and a magical holiday was had by all

Or so I like to believe.  As I posted earlier, I went to B's the weekend before Christmas and stayed until Tuesday and then I came back to the apartment and went to work on Wednesday after which I played with Kitty (MJ) and went to dinner with my friend C on Wednesday night and then on Thursday I slept in an then drove home to my parents' house.  I got to see many of my family and friends even though I was only home for about 4 days so that was nice...  What isn't nice is coming back to work.  Not to mention coming back and having to work evenings but still be there during the day a little to get crap done outside of the work you do for 8 hours in the evening.  might not be so bad if I wasn't trying to work evenings but stay on a schedule like I'm working days... b/c next week, guess what, I'm working days again.  Not my favorite but not the worst possible thing either I guess.

Anyway, I'm trying to get applications around for PGY2 programs and I have to say, it really stresses me out.  Now, many of you may be thinking -- gosh, this lady gets stressed out about a lot of things... and this is probably true.  I guess maybe I work better under stress so my natural survival instinct is to just be stressed... I'm not sure.  What I do know is that the older I get the more I notice my stress.  I don't like it.  I think it is because I now have sometimes when I'm not stressed.  There are actually times when I'm calm and happy.  I think this is healthy but it does make the times when I'm not more noticeable.

It's almost new years and I'm excited to be spending another one with B.  He is super.  Last year at this time we were in Florida at his parents' condo which was a lot of fun.  This year we'll be spending the weekend at home but I think we may go out for dinner and potentially see a movie as well.  Then just relax at the apartment and wait for the big ball to drop :-)  I love having time to just relax with him and I'm really glad that he's going to be around for his next rotation.  I know that I'm going to be very busy with both PGY1 interviews with my current residency and PGY2 stuff for next year but it is just better when I know I get to go home to a not empty apartment.

Ok, off to do something productive now.

my sister is awesome

So yeah, my sister made me this awesome new header for my blog.  She is pretty good with stuff like this... Also her blog is likely funnier than mine.  In case you are bored... reallifeiscoming.blogspot.com  -- check it out :-)

happy holidays everybody!

Blogger on my phone

For real this is awesome... I love being able to do computer-ey things on my phone :-)

lovely Sunday

Today was fun.  B and I went to our dear friends' engagement party.  The bride to be was my roommate for a couple of years in college in the Bailey House and the groom to be was B's roommate all through college.  They actually were kind of involved with B and I getting together.  The two of them are so cute together and I am really really happy for them.

Now we are back at B's parents' house and just hanging out.  B has to have a little surgery tomorrow to have 2 lipomas removed so that of course makes me a little nervous even though it totally shouldn't.  What can I say, my brain is just overactive.  So I'm staying here until Tuesday evening and then going back to go to work on Wednesday to try and do a bunch of data collection.  Then I'll stay overnight at the apartment and head back to my parents' house on Thursday.  It will be a full 4 days but it should be nice.  Overall I'm happy to get some time away from my residency but I really don't ever stop thinking about it... that is kind of annoying.  Sometimes I just want to go several days without thinking about anything that I need to do but I think that is pretty unrealistic.  In any event, I'm trying to give myself some times each day where I think about residency stuff and then just let it go.  I'm stressed out about next year now but hoping that everything just works out.

Ok, now I want to go watch a movie or something so we'll see if I can make that happen.

goodnight

post midyear happenings

I'm going to keep this brief.  So I got back from midyear where I had 11 interviews.  There were about 6 programs that I could see applying to if need be.  Then one of them emailed and said they filled their spot with an internal candidate.  Now I have 5.  Also, I found out that the program I am with is going through the match.  No early committing.  This means I won't find anything out about next year until March.  I am saddened by this.  I really don't know what else to say about that.  On the plus side I will be applying to 6 programs including the one I'm at now and I would say that there are 4 including my current program that I think would be good places to get my PGY2 training.  So now I just have to get all my application stuff around and done before the first week or so in January and then hopefully get some interviews and then find ways to travel to said interviews and then decide how to rank the programs and then wait (im)patiently until mid-March.  Hooray for the evil that is the residency matching program.  Alright.

Goodnight everybody.

prepping for midyear

The time has come for all good PGY1 residents to hop on planes and travel the miles to one location in the country deemed worthy of hosting a bunch of nerdy pharmacy types... This year the lucky city is New Orleans and I for one am quite excited about the destination.  It should be fairly nice weather and the city is fun and our hotel looks awesome and B and I are going on our first vacation-esque thing by ourselves.  I have 11 interviews set up during PPS and that seems like a lot but I'm intrigued to see how this all goes.

Another rotation ended today.  That means 4 down and 6 more to go plus December as a project month.  December is a big month with a lot going on including interviews for the PGY2 at my current program... I am cautiously optimistic about that whole thing.

So, I think I'll just leave the blog at that tonight... I may be sparse with my blogging for a little while until I get some things figured out about next year but --- the blog will reflect what happens once it happens

Ok, goodnight everyone and to all the other residents out there making their way to NOLA in the next few days, safe travels and I'll see you on Bourbon Street :-P

long time no blog

I've been very very very busy this month.  I have been on my SICU rotation and it has been taking up a lot of my time.  In addition to the fantastic care I have been giving to patients I have also been trying to research PGY2 programs to interview with at midyear.  I will be interviewing at my current program the week after midyear but since staying is not a guarantee and because it is a good idea to network I am going to have ~30 minute interviews with about 9 different programs to get a feel for programs that I might want to apply to depending on how the interview with my current program goes.  I am excited to talk with the different programs and learn about them but I have to say that since B signed with his company here in our current city I am not terribly motivated to leave, especially if he can't come with me.  Everyone says it is just a year and that is true but over the last month or so of thinking about it all I have come to the conclusion that at this point in my life I don't think any career move is worth giving up all the other parts of my life for it even if it is just for a year.  If I have to move hundreds or thousands of miles away from B I know that I'll be terribly unhappy.  He is my person and I need him close to me.

All of that being what it is, I also know that it is quite extreme to say I'll just forgo a second year if I can't be in the same city as B... so I am trying to compromise by looking broadly at programs with a focus on programs in the general area that we are currently in so that if I have to leave and he can't come too then at least we'll be within driving distance and get to see each other on weekends etc... That being said, I am really really really hoping that I get to stay in my current hospital for my second year for so many reasons... Obviously there is this thing with B that makes me nauseous when I think about it too much but that is just one part of it.  I really like my current program even when it makes me crazy... I enjoy the preceptors and the organization I am with right now and I really think that a second year there could teach me a lot.  I like the idea that the preceptors will have a good idea of my knowledge base going into my second year and that I will be able to continue working with systems that I know.  I like that the clinicians within my program are so super supportive of us as residents and take our feedback seriously.  I like that they are so dedicated to what they do and I also love that they are as dedicated to teaching as they are to patient care.  I know some of them probably read this blog and so I will just stop there before this starts sounding cheesier than it already does...

