Matt in Medical School

Because I don't usually blog about what Matt's doing...

A Few Facts About Matt's Life in Medical School
(Not complaining. Not bragging. Not exaggerating. Just stating the facts, so we remember what medical school was like. Maybe we'll realize how easy we had it when Matt's in residency. Haha!...That's not really that funny, is it?)

• Matt's almost done with his second year of medical school at Des Moines University.
• This year is by far busier than his first year because he's preparing for boards—probably the most important test he'll ever take (no pressure, right?). His test results will factor heavily into what opportunities are available to him in the future.
• COMPLEX preparation courses are in full swing now. These are classes he attends on some weekends to prepare for boards.
• Most of Matt's spring break was spent studying for boards, including his birthday eve and from 8-5 on his birthday. Poor guy.
• Matt's life consists primarily of studying, eating, sleeping (sometimes), and spending a little time with me and friends.
• Matt's admitted that in all of his life, right now is the least enjoyable. He loves hanging out with me and friends, but he's sick of the never-ending studying.
• Each week he usually takes at least two exams. He spends tons of time preparing for these tests, and the night before an exam he usually studies all night.
• Matt usually doesn't study on Sundays, but this day still isn't really a break for him. Last Sunday he was gone from before 8 a.m. until around 6:30 p.m. taking care of other responsibilities.
• This past year he's been the president of the largest club at DMU, S.O.M.A. (Student Osteopathic Medical Association). In this capacity he's gone on some cool trips to Las Vegas and Washington D.C.
• He takes boards on June 26, and then we'll have an entire month of freedom before he starts his third year rotations the first of August! (I already have our calendar booked with all the cool stuff we're going to do.)
• Matt hasn't decided what type of a doctor he wants to be. He's considering a lot of things. Some of them include ER, pediatrics, oncology, internal medicine, and something else but I can't think of the name right now. He's ruled out that he doesn't want to go into surgery. I think.
• Rotations—for those not med school geek-ified—is where Matt will be spending 4 to 12(?) weeks with doctors in different specialties (i.e. general surgery, family practice, OBGYN, ER, etc.).
• Matt's looking forward to getting out of the classroom and into rotations. He'll be doing most of his rotations here in Des Moines but will probably go to outlying areas in Iowa for some of them. Maybe he'll do one in Utah next January. We've heard that the third and fourth years of school are more fun and less work, overall.
• He's going to Africa for an international rotation during his fourth year. So cool! Our friend, Nick just got back from a rotation there. Click here to read about it.
• Matt says medical school is about as hard as he thought it'd be.
• Matt and I have a deal that for his graduation present I'm giving him a trip to Hawaii (I get to go too, of course). And for Matt's gift to me, I get a kitchen table. (I got my present last month, thanks to a great deal on Craig's List. And I even share with Matt and let him sit at it, too.) The Hawaii trip probably won't happen, but we can dream, right?
• Residency is still a long way off, but Matt's mentioned that he thinks the East Coast would be a cool place to be for those years. Maybe Virginia.