Adding Inches

If you know anyone in medical school, you know what it means to have a short coat. Students have short coats. "Real" doctors have long coats. We have this fun ceremony when we start medical school, and they give us a white coat. We've all busted our tails to get that long-awaited white coat. The doctor garb. It's a pretty exciting time. You almost feel like a doctor. For a second anyway. Then you realize that your short white coat is like having "I don't know anything, and I'm going to get in your way" stamped on your forehead.

Four years later, we got new white coats--with a few inches added to them. These are the real, I'm-legit, long, white, doctor coats. The night before graduation, our class gathered along with our closest friends and family for a cocktail party, dinner, and of course, the coat-gettin'. They called our names one at a time, and we walked to the stage to receive our coats. It was a really fun night. This time I actually didn't feel like a doctor at all. I felt like a huge poser. Like I stole someone else's coat. Am I really a doctor???!!! I'm getting used to it, but sometimes it's still weird.

Katie, you're welcome :)

Reading sweet cards from my mama and mamaw & pap.

Begin the Sandidge-Ashley-Katie photo shoot:

One of my favorite pictures from the evening. So typical.

Let me know if you need a good doctor. I know some folks :)

Laura A. Newman, M.D.

I started writing this post in May. It is August. Turns out residency is a busy time. Who would've thought?
                                                 ________________________________

After 23 consecutive years of school, I am so excited to finally be finished. I am officially Laura Newman, M.D. Whaaaaaat?!?! That's so weird. Exciting, but bizarre.

I love this quote by Charles Dickens in Tale of Two Cities. I think it pretty much sums up the last 4 years of my life:

"It was the best of times, it was the worse of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was  the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us..."

It's been a mighty long road, and I would never have gotten here without the love, support, encouragement, meals, and prayers from my friends and family. I'm so grateful for Matt, and the overwhelming patience and truly unconditional love he has shown me over the last four years. I think since he made it through the constant smell of formaldehyde for 5 months during gross anatomy, we're going to make it through anything! I'm also eternally grateful for my mama, who has always been my biggest cheerleader. Sometimes during medical school you just need someone to tell you that you can do it. Not to mention, during Step 1 and Step 2, she did my laundry and made my dinner every single day for those 2 months. There are so many people that were there along the way, and I love every single one of you. Thank you.

I have made some of the best friends of my life. No one else can really understand what we've been through. We've seen and done some things that probably horrify most people. We've dissected human beings in the middle of the night in a room filled with dead bodies. We've stuck our fingers in some unfortunate places in living people. As one of our attendings likes to say, "We do things to people that, if done inside a hotel room, would be considered a crime." We've been pooped on. We've been vomited on. Some of us have even been assaulted. But we've also had incredible experiences that I feel so lucky to have had. We've delivered babies. We've watched people go from death's door to walking out of the hospital. It's such a privilege, and I am so pumped that I get to do it for the rest of my life.

And this is only the beginning.

I started off the morning of graduation by forgetting my breakfast. Then the following conversation happened via text message:
Me: Have you left your house yet?
Morgan: Yeah, why?
Me: Dangit. You're always on time. I wanted you to bring me something for breakfast. I forgot my granola bar.
Morgan: Don't worry. I have goldfish. You know I always have snacks.
Me: This is why we are friends.

Morgan has become one of my very best friends. My med school bestie, for sure. We've been friends since the get-go, and I don't think I could've survived the last 4 years without her. She matched in med/peds here, and I'm so thankful she didn't leave me! And here she is, carrying my breakfast.

Don't know what I'd do without this guy.

My twin. M1 year, Hayes and I had the same haircut and the same glasses. We became friends quickly, and we were always together that first semester. This apparently caused great confusion. People actually thought we were twins at first, and people could not tell us apart unless we were together. This baffles me because I think we look nothing alike, but I got called the wrong name about twice a day for at least 2 years, so evidently we do.

Diploma: check.

Hood: check.

My wonderful family.

Probably my favorite picture of the day.

BFF for life. 

More family! So glad all of you came!!

Couldn't have gotten through this without my mama. She's the best.

Above all else, I thank my Jesus for His grace and provision and for trusting me to serve Him as a physician. Mama, thank you for always believing in me and thinking that I’m smarter than I really am. Mike, thank you for everything you’ve ever done that you never had to do. Daddy, thank you for your encouragement and for continuing to give me an allowance despite my being 26 years old. To all three of you, I’m forever grateful for the sacrifices you’ve made to help me achieve my dreams. Katie, thank you for cleaning my bathroom every time you come over. Finally, Matt, thank you for your patience, understanding, and unending love and support. Thank you for making me laugh every single day and for learning how to cook something other than hamburger helper. To my friends, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, ‘I used everything You gave me.’” –Erma Bombeck

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:

Birthday bash

Matt doesn't get very excited about his birthday. He doesn't even really eat cake. (I know what you're thinking- what kind of freak did I marry??? Who doesn't eat cake?!) But he always tries so hard to make my birthday special. A couple of years ago, he threw me a surprise party. One year he drove the thirty minutes from his house to mine at midnight to give me my presents.

This year, he decided to have a party at our house. It was one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time! A ton of our friends came over, and we ate and drank until I could hardly breathe. Matt and our friend Nolan manned the grill all night. They cooked deer meat, duck, sausage, and hamburgers. Nolan is a carnivore. Matt thinks duck is borderline exotic, considering I pretty much cook chicken 6 nights a week. They marinated mushrooms, stuffed them with cream cheese and jalapenos, wrapped them in bacon, and put them on the grill--their signature appetizer. Matt got me an ice cream cake and ice cream cookies from Coldstone. Not to mention all the chips and dip and I consumed. And Lyssa made amaretto freezes. I might have gained 10 pounds in 6 hours.

Most of the afternoon and night was spent around the fire outside, but a dance party did take place to a Jay-Z Pandora station at one point.

Hayes "Dryer Sheet" Baker. Keepin' those skeeters away.

Real housewives of Madison County. 

This happened totally against my will. 

Med school crew.

Twins. And the only LSU fan we tolerate on a regular basis :)

It was such a fun night with all of my favorite people! Thanks to my favorite husband for always making sure March 31 is a wonderful day. 25 was my favorite year so far- Matt and I got engaged, had a summer full of parties and showers, we got married, Alabama won the National Championship (and we got to go!), and I matched into residency. I can't wait to see what my 26th year brings!