March 2023 Updates and Features

Perfecting my craft!

Happy March! I don't have much in terms of updates over the past month as I was busy returning back to reality from my recent trip, as well as studying for the plastic surgery in-service exam which I completed a few days ago. I finished up a great plastic surgery rotation, and ended February on a high note. The picture above is actually the last day of last month's rotation, where my little sister came for a visit as my patient :) Right now, I'm taking the time in-between work duties to get caught up and relax a little. This post will be a quick update and share some of my recent features along with my most recent YouTube video.

For my most recent update, I completed my second ever plastic surgery in-service exam! This exam is taken annually by every plastic surgery resident in the country, and it is used the assess  our knowledge. We are also all scored against all plastic surgery residents within our year. It feels good to be done, and while it was a rough one, I now have a better idea of things I need to work on knowledge-wise. I recorded the above YouTube video on the day of the exam, and it basically shows my quick morning routine and my immediate post-exam thoughts. Please check it out, give it a like, and subscribe to my channel!

I'm also beyond honored and thrilled to be currently featured in this month's issue of The DO (official magazine of the American Osteopathic Association). I am always happy to share my story in hopes that it will inspire others, so feel free to check out the article HERE and let me know what you think!

Lastly, I almost forgot to mention that last month, in celebration of Black History Month, I was also featured alongside 15 other phenomenal Black osteopathic physicians in an article that can be read HERE. If you've been following my blog from the beginning, then you might already recognize Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee and Dr. Octavia Cannon, both of whom I admire and had the chance to interact with. I am also quite fond of a lot of the other DOs mentioned in the article, so it was quite humbling to see my name mentioned alongside so many phenomenal individuals.

That's pretty much it in terms of updates. So far, I'm pretty proud of myself for keeping my goal of posting to YouTube weekly, and I'm still enjoying the hustle and bustle of residency life. As always, I appreciate you for reading and wish you a wonderful week ahead!

Empowering Women Physicians 2023 Bora Bora Retreat Recap and Reflections

66 Women Physicians in Bora Bora!!!!

As I begin writing this, I am currently 30,000 feet in the air and on my way back home to Miami from a wonderful week in beautiful Bora Bora. I’m actually about to land soon and can barely keep my eyes open as I’ve been traveling since yesterday, but I wanted to get this started so that I can finish and hopefully post tomorrow. But first let me tell you why I was in Bora Bora and how it all came to be:

Back in September, I shared my story in the Empowering Women Physicians group (click HERE to join the Facebook  group), founded by Dr. Sunny Smith in an attempt to win a spot at their annual retreat held at The Four Seasons Bora Bora Resort. I figured I didn’t have a chance in hell at winning, but I shared anyway because 1) I’m always happy to share my story with hopes that it uplifts/inspires others. And 2) the retreat was occurring on the same dates as my birthday PTO request, so I felt like it was a sign to try. For those who don’t know, in my residency program we get a total of 20 vacation days for the year, and we’re only allowed to take five business days off per month, weekends not included. I had originally scheduled to take off the end of January and the first week of February, and the retreat dates fell perfectly in between. I was beyond floored (and to be honest, I still am) when I found out I was the winner of the resident award, which included not only a stay in a gorgeous overwater bungalow at The Four Seasons, but also food, drinks and all group activities in addition to CME credits and a month of coaching! All I had to do was pay for my flight (which was a huge investment within itself on a residency budget) and they took care of all the rest. It truly feels like the universe was conspiring for me to go on this trip because even if I hadn’t used vacation days, I could have used my CME credit which I have not used yet. Winning this trip was truly a miracle and a blessing. Okay, so now that you’re all caught up, here’s how the week went:

The incredible Dr. Sunny Smith!!!! 