Anyway, I am excited to go to midyear and talk with other programs and I am excited to see if I'm going to get to stay at my current hospital.

As it is the day after Thanksgiving I feel it only appropriate to list some of the things I'm thankful for...
1. my sister - she cooks for me and keeps my company which is awesome
2. B and his fabulous family who send me food from their Thanksgiving and always make me feel super welcome when I go there
3. my really understanding family who work around my crazy-ass schedule which includes picking up hours at a pharmacy outside of my residency to earn extra $$$
3.5. the fact that I have the opportunity to pick up extra hours to make that extra $$$
4. my excellent co-residents :-) you guys are great and I am so glad to be experiencing this madness with you three
5. that I am lucky enough to be in a great residency program, as stressful and maddening as it is at times
6. that I am generally healthy and happy and even when life is difficult I am typically able to hold it together and I very rarely cry at work ;-)
7. that the people I encounter who are crappy and make me want to pull out my hair are really not that important in the grand scheme of things and I will only have to deal with them for a finite amount of time

That last one was maybe a little more passive aggressive than is my style but I'll leave it because I truly am thankful that the really annoying people that show up in my life tend to be pretty transient.

Ok folks, that's all for now.

goodnight

another weekend of staffing

As if by magic -- I had just talked with people about how staffing stresses me out because I don't have anyone to talk to and the only people I talk to all day are nurses who yell at me and then this weekend that all changed... well, not all of it, I'm still in the satellite by myself but this weekend, unlike all weekends prior, not one person yelled at me.  I couldn't be happier.  Now, this may be because all the nice people work on what would normally by my co-resident's weekend and so next weekend when I work again it will be back to the same old story, OR it could be that my experiment of saying the person's name who I'm talking to is improving everyone's self esteem and therefore making them happier. :-)  Either way, I'm happy for this weekend going smoothly.  Now I just have to get through the 5 days this week and 2 days next weekend and then I get Monday off and then start my next rotation in SICU on Tuesday.

I can't believe I only have one more week on this rotation... This year is going really fast.  I just bought plane tickets for midyear and we have had our hotel booked for awhile now... The big hanging question is where I'm going to be next year.  B got an offer from a certain retail pharmacy for a significant annual salary and a job in the OurCity south district so now I have even one more reason to want to stay on for a second year... Again, I suffer from really really really hating the uncertainty of my life situation.  I didn't know how much extra stress it really put on me until the match last spring and now it kind of just feels the same except I also have all the residency stress... last week was not a good week for me.  I have high hopes for this week but I make no promises.  I guess it's just that I am really motivated to do a second year residency  but I'm also really motivated to stay in the same city with B... He is the person that I can talk to about anything and he just listens and if I don't want to talk when I come home I can just lay down on the couch while he watches TV or whatever and he'll just put his hand on my shoulder and I feel better... having him away on rotations so much has really put a drain on me emotionally and I can't imagine another whole year away from him.  I'm just distressed by it.  Consequently, I try not to think about it too much.  Ok, enough for one post.  Suffice it to say, I'm doing ok but this month is difficult and stressing me out and I don't see next month getting any easier BUT I am awesome and capable and I will get through it all and come out better for the struggle.  

My mantra -- I am awesome.  I am capable.  I will get through this and be better for the struggle.

Feel free to use it if you wish.

Goodnight.

things I should remember - a note to myself

1. You will never be able to eat more than 2 pieces of stuffed crust pizza from pizza hut

2. Stuffed crust pizza only comes in a large

3. #1 + #2 means you will eat pizza for a week if you order it

4. $9.99 for an iTunes cd x the entire discography of an artist (the decemberists currently) = approx. what you spent on the entire outfit for the wedding next weekend (minus the shoes)

5. Your sister always has the entire discography of any artist that you may want to own b/c she is always 17 steps ahead of you when it comes to the music scene (and many other things)

6. Weekends will never be long enough, just get over it

7. Ordering 2 pairs of cute shoes online in order to try them on and decide which ones to keep never works... you will always want them both - period
***see shoes below - still trying to decide which ones to keep

8. Never get involved with a Navy Seal - wives of Seals are unhappy b/c the men love the Navy more than they love the women (per Hawaii 5-0 and Criminal Minds) -- you don't really need to remember this one unless B's pending job offer includes a commitment to the armed services in which case we have a serious issue...

9. Make lists when going to the grocery store... if you don't you will always end up a) buying things you don't really need (raisinets) and b) forgetting something you do need (milk)

10. Nothing will never happen as quickly as you want because you are terribly impatient... work on that

:-)

right, where was I...

So B was making me laugh a lot and just being generally very lovable :-)  After dinner we came back and watched "Charlie Wilson's War" which was good but B fell asleep about 30 minutes into it... poor kid.

So today I needed to go and get a dress for my friend M's wedding in a couple weeks... I had bought a dress from Target but it just wasn't making me happy.  SO, I thought I'd be productive and go early to Banana Republic and beat all the "after church" traffic.  I got to the mall at 10:30am only to find out that it doesn't open until noon.  WTF?!?!?!  So I sat in Starbuck's for 1.5 hours b/c it would be such a waste of gas to drive back and forth again.

1.5 hours later I entered the mall and went up to Sephora b/c I needed to get some Bare Minerals stuff b/c I'm over liquid foundation as it always seems to make me break out and my friend N raves about said Bare Minerals... the lady at the store was super helpful and I got a great deal on some foundation, blush, "warmth", and this "veil" stuff... I wouldn't normally have bought the warmth or the veil thing but they cam free with the starter kit along with 3 brushes so that was a steal.

Banana Republic was next on the list to try and find this dress that I had seen on the website which of course they didn't have b/c it is brand new and isn't yet in stores. I hate buying dresses for this and so many other reasons.  So I found another dress which was ok and I tried it on with about a thousand cardigans but then there was this sale dress that was way better but not in my size -- they called another store and found it in my size and I went there to buy it.  I again tried on about a thousand cardigans but none did the dress justice so I just decided to use one of my pashminas as a wrap instead.  I ended up getting a $150+ dress and a $50 necklace all for less than $60 because of sales and my $30 in rewards from my Banana VISA.  Basically awesome.

Now, what wasn't so awesome was my quest for shoes.  I am still shoe-less.  I went to DSW but just wasn't having any luck.  I'll try again on Friday maybe at a different mall.  Wish me luck, I hate buying shoes almost as much as I hate buying dresses.

