Medical School: Week 5-7

She loves the swing.
I've realized that medical school isn't just about cramming a semester's worth of information in your head over the course of three weeks. It's also about cramming a semester's worth of information in your head over the course of three weeks and still living a balanced life. I'm pretty sure "balanced" isn't the right word though, because it seems somewhat unattainable given the requirements put upon medical students. I've found that having a family makes this all the more noticeable.

Everyone love's sleeping on top of mom
Over the last three weeks everyone in my family has taken turns being sick. Addie got hand, foot, and mouth disease which completely messed up her already fragile sleeping habits. Poor little Zoey was also sick and may have caught it but was still pretty adorable. Lexi had a sore throat for several days and one day of a really bad fever. She handles it really well but I came home early anyway because she sometimes pushes herself too hard (she ran a half marathon while pregnant!). On top of that Addie turned two and she's been acting the part (The inability to ground children from their arms is a design flaw. For example, when Addie decided she was going to stick her hand in her dirty diaper).  Lexi also had a birthday (I don't think she's sensitive about her age but I should probably be careful just in case. Either way, she looks amazing).

The actual schooling portion of things was exciting, frustrating, and sometimes overwhelming. We covered connective tissue, skeletal muscle, cardiac ion channels, the anatomy of the back, and the anatomy of the upper extremities. This is all in just three weeks! If I manage to get through the next four years I'll probably be smart enough to read minds (this will do wonders for my marriage). We had four hours of tests on Friday and are still awaiting the results.

How could I say no to that face?
I'm asleep. Zoey's awake. Sorry Lexi.


This gets into the "balance" thing. There's a certain point where the demands of medical school and having a family can't just be strategically planned throughout the day but compete for the same time. The outbreak of illnesses in my home really made this evident when I had to make the choice to study material I didn't feel comfortable with or take care of a sick person. Honestly, I usually decided to take care of the sick kid/wife instead of mastering connective tissue histology or back innervations. This doesn't mean that I completely ignored the information, but I definitely feel the need to go back and review this info in more detail before taking any licensing exams. But no matter how hard I try sometimes my family does suffer because of medical school. Like when Lexi asks me to lay down the girls and I end up falling asleep before them.

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