Sunday

My travel started on a Sunday and I braced myself for what would be the longest time I have ever traveled in my life. I believe the total travel time was 36 hours from start to finish. And on top of the time, I had multiple layovers (Atlanta, Los Angeles, Papeete) before I would finally arrive in Bora Bora. My original flight was changed by the airline a couple of months prior, so I specifically added the Atlanta layover so that I could have lunch with one of my dearest friends from medical school, but she absolutely surprised me with the best birthday gift ever! When I arrived at the airport, she greeted me with tulips (my favorite), a balloon, drinks, and a card. She then had me pick from two pieces of paper with the words written on them hidden from me. I thought it was weird (and had no idea that this is a current thing on social media), but she’s fun, so I decided to go with the flow. The first paper I selected read “limo”, and I was like what?!, but then she had me follow her back into the airport to find a man waiting with a sign with my name on it, and we walked out to find a beautiful limo driving up to me! Then she had me select another paper, and this one had the words Herve Leger written on it. For those who don’t know, this is one of my favorite designers. And after I selected the paper, she pulled out one of the most gorgeous dresses out of her bag. I was completely floored! Before coming, she told me to wear black with heels, so I just assumed we were going to an all black brunch somewhere in Atlanta. I literally changed from blue jeans to black jeans in the airport before walking out to meet her, so she definitely got me good with that one. I brought black boots, but surprisingly they actually fit well with the dress. Now at this point I’m thinking it can’t possibly get any better than this. But then she has me select another piece of paper and this one reads “food”. And if you know me, you know I love food, so I was so happy! The limo then takes us to Two Urban Licks, which is a super great restaurant in Atlanta, and we ate yummy food and had a blast. After this we walked the Atlanta Beltline, which surprisingly, despite all the years I lived in the area, I had never walked. Following this, we took a trip to Lenox mall where we walked around, got some yummy cupcakes by CamiCakes, a Black-owned company, and just really spent the time bonding and talking with each other. It was seriously one of the best days of my life and one of the highlights of my trip. Even better than Bora Bora itself. Just thinking about it makes me emotional because I am truly blessed to have such amazing friends. When she dropped me back off at the airport, I felt nothing but joy and love in my heart, and it made the rest of my trip smoother. You can watch the reel below to see how truly great it was :)

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A post shared by Dr. Rox (@drashleyroxanne)

But back to the trip. My second flight was from Atlanta to Los Angeles, and a very interesting thing happened: During the middle of my flight, the flight attendants called overhead asking for medical volunteers to come up to the front. I went up to the front where I met two other female physicians, both in orthopedics (one of whom who was going to the same retreat in Bora Bora), and a patient in distress who we all helped together. Luckily, the patient ended up okay and we didn’t have to land the plane, but it was actually my first time having and responding to an inflight emergency (luckily no one could tell). I was happy to not have to do it alone. Once we arrived to Los Angeles, we found other physicians going on the same retreat and we all hung out and got to know each other in the lounge before boarding our next flight to Tahiti. Fortunately, that was a smooth flight without issues.

Meeting some of the docs for the first time in Los Angeles

Monday

When we arrived in Tahiti the next day, they were playing music in the airport and it was a great experience. I wasn’t in Tahiti long though, because when I went to check my bag, the person at the ticket counter asked if I wanted to get on the flight that was currently boarding instead of waiting three hours. I looked at her with disbelief and asked if that would be pushing it since the plane was literally leaving in 10 minutes, but she said it wouldn’t be a problem. As I was going through security they were calling my name, but I made it on the flight with the most beautiful view and safely into Bora Bora.

My view from the plane

When we arrived in to Bora Bora, we were greeted with a fresh flower leis. Our luggage was taken and we were escorted by boat to our hotel. The ride to the hotel was absolutely scenic and beautiful, and it was even cooler getting to know some of the ladies I would be spending the week with. Once we arrived to the resort, they took us to a villa to check in and to relax while we awaited our rooms, since we arrived at around 7am that morning. The villa had a beautiful pool overlooking the mountains. And it was really nice just dipping my feet in, eating food and bonding with other women. This is also where we received our roommate assignments (because let’s face it, the Four Seasons isn’t cheap), and I was lucky enough to find out my roommate was someone who I had participated in a virtual small group setting with earlier in the month. Once in my room, I couldn’t help but try out the gorgeous blue cool water. I took a dip in the water and then I joined the main group in the activity section of the resort for a cultural experience that involved making flower crowns, learning the history of coconuts, and taking dance lessons. Later that evening, we had a beautiful Tahitian dinner that included absolutely delicious food. I don’t actually like to eat any raw seafood, but being that I was in a different country, I did try it, and I was floored at how delicious the raw swordfish, tuna and other fish was. It didn’t even taste like fish! Super fresh! To top it all off, there was even a magnificent fire show with music and dancing and a group picture afterwards. It was a phenomenal first night. And I’m still surprised that I was able to stay awake, but I was absolutely knocked out by the time I made it back to my room later that evening.

Polynesian Dinner Night!

