Woo! And so it starts!

You know that feeling you get when you're strapped into the lead car on the roller coaster that you didn't really want to go on, but your friend talked you into it, and the restraining bars are down and the motor engages with a big CLUNK and the car jerks forward, leaving your guts behind you? Yeah.

Well, actually, I guess it started last week. DW drove down Tuesday night and had W,Th,F orientation. She drove back up Friday night and stayed with us for the long weekend. She drove back down again last night because she allegedly had a practical at 8:30 AM this morning, but actually they just watched Patch Adams (!?!). (Aside: does the hazing slow down after the start of med school and pick up again in PGY-1, or is it constant throughout?)

I've been meaning to post -- I haven't had time -- we've been doing a lot of running around driving back and forth, and we all drove down together in the middle of July to set up the apartment and see what it felt like for us all to stay (kind of squishy, but doable).

So since last week I have had the three kids and the house all to myself. We've been doing a lot of "go-out" stuff during the day (e.g., zoo, nature center, etc.), because I'm trying to keep them busy. Also to limit the mess in the house! -- In fact I need to go clean something now. (And the nice thing is, I have free choice -- pretty much, pick anything in the house that could be cleaned, and it needs to be cleaned.)

I think I'm going to go to sleep "early" tonight -- which is to say, soon. Or now.

Wish us luck.

[HouseofWool]

You know that feeling you get when you're strapped into the lead car on the roller coaster that you didn't really want to go on, but your friend talked you into it, and the restraining bars are down and the motor engages with a big CLUNK and the car jerks forward, leaving your guts behind you? Yeah.

Well, actually, I guess it started last week. DW drove down Tuesday night and had W,Th,F orientation. She drove back up Friday night and stayed with us for the long weekend. She drove back down again last night because she allegedly had a practical at 8:30 AM this morning, but actually they just watched Patch Adams (!?!). (Aside: does the hazing slow down after the start of med school and pick up again in PGY-1, or is it constant throughout?)

I've been meaning to post -- I haven't had time -- we've been doing a lot of running around driving back and forth, and we all drove down together in the middle of July to set up the apartment and see what it felt like for us all to stay (kind of squishy, but doable).

So since last week I have had the three kids and the house all to myself. We've been doing a lot of "go-out" stuff during the day (e.g., zoo, nature center, etc.), because I'm trying to keep them busy. Also to limit the mess in the house! -- In fact I need to go clean something now. (And the nice thing is, I have free choice -- pretty much, pick anything in the house that could be cleaned, and it needs to be cleaned.)

I think I'm going to go to sleep "early" tonight -- which is to say, soon. Or now.

Wish us luck.

I totally know the roller coaster feeling. I am, in fact, stepping off it for a few days by heading to my parents with the kids.

Good luck with it all! And the hazing? Where DH went to school, it was pretty bad all 4 years.

[SuzySunshine]

Hazing in med school? Maybe my husband's was different but he didn't really have any in med school. Anatomy was definitely a weed out class, hard for everybody and there was definitely pimping in later clinical rotations but that was about it. Sounds like you guys are transitioning well, hang in there!

[MarissaNicole]

Hazing in med school? Maybe my husband's was different but he didn't really have any in med school. Anatomy was definitely a weed out class, hard for everybody and there was definitely pimping in later clinical rotations but that was about it. Sounds like you guys are transitioning well, hang in there!

I too am unfamilar with what you mean by hazing - please elaborate?

Its nice that you checked out the apartment - I would encourage you to go there as often as possible because although it may be more convenient for her to come back to the house, those hours that she spends driving there and back are time that could be spent studying or with you and the kids. If you do go there for a weekend are you able to keep the kids away from the kids so she can study some of the time? I don't have kids but I imagine it must be tough because they (and you) must want to spend every moment with her when you are under the same roof!

Good luck - and try to hold on and enjoy the "highs" and get through the "lows" of your first year!

[moonlight]

Patch Adams? Really? Hummm. DH never dealt with anything like that during medical school or residency so far.

About the hazing - it may be specific to this program. It's a pretty young program, founded in the late 60's I think.

