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Hello everyone! It’s
been a marathon around our house for the last few months.
Fall 2018 marked the last semester of my
basic sciences curriculum. With my
university moving to Barbados in January 2019, it was extra motivation to study
hard and get through the material! All
the glory be to God, I took our final on 11/30 and found out I passed the week
afterwards.
The two weeks between our final and the COMP were intense. K’s folks were kind enough to come down to
our home to watch E while K and I went to a gala celebrating the completion of
our basic sciences curriculum. It was
wonderful to celebrate with my friends and just enjoy ourselves for a bit.
That Monday, it was back to the grind. For
two weeks, I studied from 6 AM to 5 PM.
I would come home for a few hours for dinner and to see my family, then
head back to school around 8 PM to study until midnight or 1 AM. I reviewed cardiology, renal, hematology, GI,
reproductive, and pharmacology. Things
that I had recently seen: neuro/respiratory/endocrine I didn’t specifically
study. I watched a review series called
Boards and Beyond and did a bunch of practice questions.
Then, came the CBSE or COMP exam. COMP is a 4-hour, 200 question comprehensive
exam covering anything and everything from the first two years of medical
school. I was scheduled to take it on 12/14 and showed up with about 45 other
students (most of whom are part of the accelerated program, whereas I am
curriculum.) It was nice to see a few
faces whom I knew as we settled into the exam.
Boy, I didn’t feel great after that test. As on all our exams, there is an option to
“mark” questions and come back to them.
I use the marking system as a way to track which questions I’m not sure
about. So if I know I know the answer, I
answer it and move on. If I’m unsure, I
mark it and come back to it at the end of the block of questions. If I knew I didn’t know it, I’d make a mark
on my scratch paper and wouldn’t mark it (no use wasting time on something I
knew I wouldn’t be able to figure out.)
When it was over, I had marked 48 questions and knew I didn’t know 12
others. If I got every other question
correct, that would give me the score I needed to pass: 70% (140/200.) Praise God, I not only passed but exceeded the
necessary score!
Now, I’m on an approved absence from school (as are all my
classmates) as we study for our first real board exam, the USMLE Step 1, which
I’m planning on taking this spring.
K is crushing it, as usual.
I cannot describe how supportive he has been while I’ve been in “go”
mode. Not once did he complain about
doing essentially *everything* for two weeks.
Over Christmas break, I actually got to spend time with my husband (we even
went on a date! Thanks Mom and Dad!) I
miss him and E so much when I study all day, but I recognize that we are in a
wonderful stage right now because I’m home and can see them at lunch and at
dinner and for bedtime and I know it won’t always been this way, so I’m trying
to treasure the moment and just enjoy it.
Anyway, back to K. He
starts the last semester of his master’s program in about 2 weeks. He will graduate with a master’s degree in
Theology come May and we are so excited to watch him walk across that stage! I’ve joked that he’s earned this degree with
E on his knee, but I’m only half joking.
He’s written countless papers and read I don’t know how many books while
holding E. In fact, when I proofread his
papers, I can always tell where he’s gotten up to help E because they’ll be the
same train of thought written into the subsequent paragraph, almost like his
brain just kept going.
We are so proud of him and all his hard. It’s no easy feat to stay home with a baby or
toddler and to earn a master’s degree on top of that just blows me away.
E is happy as a clam.
He seems to grow inches overnight!
He enjoyed seeing his grandparents over Christmas and got spoiled
rotten. He’s really into the Octonauts
series on Netflix right now (for a kid’s show, it’s definitely watchable for
adults.) He got some Octonauts themed
toys and has enjoyed playing with them.
We wish you the best in the New Year.
For His Glory,
KCE
