So I return to the blogging world after a long hiatus to explain what I was doing during November and December and to introduce my next big adventure!
Mostly, I haven’t blogged in a few months because I was busy flying all over the country to interview at a bunch of different OB/GYN programs. The way doctors get their first jobs (called residency training programs) is through a process called the “Match.” The basic gist is medical students apply to a bunch of programs in their chosen specialty, receive invitations to interview, and then are expected to pay to fly and stay in hotel rooms for at least 10 programs in order to have the best probability of matching. The applicants and residency programs then create "rank lists" of each other which are put into an algorithm and then you are magically matched! It is nerve racking to fly all over and navigate new places, but I also loved staying with friends I hadn't seen in a while and getting to see cities in the US that I'd never been to before. It's funny that the most anxiety-provoking aspect of interview season was not the actual interviews - it was making sure I got to the random meeting rooms in hospitals I'd never been to before, parking in the correct garage, etc, and making sure that I was always 15 minutes early!
I am excited about the next four years and I can't wait to find out where I will be spending them on March 20th! I definitely have some favorite programs but those will remain secret. :)
And now for the pressing news that is even more exciting than decisions about my future - I'm going to Ethiopia! I will be doing a rotation in obstetrics and obstetrical fistula repair at Mekelle University in northern Ethiopia. There are two hospitals in Mekelle, Ayder Hospital and Mekelle University Hospital, and I will also be spending time at the Mekelle University Fistula Clinic, which is associated with the famous Hamlin Fistula Hospital (http://hamlinfistula.org/) in Addis Ababa (the capitol city of Ethiopia). I am so excited for this experience - I know I can't fully anticipate its significance in my life, but I know I will learn so much and be stretched in so many ways. Then, after a month in Ethiopia, my friend and I will be traveling around southeastern Europe for a few weeks!
This adventure has turned out to be overwhelming in so many ways: first with doing the last minute prep like applying for a visa and getting my brother to give me a yellow fever vaccine in between interviews, then with attempting to pack for hospital dress clothes in warm Ethiopia and warm layers for winter in Romania all in a tiny carry-on size backpack. But little could I have imagined how a relatively small snow storm in Chicago could lead to a whirlwind of standing in customer service lines in the middle of the night (I may or may not have burst into tears in front of a United customer service rep at 3am today), countless phone calls, frantic flight searches on phones, and sleeping in an airport. You can read more about that adventure on the blog I'm sharing with Valary at http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/valaryr/3/1420828752/tpod.html.
We are currently in a hotel in Toronto (hey! we made it out of the country!) and hopefully leaving on a direct flight for Addis Ababa in the monring. I am planning on updating this blog occasionally but will mainly be focusing on that travel blog during these two months.
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