My Hubby the M.D.

Congrats to my wonderful husband who is now officially a medical doctor!!!!!!! So proud of all of the hard work he put in to get to where he is today. What an inspiration! YAY for Dr. Bill!

Bill's Match Day

Match Day is a foreign concept to a lot of people and it is actually really confusing for those of us who go through it also! This is my best explanation of what it is. Crazy people like Bill and myself decide we want to be doctors and set off on this journey that starts with 4 years of medical school. The first 2 years are mostly book learning and the second 2 years are more clinical experiences. During your 3rd year you rotate through some of the different areas of medicine and try to see what you like and what you don't like. Sometime around the end of your 3rd year and the beginning part of 4th year you have to pick what area of medicine you want to go into. Bill decided that he wanted to be a radiologist. So, the next step is to fill out an online application (ERAS or Electronic Residency Application Service). Here you put all sorts of information about yourself, your grades and scores in medical school, write a personal statement, provide your letters of recommendation, and select all of the residency programs that you would like to apply to. And people generally apply to a ton of programs!!! I have heard of people applying to over 50 places!!!!

Oh, so residency, I didn't really explain that yet. A resident is a doctor that has completed medical school and is now getting more specialized training in their area of interest. How long it lasts depends on what residency you choose. A radiology residency is 5 years. The best thing about residency is that you are finally getting paid, although it is not a lot of money, especially since you are putting in about 80 hours per week. Just a side note because this used to confuse me after watching Grey's Anatomy. An intern is just a special word for a first year resident. It took me a long time to figure that out! After you finish your residency, you can go out into the world and become an attending physician or you can pick to get even more training in a particular area and do a fellowship. Bill is thinking he wants to do a fellowship in interventional radiology. This would be an additional year of training.

So, once you have filled our your ERAS and submitted it, you wait VERY patiently for interview offers. The one thing I have learned about this process if you have to do A LOT of waiting. I think you submit your application in September and usually don't hear about any interviews until December or later. So, once you hear back from programs you schedule your interviews with them. You then interview at the schools and you check out the program as the program is checking you out. Now comes the crazy part. At the end of the interview season, each medical student and each program must compose a match list. For the student, you put down the order of which you liked the programs. Number one is the place you want to go the most and the last number is the place you want to go the least out of the programs you ranked. Only rank the programs that you would be okay going to, because it is possible to end up at any program that is on your list, or it is possible to not even match into a program at all!!! The programs then make a list of the candidates that interviewed with them, number one being the person they most want to have at their program and on down the list. Then, several months later, the Match takes place.

The Match, from what I understand, uses some sort of crazy computer program using both the student's match list and the programs match list and MATCHES each person to a program. On Match Day, which is at the same time and day all over the US, you open an envelop that tells you where you will be spending the next several years of your life. Let me tell you, this is one of the most nerve wracking days I can ever imagine. If you do not match into any program, you are notified 2 days prior to the match unveiling and you must try to "scramble" into any programs that have vacant spots. This does not seem like fun.

To make a long story short, Bill matched into the radiology program at UIC in Chicago. He really liked the program there and is excited about being in the big city in the future and closer to his family. Radiology programs are 5 years and the first year is called a transitional year and for Bill it is a preliminary internship in internal medicine. You normally go to a totally different program for this prelim year. Bill got matched to SIU!!! That means he will be with me in Springfield from June 2010 to around June 2011! We finally get to live together like a real married couple :) I am really excited about that. Then, he will leave and head to Chicago for his radiology training and I will have one year of medical school left in Springfield. Luckily, it will be during my 4th year when you can do "away rotations" at different schools to see if you like their program and you get to travel to do your different residency interviews.

All in all, we are very happy with the results and excited to see where our future takes us!!!!!

Too Much For One Post!

Okay, so it's been WAY too long since I have even thought about this blog!! About a million exciting things have happened in my life since the last post. Since there is too much to talk about, I will start with the most important thing that has happened and the most recent news.

