The Day I Became a Doctor

So it's been about a month since I've posted anything. As a matter of fact, my last post was the day before graduation. And since then it's been such a hectic past couple of weeks, I took a bit of a sabbatical from blogging. It wasn't just that we had to move, my husband had to work two weeks straight, and I had to get a bunch of stuff done to prepare for residency..... I really just wanted to spend all the time I had to be with my boys. Now I'm starting my first day of residency tomorrow, so what better time than to start blogging again!

To fill you in I have to start where we left off, which is med school graduation. I keep telling people that it felt like when I got married. There were years of preparation put into this big event, so much build up and excitement, and then it felt like it went by so fast. I tried so hard to just live in each and every moment of the day, but just coordinating it all was so distracting. You see, I had two graduations. The first of which was with the entire university (undergrads, nursing students, etc.), then we had what's called the "hooding ceremony". The hooding ceremony is the real deal. It's just for the medical students, and it's where we get "hooded" with this fancy piece of green velvet fabric symbolizing that we are officially doctors. 

Dr. Doane, my hooder. Such an amazing physician! 

After spending over three hours and listening to over 1,000 names get called at the first graduation, I was anxious to get on to the hooding ceremony. What was so memorable about it was that it's full of all this old school tradition. From the entrance music, to the actual hooding, to the oath we all recited at the end. We're talking YEARS of tradition. Each and every doctor who graduated before me essentially went through the same thing. What was especially great, was that we could pick a physician to hood us who we knew personally. So I asked one particular doctor who I did my third year family medicine rotation with, who was really the one to inspire me to go into family practice and has been a wonderful role model for me.

UNECOM class of 2012

Got my diploma!

When we first walked into the auditorium, I remember just looking all around and being completely overwhelmed with emotion. All these people surrounding us were the people who supported us throughout the last couple years. Our parents, family, friends. Then looking at my fellow classmates and feeling this sense of camaraderie, and being grateful that I hadn't gone through it all alone. As I walked up onto the stage to get hooded, it felt very surreal. Was this really happening? I was in school for so long (especially after taking an extra year) that it felt like a black hole that I would never get out of. And here I was, five years later. I was finally a doctor. To prove that the whole thing wasn't some hoax, they actually gave us our real diplomas afterwards. Seriously! There was no taking it back. I officially graduated. 

I can't even express how memorable that day was and how blessed I felt to have my family and friends there to cheer me on... my parents, husband, Killian, my cousin Chrissy (who's my best friend), and Dr. Doane (who hooded me). All of them have played such an important role in helping me get to this point. When I was just a little girl, I told my parents I wanted to be a doctor and from the first time I said it, they have always supported me and told me I could do it. Then there's my patient husband, who has stuck by me and supported me throughout it all... long nights of studying, moving a billion times, dealing with my anxiety and freak outs, and being such an amazing dad that we could actually have a child in the middle of it all. Speaking of my little boy. Despite the struggles of raising a child, he's been my source of balance and grounding throughout it all. If I had a rough day, just coming home to him melted it all away. 

My wonderful, supportive, loving family!

Even though it's been a crazy last five years between being a medical student, getting married, and having a baby, I wouldn't change a thing about it. I say all the time that everything happens for a reason and I KNOW that I wouldn't even be in the same place I am today if I hadn't done it this way. Quite honestly, I don't even know if I would have made it through school without having my son. You see, after I had him and took time off, it gave me time to really put thought into what specialty I wanted to do. Plus I think the time away from it all helped me to reboot and refocus when I started back up again. Not that having a newborn was at all relaxing or anything, but I love being a mom. And I loved that I made a conscious decision not to delay having a family just because I was becoming a doctor. 

So fittingly, I have officially changed the name of this blog. Because I have actually survived medical school. Now I'm back on the bottom of the totem pole as a first year resident, and my next challenge is to survive three years of residency. I'm sure it'll be hard, but I'm really looking forward to it. And who knows what'll happen along the way. If medical school was any indication, I'm bound to be in for a crazy ride. But I'm right where I'm supposed to be and doing what I love to do. Life truly doesn't get any better.