Each class is named after an animal; the name is chosen by the class above it. At one point they got cool animals (lions, pandas) but these days the goal seems to be to pick something obscure and weird-sounding. So class of 2010 are Glabers; 2011 are Kakapos; and the class of 2011 will pick a name for the class of 2012. Apparently "Xenopus" is a likely candidate.

The class of 2011 is in charge of organizing orientation. They scheduled a "placement exam" allegedly to place incoming students into small groups. But actually it was just lame: put a foley in a dummy, take a history of a 17-yo presenting with 2 months of ED (ever since he and his boyfriend came out to his parents). Later, the class of 2011 will pick nicknames for each of the members of the class of 2012. Etc. Sophomoric stuff.

The Patch Adams thing I can hardly call hazing -- except that I don't like Robin Williams' later work, but that's another story. Except that it was done in a sense deliberately by the preceptor, who felt that his first few days of med school (at a different Canadian university) were too hazing-filled, so he scheduled the movie to make it "fun". Except that, in our case, if we had known that 8:30 - 10:30 was a movie screening (!) she would have driven down Tuesday morning instead of Monday night.

I think what's at the root of my frustrations (I know, only a week in and already frustrated! Is that a new record?) is that a medical student's time is worth nothing in this process. Possibly even less than nothing, since an intern's time is worth nothing and an MS is less than an intern. But we're both of us coming from the business world, it's a bit of a shock. And even though her time -- as a med student -- is worthless to the med school, profs, etc., it's very valuable to me, her, and the kids.

[MarissaNicole]

About the hazing - it may be specific to this program. It's a pretty young program, founded in the late 60's I think.

Each class is named after an animal; the name is chosen by the class above it. At one point they got cool animals (lions, pandas) but these days the goal seems to be to pick something obscure and weird-sounding. So class of 2010 are Glabers; 2011 are Kakapos; and the class of 2011 will pick a name for the class of 2012. Apparently "Xenopus" is a likely candidate.

The class of 2011 is in charge of organizing orientation. They scheduled a "placement exam" allegedly to place incoming students into small groups. But actually it was just lame: put a foley in a dummy, take a history of a 17-yo presenting with 2 months of ED (ever since he and his boyfriend came out to his parents). Later, the class of 2011 will pick nicknames for each of the members of the class of 2012. Etc. Sophomoric stuff.

The Patch Adams thing I can hardly call hazing -- except that I don't like Robin Williams' later work, but that's another story. Except that it was done in a sense deliberately by the preceptor, who felt that his first few days of med school (at a different Canadian university) were too hazing-filled, so he scheduled the movie to make it "fun". Except that, in our case, if we had known that 8:30 - 10:30 was a movie screening (!) she would have driven down Tuesday morning instead of Monday night.

I think what's at the root of my frustrations (I know, only a week in and already frustrated! Is that a new record?) is that a medical student's time is worth nothing in this process. Possibly even less than nothing, since an intern's time is worth nothing and an MS is less than an intern. But we're both of us coming from the business world, it's a bit of a shock. And even though her time -- as a med student -- is worthless to the med school, profs, etc., it's very valuable to me, her, and the kids.

As far as the hazing stuff - that is rediculous... seriously I would find that terribly annoying! Is DW's program mostly 22 year olds straight from undergrad? - even so I would still expect them to realize that this is a GRADUATE program which I would hope would involve some maturity and respect!?

And as far as them not respecting her time, DH still struggles a lot with this - he feels like they "hold their hand a lot" and don't treat them like an adult graduate student. They probably thought they were doing a "nice" thing by easing the students into the first week with a movie (and giving them an opportunity to meet eachother) but don't realize that some students have families and have better things to do than watch a movie! I think the respect for time can depend on the school but DH feels that he spends a lot of time in administrative meetings going over things that any adult could understand in a brief 2 minute email but instead they make them attend mandatory meetings that last several hours (so they can spell things out). Hopefully its gets better for your wife, but I know it hasn't really for DH - he has learned to bring study materials (and his iphone) to all meetings so that he can be productive if he feels that meeting is not worth his time...