B is at work still so I'm catching up on Hawaii Five-O and other dvr'd shows.  He is going to stop by here before he heads back for the week but I wish he wasn't leaving... it has been far to short a weekend.  Hopefully the week won't be too long and at least I don't have to work another weekend for awhile.  Only 5 more early morning weekends as far as I know based on the calendar.  Starting in January I will be working evenings on the weekends so that should be interesting.  Good because I don't have to get up early everyday for 12 days in a row but kind of bad b/c I will be basically out of the picture as far as making any weekend plans on my on weekends.  Double edged sword but for some reason I think I'll be happier working evenings on the weekend just because my biggest thing is hating getting up early to an alarm so many days in a row.

Ok, enough for now I think.  Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekends!

another one bites the dust - as it were...

Finished another rotation on Friday.  Burn was a good month I think.  I mean, I really like critical care so it was a good time for me.  I definitely can say that critical care is "my thing" :-)  Next month I am going to be on an internal medicine team and I think I'll like that too but it isn't an ICU so I'm looking forward to identifying some of the treatment differences and such.

On another note, it is the weekend and I am super happy to be relaxing.  I watched most of the stuff on the dvr today and then when B got home from work we went to dinner at this nice Italian place that I love in celebration of our 18 month anniversary... Now, I'm not usually one to celebrate random things like an 18 month anniversary, but B is going to be out of the state for our actual anniversary in April so we thought we should take the opportunity now to celebrate :-)  It was fun and B kept making me laugh at dinner.

more later - ice cream time                                                                                                                                                                                            

hallelujah it's the weekend

I finished another 12 day stretch and this one was particularly difficult for me.  I think it was because the first week I was stressed about my grand rounds and then I worked the weekend and then I got all my mistakes since July handed to me in a nice yellow envelope and all the while I'm trying to be a good clinical pharmacist and follow all of my patients' various problems and know everything about them all the time.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I love what I'm doing, but by Friday I was so glad to get the hell out of there I could have screamed.  Fortunately we had an event to attend at my university where students can come and talk with us about our residency program and ask questions etc... so we left around 11am and then I got to go home straight afterward.  B came home on Thursday and then left today to head home for his next rotation.  I know he'll be much happier there than he was in Linton but I'm a little sad that he won't be here for long weekends anymore.

I went to dinner with my sister and her friend tonight and we had, quite possibly, the dingy-est waitress to ever grace the presence of the Olive Garden.  She mumbled, she got my drink order confused at first and then even after I corrected her and she brought me the right thing (a mango martini) she insisted on calling it a margarita.  In addition she was generally just annoying as she kept coming and asking us how we were doing... So, after the actual dinner was over she asks if we want any boxes and we say we just need one.  My sister was not going to take her food home and her friend and I both got seafood alfredo and I was giving mine to the friend to take home.  So then we order dessert and she brings it out and asks again if we need boxes, and I say again, just one.  She then starts to walk away but comes back and says, "so are you just going to combine those two then?" pointing to our two dinners.  I pause for a moment and then say, "yes, yes she is taking it all".  Then she leaves.  I then turn to my sister and she starts laughing... I mean, why else would I only want one box?  Am I going to magic it into two? I mean, the thing is, she really wasn't that bad but she was so ditzy!  And then of course our bills were completely wrong... so wrong we couldn't even trade them to fix things... and then she couldn't fix them... or get them to print... or figure out how to talk to us without apologizing so much that I wanted to shake her and tell her to get over it.  I wasn't mad about anything... I was having an enjoyable dinner with my sister and her friend... yes the girl was annoying but she was mostly annoying because she seemed to know she was annoying and felt the need to apologize for it... that's like a dog apologizing for slobbering or a cat apologizing for getting underfoot... they might do it but then they will just go right back to slobbering or getting underfoot... as such, this girl kept being ditzy and apologetic. Still, it was a nice dinner and we had a lot of laughs.

Now I'm just chilling at home and watching The Big Bang Theory reruns... I love this show.  It is hilarious.  Even better show though - I watched the season premiere of Grey's Anatomy today and I am both excited and upset about how this season may go... I have high hopes but I'm nervous that I'll be disappointed.  I think Meredith and Derek are going to stay together but they have certainly hit a rough patch and I just really love them when they are happy. I heard that the actors want this to be the last season and as I was watching reruns over the past couple months I realized how much they have aged since the early episodes.  It is really interesting.  I want to get all the seasons on dvd at some point.

Ok, now I'm rambling... I wanted to blog a bit about my actual resident life but honestly I don't really want to talk about it at this point.  I really just want to think about -- nothing.  Until tomorrow at least. Then I might start to think about smart things again.

goodnight happy people.

enjoying a lazy weekend

This week was pretty nice.  Very busy but overall nice.  I had Monday off because of the Labor Day holiday which was fabulous and then I started on my Burn rotation on Tuesday.  I would really like to be better at looking up patients in a more time efficient manner.  I am getting to work around 6-6:30am in order to be ready for rounding by 8-8:30 and we only have like 10 patients.  Granted a couple are super complicated patients but still.  It seems like I miss things everyday that I should have looked up.  And then due to the nature of the rotation and my other projects I end up not leaving until 5-6pm... that makes for some long days and one very sleepy Nikita.  Nevertheless I am learning a lot and I assume I will get better at the whole looking up patients thing.  I'm certainly going to try.

So next week is like the big scary week of September for me.  I have grand rounds final practice run through Monday at noon, real grand rounds presentation Tuesday at noon, my MUE presentation Wednesday morning at 7am, a meeting with the ACPE people at my alma mater Thursday at 9am, the SO pager Friday all day, and then I have to work the weekend. FML. Actually none of it should be too bad except I'm pretty nervous about the grand rounds presentation and I don't really like working the weekends because it can either be boring or stressful or both but rarely anything in between.  Anyway, I'm sure it will all be fine... as Ingrid Michaelson says, "all we can do is keep breathing".  That is sort of my mantra for the year I think.  All I can do is keep breathing.  Sometimes when I feel myself getting super stressed out I take a couple minutes to just breathe and try not to think and sometimes that helps.

Now I think I'll go back to doing nothing.  B and I would like to not waste today though so perhaps I'll think of something creative for us to do this afternoon so we don't feel so lame. :-)

Happy weekend everyone!

two staffing weekends finished and 3 days away from completion of the first residency rotation

That title is probably too long.  Accurate, but long.

So I had my second weekend staffing the satellite pharmacy and I can honestly say that I think it went much better.  The census is a little different because some areas got switched around so I think I was a little less busy.  I also was very careful with the kinetics book and hopefully I did everything up to the level of a true pharmacy superhero :-)  Because let's be honest, what fun is it to be anything less than superheroic.