Tuesday

The next day was Tuesday, January 31^st which also happened to be my 36^th birthday! I still can’t believe that I literally woke up in paradise on my birthday. The morning started with a nice breakfast followed by our first group session from 8am-12pm. This first session started off with us writing three things that we were most grateful for that day. We then put it in a cup and passed the the cup to a different table where each person selected one piece of paper and read it. They not only read the paper, but they discussed the feelings that reading it invoked in them. This actually took the entire 4 hours, but it was such a beautiful display of gratitude, and I really loved it. It was also during this session where I was surprised with a beautiful birthday card signed by all the ladies in the group. It made me feel so special and loved. Following the group session, I had lunch with a few of the women and then I spent a few hours roaming around the resort where I found a cute little lagoon with fish and coral reef. Later, I walked to the pool, where I literally spent hours in the water hanging out and talking before I walked over to dinner and joined another group of women. It was such a beautiful and relaxed way to spend my birthday, and later on at night when I came to my room I was even more smiles when I found a beautiful dessert and birthday laid out hotel staff in the middle of the room. I later found out that this was gifted to me by one of the women I met on the plane who happened to be part of the travel agency making this retreat happen. Super sweet! I ended my birthday with a bubble bath and whiskey, which is what I love to do on vacation. It was absolutely perfect.

Happy 36th Birthday to ME!

Wednesday

The next day was exciting as it was our shark, stingray and fish snorkel day! We started off with breakfast and a short morning group session and then we were off on the boats to submerge ourselves in the crystal clear blue water. I had never snorkeled before, and to be honest, I’m not even really a swimmer, but I put on my snorkel vest with a lifesaver, and I snorkeled for the first time ever! I struggled with a foggy mask at first, but one of the women came over and switched masks so I could see. Then the driver of the boat threw a piece of fruit in my hand and it was so cool having all the fish come up to me and eat out of my hand. I even hugged a Stingray!!!! How awesome is that?! We finished the excursion by eating lunch in the ocean with sharks and stingrays swimming around us, and I even got to feed fish from my hand. It was such an unforgettable experience. Later that evening, I attended a quick Champagne and Pearls experience at the resort, but I was pretty tired, so I ended the day with room service in my room. Food is extremely expensive in Bora Bora, so I am so grateful for the room credit that this retreat provided, because just getting a burger, salad, and dessert was over $100. If I had to do this on my own, I would probably have brought ramen and just used water from my my coffee pot for the week.

Hugging a stingray!

Thursday

Thursday was another amazing full group morning session where we talked about our wildest dreams and things that we would start and stop doing to accomplish our goals. We ended the morning with breakout sessions with our small groups. My small group had a nice lunch and we finished off the discussion for a couple of hours. For the afternoon, I decided to treat myself to a spa day. I had originally tried to book a massage on my birthday, but I went too late and everything was booked, so I was excited that I would be getting a massage on this day. I had the most amazing deep tissue massage. Followed by a dip in the gorgeous hot tub outback with the most beautiful scenery. Following this, we all headed to the villa, where there were dancing lessons given by my fellow Tahitian physician colleague, drinks, music, and a good time. It was also during this time where I took a huge leap of faith and jumped into the ocean from the villa. I had never done anything like that before, and I was scared out of my mind, but Dr Smith’s husband held my hand and I survived. It was an experience I will keep with me for a lifetime, and a reminder of all the positive experiences that occur when taking a leap of faith.

Relaxing in the spa hot tub

Friday

Friday was our big day as it was National Women Physicians Day. This day was created to honor the path that female doctors have paved since 1849. We started off the morning in a large group session, but then we quickly broke into our small groups. My small group found a large canopy next to the pool and we all discussed our dreams, things that were holding us back, and the solutions and ways to make it work. Following this, all 60+ of us representing so many different specialties gathered together for a group picture. Even cooler, the photographer took individual headshots of us that will be able to use for branding or however we like. It was such a beautiful gift. Following this, we had a bit of downtime in the afternoon, so I recorded a very choppy YouTube video as I was walking back to my room that looks choppy, but I may go ahead and post it anyway and just direct to this blog post which ties up everything I really want to say anyway. Then I got ready for our 5pm sunset cruise. The cruise was so relaxing and beautiful. It was also a great way to connect, take pictures with everyone and celebrate our last night together. But it didn’t end there. Following the sunset cruise, we made it back to resort and headed to the beach, where there were chairs waiting for us and a firework show to commemorate National Women Physicians day. Such a fabulous way to end our last night together!

