Fourth Year

Oh hi there. Long time no see! I have lots of excuses why that is but the main one is:

it's Scott's fourth year of medical school.

I can't believe it! Anyway, I thought I would explain a little bit about what this year looks like for us. It's kind of complicated so bear with me. If I get something wrong you medical folks, forgive me.

Let's start with the basics. Scott is an osteopathic medical student (want to learn more about what that is? Go here). The other philosophy of medicine is allopathic which is what an M.D. trains in. After medical school both D.O. and M.D. go to residency. The length of residency varies depending on the field of medicine the student chooses. Once all is said and done Scott will be a fully licensed physician (same as any M.D.) but he will have D.O. after his name.

At both osteopathic and allopathic medical schools, there are 4 years of school. The first two years are in the classroom. The second two years are clinical rotations. There are differences depending on the school with how the 3rd and 4th year are laid out. For Scott, his 3rd year of medical school had 9 months of 1 month rotations in mostly primary care medicine (Family, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine). All of these month long rotations were set up by the school and all students had to complete the same rotations.

White Coat Ceremony 2011

4th year is a little different. At Scott's school and in the D.O. world (I don't know much about the M.D. process) the student schedules two week or month long clinical rotations in the first half of the year in the field of medicine they want to practice. Most of the time they schedule rotations at the residency programs they are applying to. These are called "audition rotations". The student spends two weeks to a month with doctors and residents at one of the residencies the students is applying to. This gives the student and the doctors/residents a chance to see if the student will be a good fit at the residency program. Often the audition rotation determines if the student is invited for an interview during interview season. Students typically schedule their audition rotations between July-November. Interviews begin in November and run through January.

Audition rotations can take you all over the country. Scott has audition rotations scheduled in Michigan and West Virginia. Because of the speciality Scott wants to do, we are limited to certain areas of the country. It's not like that for everyone.

Once the student is finished with audition rotations and interviews. It's time to rank the residency programs for the Match. The Match is what determines where you go to residency. The student ranks each program in numerical order starting with their first choice. The residency programs do the same thing to their applicants. Both the student and residency submit their rankings and some magical algorithm in a computer matches a student and a program based on the rankings both submitted.

At this time, there are two matches. The AOA Match (D.O.) and the ACGME Match (M.D.).  At this time a D.O. can participate in either match and can attend either a D.O. or M.D. residency. An M.D. can only apply to the ACGME Match because they have not been trained in osteopathic manipulation (Side note: in the next few years the Matches will be combined and there will only be one for both D.O. and M.D. students). The AOA Match is in February and the A.C.G.M.E. Match is in March. Scott is participating in the AOA Match this year so we will find out where we are going for residency in February 2015.

Mr. VCOM Pageant 2013

After the audition rotations, Scott will be back in the New River Valley completing the rest of his fourth year rotations in various fields of medicine. I can't remember all of them but I know Emergency Medicine is one of them.

Scott will finish rotations in April, graduates in May, and will most likely start residency in July.

CRAZY! 

Anyway, to sum all this up. Scott has been gone since the beginning of July and will be back at the end of November. We trade off who visits who and we Facetime A LOT. (What did we do before iPhones?). Because 4th year is so expensive with all the traveling, we downsized. I am living with my parents while Scott is gone and we have rented our townhouse to another VCOM couple. We will relocate in January to live with Scott's mom so Scott will be closer to the hospitals he will be working at in the New River Valley. We are so incredibly thankful for our families' willingness to let us mooch. Love y'all.

