The Perfect Schedule

Well, about a month ago Michael got his schedule of rotations for his 4th year, but some changes had to be made because one of the required classes was missing from his schedule. He had to wait until this week, when they opened up the website for students to make schedule changes, and we were a little worried that the only time that required class might be available was during the months when we were planning on being out of town for an away-rotation and a vacation month, and that would have messed everything up. But Michael said that someone must have been praying for us, because when he got onto the computer, all the rotations he needed/wanted happened to be available in the exact months that he was hoping for. So, he rearranged the schedule a bit, and we were very pleased with how it turned out. He could always make changes later, if he decides to choose a different rotation one month, but we were glad that for now we got everything worked out.

So, he’ll start with Dermatology in July. We are glad that he got Derm his first month, because that way he can decide for sure if that’s what he wants to go into or not. And they will need to be decided on a specialty in the next couple months because applications for residency interviews will begin. In August he has Ambulatory Medicine. And in September he has his Medicine Sub I – a sub-internship is when a 4th-year student takes on the responsibilities of a 1st-year resident (intern). So for his two Sub I months 4th year he will have a more demanding schedule. In October he has one called, Family and Community Medicine: Promoting Health in Urban Underserved Communities. In November Michael has tried to get a rotation with an easier schedule since we will have a new baby at home, and he signed up for one that he heard wasn’t too bad: Pediatric Radiology. We will be going to Boise for the month of December and Michael will be doing another Dermatology rotation there with a Dermatologist who is a family friend of theirs, who Michael has shadowed in the past. We will be staying with Michael’s family and then we will be there for Christmas. We have heard that the months of December and January will be the busiest for Michael with his interviews, so he will be flying/driving to interviews a lot those two months. In January we are taking one of our two vacation months, and will be staying with my family in San Diego. It will be nice to avoid some of the long winter months of Milwaukee. In February Michael has a rotation in Infectious Diseases. And in March he will be doing Plastic Surgery for his Surgery Sub I. In mid-March we will find out where Michael has matched for his residency. In April we will take our second month of vacation so that we will have time to go look for housing wherever we may be moving. And in May Michael has signed up for an easy course that everyone takes, called Preparing for Internship.

So, we are very excited for this upcoming year and all the new experiences it will bring for our family. And we can’t believe that medical school has gone by so quickly – although, I assure you that there were times when it did not seem to be going by very quickly at all. But as we have been watching lots of our friends who just graduated make preparations and move away, it has been amazing to us that we will know where we will be going for the next four years in less than a year now. Michael will be graduating, and he will officially be a doctor. And our little family is starting to grow up too. With the next place we move to, we will not only need to consider finding a nice house and it’s location relating to the hospital where Michael works, but we will also need to look into the reputations of the local school districts for the boys. Wow. I remember moving here, and seeing the 4th years moving out and thinking how much they knew and how long they had been in medical school, and now we are almost there. And now we are looking forward to residency – a whole new adventure.