Good morning! 2 Days left to study for the next gastrointestinal test! Things are a little bit stressful this time around. This course has been a little more disorganized than those in the past and there seems to be more material thrown in at the last minute. I would appreciate any prayers I can scrounge up.

Studying the GI tract has been a lot of fun. I really enjoy the topic but don't think I would enjoy the actual practice of being a gastroenterologist. But then I have a lot more time before I figure that one out. Also coming up, the registrar is working on the schedule for 3rd year. Once they publish it, I believe we have about 2 weeks to trade with everyone to get the rotation that we would like. They've changed the rotations this year to split up our vacation and give us more choices, which I believe will make switching schedules all the more difficult. I am not sure when I am hoping to use my vacation. It's crazy that all these things matter, but there are strategies for how you do your rotations during 3rd year. For instance, they recommend that you take the courses that you are most interested in early that way you know if you really like them. That way when you make your schedule for 4th year, you won't have to rework it because you found out you actually hate the field that you thought you would be doing for the rest of your life. (True story).

Then there is the lovely step 1 always looming over our heads. It seems the faculty love to remind of us of this "next hurdle" as if we could forget that this one test dictates 1 whether we can be a doctor and continue our educations and 2 what types of specialities are still available to us.

So, I am kind of feeling some of the pressure lately. The seconds keep ticking by, the days pass much more quickly than I would like. I won't say that there are not enough hours in the day because I don't need an hour. I just need a couple of minutes to rest. If medical school has taught me anything, it's how to value time.