So, yeah, we are basically nomads with two cats in tow.

two more years

It's official. We will be staying in the Blacksburg area another two years! What, you thought that was a given? Well, it wasn't. I assumed it was until somewhat recently. Anyway, because of the school Scott goes to and the area it is located in, all of the third year rotations are not located in the same area. (For those of you who do not know, the first two years of medical school are in the classroom and the last two years are in a clinical setting. During the third and fourth year they rotate through different disciplines of medicine. Thus the name Rotations.)  Scott's school has seven regions you can go to for third year rotations ( and multiple sites within those regions). You are not randomly assigned (which was a relief!) but you do have to rank each region 1-7 and then rank each site within the regions. The school tries to match you to your first region and first site but that doesn't always work out. So that is where the uncertainty came in. Also, for an entire weekend Scott was seriously considering putting Roanoke as his first choice. I tried to be supportive but my heart wasn't in it. The idea of moving 45 minutes up the road for a year wasn't my idea of fun and then there was the issue of my job. I have nothing against Roanoke mind you, it's just everything for us is in Blacksburg and surrounding areas at the moment. My philosophy is, since we will have to uproot in two years anyway let's not do it sooner than we have to. Scott eventually decided to put the Blacksburg area as his first choice but if he hadn't, I would have moved to Roanoke. Really, I would have. I'm just glad our feelings ended up aligning! Long story short, we found out a little over a week ago that we were assigned to our first choice and it looks like most of Scott's classmates were assigned to their first choice as well. I think it's amazing that the school was able to make the vast majority happy. I don't know how they did it! I also realized, after all was said and done, how weird it is to think the next year of our life was in another person's hands.

This is a taste of the future. We will find out where we are going for residency in a similar fashion, except residency is not just a year. It's three to five! I prefer not to think about that now. We will cross that bridge when we get there!

For all you prayer warriors out there, pray for Scott over the next several months. He is taking step one of boards this summer. Scott likes to say, "studying for this isn't a sprint, it is a marathon." Please pray that he has strength and perseverance. And that I have understanding and patience through this process. 

That's it for the life update. I'll leave you with this oldie but goodie.

October 4, 2007 | The night Scott asked me to be his "girlfriend" after one of my dance performances

i mustache you

Scott turned 27 almost two month ago. (I'm a little behind) He is one year closer to the big 3-0! Anywho, I decided to throw him a party this year. I had tried to include him in planning a get together for his birthday in the past and they NEVER came to fruition! I totally blame it on him and his modesty. He didn't want to be the center of attention. This year I took matters into my own hands. Mwahahahahaha! I took Scott out of the equation. His party would be a surprise! I mean who doesn't like a surprise party? Probably Scott but too bad.

My next step, after deciding to exclude him from the planning, was what kind of party should I throw. Scott is a kid a heart so a themed party was a must. I thought about a western theme for awhile and then it hit me. A MUSTACHE PARTY! Scott loves facial hair, especially mustaches. If I let him he would sport a stache at all times. I knew it was perfect for him. Thankfully, everyone and their brother loves mustaches and mustache parties so there were lots of resources. Pinterest was my friend to say the least. I got a lot of ideas from The Story of Pat and Lindsay.

A few things we did at Scott's party

• Everyone wore a stick on mustache - I got them from this site. (I was totally freaked out about ordering them from China. I know, I know, everything comes from there but i don't generally give them my credit card info. The above blog I linked ordered them from the same place so that made me feel better.)
• I had a game called "Name that 'Stache"  I downloaded the pdf from the blog above. I didn't think to buy a prize which was a fail. Sorry friends!
• I got Scott's mom to find me pictures of him through the years. I scanned them onto my computer and added mustaches to the pictures with Microsoft paint. (Thank goodness for Google!) I bought frames from the dollar store and spray painted them. I put them on the tables and I hung the extra with clothes pins on string. 
• We ate pulled pork bbq with cole slaw, potato salad, salad, and chips. 
• We had carrot cake for birthday cake, chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing, and sugar cookies with icing. 

It was a blast celebrating my hubby's birthday. Everyone looked hilarious with their mustaches on and it was fun just hanging out. Check out some pictures below courtesy of my friend, Whitney! 

It's not a party without Diet Coke. 

Yes. I cut all those staches out. 

Mason jars for cups!

Scott's favorite - carrot cake!

I used vases from our wedding and roses on clearance from Kroger. (Yes you can tell they were a few days old but it was WAY cheaper) 

Along with Diet Coke we had water and sweet tea! 

Some more birthday decorations....My friend, Sarah, and I made these. 

My Microsoft Paint skills

Got him! 

Surprise Birthday Party hugs

Our lovely friends and family! 

Thank you so much to Hudson and Whitney for hosting the party at their house and taking pictures, to my friend, Sarah, for helping me get everything together at the last minute, my mom and dad for making the food,  my mother in law, Judi, and sister in law, Whitney, for helping me setup, and for all our awesome friends and family for coming! You guys rock.

Photo credit: Whitney McGinnis 

gifts from the west

Scott just got back from San Diego yesterday. He was out there for OMED, an osteopathic convention. He had a great time but didn't forget about his wifey on the east coast. He brought back the cutest present! 

 Some lose leaf tea from Teavana, a tea cup that looks like Miss Mia, and a honey spoon.  

 Cutest part, the cup has a tail! 

I have yet to try the tea but I'm so looking forward to it. What I'm looking forward to even more is spending time with Scott this week. He is on block break (His year is divided into four blocks and he gets a week off in between) and I have the rest of the week off!

speedy the spider

Oh yes, my friends. Scott had another encounter with a spider. If you need to read about his previous freak out go here.

So Scott and I were sitting at church this past Sunday. We had just sung our first song and now the elder was going through announcements, which means it was really quiet. We were minding our own business, when we looked at the chair in front of us and there was pretty decent size spider running up the chair. When I say running, I mean flying. He was the fastest little sucker I've seen. I feel like in the time I blinked he was already up the chair. The seat was not unoccupied. In front of us sat this large (as in tall), middle aged, bearded man. He was a man's man and we know him in passing. I probably would have just crossed my fingers and hoped the spider wasn't poisonous. Not Scott. He is a man of action. He picked up his Bible (because in the few seconds it took us to process there was a spider, it was on the man's back) and THWACK! Scott hits this guy! The gentleman turns around, looking totally confused. I'm whispering to him "It's a spider! It's a spider!" trying to make him understand Scott isn't crazy. Scott, on the other hand, was still very concerned over the spider which he missed. We see the spider scurry over the man's shoulder and Scott gracefully awkwardly reaches around this guy and hits him again but this time on the chest! At this point, we are totally making a scene and I'm laughing as quietly as I can. Scott still has this panicked look on his face because he missed the spider again. The gentlemen finally understands what we were trying to do and says in a manly whisper " Oh, it's fine. I'm not worried about a spider." Scott didn't look convinced. I was still snickering and Scott was scanning the area for our renegade arachnid. We eventually regained composure and Scott lost the hysteric look in his eyes. I looked down a little while later and there went our little friend - going at the speed of light to the back of the room! I didn't tell Scott. Who knows what kind of scene the spider sheriff would have made!   

why i love scott

I walked into our bedroom late last night and I assumed Scott would be asleep. Instead I walked into him watching this all by himself. 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXaZaUqOIsA&feature=relmfu


He is a kid at heart and I love it!

p.s. i think this song played in my dreams all night!

block three... it's in the basket.

Scott finished Block Three on Friday!!! Woot woot! Everyone told us this was a tough one and they were right. Scott's class covered neurology and ears, eyes, nose, throat.  It definitely was a doozy but I'm so proud of Scott.  He likes to down play it but don't listen to him, he did VERY well. In honor of block three being over we had a bonfire small fire. When I say small, I mean itty bitty. It was a candle actually. Its flame was sufficient for our purpose and served our needs just fine.

tough guy

He means business

He was slightly concerned at the height of the flame

What a face! He was a little too happy to see that burn.

3 blocks down, 5 to go... and boards and rotations and residency.

baby steps.

Christmas fit for a King (or two)

Christmas is upon me whether I'm ready or not. Thankfully, I'm ready. Scott bought our last present yesterday. All, save the a fore mentioned, is wrapped and under the tree. Did I mention that today (technically yesterday) was Scott's last day of school for a whole week and a half!?!? Hallelujah! He needs it more than I do but I'll be glad to have my giant teddy bear around all the same.  Anyway, if you'd like take a gander at what our little castle looks like during the Christmas season scroll on down!

All wrapped up and ready to go!

Wrapping paper compliments of TJ Maxx. Also this may seem lame but I always choose two different wrapping paper designs. One for the guys and one for the gals.

My mom gets us a new ornament each year. S is for Sarah and Scott!

Scott calls this my Charlie Brown Christmas tree. But I like it and besides I needed some Christmasy-ness in our dining room/kitchen! 

We started this tradition last year. We saw off the a little bit of the stump and make it into an ornament for each year. Pretty neat. Can't say we thought of it though. The guy who sold us the tree gave us the idea.

My natural tree in the dining room. I used decorative lights I had around the house instead of Christmas lights, hung pine cones, and used little decorative balls from a bag of potpourri. 

I used some left over balls from the tree and filled in this tea light holder for a Christmas-y feel. Also I found that reindeer in our attic.

The view from the couch. I love coming home to this!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

lookin' all official and such

Hello long lost friends! I have not dropped off the face of the earth nor have I forgotten I have a blog. I seem to have become really busy over the last month. I guess my excuse is the holiday season. (Not sure if that is actually accurate but we'll just go with it.) To catch you all up I'll start with where I left off. November.

Scott got his White Coat on November 20th! I have to say, I got really excited and made a few things to commemorate the event. Peruse pictures below if you haven't already seen them on Facebook.

But before you do, let me just tell you little about why he got his White Coat. It basically is a rite of passage. It encourages the students and I think it makes what they are striving for more tangible. From my understanding it is a fairly new tradition to the world of medicine. Fun Fact Alert! Medical students have shorter coats than doctors. Once they graduate they get their real coat which are longer. Scott, being Scott, decided he had to be different. He got a XXL big and tall size so his coat would look longer. Silly boy! He still looks pretty dashing!

Front of invites I made. If you didn't get one it's only because they were very time consuming to make not because we don't love you!

 I made White Coat cookies to commemorate. They didn't turn out as well as I imagined but does anything ever?

Front of the program on the big day!

Processing into the ceremony

Waiting his turn

Scott's Dad putting on his coat. Only a doctor can put a coat on a medical student. Since Scott's dad is one it made the day even more special.

Reciting the Osteopathic Oath

Being silly with Granny

The whole gang!

So proud of my hubby! Notice what's in the background. That's where we got married over two years ago.

 

For those that want to know...

Scott:
He is now done with three weeks of medical school! Yay! Of course that's really just a drop in the bucket but it's something.  The first week was mostly orientation. Then his second week was full on classes. The third week started tests. He has at least two tests a week from here on out. Usually on Mondays so I don't see him during the weekends. Well, I don't see him during the week either! I was warned about that many times but that doesn't make it any easier. We set aside Friday night for date night though. We usually try to have a few dinners together during the week as well. I think we are getting into a groove now. Also for anyone that would like to know this block he is taking microbiology, immunology, histology, pathology, genetics and a couple of others I can't remember! The way they have classes set up at VCOM is in 10 week blocks. So he starts a new block in October with new classes. Below is a video from the first week of school if anyone has some time to kill. You can see where he takes class, see some of his professors and classmates. Scott is in there a couple of times too!


Sarah:
Let's see, um... well hmmmmm. I finished watching all the Harry Potter movies. Yup that's about it.


Here is the video for Scott's first week of class:

The itsy bitsy spider....

 For everyone's information, I just hopped on the Harry Potter bandwagon. I know, I'm a little late. Anyway, I decided to have a Harry Potter marathon. The other night I was watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on my computer in the bed. Scott was writing a birthday card right next to me. He would tune in every now and then but was only half paying attention. Well, just in case anyone is as behind the times as me, in the movie there are several scenes with spiders. These spiders come along with spider-y music. Seriously, if spiders had a theme song then it's on this movie. Anyway, I'm sitting there and I'm totally into the movie. It starts to get intense because there is spider music playing so I know spiders are coming. Then you see them creeping all over the screen. Suddenly, Scott screams! Yes, screams.  He then proceeds to throw the card at me and run out of the room. I had just been in a scary place with all those spiders so I assumed he had been too. But he didn't stop yelling. I became concerned and thought it was serious. I go to check on him and he is running up and down our hall waving his arms frantically. I started to laugh. I told him it was just the movie. He could not form words. He just kept freaking out and slapping himself to, at the very least, paralyze the spider that may have potentially been hiding somewhere on his body. I laughed harder. He stops running and rips his shorts off then keeps on going. That's right my friends, he is now running around our house boo-tay naked. I was laughing uncontrollably. I mean who wouldn't? My huge hulk of a husband is in his birthday suit freaking out over spiders in a kids movie. I guess me laughing made him mad. He kept saying "I'm serious. I'm so serious." in the most serious voice you can imagine.  Now I could not form words but for a different reason. He slightly calmed down and said there had been a REAL spider crawling on the birthday card. (Which I would like to point out was thrown in my face. Chivalry is dead people. ) I still couldn't take him seriously though. I just kept laughing. He dragged me into our room, still naked by the way, and guess what? There really was a spider! Sadly, poor Mr. Spider came to a tragic end. I, on the other hand, got to laugh until I cried and found out about my husband's arachnophobia. Thank you Harry Potter!

For immature audiences only...

Scott and I visited my sister in Washington D.C. for the Fourth of July. Needless to say, it was hot and crowded. ( I don't know why we expected anything else. The fourth is kind of a big deal.) We had a good time and Scott, an aspiring urologist, found a new hobby for when we travel. Take a look at the photos below to see for yourself.

Scott means no disrespect. He thinks the male, er...uh, organ to be a thing of beauty and should be depicted in art accordingly.

Welcome to the King Spa...

It's beauty night at the King house. Actually, Scott and I just wanted to see how nasty our pores were.

Living with Scott

OK. For those of you that don't know Scott and I live in a townhouse. It's a quite neighborhood with some students but mostly families.  The unit to the right of us has been empty ever since we moved in August 2010. A few months ago we found out that it had been foreclosed on. Well, Scott decided he was going to become a real estate tycoon and he was going to start with buying the place next door.  With what money and resources I don't know. Details, you know, just details.  That's the thing about Scott he can take the smallest thing and run with it. Definitely a dreamer. I'm the practical one or as my sisters would say a dream crusher. Anyway, he did some inquiring with a Realtor but we were told the details weren't available. They would contact us when they were.  The following Saturday I was bumbling around and noticed a few people walking up the sidewalk to the unit next to us. They went in with a Realtor. I called Scott into the room. We proceeded to peek out the window. (Yes, we are nosy neighbors.)   Scott was upset to say the least that the other Realtor hadn't gotten back with us. I was over it and was about to go about my business when Scott was like "No! This is not OK! I have to do something to stop them!" He then proceeded to stomp around our house screaming over and over "YOU"RE GOING TO HAVE LOUD NEIGHBORS! YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE LOUD NEIGHBORS!" I was mortified. I mean the only thing that was separating him from those people was a wall!  I tried to get him to stop but he just kept on going.  Scott then decided he wasn't being loud enough. He scooped me up for extra weight and continued galumphing around the house but this time with me slung over his shoulder! Needless to say they left fairly quickly. Scott thought it was hilarious. I can't say that I agreed. But let's face the facts if I hadn't married the fun loving little boy at heart that is Scott King, I would probably be (even more than I already am) a boring goody two-shoes. Oh and someone bought the house. Let's hope they can deal with loud neighbors.



Life Update- Scott finished his post baccalaureate program at Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) last week. He starts medical school at VCOM August 1st. I had my last day of work at BB&T today and start at Stifel Nicolaus, an investment firm, this coming Monday. Lots of changes for Team King!