Once again, I find myself starting the blog back up after a long hiatus. Sometimes I think I am too lazy to keep this thing up, but then I always enjoy reading up on my other friends' blogs in order to feel somewhat up to date on their lives. So I'll make it a "resolution" to try harder this time.
Let's recap 2012.
Right after Christmas, my stud husband left for Ft. Benning, GA to start up Ranger School. I stayed in Lansing and worked on school. He graduated from Ranger School in March and up until that point, I mainly just worked on school (I lead a very interesting life). I went down and visited him in March and then we went our separate ways again until the end of the semester in May when he moved from Ft. Benning, GA to Ft. Campbell, KY. I finished my spring semester and was able to stay with him for about a week as he settled in. Oh, and Hank got to see his dad too :).
Moving to TN (right on the border near KY) was the most fabulous part of 2012 for me. Since it was only about a 9 hour drive, I spent a lot of the time in the summer semester driving down to visit my husband. I spent almost an entire month with him in August (though he spent most of that month traveling back and forth to Louisiana for training).
At the end of August, I started back up with school. Turns out that the second year of medical school is MUCH harder than the first year. I also took on a lot more responsibilities this past fall semester.
The classes = Neuromuscular System (5 credits), Gastrointestinal System (5 credits), Reproductive System (4 credits), Growth and Development (3 credits), Endocrine System (2 credits), Behavioral System (3 credits), and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (1 credit)
That's a total of 23 credits. Oh, and we also had to take a class where we basically shadowed/helped out in doctors offices for another credit. SO 24 credits last semester.
The electives = Student OMM Clinic (1 credit), SAAO elective (1 credit), TA for first year OMM lab (1 credit)
This year I've really discovered what I have an interest in as a future physician, and as you can see with my elective courses, it's centered around OMM.
For those of you who don't know what OMM is it stands for "Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine" it is also often called OMT (Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment). The simplest way to explain it is to compare it to what chiropractors do. But I think it also has a touch of physical therapy and maybe a slight dab of massage therapy. Basically manipulating your body to fix any dysfunctions whether they be skeletal, muscular, lymphatic, etc...
Along with learning new techniques, I've also been TAing for the first years and while it is quite the time commitment (4 hours every Tuesday afternoon) I really enjoy doing it, and I learn a lot.
Along with classes and electives, I have also started some extracurricular activities. First I do scribes... which is kind of a job (because I get paid for it). Basically just type out what is said in the lecture. It sounds simple but it takes forever. Also, in addition to just working in the student OMM clinic, I am also one of the coordinators... so I work more frequently.
My newest extracurricular though, that I really enjoy AND is the most time consuming is volunteering with a group called Chaos through my church. It's kind of like a bible study/hangout for 7th and 8th graders. It takes up a lot of my time (and energy some days) but I love doing something that ISN'T all about school. I love my 8th grade girls and its fun to hang out with them and teach/learn from them.
Okay, enough about school...
Sterling got to come and visit us here in Michigan for about 2 weeks in October which was awesome. Also hard... This past year has been hard for me to juggle a long distance relationship and school, but I've passed all my classes thus far and really, that's good enough for me!
I went and visited Sterling for almost 2 weeks at the beginning of November (again... school was put on the back burner) and saw him off for his first deployment mid-November. It was a sad day, but I feel like we were both prepared for it and I didn't cry as bad as I thought I would.
Since Sterling has been gone, we have gotten to talk a lot. Almost everyday. He can't really tell me what he's up to over there, but I understand. We have pretty dull conversations as I was either studying, or on break being an absolute bum. A month has already gone by and although I'm going to regret saying this later... deployment isn't as awful as I once thought it would be. It is hard, don't get me wrong, but I'm not sad and crying or depressed or anything like that. In fact I'm pretty normal. I think I'm a lot hardier than I thought I would be. I've barely cried and I've barely gotten upset about it. I am very thankful for being in school to help keep me busy and I am even more thankful for my amazing husband who takes care of me even though he is living in a different country.
In fact, I am pretty positive that I can say Sterling and I have gotten closer since he's joined the army and since he has deployed. I will be so happy the day he comes home to me, but I am also thankful for the trials our marriage has already gone through because I know that we can get through anything. He is awesome, we are awesome.
So how about the future?
This year is my last real year of "book work" type schooling. I finish classes sometime in May and then I am scheduled to take my first step of the board exams on July 1st. This exams covers the first 2 years of medical school so I'll have my hands full studying for that. After I PASS my boards, I will go back into the lab and finish my PhD. I am so excited to go back to that way of thinking and working. I'm so over medical schools "memorize and regurgitate" attitude and I'm ready to problem solve and DO things. While I am working on my PhD research, I'll also be working a day or two in the hospital to slowly chug away at my clerkship rotations (which are what typical med students do their last two years of school) so that when I finish my PhD, I'll just have to finish whatever is left over.
Right now I am on track to graduate in May of 2017... I think. But it may take longer than that. Boo.
Sterling should get back from his little vacay in August. He mentioned something about getting home earlier, but I'm not holding my breath. After he gets back he'll be around Ft. Campbell for a while longer (which is awesome!). We will be taking a nice vacation when he gets back, and it will be awesome. After that, I'm not entirely sure where he is ending up. I am pretty sure he has to go out to Arizona to do some training eventually, but I like to focus on the now and try not to dwell about where my husband may be someday. Eventually (around 2016) he will get to come hang out with me again until I finish school. Then I have to do a residency (but at least I start getting paid!) and we will find a place to live and be a real married couple again.
Other than all that, not much has been going on except crafting, visiting family and friends, and being a bum...
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