JULY 4TH 2009 - THE WEDDING!
What an amazing day! Bill and I got married on a beautiful but rainy day in Champaign/Urbana. It was full of excitement, nervousness, friends, family, and tons of fun! It was everything I had hoped for and more. I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family. The morning started out amazing as my bridesmaids surprised me with a early morning massage at the I Hotel. I had been so stressed out leading up to that day that I really needed some relaxing. Thanks girls! Then we went to Hair Design to get our hair done. Mine took a long time. I actually didn't really like the final result very much. It just wasn't how I had pictured my hair turning out, but looking back it did look ok. I also got my makeup done there. I liked it a lot and it was nice not to have to worry about doing it myself. My mom brought bagels and yummies to snack on, which was nice. Then we headed to the church in the limo bus and all got ready there. There were lots of fun snacks and fun times while we were getting ready. It was fun to see all of the bridesmaids get dressed. They all looked so pretty!!! Then it was finally time for me to get on my dress. This was exciting! After I was in my dress, my dad stopped by to get a sneak peak. Kenny Kim got some awesome pictures of my dad seeing me for the first time with my dress on and giving me a big hug and kiss. So cute!

Then it was time for the ceremony. I had to run under an umbrella from the room we got changed in to a little room in the back of the church. I could see out a window into the church and saw all the people coming in. It was kind of peaceful being in there by myself for the minutes leading up to the wedding. I reflected on how lucky I was to be marrying the man of my dreams and also how lucky I am to have so much support and love from family and friends on this day, and also everyday. Finally it was time to start the ceremony. It was fun to walk with my dad down the isle. I will never forget it. Seeing Bill at the end of the isle made me really happy. We took each others hands and the rest was history. Father Joe was really funny and made us feel calm during the ceremony. At one point I winked to Bill and Kenny Kim caught an awesome picture of it. I forget a lot of the details of the ceremony, but luckily we have it all on video. I should watch it again soon!

A funny thing happened as Bill and I were headed out of the church. He was a little bit behind me somehow he walked right into a glass door and got a big red mark on his forehead!!! I also had a little slip up about an hour later as we were taking pictures in between the ceremony and reception. We were getting out of the limo bus to take pictures at the Assembly Hall and I somehow managed to slip down the steps of the bus and fall right on my butt down the steps and onto the ground. It really hurt! Luckily, my dress didn't get dirty at all and we got some AMAZING pictures! Kenny was able to display some of the pictures he took from the ceremony and after on video screens outside of the reception hall. It was fun to see all of the pictures. I think people really enjoyed that part.

Next was the reception. The room was decorated really beautifully and the food was great. I was for some reason really nervous for this part of the day. I just wanted everything to go perfectly. My dad gave a really cute and funny speech. It made me cry. Then Will, the best man, prepared a sideshow for Bill that FINALLY played after some technical difficulty. Then Isabel, the matron of honor, and Mooshy (Kim), a bridesmaid, gave a beautiful speech that once again made me cry. Then, out of no where, Bill got up and gave a speech that he had prepared. It was so sweet and wonderful and unexpected. I cried AGAIN! Then it was time for the dancing. Bill and I had practiced our first dance a couple of times and we had a blast out there dancing to "When I See You Smile" by Bad English. Then my dad and I did the dad-daughter dance that we had practiced many times to "Butterfly Kisses". It was extra special because in the background we played an old video of my dad and I dancing when I was just a young girl. It was my idea to incorporate this and it turned out great. There were a lot of teary faces in the audience for this one. Then Bill and his mom danced to Elton John. It was so cute :) Then the dancing and fun began!!!!!

Overall, it was an amazing day that I will never forget. There were so many good memories. My family and I have talked about writing them all down so we wouldn't forget them, but we haven't done that yet!!! That is on the "to do" list.

Okay, the most recent news is that Bill is almost done with medical school and in just 2 days he finds out where he matches for residency. He applied to radiology and found out on Monday that he for sure did match somewhere (some people sadly don't match into a program at all!). Thursday is "Match Day" and he will open an enevelop which tells him where he will be spending the next 5 years of his life. It is nerve wracking but also exciting. I will let you know what happens!

BYE FOR NOW.....but hopefully not for too long!

Almost Wedding Day!

Wow - so much has happened since my last post. Some highlights include the "inland hurricane" in Carbondale that shut down the whole town for several days, finishing ERG with flying colors, completing my first year of med school, and moving all my stuff from Carbondale to Springfield in anticipation of the next 3 years of school there.

