After your second year of medical school you take your board exam. Step 1 of boards was a killer. I went insane sitting in the library day after day after day. I hope I passed because I never want to do that again. Second year at medical school was very educational rather than the basic sciences like biochemistry, physiology and anatomy. We spent all our time covering the systems like cardiology, respiratory, obstetrics, gynecology, gastroenterology, rheumatology, orthopedics, neurology, urology, psychology, dermatology, hematology, oncology, nephrology, the list goes on and on and on.
Each system was any where from a couple weeks to a month and most of our instructors were local physicians who would come in and teach their specialty. It was great to get to hear from the experts.
Another fun part was getting a few certifications. We retook BLS (CPR for healthcare providers) and also ACLS which is how to run the crash cart in the hospital, when to shock, when to not shock and what medications to use depending on whether the patient is in ventricular fibrillation, tachycardia, bradycardia, etc. The other certification we did was in surgery.
We got to practice gowning and also doing sutures. I'm looking forward to getting out there next year and sewing things up. We spent some time practicing on pigs feet.
The other big thing with school was finding out about where we go for rotations. Sandi and I at first decided to rank all places outside of Des Moines and after the lottery we ended up with Casper, Wyoming. We were excited. But after some thought about how Sandi and I both work for the Iowa Guard and also my friend Jared who is originally from the Casper area. We decided to trade Jared and will end up another year in Des Moines. This was quite a very tough decision.Army
The past year I have continued drilling each month with the Iowa Army National Guard. I also was involved in the military club at the school. During the year we had a couple of guest speakers come in and tell their story about their medical and military careers. LTC Nessen came and spoke about "War Surgery in Afghanistan and Iraq" which is the same title of his book that he gave a copy to each of us.
Our medical school dean Dr. Reed also spoke on surgery and his path to becoming the first DO board certified in an allopathic surgical residency. Dr. Pandeya also spoke to us on his career as a plastic surgeon and Brig. General in the Air National Guard.Most drills I have spent in the clinic doing physicals or annual check ups on soldiers. One month we were missing some staff and I got to run the dental x-ray machine. The highlight though is we got to go to the range and qualify on the M16. It is always nice to plink away.
I also had the opportunity to golf with the Guard in a foursome at Wavelands golf course. We even ran into our Commander-in-Chief Gov. Branstad and snapped a picture.
Gov. Branstad is actually the former president my school Des Moines University and I often see him working out at 6:30am in our school gym.Sports
I have continued to play both intramural basketball and volleyball. My intramural basketball teams have been ok, we have won some games and lost some games. For volleyball, after winning the tournament last year, we fell short in the championship game both semesters this year. In fact this last semester we were undefeated until the championship and than lost two competitive games played to extra points. Here is a couple picks of the teams from the last two semesters.
The team changed a little bit, Sandi was able to join the team. It was good for us to have something to do together since she spends so much time working at the office, waitressing, and working on her church calling.
I sure will miss playing with Logan, Jamie, Jodie, Amber, and Kelly. I also played quite a few afternoons with some very competitive girls and one guy who played college volleyball. Jackie, Krystle, Christina, Lauren, Ashley, Aaron, Ben and Keala. Sandi and I even had some of them over for dinner. We all seem to be going our separate ways. Playing sports with friends is one of those things I really enjoy. I really miss playing with some of my old buds from time to time, especially basketball at the Beaverton Hoop in Portland. Lots of good friends and memories.
Other than intramural leagues, Sandi and I have tried to keep in shape. We play tennis from time to time and go on the occasional run. Sandi and I ran a 7 mile cross country race through mud and streams at Living History Farms in Des Moines. I carried her across a couple of the stream crossings.
Sandi and I both ran in Drake Relays. But not with any of the super competitive ueber athletes. Sandi ran the 8k and I ran the half marathon.And finally shooting sports. Sandi and I have gone skeet shooting a few times with friends. One time Brodi, a fellow student, brought along his AR-15 and it was funny to watch others plink away.
I also had the chance to go rock climbing a few times out to Kepler State Park near Cedar Rapids. Unfortunately I don't have any pics to post from that. I'll have to talk to Scott and get a couple.Miscellaneous
Other random things we have done are swing dancing.
Eating out with friends.
And watching little birdies who just happened to nest on our balcony.
We also had a nice valentine's day which I spent studying since we had a test the following morning. I did make a nice card.
Unfortunately our first anniversary happened to be a drill weekend, so I spent it at Camp Dodge. But I did fashion some paper flowers for Sandi that she appreciated.
In fact she liked them so much. She coerced me into sharing my secrets of the paper mache. Which she revealed to the girl's in her Church young women's program make a bunch of them which they delivered to Eldery at a nursing home. Sounds like a good thing to me.
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