Pediatrics Clerkship

I've mentioned bits and pieces about what my husband is doing in Texas, but some of y'all want to understand a bit more about how we got here.

A typical medical school consists of two years in classes and two years in hospitals. My husband's medical school (USUHS) reformed their curriculum recently so that the students spend one and a half years in classes and two and a half years in hospitals. Just before Christmas, he finished up the classroom part (hallelujah! So proud of him!), and so here we are in Texas, as he begins his hands-on education. After we finish this year on the road, Michael will have a year and a half left to do advanced rotations through other specialties and audition rotations for his residency. But that is another adventure in a land far far away from here :)

So, in order for Michael and his 170 other classmates to receive their schedules for this year, they had to participate in a lottery system. I would try to explain it here, but it was so darn complicated and stressful that I just can't bear to relive it. Just know that it took over two weeks to complete the entire process, and we didn't really hang out with any friends during that time period.  It was cutthroat.  Especially Hawaii... go figure.

My husband, being the wonderful man he is, was more concerned with the specialties than the locations, so, here we are at Fort Hood, "The Great Place"... I haven't been able to figure out that moniker yet, but I'll let you know when I figure out where they keep the great in this place :)

Darnall Army Medical Center... with a helicopter flying overhead.

Michael's pediatric rotation is five weeks that is structured like this: 2 weeks in the clinic, 1 week in the newborn nursery, 2 weeks in the inpatient unit.

Tomorrow will be his last day in the pediatric clinic! He has had a great time learning from some amazing physicians.  One of them being Dr. Kunz (the clinic's director)... apparently Michael's long lost brother according to some of the clinic staff! He has really enjoyed his patients, too... ranging in age from two weeks old to fifteen years old.  My favorite moment from his time in clinic: his confession yesterday that he no longer even hears the screams of fussy children/crying babies.  I think that is an invaluable skill :)