The only really bad thing about this weekend is that today my allergies decided to try their best to destroy me physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Now, you might think that allergies are 1. not sentient beings and not capable of such malice and/or 2. not of themselves capable of destroying a person mentally or emotionally but that my friends is where we have been mislead.  Now, I cannot be certain that allergies are capable of thought and consciousness as I have never spoken to an allergy and received a response however, I do know that when one spends >75% of her day either sneezing or blowing her nose into terrible tissue paper hospital kleenex she will leave feeling utterly defeated on all aforementioned levels.  She will be driven to nearly run from her workplace promptly at 2:30 and drive directly home where she will eat a bowl of chocolate frosted mini wheats and watch a Grey's Anatomy re-run for her emotional well being, take 50mg of diphenhydramine, 30mg of pseudoephedrine, and 800mg of ibuprofen for her physical well being, and take a nap for her mental well being.  Such activities will cease when her boyfriend returns from his job several hours later and she will wake up feeling groggy and still congested but ready to fight through the evening re-dosing her meds frequently and supplementing her frosted mini wheats with a stuffed crust pizza.  If you don't believe me I understand but please store this information away somewhere just in case you ever find yourself on the wrong side of an allergy.

In other news:

Tomorrow I am going to a city wide patient safety meeting so that should be interesting.  Then I am going to start helping my hospital in their transition from one type of med cabinet to another... The ICUs are supposed to go live with the new cabinets soon and I am available so I am going to do whatever I can to help with the set up etc... That is basically what I'll be doing through Wednesday along with finishing my IRB submission for my year long project.  Then on Thursday and Friday I am going to a teaching certificate program so that should be interesting.

And that is the last week of my first residency rotation.  So far I have completed a monograph, written preliminary criteria for use for duloxetine, helped precept students, looked up about 30 ADRs, did the background research, come up with methods, and formulated my objectives for my year long project (MRSA in Burn Patients), researched and began creating a presentation for my grand rounds topic (malignant hyperthermia), registered for midyear, done a journal club, and generally exuded awesomeness :-)  I still feel like I have a lot to do on my longitudinal projects but I also feel like I got a lot done with the time I had.

Next I go on to my Burn rotation and I have to say I am pretty excited about it.  I'm hoping that I can remember some things from when I was a student on rotation... granted I only spent a week there but still, you'd hope I could remember something.  Anyway, I am excited to get into a patient care rotation.  I know it will mean longer hours at the hospital but B will be away this month during the week anyway so I won't be quite as motivated to get home early.  That is about the only positive that comes from him being gone on rotations a lot this year.

Well, I think that is all for tonight.  Hopefully I can finish off my battle with the evil allergy monster while I sleep tonight so I don't have to be the sneezy resident tomorrow. Wish me luck on days 8-12 of 12... looking forward to the weekend!

goodnight

reflections on my first weekend alone in the satellite pharmacy

I think it says something that it took me until Wednesday to write a post about my weekend... It was a stressful time for me.  I think I called one of the other pharmacists at least 30 times in two days.  Said pharmacist was very patient and I am very very very grateful that I had a person to call with all of my many many questions. Despite this resource however, I did not perform my tasks without flaw.  Another pharmacist who worked the Monday after me came yesterday to talk to me about a couple of things that I could have done better over the weekend.  At first I was really freaked out and upset because I couldn't figure out how I had overlooked the items in question but I decided to be proactive and go look at the binder I worked on and try to figure out where I had gone wrong.  Now I of course do not want to disclose any specifics so I will just say that I understand what happened and I could have done things better but I have shifted from feeling totally inadequate to just feeling somewhat inadequate.  I didn't cause any major issues or harm but I do have a greater appreciation for just how careful I have to be.  I think that is the most challenging thing about being a new pharmacist... always throughout school there was someone to double check my work and make sure I didn't do anything dumb. Honestly, it was kind of annoying sometimes that I couldn't do anything without a double check... BUT, now I would be thrilled to have someone check my work...

The biggest issue in my current staffing role is how many things (answer phone, therapeutic drug monitoring [TDM], order entry, nurse questions) need to be done with complete accuracy... There are so many distractions it can be tough to even get any one thing accomplished before being interrupted.  But I digress.  I knew what I was getting into in general, I just had no idea how I would feel about it. I mean, it really is scary to have so much riding on my abilities.  I have such a better appreciation for why some pharmacists are so funny about what job functions they will let students perform.  I have a hard enough time keeping track of what I am doing, let alone what someone else is doing under my license...

So, that was kind of a long verbal emesis session but I felt the need to give a true report.  I am trying not to be discouraged and I am telling myself that it will get easier.  I'm really glad that I am in an environment where the other pharmacists are supportive and constructive with feedback because I can't imagine how unbearable it would be to go through this learning curve if the people weren't constantly reminding me that it IS a learning curve.

On a lighter note -- it is still really cool to me that I am actually a pharmacist and I did several things this weekend that were good.  I made some interventions on orders that came through and overall I think my net impact on the hospital was positive.  For my first weekend I guess that's not too bad.

That's all for tonight kids.

goodnight

I almost forgot

Yesterday I became the stereotypical "difficult customer" at the pharmacy where I used to work... so since I have this cool residency and am all grown up, I get grown up insurance that helps pay for my prescriptions... so yesterday I go to get my prescription and they aren't too busy so I give them the card and have them re-run it... so prior to the insurance I was using a coupon to save a lot on the prescription and now with the insurance I can still use it to further lower my copay...

SO, they enter the new insurance -- rejected.  Phone call to said insurance reveals that even though the person code on the card is only 2 digits it actually needs to be 3 digits -- duh.

Now, a process called "SDL" needs to happen to bill the copay to the coupon and result in a lower copay...  bill said coupon -- rejected.  Even though the card says that cash customers use a group number ending in 008 and insured customers use a group number ending in 007 the person on the phone informs the lovely tech helping me that she needs to change the group number to end in 004 (nowhere on the card) and then magically it works.

So the funny thing is that I really felt bad for the girl helping me... just a couple months ago that was me helping some poor soul like me now... the only difference is that I could understand the issues and why it took 40 minutes to get my stuff all together.

Anyway, it was interesting to be on the other side of the counter :-)

That is all

goodnight

3 days in

I feel kind of like a broken record but seriously -- I'm just tired.  Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep at night but I am just trying to convince my body that 6 hours a night is enough... sadly I don't know if my body is listening.

I'm super excited about the hotel that the other residents and I decided to stay in for midyear.  Hotel Monteleone -- one of the oldest and most haunted hotels in New Orleans :-)  B and I will have a little get away and even though I'll have midyear stuff to do, hopefully we'll still have time to enjoy the city.

