End of Year 2 and Beginning of Year 3

Holy moly… to catch up I am going all the way back to May for Mia’s bachelorette party!!! A group of the bridesmaids (and the bride of course) headed to San Fran for a weekend of wine tasting and clubbing. It was loads of fun but we didn’t get much sleep and definitely came back to Portland tired. It was a great opportunity to meet some of the other bridesmaids before the wedding.

When I got back there was just a few more weeks of school. I managed to finish out the year with straight As (actually “Honors”)… but that didn’t mean that I felt very confident for the boards. I spent 3.5 weeks after school to study all day every day for the boards; it was EXHAUSTING. I set a goal for my score and by the end of my studying I was approaching that score on my practice tests. Somehow I made it through and took the test on June 10^th. After my test Ryan, Colbie and I celebrated with a bottle of Champagne and PIZZA. 4 weeks later I got my score and got exactly 1 point above my goal.

Right after the boards I went down to LA for Gabe and Mia’s wedding. There was a dinner at Mia’s parents’ house on Thursday night, the rehearsal and dinner on Friday night and the wedding on Saturday night. The whole event was so beautiful… from the people to the flowers to the food…. Everything was elegant and created a perfect wedding for my brother and new sister.

After coming back to Portland I had one week of summer break and was determined to make the most of it. I started things off by chopping off my long hair!!! Some Pi Phis and I headed out for Thirsty Thursday. Then I went to the Brown’s house to celebrate the last day of school for the dental students and participate in the drinking of a 5 liter bottle of wine. The next day we had the 3^RD FIRST ANNUAL NOB HILL PUB CRAWL!!!

The following Monday I started back to school… the first week was called “Transition to Clerkship” where we basically went through a whole bunch of lectures and workshops to prepare us for third year. To finish off that week, right before starting my surgery rotation, I headed to Bend for Andy and Sarah’s wedding (Ryan was the best man). It was a beautiful ceremony right on the river and then we danced the night away. And, Ryan caught the garter belt!!! Speaking of weddings... Jessica Addleman, Michelle Donovan, and Molly Diaz are all recently engaged!!! They're dropping like flies!

On June 30 I started my surgery rotation. I was assigned to the OHSU Emergency General Surgery Team. I got up everyday at 4:30am, started working on patient notes at home at 5, took the 5:30 tram up to school and saw my patients before meeting with the surgery team at 6am. We then discussed all our patients (we had 20-30 patients at a time) and rounded to see them. Around 8am surgeries would start and we would keep busy with surgeries, clinic, and rounding for the rest of the day. I got done between 6:30 and 7pm most days. I worked 6 days every week. Also, I took one day on call each week which meant that I would show up at work at 5:30 one morning and not go home until 11am the NEXT DAY. I really enjoyed the whole experience and learned a great deal… but I am TIRED!!! And, I really need to workout! It was so hard to get motivated to workout when I was barely making time for eating, showering and sleeping. Anyhow, my 5 weeks of surgery ended today with a test I took this morning. Next week I start my Pediatrics rotation. I will be at Doernbecher for 2 weeks and then in the Mother/Baby Unit at OHSU for 3 weeks.

As for my first weekend off in the past 5 weeks, I will be keeping busy over the next few days. I’m going out with classmates tonight to celebrate being done with rotation #1, I have a Hood to Coast Captain’s meeting tomorrow morning, Julie and Jason’s wedding is tomorrow night, and then on Sunday I’m going to see Chorus Line with my mom.

Oh, and last but not least, Colbie is doing great... she just turned 1 year old!!!