I think what's at the root of my frustrations (I know, only a week in and already frustrated! Is that a new record?) is that a medical student's time is worth nothing in this process. Possibly even less than nothing, since an intern's time is worth nothing and an MS is less than an intern. But we're both of us coming from the business world, it's a bit of a shock. And even though her time -- as a med student -- is worthless to the med school, profs, etc., it's very valuable to me, her, and the kids.

That precisely sums up our frustration with the first two years of med school. DH didn't have to go through anything like the hazing you decribe, but the endless busywork, forums on xyz, journal entries (seriously), mandatory discussion groups on topics only tangentially related to the curriculum, etc., drove us batty. He just wanted to study hard, go to class, and spend the little left over free time at home, but that was not the way it worked out. I'm sorry you're experiencing that from the beginning!

You would think that in her "fast track" programme they would have better things to do than mess around! Hope they get busy soon!

Sam I am glad that you posted, I was wondering how everything was going. My DH is heading back for second year down in California in a few days.

This year we are going to try extending the visits a little bit and he will watch the lectures for that day on the computer - the service is called Apreso. He likes going to lectures so he can ask questions and feels like he learns better. Figuring out what works for visits is really individual. I haven't actually gone to visit him at all. He likes the feeling of coming "home" and he just has a room in a shared house, and . . . . it is in LA. I will go at least once this year, maybe twice - there is some special dinner that I missed last Spring that he wished I had gone to and there are a few museums I want to visit.

Hang in there and keep those babysitters busy!!

If you think med school is bad just wait until intern year! I swear he had to waste 95% of his time dealing with admin crap and the other 5% complaining and stressing about not learning, being able to read/study and just being a sleep deprived monster. Ahhh, the joys of medical training!

If you think med school is bad just wait until intern year! I swear he had to waste 95% of his time dealing with admin crap and the other 5% complaining and stressing about not learning, being able to read/study and just being a sleep deprived monster. Ahhh, the joys of medical training!

LOL. I'm trying to look forward to internship/residency-- at least we'll all be in the same city!

Apparently they have scheduled two 2-hour discussion sessions to talk about Patch Adams in small groups. So it's really important! I passed along the suggestion to bring real work along, and she said she's already decided to never be without something productive to do. So she'll be prepping for the lectures on Monday/Tuesday and "participating" in the discussion.

I just fed the kids pancakes, and I'm feeling good (though that may be the coffee kicking in). There's clean laundry all over the living room, but otherwise the house is OK. Going out again today. I think we can do this!

[scrub-jay]

Hang in there, DH starts on Monday...yay for MS1 spouses. I must add though - I am so happy I found this forum, if not, I don't know where I'd turn to for advice and support.

Patch Adams update!

Attached is the list of people who have been randomly assigned to the Patch Adams discussions groups tomorrow (Tuesday) from 10:30-12:30. Instead of gaining a preceptor we actually lost one to a family emergency so the groups are bigger than planned so as you will see these groups do not correlate with your regular small groups at all -- this is a one time only thing.

If your name is not on this list you will attend the Patch Adams discussion on Thursday, August 20th 10:30-12:30 instead. Attendance is mandatory and signing in will be required.

I want to know if they're going to watch One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for dessert...

She drove off into the sunrise again this morning at 9:00. There was less screaming and crying from the kids and mostly they have stopped having pretend play where the mama animal DIES. But I'm not sure whether that means they've adjusted or they're just suppressing it.

This will be our first full week. We're planning to drive down on Friday, spend the day at the excellent zoo in Calgary, and then hang out all weekend. Another busy week -- playdates Tuesday and Wednesday (I think people are taking pity on me -- nice!), I have a scheduled work session Thursday morning that I'm still in the process of arranging babysitting for (!), drive down Friday. So I'm trying to spend today in.

House is less of a mess so far! (I remembered not to slack off on housework this weekend.) It still amazes me how much picking up DW must have been doing all the time that I apparently didn't notice.

Another thing -- our son woke up vomiting on Saturday night, and DW said "I'm so glad I was here for this." I kind of understand what she meant, but I don't identify with it. It turns out that I would actually be just fine if I happened to be out of town while any of our kids had a stomach bug.

Been married to Mrs. MD for 15 years and dated for 6 years before that...never got off the ride...