Anyway, this post was mostly pointless and now I'm super sleepy so I think I'll go to bed.

goodnight folks

and now for day 1 of 12

well, I certainly had a case of the Mondays today... Today I started a drug info rotation and I actually kind of secretly like it.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I am certain that I will be going stir crazy at some point (probably more than one) and I'll have to periodically go for short walks to maintain my sanity BUT I do enjoy the fact that I can check things off of a list of projects and I have time to work on some of my residency projects without the burden of patient care activities.  Another bonus is that there are students on the rotation so I get some experience precepting.  I'm pretty excited about that.  Overall I'm just hoping for a manageable month full of task completion :-)

On another note, I went to B's parents house to see him this past weekend and had a really nice time.  Saturday we went disc golfing with his dad and then Sunday we went to the white sox game.  I got a really cute t-shirt but the sox still lost :-(  They lose every time I go to a game... I may have been permanently banned from sox games in the future, but the shirt will still be really cute to wear watching them on TV :-)

B's mom made a comment over the weekend about the shadows getting longer and fall approaching and that made me pretty excited.  I love fall.  The temperatures are nice and it usually doesn't rain too much... there's Halloween which I enjoy and it all leads up to the big holiday season in November-December... This fall will be tough b/c B will be gone a lot but hopefully we'll work it out so we can still see each other on weekends... And then in December he'll be able to come to midyear with me so that will be fun.

I know this year is going to start to pile up on me soon, but for right now I'm maintaining a positive attitude :-) Hopefully that will be enough to see me through the hard times that are sure to come.

That's all for now kids

goodnight

my feelings upon completion of day 12 at the hospital

When we have to staff weekends we do not get days off during the week like staff pharmacists do... as residents we just work straight through which means 12 days between weekends.  Now, fortunately, I only have to work every third weekend so this 12 day business isn't consistent... some of the other residents in the city have to work every other weekend which means they are always in the process of working a 12 day stretch... eww.

Anyway, now that my first long haul is over, I have a huge feeling of relief... I have never been so excited to be able to sleep in.  I know we aren't putting in the kind of hours that medical residents do but getting up and being to work by 6:30am everyday for 12 days is a big difference from life prior to residency.  I discussed this with one of my co-resies and we decided that the biggest difference is how much more tired we are after a normal day's work.  Things are great but I am tired every single day.  We decided that it must be the extra stress that comes with being real pharmacists now with no one to necessarily double check our work... everything we do is so real now and it affects patients in a big way and just spending 8 or more hours a day with that makes me so strangely exhausted...  So, thankfully I get a weekend now to recuperate so I can be refreshed for Monday :-)

A cool thing happened today -- I got my official pharmacist white coats with my name on them :-)  I know I've said it before but this really was the last piece of the puzzle and I really am totally legit now!  I have the name tag, the pharmacist tag, the pager, the office/desk space/computer, the scrubs for the weekend, the LICENSE,  and now the personalized white coats :-)  This is going to be a long and tiring year but it is also going to be so so so exciting :-)

goodnight

my new toy

so I finally decided on a new phone and as the fates would have it my contract was up for upgrade :-)  I have been looking at this phone for a long time and now that I have it I can say it is totally worth the hype.  I didn't get the laptop dock for it although it seems kind of cool... too expensive for the amount of time I'd use it I think.  Anyway, the phone is super fast and has a great screen and typing on it is pretty easy... overall, learning the new OS wasn't bad at all... a few tricks that didn't seem totally intuitive but after you figure a few things out everything else just comes naturally.

In addition to this cool new phone, I also was one of 20 lucky employees to get a free copy of Lexi-Comp for my phone.  Tomorrow hopefully I will get the info and get it downloaded :-)  Now all I need is my white coats to come in and I will be so legit.

I have to work this weekend which means I will have worked 12 days in a row before I get a day off... that concept is not really my favorite.  BUT, I only have to work every 3rd weekend so it isn't like it's all the time...  I'm still not convinced that I can get the clinical book done in less than like 6 hours but I'm hoping for the best... I have 4 more days to practice with someone else there so hopefully that is enough time for me to get a handle on things.

Ok, well, 5am comes awfully early so I think I'm off to bed.

Goodnight happy bloggers/readers :-)

the new layout

is super pharmtastic :-)  more changes may be in the works... we'll see...

This week was pretty good as far as the residency goes... I worked evenings and that was a challenge but I am feeling better about the staffing stuff.  Last weekend I did the strengthsfinder 2.0 assessment and found out my top 5 words...

analytical
relator
responsibility
significance
intellection

That's me in 5 words.  Tomorrow we are going over to one of the preceptors houses for dinner and a discussion of this book so I anticipate I'll have more to say about my words after that.

I think that's all for now... feel free to comment on the new layout :-)

reflections on the first week

I survived :-)


No, really it has been a great start.  I am pretty overwhelmed about my staffing weekends but I feel like there will be sufficient time in my training to become comfortable with things before I'm left on my own.  Also, the general amount of things that I will need to be doing on any given day is quite significant.  I feel like I will be heavily relying on my calendar and a very well kept "to-do" list in order to successfully not forget something each and every day.


This month we are basically shadowing various staff pharmacists and then also going to lots of meetings and learning the basics to keep us alive from day to day.  I am attempting to remain calm :-)

so maybe you heard...

 I'M A PHARMACIST!  yes, you heard it right, I have successfully passed both my MPJE and NAPLEX and the state board has granted me a license.  I have also started my residency and have completed 3 days and I'm sufficiently overwhelmed and dazed and still totally enamored with the facility and the people and all the opportunities I'm going to have this year.  I'm sure I will have times this year when I wish there weren't so many "opportunities" but right now I'm just excited :-)

So the first thing I learned about my residency is that the parking lot fills up unbelievably quickly between 7am and 7:15am... not that it will probably matter most of the time since I'll be coming in earlier than 7 but it is interesting none the less...

I am looking forward to sharing my experiences in the upcoming months... right now not much to say... just getting oriented and learning the ropes... overall things are great so far :-) and, in case you missed it earlier -- I'm a PHARMACIST!!! hooray!

Nikita, PharmD

short post

naplex complete... scores to come later this week hopefully.

Tomorrow is the first day of my residency... a little nervous but excited.

B goes home after this week for the month of July.  I will miss him :-( BUT I know how much his family wants to spend some time with him so I can share...  I'm sure we'll make a weekend rendezvous more than once that month.

