5 Feb 2009 I got my scores back!

Well, the title pretty much tells you why I am writing this today. I got my Step 1 scores back! As a quick review, the USMLE Step 1 is the first board exam that I must take on my way to being a licensed physician in the US. For those wondering how I did, I got within 2 points of what was predicted by my Comprehensive Shelf Exam score. So, I did well enough to not worry about getting into the specialties that I am currently interested in. I certainly won't be accepted into an Orthopedic Surgery residency, but I'm not interested in that. I also have NEVER heard of a Caribbean student accepted into an American Ortho residency. Moral: realistic goals, and realistic scores. Life is moving.

But, now that I have my scores, I had to get busy with some work to ensure that I had my rotation paperwork in to the administration so I can go to both Belize and Scottsbluff with everyones' blessings. In doing that, I ran into an oddity that really struck me as odd. I applied for a loan to pay for the extra cost of tuition and travel to Belize for the Wilderness Emergency Medicine-Professional program. But, I was told that I have already received my student loans for the first 3 weeks of my next rotation, so they couldn't process the loan.

This confused me in two ways. First is that I am applying for a private loan, so I don't really understand what business they have telling me this. I don't know if there are Federal requirements that cause this or not. I tend to doubt there are, though. Second is that I don't understand how I can have a semester with an undefined end date and still get loans for it. This is certainly an odd way of accounting for class time.

Of course, if that were the only problem, things would be grand. But, the person who logged in my loan application logged it in as a loan deferment request. Straightening that out took 5 calls, and usually talking to multiple people on each call. My clinical advisor seems to be on top of things. But, my financial aid counselor is not nearly to that caliber.

But, aside from the Ross end of paperwork, most things seem positive for going to Belize. I have paid the downpayment. I received their packing list, and am going through that, prioritizing my purchases, and finding out what things of ours are sufficient for the trip. I could definitely go hog wild with some of the gear they recommend, but I will likely not have a use for much of the new purchases in Wyoming. That means I should plan light pay special attention to learning. I can always get other gear later when it will see more often use.

After I was finished with sending paperwork yesterday afternoon--people at paying jobs quit around 5 p.m., so I figured it was senseless to wait by the computer--I ran some errands around Torrington. When I got out to the highway, I saw a very odd site. There was a team of 3 draft horses pulling 2 covered wagons. On the back of the trail wagon was a sign: leehorselogger.com and "Montana 2006, California 2007, Alaska 2011?" I checked out that website a little. I won't spoil it for anyone. Suffice it to say, I like this guy's drive and outlook. If you have the opportunity, poke around his site.

On the pet side of things, many of you were interested in how Gabby is doing. She is now over her pyometria and hysterectomy. I removed her stitches on Tuesday this week. Gabby wasn't real thrilled with that process, but Becky held her well while I did my work. Now, she's spunky as ever again. With her happiness to have that over and be recovered, as well as the past couple of days of 50+ degree weather, Gabby has enoyed going outside and exploring the area. Apparently, those are good days to be a dog.