Sunset Cruise

Saturday

Saturday was officially our last day and it was so sad to leave paradise. We started off the morning with our final group session, and after we ended around 12pm, we all headed to a villa that was made available for us to lounge, swim, and relax in while we awaited our boats to take us to the airport. This villa was absolutely huge and amazing. So much so that I recorded a video for it that I will upload to my YouTube channel because it was just mind-blowing how beautiful it was. At around 3:30pm, the boat came to pick me up since my flight was leaving around 5:00 PM. They greeted us with beautiful shell necklaces while boarding, and as we were leaving the resort, it started to rain. We had beautiful weather the whole time there, but the rain starting when we left felt like a sign that the island was sad we were leaving. Fortunately, there were no inflight emergencies on either of my flights back home, so it was pretty smooth.

Villa Life

Sunday

I arrived back home to Miami Sunday evening and I was so tired. But when I opened the door I was greeted with a cake and tulips from my awesome guy that made me smile. I attempted to stay up to at least 11pm that night and then I was out for the count. It’s so nice being back home, but I truly do miss paradise.

Birthday cake and tulips :)

Reflections

It is now Tuesday and I feel like I finally have had a little downtime to reflect on my experience, but I am still mind blown over everything that happened last week. I learned so much in the realm of dealing with personal situations, business, life, and just navigating the world as a woman physician. The experience I had was truly priceless. My takeaways from this trip would take up an entire post, and I’ve already written way too much, so I’ll just leave you with five random nuggets that I took away:

1) If you don’t take the time to take care of yourself now, you’ll only end up hurting yourself in the long run

During one of the large group sessions, I shared how I grappled with the thought of winning a trip to Bora Bora when there were so many phenomenal female physicians who shared their stories and who I felt deserved it more than me because they had experienced more burnout and had been practicing way longer than myself. After this session, one of the women came up to me and told me how she had been dealing with physician burnout for over a decade, and she wishes that she had opportunities like this as a resident so that she would have never gotten to that point. I never thought about how important it is to start physician wellness early, because residency and life tend to beat you down and get you to a place where you think that the burnout is normal, but it’s really not right. This experience was a blatant reminder to take care of myself. Because if I don’t take care of myself, how can I truly take care of my patients?

2) Your story truly is not for you and it is important to share it

Those of you reading this know that I’ve never been afraid to share my story, but attending this retreat showed me how very important it is to share our stories and how connected we all truly are to each other. There was so much I could relate to from the other women there, whether it was talking about abuse, burnout, divorce, parenting, job changes, etc., and I realized that we are all connected by so muchI met women there who I share mutual friends with. I met women there who had gone through the same residency match struggles as myself, but had never shared it until that point. I met a woman who literally went to my same medical school and graduated only 3 years before me, and I met women there who were struggling with something that those of us had already gone through could provide advice for. It’s so important to share our stories because you never know who might need to hear it to keep their lives going.

3) Don’t be afraid to allow good things to happen to you. You are worthy and you do deserve it. Not everyone is out to get you.

I was pretty quiet about this trip since finding out that I won in September because, honestly, I was skeptical. I’ve gotten to a point in my life where I don’t expect truly good things to happen to me. I always expect there to be a catch, or that someone will want something in return. This retreat showed me this is not the case. I was sure I was going to get a call saying that they made a mistake or that they accidentally forgot to include me in the booking prior to going. I was so scared because I just never expect truly good things to happen to me. I even continue to struggle with that in my current residency program that this is all too good to be true, and that it will be taken away from me somehow. But this retreat showed me that I am worthy of these things, and I should expect these things because I put in the work and good out into the world and I should expect that good to come right back. It also showed me that there are people out there who truly want to support me and who will push for me, but I do have to allow myself to be open to receiving that.

4) Life is short and the time to live is now.

Even with the demands of residency, it’s easy to get caught up and forget to live life. We get consumed with work, with motherhood, personal, and other business responsibilities that we forget to take the time and honor ourselves. What I took away from this retreat is that now is the time to create the life I want to live, and to find a way to make it work, despite any obstacles I may perceive to be in my way. 

