Cheers to a Great 2016!!!!

2016 was an amazing year for me! I celebrated 29 years of life, became National President-Elect of the Student National Medical Association, passed step 1 of both the MD and DO medical board exams, delivered my first baby, assisted with operations, had the ongoing support of my awesome family and friends, met many new wonderful individuals, and continued to raise the BEST daughter ever! The #2016bestnine app didn't do my year any justice, so I created my own, but even this collage really doesn't convey the awesomeness of the year. Why? Because I consider every moment of the year that I was living, able to inspire, and still on the path to pursuing my dreams a great moment. Every year gets better and better, so I can't wait to see what 2017 has in store! 😄

My Instagram caption says it all, and I can’t believe we’ve reached the end of another year! 2016 flew by fast, but it was filled with so many amazing moments. It’s interesting when I see social media posts talking about how horrible the year was, because honestly, for me, it was a great year! I was able to get out of my comfort zone, challenge myself, explore new heights, and wake up every day thankful and blessed for another chance to get it right. I hope those of you reading this were able to find the positivity and joy within the year as well. 

2017 is looking to be yet another busy, but fulfilling year, and I can’t wait to share it all with those of you reading this. New milestones will be accomplished, many connections will be made, and hopefully I will continue to inspire and show my love and appreciation to all those around me. Wishing everyone a very safe and happy New Year’s Eve, and a mind-blowing 2017...See ya next year!

Interviewed by Daily Medicine Blog!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! A few months ago I was interviewed by my dear friend Ashley Roxanne, founder/author of Daily Medicine Blog, and it is now live! In the interview, I discuss why I applied to osteopathic medical school, my hardships, where I see my future, my top three networking tips, and many other topics. Feel free to check it out HERE, and as always, let me know what you think!

My 3-year Blogiversary (Yay!), the End of My Plastic Surgery Rotation, and Holiday Relaxation!

Happy 3-year blogiversary to me!

Can’t believe I’ve managed to keep up with this thing as long as I have, but last Saturday I became a three-year blogger! It’s been fun sharing my experiences with the world and I hope to continue to bring you all more excitement in the coming years. I’m super appreciative of anyone who stops by to read my random musings, and I’m even more thankful to those of you who have kept up with my blog over the years. If it weren’t for all the support, comments, questions, etc., I probably would have stopped writing a long time ago, so THANK YOU for reading and continuing to stay with me. It really does mean a lot to me.

In other news, I finished my plastic surgery rotation last Friday and I miss it already. I had an amazing month, learned a lot, and met some pretty great people. I’ve pretty much enjoyed all of my rotations thus far, but this one was the best yet. I seriously couldn’t have asked for a better surgery experience, and I can’t wait until I’m back in the operating room again. The coming months will be filled with a lot of Family Medicine and Internal Medicine, and I look forward to new experiences and learning as much as I can on these upcoming rotations, but I will be patiently counting down the days until I get to have another surgery rotation.

Holiday selfie with Dr. Earl Stephenson and the staff of Signature Plastic Surgery

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and I am looking forward to spending time with my family. I was supposed to make the drive today, but since my sister decided to take my daughter out of town for me today, I figured I would take the day to enjoy some much needed alone time. I had this week off and I will have next week off, so I have been thoroughly enjoying the first break I have had this year. This week I mostly got caught up with some things I’ve been procrastinating on, slept, and binged watched Netflix and it was awesome. I even had the opportunity to volunteer at my daughter’s class holiday party, which made her super happy. It’s not often that I’m able to participate in her school functions nowadays, so showing up and making her happy when I can makes me happy.  

But anyway, I hope everyone reading this was a wonderful Christmas full of love, laughter, and happiness. Being busy with medical school definitely makes me appreciate the rare moments I get to go see and spend time with my family, so I am looking forward to dealing with all the craziness and laughs this weekend will bring. Have a Merry Christmas!!!!

Interviewed by TheDoctorJB!

Happy Wednesday! A few months ago I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Dr. Jessica Brumfield, a Family Medicine resident physician and GA-PCOM alumna. We discussed my journey to medical school, how I decided to run for National President-Elect of the SNMA, and how I manage to balance medical school with motherhood and everything else. Feel free to click HERE to watch the interview and let me know what you think. Oh, and you should definitely check out the rest of Dr. Brumfield's "TheDoctorJB" blog, because her journey to becoming a physician is definitely inspiring!

In Love with Plastic Surgery!

The OR: My Happy Place :-)

So much awesomeness has occurred since my last post, but I could never find the time to sit down and write about it. I’ll try to do a very quick recap for you all, since I have a conference call coming up in less than an hour. In a nutshell, I am getting ready to start week 3 of my plastic surgery rotation tomorrow, and I am absolutely in love with this rotation! There is just so much variety and every last bit of it fascinates me.

All smiles :-)

On the very first day of my rotation, I got the chance to assist on a 5-hour procedure that involved reconstruction of an infected knee. The procedure included everything from wound debridement, muscle flaps, skin grafts, and negative-pressure wound therapy. During my general surgery rotation, I had previously given a presentation on muscle flaps, but I had never actually seen one done in person. It was the coolest thing ever! The surgeon even let me suture up the leg and he allowed me to handle the Bovie (a tool used to cauterize and coagulate tissue), and all this was on my first day! There really is no greater feeling than being able to repair a person, and we did just that.

Nope, that's not a breast implant. It's a butt implant

Other surgeries that I have assisted on have included bilateral brachioplasties (aka arm lifts), breast reductions, breast augmentations, and liposuction. I absolutely love that even with all the swelling, you are able to see immediate results with plastic surgery, and I love being able to help patients transform themselves. There’s nothing more fulfilling than seeing a woman who survived breast cancer and had to have a double mastectomy, cry after a breast reconstruction and augmentation surgery, saying that she can finally feel like a woman again. It’s also pretty cool to see a patient go from having a huge hole in their backside from a pilonidal cyst removal, to looking completely normal again (with the exception of a minor scar). When I was a child, I always loved putting puzzles together, and to me, plastic surgery is all about being able to see the big picture when there are only mixed pieces in front of you. It just makes me so happy!

I will say that surgery is definitely not at all for the weak. The hours are long, and there have been some days where I have gone as long as nine hours standing with no food, drink, or bathroom breaks. I don’t notice it when I’m busy helping, but when I get home my whole body hurts and I am just tired! It’s a good taste of what’s to come during residency though, so hopefully I can build up my tolerance. I am definitely building muscle having to hold up breasts, arms, and legs though, LOL.  

But all-in-all, it’s been a pretty fun rotation and I am happy to be back in the OR. I don’t know why it makes me so happy, but there is just something to be said about working to fix people while jamming to your favorite music, and having interesting conversations with the OR nurses. I know I’ve said it before, but I can definitely see myself becoming a surgeon and having a very happy and fulfilling career.

Getting in the holiday spirit!

But other than that, life continues to be busy and fun as usual. The little one and I finally put up the Christmas tree today, so I’m finally starting to get in the holiday spirit. I also went to see The Hip Hop Nutcracker last weekend, and that was such a fun show. I seriously can’t believe the year is almost over, but I’m definitely looking forward to enjoying the rest of the 2016 holiday season while soaking up as much surgery as I can. Well, my next call is starting in less than five minutes, so until next time!