Thursday, January 8, 2009

My husband's going to be a doctor



Yes I know, most of you are saying "Duh, Janna, he's in med school!"

But until yesterday it hadn't really sank in.

I took a friend of mine to UCSF for a doctors appointment yesterday. As we were walking through the hospital, I kept seeing all the doctors in their long white coats, carrying paperwork and coffee, scurrying through the halls. Some would walk together talking in low tones to one another. And all of a sudden I realise that my husband was going to be one of them someday. After years of waiting he is finally a med school student. In 3 1/2 years, he will be running through the hospital, with his white coat, probably getting coffee for an attending because he will be a resident. In 8 1/2 years he will be doing his fellowship. And in 12 years, when he is finally done with all his training (yes its forever away), he will likely have interns getting his coffee.

I think the strange realization that dates in the hospital cafeteria are not that far away. Right now are the "easy years", or so I've been told. He is memorizing more information than he has had to in his entire life. But he has classes from 8-5, Monday through Friday. At least he's home for dinner, even if he studies while we are eating! When his clinicals start in a year and a half, he will be learning at the hospitals, and the hours can be crazy. That keeps going through residency, when he will be making very little money and working 60-80 hrs a week. And even working as an attending, he's likely to be working more than 40 hrs a week with the speciality he's interested in.
I think I've been so focused on the school part of medicine that I hadn't really thought about what we have waiting for us at the end!
Proverbs 13:12 "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

3 comments:

sheree said...

that is so awesome! What an accomplishment. Just getting into med school is awesome in my book! I have a best friend in med school and I am constantly telling her how proud I am of her ;)

Does he know what he wants to specialize in yet?

Janna said...

He is looking into pediatric oncology - so treating kids with cancer. He's still leaving his options open and is not saying that's it for sure until his 3rd year, but thats what he's interested in.

I agree, getting into med school is huge! Thats so awesome your friend got in as well. We'll have lots of good doctors graduating in 2012!

sheree said...

you want to know what's so weird too...she WAS going to go to the same school Alex is going to (it was one of the school's she got accepted to and it was close to home)! How weird would that have been!?

She is in Tennessee. :(
After I had Gabby she started thinking about pediatric cardiology and is even toying with the idea of becoming a cardiac surgeon (whoa!)

That is so great that he is thinking about going into pediatric oncology. Well, anything is great, but how awesome would that be?!