residency thoughts and taking a moment to brag about how awesome dave is

We have 17 months left 'til Dave is done with residency. I was thinking I would write a bit about our residency since when we leave next year I will be so busy and frazzled with moving/packing/cleaning that I probably won't have time to write. June 2014 has been a far off date in my mind since we matched 7 years ago and now it is coming up.

We have loved residency in San Diego. It has been such a great place for us personally and professionally. We could not have chosen some place better and if we had tried we definitely would have made a mistake. Some of the blessings of being here have been ones we could not have foreseen when we were making our rank list 7 years ago.

The training- 1st thing to talk about is the surgical training Dave received here. It has been fabulous. Dave has had a lot of operative experience starting very early in his residency. Moving to the VA and Children's Hospital in the 3rd and 4th years gave Dave additional operative experience that could not have been gained if he had stayed at the main hospital. Certain attending drs were very good at stepping back and letting the residents do it all which, though kind of scary, is so important to the training of a surgeon.  Another important aspect of Dave's training was his 2nd year running the ICU, giving Dave the opportunity to care for critically ill patients and work with the ICU team.  In recent years there have been ICU neuro docs who have been hired and taken over the 2nd year resident responsibilities in part. , Dave was in many ways lucky to have trained when he did and received that intense training in the ICU.

In addition to training within a great program, Dave has taken it upon himself never skip a case he is invited to whether he is on call or it is his responsibility or not. Dave says that learning to be a good surgeon is his job and it is his personal responsibility to be sure he is the best he can be.  He says that when patients come to him and want an operation he wants to be confident that there is nobody else better he could send them to because he has prepared himself as best he could. (not all residents think this way. that's why you would be lucky to have dave be your dr.)   :)

The hours - Some people tell me that I have forgotten how bad it was at the beginning! I do remember intern and jr year dave would get up at 4:30 and go in to pre-round. YUCK! He would have 10-12 in house call nights/month meaning that almost every day he was either on call or post call. The kids wouldn't see him until his day off every other weekend since he would leave before they got up and come home after they were in bed or not at all.  In spite of the major sleep deprivation and worries that he'd die driving I only had to go get him and drive him home one time.   He used to fall asleep everywhere we went, church, home, friends houses. Once we had friends over and I remember him totally asleep on the couch before we even started dinner. Those were some long months!

Year 3 dave was on call for Children's every day except one day off a week. That was a huge pain/burden since he could never expect a full night of sleep and we could never go anywhere as a family since we had to have dave free to leave at anytime. That was a heavy responsibility. 

The past 2 years Dave has been on a reserach period where his call is minimal and he can often work from home writing papers and analyzing data. I have been completely spoiled to have him home so much and to get this little oasis in what is for sure going to be a life of him being on call most of the time and working really hard.

The people - Coming to a big expensive city like San Diego meant there weren't as many resident families in our community as there would have been had we stuck to a smaller town. However, we have enjoyed the few special relationships we've built with the residents Dave works with. Especially Dave's chief - Min Park and Dave's co-resident Chiazo Amene. 

We have loved the attendings, not all equally of course, but some have been really great. Lots of characters in the group for sure! I always get a kick out of the stories Dave brings home about each one of them.

The place - San Diego. Oh how we love San Diego. We did not know how much it would mean to us to be here but we have loved it. Did I mention we love San Diego? Okay, I am exhausting this point but really it is great for us. The weather is fabulous. The schools are great. There is special education for Calvin. (small towns would not have had what we need for him). We are near family - this is priceless!  Everyone asks me if I am super excited for Dave to finish residency and my answer is always, "no becuase we might have to leave San Diego."  Life is good for us here.

The work - Dave LOVES his job! I am so glad.  It is exciting and challenging and  fun for him. I wouldn't trade that for anything.

The family - Living by family has been amazing.  Dad and Kari and Shi have been great to live by. They take us out, drop of treats, take kids on special outings for b-days, do holidays with us, etc. It is wonderful. Recently pete and jessica moved here and that has added blessings by the bizillions.  And of course there's Dan! Dan lived with us for 5 years of residency. He is the reason I am still sane. While Dave was working rediculous hours I was putting my kids to bed at 7 and then going out to soccer, book club, mutual or wherever else I wanted while Dan babysat the sleeping kids. Dave and I went on regular dates becuase Dan was here.  Dan helped me with Calvin when I got stranded places and needed help.  We miss him! Every letter the kids write to him they say "when are you coming home? Hopefully this doesn't make him to home sick. We are for sure home sick for him!  He gets home  from his mission a month or two after we finish residency.

The future - this residency has opened doors for the future. We don't know exacly where we'll land yet but I know that Dave will be able to get the job type he wants.  In other words, UCSD is a good enough program to prepare Dave for whatever future he wants.

What's next?  Well, this fall Dave will apply for fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery. It is a small match since not too many neurosurgeons want to train for an extra year and take a pay cut because of it.  In Dec. he will match to a one year fellowship spot. Hopefully an exciting job at a children's hospital will follow the felloship year!  Not sure where either the job or the fellowship will be.