Match Day

I will officially be doing my residency in Pediatrics here at UMC in Jackson! I mean, okay, that's old news by now, but the month of April was hell on earth, and blogging was definitely on the back burner. Brushing my teeth twice a day and not killing anyone was pretty much the best I could do.

Since my graduation is in 2 days, I thought it was time for a Match Day post. For those of you who don't know what Match Day is, let me explain. As fourth year medical students, we apply in the fall to residency programs all over the country. Some or all of these programs may offer you interviews. So you spend much of November, December, and January driving and flying all over the place. The different programs wine and dine you the night before, then you suffer through a 6 to 8 hour interview. No, that was not a typo. In February, you make a "rank list," which means you rank these programs in order from your first choice to your last choice. This caused me to be emotionally unstable for about 2 weeks. It was a hard decision, to say the least. Meanwhile, the programs rank everyone they interviewed in order of their preference as well. Then a computer somewhere "matches" people and programs. I'd say it's somewhere between the NFL draft and sorority bid day. On March 16, Match Day, we all gathered in an auditorium with our families and friends, and we were called on stage one at a time. We were given a piece of paper with our match on it. So we walked to a microphone and announced what specialty we'd be doing and where we'd be going for residency. Right there in front of God and everybody. It was kind of terrifying, but I'm so excited to be staying at UMC! It was what I wanted :)

Blurry, but excited after reading my match.

Putting my pin on the map.

So happy for everyone!

UMC School of Medicine Class of 2012. I'm going to miss these folks so much!

So glad that my family was there!

I am so excited to start this next chapter! (Ok, I'm really just excited to get a paycheck, let's be honest. It's about damn time.)

Early

The last 2 years have caused me to redefine my personal concept of the term "early." Before medical school (specifically before the 3rd and 4th years), "early" meant waking up before noon. Sometimes I hated my tough job as a lifeguard in high school because the pool opened at ten o'clock in the freaking morning. 

I've never been a morning person. My dad thinks it's funny that I chose a profession that requires being at work ridiculously early. My mama says I am the only child on the planet that would ask, "Can I sleep just five more minutes?" on Christmas mornings. In general, I don't like to speak to anyone for at least 30 minutes after I wake up.

Anyway, as I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed at 11:00 this morning (because medical school is OVER!!!), I was just thinking about how happy I am to wake up after the sun has come up for a month and a half. Do you ever watch the sunrise? It's beautiful. I probably could count on one hand (even if I was missing a finger or two) how many times I'd watched it before med school. It is now common scenery in my life. I'd like to say that I'd rather be enjoying it whilst sitting on my back porch with a cup of coffee, a blanket, and my husband, but let's be honest: if I was at home with enough time to hang out and drink coffee, I'd be asleep in my bed instead. So, medical school forces me against my will to see the sunrise everyday. It's a perk. A silver lining to having my alarm go off every morning at a time that I consider to still be night.

During my 30-minute commute to the hospital, the following thoughts usually cross my mind almost every morning:
1. If I could just sleep until 7:00, I'd be so happy...
2. Why on God's green earth do we live 30 minutes from the hospital???
3. I'm quitting school. Sleep > education.
4. If God wanted people to be awake, not to mention productive, at such an hour, He would make the sun rise earlier. This is unnatural.

Let us focus on #1. See that? I've found myself "just" wanting to sleep until 7. Four years ago, I'd have been irritated beyond belief if I had to wake up at 7. Now I long for it.

"Early"--redefined.

And cheers to sleeping late for the next month!

Totally unrelated picture: