Sheila and Michael at 10,500 feet in the Himalayas

Namaste! I’m writing this post after just having spoken to my wife from the other side of the world, in Kathmandu, Nepal. On February 21, DMU posted on Facebook about the Global Health program, and how students have the ability to choose rotations in an international setting. I won’t go into that because I don’t know all the particulars, but I’ll tell you it’s possible. In fact, my wife Sheila was instrumental in securing Nepal as an acceptable rotation site, as she had many contacts there from her time spent doing research for her master’s degree in nutrition in 2000.

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The D.O. matches (how a student knows which residency program they’ll be going into) were out on valentine’s day and my husband got the wonderful news that he matched at his #1 choice program for general surgery. I am so excited for him! Of course, part of it was his grades, another part was his great personality and a teeny part had to do with luck. I have friends that didn’t match and it wasn’t because of their grades or personality. It seemed it had more to do with the specialty they chose, in some areas only half the applicants matched. This is where luck did play a role. This entire matching process is so stressful because there isn’t really a recipe to do it all right! Perhaps if you do the best that you know how to do, you can’t look back with any regrets, right?

Posted in Current Students, Osteopathic Medicine, Podiatric Medicine, Student Bloggers, Student Life | 2 Comments

The road to becoming a physician is a long one indeed. In my personal case, since I’m leaning towards the field of cardiology, I have three years of internal medicine residency followed by three years of cardiology fellowship after finishing my four years of medical school (which, of course, I could only begin after four years of college). Consider, then, that while some of my classmates were going directly into the workforce upon graduating from high school, I still had 14 years of training left. In other words, all of my education up to that point (from pre-kindergarten to high school graduation) did not even account for half of the total education I would receive before realizing my final goal. And then I had the bright idea to add a master’s on top…

Posted in Current Students, Osteopathic Medicine, Student Bloggers, Student Life | 2 Comments

After making this dish, I spent little time thinking about taking a picture and instead scarfed it down in a matter of minutes. I’ll try to get a picture next time, but I promise this is easy-breezy poultry that you have to keep handy for last-minute meals.

Ingredients
1-2 Cornish game hen (or whatever poultry that fits in your crock pot)
3-4 small potatoes, largely diced
A handful of whole garlic cloves
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 whole lime/lemon, juiced
1 can chicken broth (this is optional – can use the leftover juice for gravy or as a soup base at the end)
Salt and pepper to taste
A touch of butter to your liking

Posted in Current Students, Student Bloggers, Student Life | 4 Comments

Nearly 3,000 miles were put on my car, I visited 7 states (skied in 3 of them) and completed a health promotion practicum over my extended break.

However now I’m back in Des Moines and school is back in full swing!

Posted in Current Students, Physical Therapy, Student Bloggers, Student Life | 3 Comments

This past year living in Michigan for rotations has been such a blur. It is very different from Des Moines when I only lived four miles away from school. Now I live at least 10 miles from everything like work and my favorite restaurants.

What I’ve found to help me explore my new neighborhood is subscribing to Groupon! The daily deals are a steal and give me a starting point to try new activities and taste new foods in town. I just recently bought 24 yoga classes for $24! I’ve also bought gift certificates for Nordstrom Rack, hair salons and local restaurants. It makes trying new things very appealing!

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