Just in case you were wondering, the following is an update on my life and adventures!
Many of you have asked me, “Are you a doctor yet? How much longer? What are you going to do? And how does all this work?” Well, let me explain—
I’m currently in my fourth and last year of medical school, and I’m going to be an OB/GYN (Obstetrician and Gynecologist)! I am PUMPED about it. I feel like I am only paces away from the place I strived for for years. I know this is God’s calling on my life. I know I was made to take care of women from all walks of life through many stage of their lives. Doing so brings me such great joy! I am excited about helping bring new lives into this world, being a surgeon as well as primary care physician, and being an advocate for women and their health. This is the very thing I have been working for for so many years. It is incredible to finally see it all materialize.
After I graduate in May with an MD, I will begin an OB/GYN residency in July 2011 that will last 4 years. Last week I began the process of interviewing for a position in an OB/GYN residency program. Interview season typically lasts from late October through January. Many students travel widely and interview at approximately 10-15 programs, sometimes even more. I chose to apply throughout the Southeast—including Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, the Carolinas, and a few other random places here and there. I had a couple interviews in Texas in October and will be doing the bulk of my traveling outside of Texas in November in the form of a 3-week long roadtrip. Then in December I will be back in sweet home Houston traveling to several interviews in Texas.
At the end of this whole process, I will rank all of the programs I have interviewed at, and likewise, they will rank their interviewees. Then in March, someone presses some big magic button and every fourth year med student across the country gets ONE residency position (or not, but we won’t talk about that side of things :0). Then on March 17, the nationwide Match Day, there is a ceremony where each student receives an envelope containing the results of the match and the program to which they have been accepted and everyone opens their envelope in the presence of friends and family!
Some would say this whole interviewing and matching process is a bit stressful and nerve-racking. Yes and no. There are lots of little details, lots of unknowns, lots of meeting new faces, and lots of big decisions. But over and over, I hear the Lord whispering in my ear. I know the plans I have for you. Good, good plans. Plans to prosper you. And never to harm you. Plans for a hope. And a future. I am confident that the Lord saw these days ahead of me long before I was born. And He knew. He knew exactly what I would need. He knows the perfect place for me.
I have had a lot of time to myself over the last week or so. I have driven from Houston to San Antonio to Dallas to Nashville, well over a thousand miles, and about 24 hours worth of car time. I’ve sung my favorite songs at the top of my lungs, I’ve listened to some great sermons and audiobooks, and I’ve sat in complete silence—praying and listening and thinking. I’ve run the list of all my hopes and dreams and fears and expectations and much, much more. I’ve reminisced about where I’ve come from and where I’m heading. My heart is full—full of gratitude for all the wonderful things the Lord has done to bring me to this place and full of excitement over where He is taking me. But even in all of that there is that tinge of fear of the unknown. Will I move far away or will I stay close to the ones I love? Will it be super hard?? Who are these other folks who I’ll be spending days and nights with training to be OB/GYNs?
However, these unknowns, these fears, are overshadowed by the remarkable goodness of God in my life. He had done more than I could have ever asked or even imagined. He has been faithful. And He will forevermore be. So I give him my hopes, my dreams, my fears, my expectations, my future plans. They are safe with Him. And I am safe with Him.
Thank you, thank you, thank you to each of you for being such incredible friends, cheerleaders, prayer warriors, running buddies, confidants, and the list goes on. You are my people, and without your support in so many different seasons of my life I would have never made it to this place. I thank God for each of you!!
Please continue to pray and praise God for all He’s up to. Hopefully I’ll snap a few pics of my journey and keep you posted on my whereabouts via the Facebook stalking-machine!
Much love to each of you,
Janice
