Exciting November...

We have an exciting November ahead of us! Here are some of the things I'm looking forward to this month...

Black Friday!!! A few years ago we started participating in the early morning shopping madness that takes place the day after Thanksgiving, and I think it is soooo fun and soooo entertaining! I'm usually not looking for any particular deals, but we find some good things, and it's so fun to watch people running through the stores for what they want! P.S.--We are the ones waiting in the car, watching all of the people run inside once they open the doors. It's too cold to wait in those lines!

Thanksgiving! YUMMY!!!

Elton John/Billy Joel Concert!

Zac Brown Band Concert!!!

Another shopping event that I look forward to all year! Holiday House is a huge gathering of local vendors showing of all of the cutest stuff! A great place for Christmas shopping!

Razorback games! The South Carolina game this weekend was so fun! Can't wait for the rest! Go Hogs!

Have a great week!

Halloween!...

This year for Halloween we decided to have a little get together. Our original theme was dress as your favorite You Tube sensation! As you can see, we have several You Tube sensations represented, as well as infomercials, TV shows, and favorite movies! It was a lot of fun and thanks to everyone who came!

If you have not seen these You Tube videos, I recommend that you stop reading this blog and watch them ASAP!

"Grape Stomping Lady Falls" Yours Truly

"West Virginia Ninga" Stephen and Jenn

"Miss South Carolina" J-Rob

And a few that I just love, that weren't at the party...

"David After Dentist"

"Cubby-Single Ladies"

"Kick His Ask"

Have a great night!

Such a slacker...

I know, I have really been slacking on blogging lately! I will try to be better! The problem is that really last month was kinda boring! Here's the short version:

I finished Allergy/Immunology near the end of September. I loved it. Then for the past four weeks I had to take a required rotation in surgical subspecialties (Orthopedic Surgery, Anesthesia, Urology, and ENT). Here are the highs and lows...

Orthopedic Surgery

Best: ACL repair surgery. I always thought this was a very simple surgery and was surprised at how complex the repair is!

Worst: The sound of the drills and saws they use. It gave me chills! Blah!

Urology (this was the worst week)

Best: I have to say it. If you watch Grey's Anatomy, a few weeks ago they had an episode where a man got, you guessed it, a penis implant! OMG! I guess this was the best just because I happened to see one get put in the very same week this showed up on Grey's. And really, how many people can say they've seen an implant quite like this?!?!

Worst: Prostate biopsy. Do I have to say much more?

Anesthesia (I actually really enjoyed this because I learned how to intubate better and also got to start IV's, plus I was back at ACH!)

Best: Putting in IV's!!! I got every one of mine on the first try! Haha I guess it helps when the patient is asleep and paralyzed on the OR table!!!

Worst: Waiting around during the surgeries. A little boring if you ask me!

ENT (Also did this at ACH, so it was very beneficial)

Best: Clinic. I have mentioned before that I really like clinic, and this was no exception. I got to look in lots of little ears!!!

Worst: The 10 million tonsillectomy and ear tube surgeries I saw! This is a very beneficial surgery for kiddos, but once you've seen one, you've seen them all!

For the next 4 weeks I will be doing an Infectious Disease rotation at ACH. It has proven to be interesting so far, and I think I will learn a lot. I hope I learn a lot, because so far I've had some VERY long days!!! I'm still enjoying it though, because I get to see the kids every day and I really am learning more about common (and uncommon!) pediatric illnesses and how to treat them best!

More soon!

Allergy and Immunology Was SO FUN!...

The past 4 weeks have been so wonderful! I have been doing a rotation with the Allergy/Immunology (A/I) service at ACH. We had clinic on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and on Tues/Fri we would meet for short lecture and also do consults (see patients in the hospital). This was a great rotation for many reasons:

1. Sleep. I got a lot of it. I usually had to be at work by 8:30 or a little earlier. This was wonderful. I got to eat my cereal, drink coffee, and watch Fox and Friends before going to work!!!

2. Learning. Food allergies and asthma are important things to know about as a pediatrician. I feel more confident about those topics now. Also, immunology is really confusing and most immune deficiencies are really rare, so it was great to get some exposure to these rare diseases and to learn more about them.

3. People. I LOVED the people I worked with this month. The resident I worked with was so fun and very nice! The nurses were wonderful and so helpful to us. And the attendings were the best I could ever ask for! One of them even called me on my last day to thank me for working with them! What?!

4. Clinic. I really like it. You get to see tons of people throughout the day and it is fast paced.

5. Days off. This relates to #1 but it was really nice to have time to do things and not be rushing around after getting off really late everyday!

Sadly, this 4 weeks has come to an end, but it will probably be my favorite rotation of this year. For the next 4 weeks I will be doing a required rotation in surgical subspecialities: Orthopedic surgery, ENT, Anesthesia, and Urology. I start Ortho tomorrow.

Quick update on Residency applications: So far I have six interviews. ACH, Oklahoma City, Augusta, Birmingham, Charleston, and Louisville. :) It is very exciting and I am looking forward to seeing all of these places when we interview in December and January, and also looking forward to seeing friends nearby!!!

Here is a pic from the AR v. GA game two weekends ago. We had a blast!!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Application "in the mail"...

Today I was very lucky and got one more day off of work! To make the day somewhat productive and not a total waste, I finished everything I could for my application and went ahead and submitted it! I think I almost had a heart attack when I was pressing "submit"...It is very nerve-wracking! There are some parts of the application that you can go back and modify, but some that you cannot change after you submit. I am still waiting on some LOR (letters of recommendation) so will have to add those later. Here is the list of places I have applied to so far. I can still add some if I want.

UAMS (AR Children's Hospital)
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Emory University (Atlanta)
Medical College of Georgia (Augusta)
University of Louisville
Duke
University of Oklahoma Health Science Center Program (OK City)
Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston)
Vanderbilt (Nashville)
UT Southwester (Dallas)
University of Missouri at Kansas City

We will have to wait and see where I get interviews from now!

What We Did Saturday...

School Update...

I PASSED STEP 2!!! At least the first part! I got my score for Step 2 CK back in mid August, and I was very happy with it. We traveled to HotLanta last weekend for the second part of Step 2, the clinical skills part. It was interesting, and I am glad it is over! This is the test that is taken in a "clinical setting" where we have 12 patients to see, and we have to "diagnose" them and tell them what we want to do next. The "patients" are really actors. The best part about going to take this test was that I got to the Flannagans! It was so good to see Terri and Chuck and so WONDERFUL to finally get to meet Knox! Here are some photos:

Currently I am working on my application for residency. I just finished writing my personal statement, and I'll probably submit my application by the end of this week. The nice thing about the application is that even after you submit, you can continue to add things to it such as letters of recommendation, which can take a while to come in. Once I submit it, I'll be sure to post the list of places where I've applied.