Anyway, more to come later this week.

one down, one to go

I took the MPJE (law exam) last Friday and was prepared to wait the full 7 business days for scores to be available... I went home for the weekend on Saturday and just left my computer so I wouldn't be tempted to check for the scores... I got back on Monday afternoon and lasted about 2 hours before I checked... I decided I would only check once per 24 hours so I waited until the next day after noon and I got on the NABP website and -- low and behold, the scores were up -- I passed!!!  So, now I need to study a little for the NAPLEX next Friday and hopefully that one goes as well or better :-)  one step closer to being a real live licensed pharmacist

goodnight

most recent excitement and upcoming terror

As you can see to the right, I have been made official... I can enter the employee parking area, I can look totally legit when walking around... basically, I am a bad-ass :-) Additionally, I am an advocate of patient safety which makes me kind of feel like a super hero... like I should be ever-vigilantly looking out for possible falling patients and medication misadventures... I will need to wear a cape I think.

ok, enough of the frivolity... my career as a pharmacy resident could be over before it begins if I can't pass the MPJE on Friday... for anyone not "in the know" that is the big ass law exam that I am required to pass before I can become licensed... Now, some of you may be asking "but I thought the NAPLEX was your big test"... and in that you are correct.  The NAPLEX is a test over my actual pharmacy knowledge... like, what I spent the past 6 years learning... this little evil devil beast of an MPJE is only the laws, both federal and state, which I of course only got 1 semester of in college followed by a 4 hour review a couple of weeks ago... now I am painstakingly going over the 80 pg packet that the review provided me in an attempt to learn enough to pass...  now I must give you the disclaimer - I do know enough law to practice... of this I am sure.  What I am not so sure of is if I know enough law to be able to perform well on a test written by lawyer types.  They are obviously evil and will almost definitely write verbose, confusing questions that make me question even my most basic abilities such as reading.

SO, back to the studying I go... I officially have less than 48 hours until test time.

Fingers crossed folks

how I spent my Memorial Day weekend

So, I had a fabulous weekend.  Saturday B and I had a very relaxing day at his apartment just watching movies and hanging out.  Then Sunday we went to the zoo which was very cool.  I had never been to the zoo here and hadn't been to any zoo in several years.  It was really fun to look at all the animals and I even got to feed a giraffe and pet a shark (a smallish one of course).  After the zoo we tried out this new restaraunt, PeiWei, and it was really quite good, followed by going to see Kung Fu Panda 2 which was cute.  So, that would have been enough for a great weekend but to top it off there was a 3rd day!  So yesterday after sleeping in, I made lemon bars from scratch and we went to my friend C's boyfriend M's apartment for a cookout.  There were a lot of my friends there and we got to play cornhole and it was overall just a lot of fun.

So, a really good weekend.  Now today I did the laundry and ran the vacuum and did the dishes and I feel pretty good.  This week must however begin my studying of pharmacy law so that I can pass the test in 10 days :-)  Fingers crossed folks!

So, that is all for now.

goodnight

what is life without work?

Kinda boring, that's what... I mean, don't get me wrong, I like sitting around and doing nothing but I feel awfully unproductive :-)

Now, although I'm at home everyday without a lot to do I have been getting a lot of practice of a domestic nature... I'm doing laundry and cooking and cleaning... all that fun stuff.  Kind of interesting... sometimes I think I could do that long term but I think I would eat too much and probably get fatter... So, in order to keep my weight under control, I MUST go to work... good thing I start in about a month :-)

Well, I don't really have much to say since I'm not doing that much... I did have a really nice party at home this past weekend as a final grad celebration and that was fun.

Anyway, that's all for now.  I may take about a month long hiatus from blogging unless something truly spectacular happens such as me getting my pharmacy license... or if the NAPLEX process is noteworthy.

goodnight :-)

and then it was over

yes folks, my college career is now completely over.  I am a graduate from the esteemed university that I have cleverly made anonymous due to the issue this university has with the unapproved use of its name and/or emblems. :-)  Nevertheless, we had a lovely hooding ceremony yesterday and a long but fun commencement today and now I am officially an alumnus.  It feels really weird to know that my time in this phase of life is over.  I know it is SO cliche, but it really does seem like it wasn't that long ago that I was dropped off at school excited and nervous to be out on my own... and these last 6 years really HAVE been the best of my life.  Sure pharmacy school was difficult and I spent a lot of time studying and freaking out that each cluster set would be my last and I would fail out of pharmacy school, but through it all I had the greatest friends and seeing many of us graduate today was a most awesome experience.  We did it.  We made it through.  We faced the challenges and came through the fire stronger and better than before.  It is so surreal to think that I completed this.  I think we get so involved in getting to the end of things that sometimes when the end comes it is a little anticlimactic... Which isn't to say I am not excited because I REALLY REALLY am...

Now I am on to new challenges like my residency... this week I need to finish filling out my autobiography info on ResiTrack which is basically a computer system that allows residents and their programs to keep tabs on the progress residents are making throughout the year based on goals etc set early in the year.  I am so excited to start my residency and start "real life"... I know next year will be tough and parts of it even tougher with B out on rotations away from home but I think we will both come through it stronger as well and I don't really have any worries about us as a couple because through this past year if I've learned anything it is that I love him in a way that I don't think I knew until he came along.  Everything with us is just so easy... he makes me laugh and we just love spending time together even when we aren't really doing anything.  I am excited and nervous and ready for this next step in my life.

For a few details, hooding ceremony was attended by many of my friends and family and even B's mom.  Afterward everyone came back to the apartment and had pizza and hung out.  It was a really nice time overall.  B's mom got me an AWESOME coach bag and pocketbook which I absolutely LOVE and T and M got me a gold cross pen which was so so sweet.  I got a lot of thoughtful cards and really just a lot of continued support.  My family and friends from home have been so integral in my success in college and I was so thankful to have so many of them here.

So, for now that is what I have to say about my college graduation.  Pretty awesome. :-)

sudden realization

So, I'm looking at the website for commencement day instructions and all of a sudden I notice this picture of hands holding a diploma and for some reason this 1x1.5 inch photo suddenly stirs within me the realization that in a mere 8 days the culmination of my 6 years of hard work will arrive and I will hold in my own hands the one piece of paper that proves it.  Now, I won't yet be a real live pharmacist because I won't have taken the NAPLEX yet, BUT I will have a very hard earned college degree.  How freaking cool is that?!?!  I mean, obviously that's what I was going for the past 6 years but now to have it so close... it's kind of surreal.  Of course with this also comes the terror of the knowledge that I need to schedule, take, and pass the biggest test of my life to make this degree worth anything -- BUT we aren't going to think about that right now...

you know what I hate?

two lane drivethrus at the pharmacy.  seriously, how freaking illogical is that?

1. Only one person can be rung up in drivethru at a time
2. Communication through the drivethru is via a loudspeaker in the lane, therefore, while yelling at the incompetent, deaf, imbecile in lane 2, the person in lane one gets a free non-hipaa approved listen to all the other patient's issues
3. Many stores only have 1 technician/intern and the double drivethru misleadingly makes patients think that their drivethru wait won't be that long b/c, hey, even though there's 2 cars in lane 1, there aren't ANY in lane 2...

The drivethru is idiotic in a pharmacy anyway but the double drivethru is just plain cruel.  Everytime I send the little basket/tube out I want to throw a stick of dynamite in it so it can be out of service for awhile.

