AN END, AND THEN A NEW BEGINNING….
I have finally finished residency. It has been a long time coming. After five long years I finally graduated. Yay me! It was very bittersweet leaving Detroit. While residency was hard, I grew to love that city and I love so many of the people who are there. I am still very honored to be part of the DMC community. They supported, encouraged and helped me become the person, physician, and surgeon I am today. More importantly…. They helped me pass my first round of boards. Phew. No love lost there.
. 
and now for the beginning….
I was given the wonderful opportunity to join some colleagues in beautiful Boone, NC for Samaritans Purse orientation. I met some truly incredible people, both fellow post-residents (which is what we are called in this program) and some wonderful speakers and leaders. It was a mix of really intense conversations about burnout and expectations, fun and laughing with peers, eating delicious food, and of course, being fake abducted and car-jacked. (this is not a joke, really tested my HR monitor on my watch)
They taught us a little bit about practicing outside of our comfort zone. They encouraged us to have zero expectations. We had some great lectures on theology of medicine, theology of suffering and theology of missions. It was a truly incredible experience, all of the fears that I had were just met time and time again by God’s overwhelming presence. There is nothing comparable to feeling like you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
There was something really beautiful about building this community of people who are all going out together. It is honestly hard to explain how deep and close we got in such a short time. I am very excited to see some of them in Switzerland and France in a few short months. I have a feeling these relationships will just grow deeper and deeper.
And also some goodbyes…..
One of the lectures we had was about saying “good goodbyes”. Especially coming off of five years spent mostly MIA, I spent some time seeing old friends (clarification: friends I have had for a while, they are actually very very young), meeting their kids, and enjoying some quality time talking about God’s next plan in my life. It is tough saying goodbye to people without knowing when the next time I will see them will be, but even better to feel supported and loved through the next season of life.
Next up, Switzerland!
So, for the next 3 weeks, I am hanging out with the ‘rents in Austin, doing a BBQ tour of the city, and heading out September 25.
Please be praying:
-for my oral boards coming up in November
-for Jesus to prepare my heart for this next chapter
-for good community building in Switzerland
-that I would still remember how to do surgery when I get to Togo!