Clerkship Survival Tips

Hi, my name is Eva! My husband is in the army and will graduate in 2015. As he starts his "fourth" year (from January of MSIII to graduation), we are really enjoying the post-clerkship period. Third-year rotations were challenging for both of us. He was gone for 4 rotations (or 20 weeks), and even when he was around, he needed to devote most of his non-hospital time to studying for shelf exams and Step 1. Fourth-year rotations have (so far!) been much lighter in terms of hours at work as well as the amount of studying that needs to be done in the evenings.

As I look back over the last year of rotations, I thought it might be helpful to give some tips about how to survive the clerkship year:

Plan! Picking rotations as part of the lottery is challenging. I work full-time and was only able to do short visits for any away rotations, so my husband and I wanted to maximize his local rotations. We factored in what times of year he wanted to be local (summer more than winter!), what other people in his class wanted to do (to avoid wasting points trying to get "expensive" rotations), in what order he wanted to do his rotations (he wanted to do the rotations he was most interested in last), and which bases/programs he wanted to see because he was thinking about them for residency. 
I also highly recommend having both of you attend the lottery info session that the SSC will host. There's a LOT of good information that the SSC has put together over the years.
 
Stay on top of paperwork. My husband did all the travel paperwork himself, but I made sure to send him any government credit card bills immediately so we always paid off the card. The government card is in the student's name so you need to be prepared to pay this off (and it can get expensive if you're gone for multiple rotations) even if there are delays in getting reimbursed. Also, you are eligible for Family Separation Allowance if you are apart for more than 30 days, but you have to file manually for this.
 
Visiting: If you visit, be prepared to entertain yourself. I visited for my husband's rotations in Tacoma, Hawaii, and San Diego (I skipped Fort Hood). These were all great, really fun places to visit, but I was usually only around for a weekend so we were able to see the cities together. When I was there on a weekday, my husband's schedule was not conducive to spending much time together. He had to go to bed fairly early to be ready to go to the hospital in the morning, then he worked all day, and then he had to study at night. 
If you are going to be visiting during the week, make sure you have a plan for how you'll spend your time. Also, most of the hotels he stayed at were on bases and there wasn't much to do within walking distance. You're not allowed to use the students' rental cars, so you also need a plan for how to get to all the fun activities you have planned for yourself to do!
 
Be flexible. This really applies in multiple ways. First, rotations are never final until you're actually doing them! My husband had one additional rotation in San Antonio that was cancelled and moved to Walter Reed. This worked fine for us, but some of the other people who needed to move back had issues with housing in Bethesda or personal commitments in San Antonio. You need to be prepared for a rotation to get moved/cancelled/etc. 

Also, be prepared to be flexible about what specialty your student chooses. My husband had a general interest when he started, then he switched to something else, then back again, then onto a new specialty, and now I think he's finally decided (in March of the next year!) It can be a little frustrating and nerve-wracking, but just remember that they will choose a specialty eventually and that almost everyone goes through this.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask me or anyone else in the SSC - the SSC is an invaluable resource! 

Eva has been elected as Treasurer for the 2014-2015 term. 

Meet the Member Mondays: Katherine R

Hello! We are John, Katherine, Kylan, Daven and Bella (the dog) Richardson. My husband will be graduating in 26 (!) days and will begin a Family Medicine Residency for the US Air Force at Fort Belvoir in June.

He has nine years prior service as an Army Officer and spent 2.5 years in Iraq as a Blackhawk Pilot doing search and rescue missions. We decided to make the switch to Air Force in hopes of shorter deployments and better family support.

We met in Raleigh, NC (where I’m from) while he was stationed at Fort Bragg. I had just graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill and was applying to Ph.D. programs when we met. He was about to leave for his second deployment, which left me free to go wherever I wanted for graduate school since no matter where it was it wouldn’t really be any closer to him (one silver lining).

Our nearly eight year marriage has been an absolute whirlwind including lots of separation, seven moves, buying and selling four homes, me completing two Master’s degrees (in Speech-Language Pathology and Music), working as a Speech-Language Pathologist, singing Opera professionally, birthing two amazingly wonderful children who absolutely make my heart sing, and my husband (almost) completing Medical school. We love traveling and all things active, most importantly, playing with our kids! I also enjoy cooking, drinking wine, reading, and music.

I have THOROUGHLY enjoyed two years at home with my kids, but this June I will be headed off to COT for the Air Force and will begin Medical School at USUHS in August. I am terrified and excited all at the same time. It will be a huge transition for our entire family and to top it all off, my husband will be in his intern year so things are about to get a little crazy. We are moving to Arlington, VA in a few weeks to split our commute and have hired an Au Pair from Italy to live with us, who will be arriving in June. Wish us luck, I think we are going to need it!