Additionally, for anyone out there who may use the drivethru, please understand, it is a driveTHRU... that means you do not get to sit there and wait for your prescription(s).  Also, if you have new insurance or have never filled with us or you plan on getting boxes of albuterol or some other large item or english is not your first language or you are deaf -- for the love of God and all that is holy, come in the freaking store!  I hate the drivethru.  Isn't your healthcare more important to you than a big mac?  I truly hope so.

That is all for now.  The double drivethru drove me to pursue a residency :-)  Not really, but I sure am glad that hospitals haven't found a way to offer drivethru services - can you imagine?  Yeah, I'll have the gastric bypass special number 7... and can you throw in breast implants too while you're at it?  Yeah I'd like to have that in the drivethru, I'll be there in 20 minutes, thanks...

Ok, goodnight

something pretty and something else

Is this not one of the more lovely things you've ever seen?  I took this picture when B and I were in Florida (Key West specifically)... We were in the Hemmingway home.  This has nothing to do with pharmacy or being a resident or anything but I found it on my computer and thought it needed to have a home on my blog.  I really want a painting of this picture actually... maybe someday.  I see it small - maybe 4x6 or 5x7 in a much larger matte and framed and maybe in a bathroom... yeah...

This on the other hand -- not so beautiful... but just as real... maybe more real actually.  And, this is probably the biggest thing on my mind right now... I need to take this test within the next 2 months or so... it was really freaking expensive.  I would really hate to fail it and have to pay to take it again.  It would be really embarrassing.  Let's not think about that.

I think that's enough blogging... I really need to go to bed.

goodnight

reflections on my week at [retail pharmacy]

So this past week I spent a significant portion of time at a certain [retail pharmacy] in a slightly less desirable area of town.  Now, I personally really like this store but it isn't exactly the suburbs.  I've never felt unsafe but I wouldn't just loiter around the store for fun.

Now on to the fun stories.  Lady walks up to counter with younger friend/possibly daughter to get prescriptions.  Younger lady looks at my nametag as I'm ringing up the older lady and the following conversation ensues:
Young Lady: Is your name really Nikita?
Me: yup, sure is.
Young Lady: that is soooo ghetto
Me (thinking): should I say thank you or be offended?

Another fun story.  Lady walks up to counter and is bantering with the lady with her.  Banter ends with, "n***** shut up" directed at friend and  "OH MY GOSH, I'm so so so sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I'm sorry, my bad" etc... directed at --- guess who --- ME?!  I am not sure why I would be more offended than her friend but it seems that using this term in front of a white girl is a huge taboo.  I don't know... but I found it humorous non the less.

So, maybe my stories aren't very PC but they are what happened... and they are part of why I love that store :-)

That's all for now.

what I'm doing with my time off

Books that I recommend everyone read:

1. The Hunger Games trilogy
2. A Great and Terrible Beauty trilogy
3. Ender's Game
4. The Help (really, really, really - you must read this book, it is AWESOME)

Books that I am planning to read and will then probably recommend:

1. The Room
2. Water for Elephants
3. The Paris Wife

So yeah, I have been reading a lot.  And watching bad LMN movies.  And sleeping.  I really can't wait until this work-athon is over so that I can have even less to do with my days :-)

On that happy note, I think I'll go to bed

goodnight

unrelated post

It seems that for the past 24 years of my life I have always been looking forward to the next big thing.  When I was in elementary school all I could hope for was to be in 6th grade - top of the school, big kids ya know?  Then I get to middle school and that pretty much sucks but I can't wait to get to high school.  Then high school is fun for a couple years and then it's off to wishing for college.  College came and for the first 2 years I only looked forward to going home for breaks and then progressively I liked college more and more.

In the pre-professional years all I wanted was to be in the professional pharmacy program and then once in it all I wanted was to be done with PDA and then I just wanted to be on rotations and then once on rotations all I wanted was to get to Christmas break and then I just wanted to get to residency interviews and then I just wanted to get to Match day and then more rotations and all I wanted was to get through them.  [breathe]

Now finally I am done with rotations and I know I'm going to my #1 residency choice on June 27th and graduation is in 19 days... Now I just want to figure out where I'm living next year and feel settled before the residency starts... All I really want is to move in to the apartment next door to B but it would mean paying a little extra rent unless someone can take over [A] and my room when we move out... so stressful. ug.

Anyway, all this wishing for the future has made me start thinking how much I am going to try to focus on enjoying the present once I get done working these next couple of weeks.  I will have 6 weeks before my residency starts and I fully intend to enjoy the time off.  As excited as I am for the residency, I am going to be very happy to have nothing to do. :-)

So, that is all for now.

goodnight

school's out for--ever...

Last wednesday was my very last day of rotations - EVER! :-)  I am very happy to have completed all of my schooling, it has been a fun 6 years.

I now have 20 days until graduation and I am currently scheduled to work at [retail pharmacy] on 10 of the next 13 days.  I am very glad that a couple of stores are REALLY short on help because, to the best of my knowledge, once I enter that strange limbo between graduation and becoming a pharmacist, I will no longer be employed by [retail pharmacy] because I am not going to be working for them as a pharmacist.  So I will have a glorious 6 weeks in which to do nothing except take and pass the boards :-)  I only hope that I can make enough money in the next 2 weeks to sustain my life until I start getting paid in July.

Being on the verge of true adulthood has made me think a lot about my life these last 6 years and all the changes that have occurred in me and the way I think about things.  It is interesting to think of the events and people that change a person.  I think back to my freshman year of college.  I came to college with my best friend from high school and we lived together freshman year.  A lot of things happened with her that year and I felt a strong need to protect her.  We were pretty secluded and didn't make friends with a lot of the other girls especially the first semester.  I can't say exactly what effect this experience had on me but I have my theories.

During the second semester we met a girl who would become our third musketeer and live in a triple with us our sophomore year.  Again sophomore year my best friend faced difficulties and I really didn't know how to help at all.  Our junior year we grew to 4 people and lived in an apartment on campus.  This year was a turning point for me I think in many ways.  Things in the apartment were either great or terrible.  It was 3 pharm kids in their first professional year and then my friend from high school who had changed her major to education.  There was stress on all sides and a lot of miscommunication.  It seemed like someone was always fighting with someone and it changed all the time.  I realized that year that I much preferred direct communication to the more passive aggressive approach.  I also realized that some things I will never be able to fix.  I was very glad to get away when the year ended.

The next year was senior year and we grew yet again.  Now there were seven of us all living in a house near campus.  This blog is not big enough to hold all the drama that ensued from this living arrangement.  If we thought 4 was hard, 7 was nearly impossible.  I will never live with that many unrelated females again ever.  We did this for 2 long years.  Now this isn't to say that it was always horrible.  We had a lot of good times too.  We threw awesome halloween parties, we had study sessions that I will never forget, we had family dinners, christmas parties... yes, there are benefits to having so many friends live in the same place.  Nevertheless, I would not do it again if I had the whole thing to do over.  The biggest thing I learned about myself is that although I like to hang out with my friends, at age 22-23 I was ready to be more on my own and starting real life.  I realized that some people just don't handle change well.  I realized that different people have different needs from their friends.