The biggest thing occupying all of my time right now is wedding stuff. I have been nonstop wedding planning since getting back in Champaign and it has been rough! So many decisions, phone calls, things and people to organize, and other irritating things. I have been up every night until about 2 am just trying to get stuff done before the big day. Now we are 6 days out (well its almost midnight, so I'll just say 5) and I am starting to get really excited. It is going to be such a fun day and spending it with family and friends is going to be awesome. Of course the best part is getting to marry the love of my life :) I can't wait!

Ok, gotta go. Maybe someday I'll be good at updating this thing!!

Wedding Invitations

It is the season of weddings!  I love seeing all the wedding invitations as they come.  Each one is so unique and also very reflective of the individuals getting married and the overall feel of the wedding.  Several days ago, I sent in 4 RSVPs!  That means there are a lot of weddings coming up.  I still have one more I have to send back soon as well!  In addition to those weddings, I have two save the dates hanging on my fridge!  The first wedding of the bunch is my cousin Matt's wedding in Chicago on the 16th.  I am really excited for this one because I am always happy when my family gets to get together :)

On a related note, my wedding invitations finally arrived in the mail this week.  I have yet to see them, since they were delivered to my mom's house, but I am excited to see them tomorrow when I head to Champaign for the weekend.  Now there will be the long process of addressing all of the inner and outer envelopes and getting postage.  Luckily, my mom and her friend Sherry are taking care of my side of the guest list while Bill's mom Kathy is taking care of his side.  I hope they go out in the mail soon because the RSVP date is May 30th!  That is really soon.  We decided to get them back in a little early because I know people always send them back late, so hopefully in this case they will all be accounted for before 4 weeks before the wedding.  

YAY for weddings :):)

Engagement Photos

Several weeks ago, Bill and I had our engagement photos taken in Champaign by our good friend and photographer Kenny Kim. He sent the final product back to us today and I am very happy with the result. It is getting me really excited for the wedding and wedding pictures! Here are a couple of my favorite images :) Enjoy!

Birthdays and Bridal Showers and Easter, oh my!

This last weekend was definitely a weekend to remember. On Friday, Eliza and I took the train to Champaign. Bill picked us up at the train station and we had a yummy dinner at Outback. It was so great to see Bill. I really miss him! My dad's flight in from Georgia got cancelled, so it was sad that he didn't make it in on Friday night. We then went to the nursing home to visit my grandma who is very sick. It was good to be able to see her and to know that there are many family members there to be with her.

Saturday was a big day! First off, it was my birthday! Bill and I headed to St. Patrick's Church to meet with Father Joe for our second of 3 required visits with him before the wedding. Things went well and everything seems to be on track. Then we went to pick up my dad at the airport and once we got home Bill's parents had just pulled up to my house. We all visited for a while. Then we went to my aunt's house for my bridal shower. It was so great to have family and friends together! Seeing some of my closest friends from the span of my life was really fun. There were friends from doing gymnastics growing up, high school, college, and med school. There also were many family members and some close friends of the family. My matron of honor Isabel did such a great job of planning everything - thanks! Next it was off to a birthday dinner at Biaggis. It was really yummy!!!!!! Then we went home and my mom surprised me with a yummy angel food confetti cake! It was so good! Next we went to the I Hotel to check it out since my dad and Bill's dad hadn't seen it yet since it had been completed. There was a guy there that looked totally bored and was more than happy to show us around. It was also fun to show the I Hotel (and other places in Champaign) to Eliza. I think she had fun! A memorable moment was when my dad did his egret dance. I did not know he has an egret dance (or what an egret even was), but lets just say it was a very funny movement along with an even funnier noise! Eliza and I will be laughing about that for years to come!

On Sunday a group of us went to Easter Mass at St. Patricks and then to Starbucks for some coffee. We came home to find the dining room table decorated and a wonderful Easter brunch waiting for us. I was very impressed with this, especially since my mom does not do very much cooking these days. It was very yummy! The rest of the day was spend working on some wedding stuff, going on a crazy run with Bill, my dad, and Eliza and a quick dinner at Atlanta Bread Co. before Eliza and I were back on the train heading back to Carbondale. We attempted to get some studying done on the train. I ended up taking a nap! After the train, we headed straight to a coffee shop to do some studying.

All in all, the weekend was one to remember! I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family, friends, and fiance. Now it is time to get back to studying and trying to fill my brain with all sorts of information on the gastrointestinal system. Yay for med school!