Aloha!

We made it to Hawaii safe and sound.  The 9 hour flight from Chicago to Honolulu was the longest of my life.  That's actually a false statement, I've been on tons of longer flights, but this one seemed to never end.  Ed and I got stuck in middle seating, and for some reason my bladder decided to act up on me.  I had to ask my neighbors to get up 4 separate times so I could pee.  I kept wishing I was pregnant so I could use that as an excuse.  But nope, I guess I just drank too much coffee and orange juice for breakfast.   AND, they didn't serve any food on the flight.  Not even peanuts.  What has the world come to?  We had to pay an arm and leg for a salad and wrap.  United Airlines, you just lost 2 customers.  Anyway, Ed played some game on his iPad for the entire flight, and he was happy as a clam.  My attention span was about as long as my 3 year old niece's (should have taken some Adderall...lesson learned).  I tried playing games on my iPhone, but it would only entertain me for about 10 minutes before I was ready to move on to something more exciting.  I eventually got so bored that I started thinking of all the things that could go wrong on the flight, and I almost convinced myself that I was going to get a DVT and die of a pulmonary embolus before the flight would ever end.  I think I've done too many Step 2 practice questions. (If the question involves a woman who just got off a long flight or a truck driver, the answer is something about a DVT.  Always.)

We've already had our first hiccup of the trip.  Victim: Ed Chang.  Perpetrator: Car Rental.  "Mr. Chang, may I see your license?" "Sure..........oh crap."  Ed had forgotten his driver's license.  How could this happen, you ask?  Ed always uses his military ID to check into flights.  So we got 5000 miles away from home before he realized the mistake.  Unfortunately, we don't know where his license is.  Since he never uses it except to rent cars, we are assuming it is in Seattle, WA, the location of his last car rental.  He had flown out there last week for an interview.  He has been on the phone for hours with the car rental place, but keeps getting the run around and no one will get back to him about the license.  Ed has contacted Arizona (the state that issued his license...long story, don't ask), and they said they are willing to send him a replacement license, but he has to send his license # to them.  Who actually knows their license #?  Not me.  Nor Ed.  So we are still counting on the Seattle car rental place to find it and overnight it to us.  Until then, I am in charge of the driving, which is uber weird.  I hate it.  I like to sight see and let my mind drift off to random stuff like DVTs, not worry about which exit to take and swerve in and out of crazy traffic.

Our condo is so nice.  We are located in Diamond Head Park, right south of Waikiki.  It's a 2 bedroom place right on the beach with a great view and full kitchen, living room, bathroom, cable TV, internet, etc.  Seriously, anyone is welcome to come visit us while we are here.  There is plenty of room.  I still can't believe Ed was able to find this place for under our daily housing stipend that the Army provides. That's right, we are staying here for FREE.  It's too good to be true.  I hope we don't have to work too hard while we are here so that we can actually enjoy our time in paradise.  We ate at a hole-in-the-wall Korean BBQ restaurant last night that was out of this world good.  Ed had told me that the Asian food was on a whole different level here, and he wasn't kidding.  It has not disappointed.

Here is a picture of our view from the condo.  I will try to update the blog a couple more times while we are here so everyone can know just how great our trip is.  :)

Residency Applications/Interviews

Ed and I are right thick in the middle of residency applications.  In fact, Ed has already done 2 official interviews and I just dropped him off at the airport for his third.  As most of you know, Ed is applying to military residencies because he is on scholarship for medical school (shout out to all you tax payers...thanks for our income!).  His first interview was at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) in Bethesda, Md.  He absolutely loved the residents and attendings, and the fact that his hospital is brand spanking new (opened this year) and it is right across the street from the NIH, Ed was salivating at the idea of moving to DC.  Ed started medical school as part of the MD/PhD program, but because his preceptor moved to Colorado this past summer, his research has been halted and he is going to take the Masters in Science and not get to finish the PhD at UK.  The WRNMMC program would allow Ed to work on his PhD project at NIH during residency, so his goal of getting the double doctorate is not quite dead!  Yay!

He also interviewed at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, Tx.  I accompanied him on this trip and did an unofficial interview at Christus Santa Rosa Family Medicine program.  We both had great interviews and can totally see ourselves ending up in San Antonio.  Obviously, I loved being back in Texas and seeing so many Aggies everywhere, and with my two best friends being Texas natives, it is definitely my second home.  BAMC has a lot of perks that WRNMMC didn't, namely that the case load is higher and he will get better facial trauma training.  One of the downsides is that the research isn't nearly as strong as DC, but there is some opportunity.

Ed is currently on a flight to Seattle to interview at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis (Tacoma, WA).  We don't know much about the program, but it seems to have a strong reputation.  Also, the Pacific Northwest is known for being the hot-spot for Family Medicine training.  Unlike where we live in the Southeast, Family Medicine is the "cool" thing to do out West.  There are 7 different Family Medicine residencies within an hour drive of Madigan, but the one I am most interested in is Tacoma Family Medicine, not only because it's the best location, but it has an awesome reputation.  Once again, we'd be happy to end up in Washington state - such a fun, vibrant area with skiing, hiking, and ocean activities all so close.  It may take a while for me to adjust to the clouds/rain though.

Ed and I leave for Hawaii this coming weekend.  Yes, I just said that - HAWAII.  Whoop!  We will be there for a whole month doing away rotations.  I will be working with the University of Hawaii FM Program and Ed will be with Tripler Army Medical Center at Fort Shafter.  We have rented a condo on the beach near Diamondhead.  It looks amazing.  Don't worry, I will be posting lots of pics.  Whenever we mention Hawaii as an option for residency to our friends, everyone thinks ranking them first is a no-brainer.  We agree that living in Hawaii for 5 years, all on Uncle Sam's dime, sounds fantastic, but we have to decide if we are willing to be that far away from home for so long.  Since we will be attempting to start a family during that time period, I feel like it may be hard to have Papa and Happy (my parent's nicknames, thanks to my niece Mary Beth) half way around the world.  So, needless to say, it is a very good thing that we are doing rotations there so we can get a feel for actually living there instead of just visiting for a one-day interview.

The interviews are starting to pour in for me.  That's one of the joys of choosing Family Medicine (or primary care in general).  It's not nearly as competitive as ENT.  I have interviews set up for VCU-Fairfax (in Fairfax, VA...duh), Georgetown (DC), Franklin Square (Baltimore), Meharry (Nashville), and Trident (Charleston, SC).  If you've been paying attention during this post, you should now be asking, "Why are you interviewing in Nashville and Charleston?"  That's a great question.  And here's the answer.  While we are quite confident that Ed will match into an Army spot, there is always the possibility that he could open up his Match Day letter on December 15 and it read "deferred," which means he is released to do a civilian residency.)  Ed has applied to about 20 civilian ENT programs in the Southeast, two of which are Vanderbilt and Medical University of South Carolina.  And since he had to apply to civilian ENT residencies, I had to apply to FM residencies near those spots as well.  Can you say headache?  So while our main focus is DC, San Antonio, Tacoma, and Hawaii, we have to be prepared for all options and keep other schools in the back of our heads.

OK, well I'm tired (and slightly stressed) from writing this, so I'm gonna go.  I will update y'all about Ed's Madigan trip and of course Hawaii in a few weeks.  Until then, check out my hunky hubby before one of his interviews.  Mmmm mmmm, gotta love a man in uniform.