The Schedule (Shedule?)

So Denise has wrapped up her fifth semester, and it is a far different feeling from every other semester she's completed. Fifth has been like a waiting room, having finished the grueling Dominica leg of the degree, and waiting for the grueling rotations that take up the next two years. Really, this semester felt like a formality, a distraction for what the real prize is: the USMLE test. Denise has scheduled hers for a month from now. Right now, we're waiting in YVR, having successfully navigated through customs with far less hassle than last time.

This is really the part of the degree where Ross students start splintering all over the continent. They have the freedom to schedule and reschedule their USMLE as they see fit, although generally, the sooner they write it the better it is for their careers. The score they get on that test, along with the timing of when it is written, largely determines where they spend years three and four of their MD. It's a big deal.

This semester has been surprising in that Denise has suddenly honed her plans. There's been a few debates about what career she'll end up with, but she seems pretty confident that she wants OB/GYN. For those of you who are unclear, that means vaginas and babies.

This is among the creepier photos I've ever posted.

So, without further ado, here is an extremely tentative schedule for our lives over the next two years:

1. Denise will write the USMLE on May 7th (there's a possibility she'll push it back). It will be the most important test she's ever taken in her life.
2. While waiting for the marks, we gon go get hitched on May 26th. She should get her scores a few days later. Let's call this The Most Emotional Week Ever.
3. Based on whatever job I can get over the summer, we'll be hanging around Vancouver until August, or possibly moving to Toronto in July.
4. Assuming Denise does well on the USMLE, she'll likely begin what's called a "Track" program in Saginaw in September. Over the next two years, she has to get practical experience in a lot of different fields, and then has a few months of time to concentrate on electives, where she can focus more on areas she's interested in. For the rotations she has to take, she's trying to do them all in one hospital over one year in Saginaw, which would cut down on stress quite a lot and would be good for her career. Her electives will be a mix of Saginaw and most likely Canadian hospitals as she tries to network like mad north of the border. The more she shows her lovely face, the more likely they'll offer her a lovely job.
5. Assuming (and assuming and assuming) I won't be able to get a work permit in Michigan next year, I'll be living in either in Toronto or Vancouver, where I have family and friends, so that I can work and visit Denise as often as possible. Not ideal for newlyweds, but it seems that the USA is renowned for disrespecting the sanctity of marriage.
6. After that it's hard to predict where we'll be/ what she'll be doing, but if all goes according to plan, she'll knock down her rotations in an awesome, professional, and sexy manner, and get to graduate in New York in May 2014. That's when we'll all take a deep breath and sigh in relief, and then she'll get to be all doctory and stuff.

So that's where we're at. One of the downsides of this program is that it's hard to plan for very long (which adds unexpected costs of its own). Strangely, it's also an upside, since we've been bouncing around the continent experiencing some pretty nutso things. Plus she certainly has a fire lit under her ass.