Ok. I’m going to be honest here.

Ever since Carina decided to become a doctor about eight years ago, I’ve always sorta felt sorry for FM docs. I mean, they go to all that stress, time and effort to plow through medical school, and then they never got to do any of the really cool doctor stuff, like see the insides of people’s bodies, or send probes into blood vessels, or insert gigantic needles into spinal columns, or even intubate emergency patients in the ER. They just sit in a clinic, see endless cases of runny noses, acne, and skin rashes, hand out prescriptions, and refer away anything remotely interesting to the specialists. Read the rest of this entry »

David Kenneally and his family -- fellow AUC'ers! (...and readers of our family blog)

David Kenneally and his family — fellow AUC’ers! (…and readers of our family blog)

Recently, I received a private message on Facebook from an AUC med student, David Kenneally, who is about two years behind Carina. I have yet to meet him in person, but he found this blog back when we (the Crookstons and Michelle) were all on the island, and apparently Carina’s journey helped convince him to not give up on his medical school dreams. He is a non-traditional student, and has older kids like us.

We’ve kept in touch as he and his family have been on the island. And now that his time there is wrapping up, he politely requested more blog posts about life as an AUC student after-the-island.

He made the comment, “It’s interesting: most blogs leave off after the island. You’ll get a few posts afterwards, but the world of clinicals is very opaque.”

And to be honest, I recall thinking the exact same thing when we were there. What happens next was this big giant mystery.

Read the rest of this entry »

(This was originally a post I made on Facebook on November 30th, 2015.  I’m adding it to the blog to help preserve it, and to make it more available for those who are not FB friends…)

Carina all dressed up for her first residency interview

Carina all dressed up for her first residency interview

Every now and then, life (or God, or Fate, which ever you chose to believe) has a way of throwing you a curve ball.  Recently, in our family’s journey of Carina becoming an M.D., we had one of these curve balls thrown our way, and it has significantly altered our future path.

Those of you who know Carina personally may recall that it has always been her goal to help people who are fighting cancer.  In fact, this desire has been the most singular driving force behind her decision to go into medicine and become a physician, and is rooted in the experiences of her younger sister Amy, who died of cancer when they were both children.

At the end of November, 2015, Carina finished medical school. Phew!  What an accomplishment!  It’s been a long, adventurous, challenging four years!  Andi, Tanner, Piper and I are all proud of her!  After medical school comes residency, a three to four year training program that all physicians must complete in their chosen area of expertise.

Finding a residency, however, is not an easy process.  It used to be that there were more residency spots than med school graduates who wanted them.  But that isn’t the case anymore.  There are now more young, budding M.D.’s who are looking for a residency then there are positions to accept them all. As a result, it’s not uncommon for graduates to apply to a LOT of residency programs all over the country in multiple areas of expertise.  Some of Carina’s preceding class mates applied to more than 100 residency positions. Read the rest of this entry »

Its official, I have ten weeks of my electives done. There are a total of 30 weeks of elective rotations that I am required to take.  And, in these precious ten weeks I have loved each day. I can close my eyes and imagine myself as a family practice doctor. I can also close my eyes and imagine that I’m a radiologist.

I may need nine lives so I can change directions a few times. How will I ever choose?

No More (long) Family Separations:

When Casey and I were on the island we had called the St. Cloud hospital (University of Minnesota family medicine program) to ask if I could do a family medicine rotation in my home town, after my boards and, before the kids would be out of school. The alternative is that I would need to go to New York, California, or Florida, by myself, to do a few electives before my core program in Michigan would begin in July. They told us very kindly that it would not be possible. They said that because SCH (St Cloud Hospital) doesn’t have an affiliation with my medical school it wouldn’t work. I felt calm and knew I wouldn’t give up that easily. Read the rest of this entry »

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