. I worked in a clinic about 15 min from where I live. I worked in the clinic Monday, Wed, Thur and Fri and on Tuesdays we rounded on his patients in the hospital. The hours were MUCH better during this rotation and many of my days were only 5-7 hrs. I did not have work weekends (score!) so I felt very spoiled :) I have enjoyed all my encounters with patients but this was not one of my favorite rotations. My attending physician was an older gentleman biding his time until retirement so the environment was very laid back. On Tuesday, Feb 19, I begin my next rotation....PEDIATRICS! I had some experience dealing with pediatric patients during my family practice rotation and I loved it so I am looking forward to the next 6 weeks. I know very little about the attending physician I will be working for so I am anxious to get started! I will try to be better with updating this blog, things just got a little crazy there with moving and settling in here. So far I love living in this area, it is a beautiful suburb and feels nothing like "city living" so for that I am thankful. I am grateful to have Jake here with me and he has made this transition go so smoothly and has been such a comfort when days have been difficult. I LOVE being 4.5 hrs away from home and being able to drive up for the weekend if I want to. 4.5 hours seems like nothing after living on the east coast and before that, in St Kitts. If anyone is out there still reading these, sorry for the delay but now I'm back! Hope this message finds you happy and healthy :) Love, Ash

D day has almost arrived!

As some of you guys may or may not know next week I will be taking my USMLE Step 1. This is the first of a series of US board exams that you are required to take and pass on your journey to becoming a full fledged physician. Most people have not seen or heard from me in a few months because every ounce of my energy has been spent preparing for this test. For those of you who have seen me within the last few months, I apologize! This has been the most stressful time of my medical school career yet, if you can imagine that. The last 2 years have been leading up to this exam and the score I get will, in large part, determine where I go with the next 6 years of my medical career. No pressure right?! I rarely ask, but if you happen to think of it, I would really appreciate if you threw my name in if you're talking to the big guy upstairs this week. I have sacrificed a lot to get to this point of my education and I have worked extremely hard. Rarely has it been easy for me but through it all I have somehow managed to push on. I would really appreciate everyones prayers as I climb this next big obstacle in my life. Love you guys and I promise to be more fun after this test is over! :)

Done with 5th semester!

Just finished my 5th semester exit exam. Passed the exam so I qualified to sit for Step 1 USMLE board exam and got the official go ahead to leave Portland! Mom and dad fly into Portland tomorrow afternoon and I am really looking forward to seeing them. We will have some fun on the east coast, do a little exploring before we start the road trip back home. I've been so consumed with studying for this final exam that I haven't done much planning for their arrival but I'm sure we'll find plenty of fun things to do once they are here. We plan to make some stops along the way home to make the trek fun and then before I know it I'll be home sweet home :) Can't wait to see all the friends and family I've been away from and to actually live at home for the first time in 4 years. Although it'll only be for a few months it is still a welcome change from the short visits home that I am used to. Time to start packing up my life into suitcases yet again...you think I would be better at it after how many times I've done it... Ash

Finishing up fifth semester!

Hello everybody! This entry is for Grandpa Pete because he gave me a kick in the pants saying it had been WAY too long since I've written in my blog and the man was right. In my last entry I mentioned how the "weeks were flying by," those weeks turned into months and now here I am in my last week of fifth semester. My time living in Maine has been a quick one and I have thoroughly enjoyed this state. Portland really is a beautiful city and spring has breathed new life into it. I wish I could see more of the summer here, but it is time for this nomad to return home! The last 6 weeks have been filled with a Kaplan prep course, 6 days a week 9 hours a day. I am preparing for my board exams which I will take sometime this summer. Terrifying to be preparing for the biggest exam of my life but I am ready for the next step. Sick of sitting in classrooms and I itch to put my knowledge into practice. My parents fly out here April 20th, we will explore the east coast for a few days and then drive back to WI together. Looking forward to seeing my family again, 4 months apart is always too long! I will return back to Wisconsin where I will live and study at home until I am ready to take my exam. I'm sure most people remember my little ACL mishap, well I plan to have knee surgery on May 1. I will be able to rehab my knee while I study at home, it has been 5 months since I have been able to go for a run and I cannot wait until my knee is repaired and I can do what I love again. This'll be the first time I have lived at home in five years so fingers crossed that the 'rents don't get sick of me. Chase will also be at home this summer and I could almost burst from excitement to be around my family again. I included a picture from the one and only time I've ever been to a beach here. Way too cold to swim, but a pretty cool pic nonetheless. Back to WI in 2 weeks, hope all is well with everyone back home! Love, Ash :)