Second Annual SSC Wounded Warrior Run: April 26th

Running to support the local community

Don’t let this long winter get you down! Run local and support your community by running to care for those in harms way. The SSC Wounded Warrior Run’s second annual race is raising money for wounded service members and military families in our D.C. area community.

The 5K and 10K race will take place next Saturday, April 26th at the Agricultural History Farm Park. The race includes a free kids fun run, live music by Broken Rocker, and prizes and raffles from local businesses.

"Last year was a great inaugural year and we are excited that this year we will be directly supporting our local community of wounded warriors at Walter Reed," said Christine Kempsell, race director. "We are also proud to be supported by a great number of local and small businesses."

    

The 2014 SSC Wounded Warrior Run is presented by LMT, a mathematic optimization company, based in Vienna, Virginia, with strong roots to the military. President and CEO, Lani Hay, is a Naval Academy alumna military veteran and LMT has used data analytics to protect military troops and civilian communities from getting hurt.

Online registration for the race is open until Thursday, April 24, and onsite registration will be available on race day. Wounded warriors run free!

Learn more and register online at www.sscwoundedwarriorrun.com or email sscwoundedwarriorrun@gmail.com for questions and to register a group. Visit them on Facebook for event updates. For more information on the Walter Reed Warrior Family Coordination Cell call 855-360-HERO (855-360-4376).

The SSC Wounded Warrior Run is a Maryland State registered charity entirely organized and managed by volunteers from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and their significant others. Proceeds benefit the Walter Reed Warrior Family Coordination Cell and the USU Student Spouses Club.

       

Carrot Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Cake

With Easter just under a week away, let this cake inspire your spring baking spirit! This recipe will impress your family, inspire a new favorite and maybe get your kids (or husbands) to eat some carrots!

Thank you to SSC member Katherine for letting us re-post this from her blog pleasegivepeasachance.blogspot.com!

 

Welcome to the best Carrot Cake post EVER. No really.
Carrot cake. Vanilla bean. Cheesecake. Cake.
Moist carrot cake layers, a layer of creamy vanilla bean cheesecake, smothered in a Cinnamon vanilla bean cream cheese frosting, topped with candied carrot curls. HELLO.
Perfect for any occasion really.
This cake takes some planning to make. There are quite a few steps but the methods themselves are easy. I made two of these carrot cakes, a round and a square. It's a long story, that had to do with not having enough cake pans, and what not. In the end I dropped a layer on the floor and had to toss it, so I had enough extra batter to redeem myself. I guess I just knew I needed that extra batter.

 To find the recipe for the cake and cheesecake follow these links
  Carrot Cake
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Frosting and candied carrot curl recipes are at the bottom of this post.

Some notes:

• Just like the Chocolate Mint Cheesecake Cake, this is cake/cheesecake/cake/frosting. I don't put extra frosting between the layers of cake. 
• The candied carrot curls on top were easy to make, and I got a great simple syrup for my tea out of it. The recipe for that is below.
• If you are making this cake and placing the layers in the freezer  in between steps, thaw before serving! It tastes better fully thawed.

Give Peas A Chance Ginger Candied Carrot Curls

3-4 carrots (depending on size)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup water

1 few slices of ginger- fresh or crystallized about one inch rounds (Use a stick of cinnamon to tie in the cinnamon in the frosting and omit the ginger if desired)

1. Peel the carrots. Then take the peeler and long strips with it.
2. Put the sugar, water, and ginger in a pot. Bring to a simmer until the sugar is dissolved.
3. Add carrot slices to the pot, bring to a simmer.
4. Preheat the oven to 275 degrees.
5. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the carrots are just pliable and not crisp.
6. Drain the carrots and ginger. RESERVE the yummy simple syrup.
7. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. Place the carrots on the parchment paper. Lay them out in a single layer, not touching.
9. Place them in the oven for about 20-30 minutes.
10. Take the carrots out of the oven while still pliable, but not wet.
11. Shape them into curls - I used a chopstick.
12. Gently slide the carrots off of the chopsticks.
13. Bake them for another 10-15 minutes until they set.
14. Cool. Keep these in a dry place. 

Give Peas A Chance BEST Cinnamon Vanilla Bean Frosting

 (I frosted two cakes with this, so keep that in mind)
4 packages of cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened 
2-3 teaspoons vanilla bean paste - or like a tablespoon
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 cups of sugar (powdered) I may have used 3 1/2 

1. Beat the cream cheese and butter with a wire whisk attachment on a stand mixer, or use a hand mixer. Beat until light and fluffy with no lumps.
2. Add vanilla and cinnamon. Beat well.
3. Slowly add in powdered sugar. Mix well.

*A note about powdered sugar, if your frosting is runny, do NOT add more powdered sugar, that will make things worse. This is why I add a little sugar at a time to check consistency.

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Katherine a mother of 3 and the creator of Please Give Peas A Chance, an blog with healthy and easy lunch ideas, desserts, dinners crafts and more!