Thanksgiving on the Beach

This year we had Thanksgiving a little differently than in the past. The McMillans, who are really good friends of our family, invited us down to have dinner with them in Houston and then to come with them to their new beach house in Matagorda Bay for the weekend. My parents took this opportunity to drive down from St. Louis.

Dinner of course was wonderful at their house. Their two girls, Amie and Carrie, did all of the work cooking and preparing the meal for us to enjoy which included all the fixings. Turkey, mashed potatoes, rolls, an outstanding pecan stuffing, and an authentic Hungarian macaroni and cheese were all present. Kristi and I also made a pumpkin cheesecake the night before to bring as well which turned out to be a very successful hit for all present. The dinner was very delicious and before too long we were all happily stuffed. It was just in time to watch the Cowboys play too! We left for the beach house before the game was over, but we listened to it on the radio to hear that they beat the undefeated Indianapolis Colts in a really well played game by them! It was exciting to hear them playing so well again, with a new quarterback that is receiving lots of attention as well. It took us about 2 hours to get to the beach house, which is really nice and very well decorated by Carol already (which of course was no surprise to any of us). We drove out to the beach that night and walked down the jetty. The weather was amazing and the skies were crystal clear, perfect for star gazing. I was able to give K some lessons about the constellations as well.

The next day brought breakfast and the annual big football game with the Aggies against the Longhorns, for which we all gathered anxiously around the TV to watch. This football season has been filled with so many heartbreaking losses already, that I think none of us were expecting much of anything. However, the Ags proved us wrong and took down the Longhorns for the first time in Austin in 1994 with a score of 12-7. We were all screaming and really excited we couldn't really believe it.

Les has a boat attached to his pier and after the game we all took a ride down the Colorado river to the beach. On the way we even saw a friendly dolphin in the river as well who came up several times near out boat. They let us out on a beach that doesn't allow road traffic and we walked up and down for about 2 hours. The girls were mainly interested in the many many seashells that littered the beach, I saw a good opportunity to take some photos.

Matagorda 2006

After sunset, wet got cleaned up and had some outstanding seafood at a local restaurant before heading back to the beach again for a nice campfire, hot chocolate and s'mores. It was really nice with the fire crackling, and the shooting stars coming down from up above. Made it really easy to forget the wards on Ob-Gyn. It made for a really nice holiday as well. We all had to pack up and leave on Saturday morning. It was goodbye to the McMillans and my parents as well. It was a really nice excursion, but also a very fast one, and before we knew it, it was back to the busy work week at hand.

On the Interview Trail once again...

Part of being a 4th Year Medical student includes the inevitable transition from being a student, to being a doctor. A big step in this process is choosing a specialty in which you want to practice in, and where you would like to learn this trade. For medicine, this process is called the residency. After graduating from medical school, the new doctors enter into a residency where they continue their training specific to their career goals, such as in orthopedic surgery, or cardiology. Most of the time as a 4th year medical student is spent in applications and interviewing for the different residency programs that are available.

My application for a residency in Emergency Medicine is now complete and I have started on the interview trail. I'm already lucky enough to have one interview behind me. When I did my away rotation at UT Houston (which is practically right across the street) they went ahead and interviewed us there on the spot to save us from having to travel back once again--again not much of a deal for those of us that already live in Houston, but a great deal for those who do not. So for me, my first real "away" interview was a week ago at Scott and White Memorial Hospital in Temple, Texas. Again, not very far away, but it did involve some traveling. Scott and White was the program that I spent a month at in August and was really impressed with on many levels. I loved the small town nature of the area, yet the business of their emergency center and the quality of the training available. The staff and residents were extraordinarily friendly and easy to get along with. In January, they also have a brand new, very large emergency center opening to brag about as well. Temple is also where Kristi will be doing her clinical years for her medical school as well. So I definitely have a lot of reasons to have S&W as my first choice.

The night before the interview, the residents hosted us for dinner at a local restaurant as kind of a meet and greet ordeal. Kristi was able to make it and I think we all enjoyed ourselves. I was familiar with all the residents who were there that night, so it was more of just catching up than meeting. There was one other student from Baylor there that night, but I've never shared any activities with him, so I really didn't know him that well. This was our opportunity to "get the dirt" on the program, or in other words, the information that we wouldn't really feel comfortable getting from people at the hospital on the day of our interview. It was very comfortable and laid back, and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Kristi's parents were gracious enough to let me stay at their house again overnight for this weekend stay, even though S&W offered to pay for an overnight stay in one of the local hotels. It was really nice of them considering most programs do not offer as much. The interview day started bright and early with a tour of their brand new Emergency Department. It's so new that it's not even open yet. We had to wear hard hats and safety goggles and dodge the construction crews. It was very impressive however, and much larger than their current space. If I did happen to come to Temple, it would be a very nice place to work and learn, state of the art as well. Dr. Stallard then gave a presentation of the program which was very thorough and informative and interviews quickly followed. I interviewed with Drs. Stallard, Stone, Greenberg, and Tobleman, all of which I knew, and were familiar with me from my stay in August. I definitely learned of the importance of visiting a program you were interested in and getting to know people beforehand. All of the interviews were very laid back and comfortable. Most simply wanted to know what I had been up to since my visit. They also all gave me a very good impression that I would very likely have my first choice in a spot for residency. That much was very encouraging.

After the interviews, they took us out to eat in downtown Temple at a very nice restaurant called Cheeve's, which they provided for again. Overall, it was a very positive and laid back experience which only solidified my reasons for wanting to go there. Now I just have to wait for March for match day to see if that's where I will be going come summer.

The rest of the weekend was filled with helping the Kreneks at the lake and enjoying a Sunday early Thanksgiving dinner with them at their house. It was the perfect way to end the weekend.