Happy Monday

Happy Monday everyone! Beginning of the week update from yours truly. Things here in Maine have picked up and the weeks are flying by. I'm in the classroom 3 days a week and the other days I'm spending in the Emergency Dept. at Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick, ME. I am rounding with an ER doc there, Dr. DiPete, who has been around forever and has done a great job of showing me the ropes. I was thrilled to get the ER rotation and all of the staff there have been great. I get a good deal of teasing from them being from Wisconsin and we all have fun together. Tried corn chowder for the first time and they were SHOCKED to learn I had never heard of it before. It is delicious and I highly recommend if you haven't tried it. Have seen a few exciting things in the ER and many everyday things. Learning a great deal and it's always exciting to see all things you read about come to life. The gravity of medical school becomes very real when you are in the hospital and watching first hand the sheer responsibility that comes with being a physician. It is very evident why we go to school for so many years, there is just SO much to know. Dr. DiPete has been doing this for 35 years and he still has to look things up from time to time. We are seeing a handful of patients on our own every week to get used to taking a complete history and physical. It is very nerve wracking because we have a doctor in the room who critiques us afterwards and gives a full report of our performance. They are very hard on us but it is a great learning experience and I am making the most of it. I may have to work harder when it comes to studying than some of the other students but patient interaction is where I feel I really shine. It is incredible how much of being a physician is building a repoire with your patient. Half the battle is getting them to open up to you and tell you what is going on and sometimes this involves very personal and sensitive information. We must be able to get people to trust us so that we can pry into their lives and get the answers we need. There are so many different aspects that come into play to be good at this and every week I'm learning and becoming better. There is no doubt that medical school consumes your life and everything else is forced to take a back seat. You have to love this journey even in the most crummy times. Have a great week everybody! Love, Ash :)

I am officially a "Mainer"

It has been FAR too long since I have updated the world on my whereabouts. To get everyone up to speed I am now residing in Portland, Maine and have began my fifth semester of medical school. My Christmas holiday was a whirlwind of my three favorite things; family, friends, and food! I spent a lot of time with my family and close girlfriends and said my prayers that I was done living on the island. Med 4 really wore me out and I was in serious need of home cooking and TLC. We all know mom was more than happy to oblige on both those accounts. This Christmas break I added two more new milestones to my life. I bought my first vehicle, thanks to the tireless search of my dad who was able to find the perfect car for me. I also sustained my first serious injury. Having hurt my knee in St Kitts in the last flag football game of the season I had convinced myself that it was nothing serious. It was sore, but I could walk on it. How serious could it be right? Wrong! After seeing my family practice doc expressing my concern that, 3 weeks later, my knee still didn't feel right she suggested an MRI. Knowing full well that I wanted to be active once I got out to Maine I agreed. It didn't take more than one glance at the MRI and mom could see I had torn my ACL. So now, on top of everything else in my chaotic life I must find the time to schedule in surgery. Looks like I'll be back home for a few months in the summer to get that done and rehab my knee. I am adjusting to life out east very nicely. Luckily I had Tom as my copilot for the 23 hour drive out here. We hit some nasty weather somewhere in Ohio that delayed our progress but $200 of gas, $56 in tolls, 10 cups of coffee, and 1 lost debit card later we made it. The weather is similar to Wisconsin and the people here have been very kind and welcoming. We are seeing patients every week to get practice taking history and proper physical exams. The docs here critique the hell out of us but it is great practice. Three days a week we are in lecture and a clinical lab where we learn how to start IVs, give injections, intubate, etc. This week I start working with my preceptor. He is an emergency medicine physician in a town 40 miles north of here. I am excited to spend time in the ED and see if it is an area I may have genuine interest in. Other than that I am grinding away and doing my best to keep my eye on the prize. I am mere months away from the biggest exam of my LIFE (no exaggeration) and that is a terrifying and exhilarating thought. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers, you are all in mine! Love, Ash

13 days until home!

Just checking in to let everyone know that I will be back in the states in 13 days! I survived my practical exam, the most stressful of all our exams, and am so relieved to have that over with! The practical exam is where you have a mock patient and a physician who gives you a scenario and you have to do the appropriate physical exam on the patient and then answer a series of questions regarding that scenario that the physician fires at you. Great practice but SO intimidating. This exam had 6 different stations so needless to say my stress was off the charts that morning. With 13 days left I have taken a vow to enjoy the island for what it is as I prepare to move back to the states. It is so easy to get caught up in school and all the negative things that come with living in a third world country (or as our epidemiology professor prefers to call it "an emerging nation"). This is my promise to enjoy the raw beauty of the island my last 2 weeks here because I may never return. While these have felt like the longest last 4 months ever, I still cannot believe I have spent a year and a half of my life living here. An experience that I will never forget and one that has taught me many things about myself, both good and bad! I truly believe that if you are never really tested and pushed outside your comfort zone than you never really learn who you are. I am a stronger woman for my time spent here and for that I am grateful. "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character" 13 days!!! :) :) :) Love, Ash