So then the last year of college... I got an apartment with a girl that I had been living with since the apt at college junior year, A, and another girl who I had not lived with.  We decided that A and I could share a room because our schedules only had us both in the city for a couple of months.  B and I were obviously together at this time and although I have this apartment with the girls, I am rarely there.  It is unfortunate that I have to have this apartment at all but since popular belief is that unmarried couples should live separately we must keep up appearances.

So this is a long and probably pointless post but we'll call it reflective.  I'll try to spice it up next time :-)

until then...

ok, week over

finally this very busy week is over... the night before the URC brought me to tears because I couldn't seem to get through my presentation when I was practicing... then I realized that I never practice my oral presentations and maybe that was what was stressing me out... so I went to bed and successfully woke up every hour or so until 6:05am on Friday when I actually had to get up.  I got to campus around 7:15, got my URC packet, dropped off my rotation binder for grading, picked up my review forms for the morning, and went to sit in my presentation room.  It was now about 7:35... 55 minutes until my presentation... crap.

I survived... some of my friends came to see my presentation.  My sister couldn't come because her immune system is in an epic battle with a late onset flu virus (it's an ugly battle, mucous everywhere, pretty upsetting).  B came too and everyone told me I'd do fine but I was still nervous... then to top things off in walks a very intense professor, JA... he will be one of my evaluators.  Next in walks SN, another very intense professor... fortunately she was only the time keeper for the morning session.. My other evaluators were KR and one other faculty member.  So, I gave my presentation which had a video clip in it which of course didn't work and I answered the questions and overall I think it went ok...  At least it is over :-)

I watched a bunch of other presentations and reviewed 6 of them and then went to a reception for the students pursuing post grad education... that was fun :-)  I'm looking forward to my residency year with E and T... I'm sure J  will be a nice guy too.

So, I slept in today in a big way and got up around noon.  Now I'm just wasting time while I should be cleaning or something.

--pause--

B just attacked me and tickled me.  Not cool B, not cool.

Anyway, I should go do something now before I have to get ready to meet T and M at Bonefish at 5pm...

Happy weekend everybody!

after midnight again

Why is it that everytime I have to get up early to work 12 hours the next day I can't get to bed before midnight?  I fail at night time sleeping... which is weird because I really really really like to do it.

Off to it then...

goodnight

this week

So this week my schedule is as follows

Monday          
Kroger rotation 8-8
Finish slides for URC

Tuesday          
Community Practice Seminar 1-3
Walgreens 4-9pm

Wednesday    
Kroger rotation 8-8
Prep for URC

Thursday        
Kroger rotation 8-8
REALLY freaking prep for URC

Friday            
URC presentation @ 8:30am
Residency thing @ noon
Computer thing 2-2:30
Walgreens 5-9pm

Saturday  
Working on finishing my manuscript   
Dinner with T&M
RELAXING!!!
                      
This week kind of sucks big time - BUT when it is over... it's really over... I'll only have 3 more days of my rotation and that will be the end of my college career.  Holy crap.  Hard to believe that 6 years ago I felt like my graduation in 2011 was so far away.

Well, here's to this week going quickly and smoothly :-)

goodnight

yeah, I'm back

So, I know I introduced myself but since this will be a blog about my life as a PGY1 resident, I feel like it is important to discuss how I got to this point...

For the first 4 years of pharmacy school I was prepping to become the owner of an independent pharmacy.  One summer as part of my IPPE hours I worked in a small community hospital and my plans shifted... it wasn't that I didn't like independent retail pharmacy anymore, I just wanted something else more... my pharmacist talked to me about a residency and I began thinking about this path...

I had one more year of classes and I went back and forth pretty much weekly about what I wanted to do... during that year I broke up with my boyfriend of almost 2 years and was single for awhile and during that time, when I was totally focused on me, I decided that I was definitely going to pursue a residency... in the spring I met and got to know B and we hit it off.  I wasn't really expecting another relationship at that point but after I started getting to know B I just knew I didn't want to be without him. In May of 2010 I started rotations and after the first one I knew that my decision to pursue a residency was the right one.

The application process began in the fall of 2010 and by that time I had decided to apply to 5 places.  I received interviews with 4 of those places and ranked all 4.  The interviews were long events most taking 5-7 hours total... During the interviews I found things about each program that I liked and the ranking was difficult but by the time interviews were over I had a clear favorite and two that would have been fine matches and one that would have been a pretty good match but would have required me to move away from B.  The match process was terrifying just because once you rank the places you really have no control over what happens.  I was so nervous for that 3 weeks I could hardly stand it...

So, match day came and the next year of my life was hanging in the balance -- at about 9:15am I got an email and -- who would have thought -- I matched with my first choice!!!  I was so happy that I could have screamed, but unfortunately I was on a rotation so that was not really an option... instead I text'd rapidly to my friends and family and gave them the good news.

The entire process was stress filled because with the increasing number of applicants the process is getting really competitive but throughout it I just had a feeling that things would work out.  Still, the realization took awhile to sink in after finding out.

So, now I have submitted a formal application and am awaiting an official offer.  I think at that point it will all be real.  I am so happy that I chose this path even though it will mean making a lot less money initially.  I know that ultimately this will help me get a job that I am really happy in for the long run.

Probably most people that will read this blog will already know all this stuff but for anyone else, here it is, part of the story of how I got here :-)

goodnight

lazy sunday birthday

Today is my 24th birthday.  My mom came down yesterday and she and my sister and I went to dinner and out to see "Arthur"... it was hilarious.  Today we stayed in and watched "Tangled" which was cute.

I should now be working on my PharmD stuff but I just can't find the motivation.  Maybe in a little bit... we'll see.

I'm going to go pick up chinese food now for B and I, maybe I'll be motivated to avoid my project with more blogging later :-)

That's all for now.

let's get things started

So, I decided to start a blog in honor of the new chapter of my life that is soon to be starting.  I am graduating from pharmacy school in 36 days and will then be taking my boards and starting a PGY1 residency at a downtown hospital.  I am so excited about the possibilities that await me in my first year as a pharmacist. :-)

That's my professional life and I fully intend to write as much as I can while maintaining all necessary confidentiality :-)

In my personal life, my boyfriend B and I have been dating now for a little over a year and he is absolutely wonderful.  As I begin this year of residency he will be finishing pharmacy school by completing his rotations.  A busy year for both of us.  I am so glad that we have each other for this exciting time in our lives.

So, there is more to me than all of this but I suppose I'll get into it as the posts progress.  For now, this is me introducing myself.

goodnight