5) You are not alone and there are people who truly care about you and will be there to help when you need it

When I was there, I listened to so many stories of physician suicide. And I remember one of the women sharing with me how when she was in residency, one of the residents actually committed suicide while in the hospital with the chief residents actually hearing the gun go off as they were banging on the door. Most people aren’t aware that that rate of physician suicide is high. Our hours are grueling. A lot of times we feel like there is no support. And, whether you’re a resident or an attending, sometimes it can feel very lonely. One of the most powerful things for me, during the retreat was one of the women taking me aside, giving me her phone number, and telling me that it doesn’t matter what time or day that it is, if there is any time within the next 15 years where I feel I’m in a dark place, to call her, and she will help me through it. That is so powerful to me. And there was another woman who even talked about her dream of buying a house in Bora Bora, so that she can sponsor a resident physician each year who may be struggling with mental health or other wellness issues, and sponsor them for an all expense paid getaway in an attempt to promote wellness and help prevent physician suicide. Just writing this chokes me up, not because I’ve ever been suicidal, but I remember being in a very dark place, especially during my intern year in Philadelphia where I felt like there was no one I could call on who could relate to me or who could help me, so to know that there are people who are actively trying to help is just truly incredible. I honestly have no words for how touching it really is. 

Smiles in Paradise

Wrapping Up

OK so I know I’ve taken way too much time on this post and written a novel, so I’m going to wrap it up. But, there are no words to describe how incredibly powerful and beautiful this experience was for me. We shared our stories in a safe place, bonded, laughed together, and cried together. And as the only resident physician in attendance, I truly feel like I gained a tribe of phenomenal female attending physicians who I will be able to lean on even in the roughest times while navigating my journey through residency and beyond. I am even more so thankful to Dr. Sunny Smith for creating an exceptional coaching program (Please click here to check it out) that is helping so many physicians and for giving me the gift of a lifetime. Oh, and lastly, we were even featured in the Tahitian news! You can check out that article HERE (open in Chrome and right click, there should be a Google tab that says translate page).

Featured in the Tahitian News!

If you’ve made it this far in my post, thank you so much for reading and I hope reading it brought you joy. I wish you all a wonderful week ahead and I look forward to updating you with more in the near future.

#Blessed

Check Me out on YouTube!

 

        

Happy New Year! Remember in 2017 when I attempted to start a YouTube vlog of my medical journey? Unfortunately I didn't keep up with it, but I'm hoping this year will be different. With that being said, here's my first post of the year! Please check it out, like, comment, and subscribe if you want to see more!

I still plan to write regular posts on this blog, but I figured having a video format of my journey would be helpful as well. It's definitely been a bit of a learning curve for me, so the videos will improve as I learn more. I would like to produce content that everyone finds helpful, so any and all topic suggestions are greatly appreciated. Wishing everyone a wonderful week! 

Here's the link to my YouTube channel (subscribe for future videos): https://www.youtube.com/@minoritydoctor

Wrapping up 2022! (Residency Life, Mom Life, and Blog Milestones)

Last Blog Post of the Year!

Can you believe tomorrow is the last day of 2022?! This year has flown by fast! So fast in fact that I've been too busy to keep up with my blog the way I've wanted to, but I'm here and ready to catch everyone up as we head into what will hopefully be an exciting and fulfilling new year :)

My daughter turned 16!

My last post was in October, so I guess the biggest update since that time is that I am officially the mom of a sixteen year old. Yep, the little one turned 16 in November! Can you believe it?!?! She'll be getting her full drivers license soon and we're already talking about ACT/SAT prep with hopes to plan out college visits soon. <insert shocked face> I'm just seriously so blessed to have such an amazing daughter and I'm even more so grateful that I was able to spend her special day with her and celebrate in a way that she wanted. The festivities included a birthday dinner, an escape room experience, and a very small home gathering of pizza and movies with some of her closest friends. It was memorable and just as sweet as she is.

Celebrating my 9 year blogiversary!

My other major update is the "Aspiring Minority Doctor" blog is now 9 years old! Even though my posts have become less frequent, I'm still in disbelief that I've kept up with this thing for nine years. My original plan was to type up a blogiversary post on December 17th, but that day I was participating in a full day aesthetic injection workshop and I was too tired to type by the time I got home that night. It was a pretty awesome day though as I got the chance to have my little sister as a patient and my results came out pretty awesome :) 

Surgery is life

In terms of residency life, nothing much new has occurred since my last post. I continue to work and learn daily and not a day goes by where I don't feel incredibly blessed to be in the position I am in today. I was actually surprised in November during my hand surgery rotation with how much I enjoyed it, so I'm continuing to keep my mind open on my future practice plans. Plastic surgery is such a diverse field, so I don't want to miss out on something great by hyper focusing on one aspect of the specialty. Plus, I still have four more years to make up my mind. 

Thankful for you!

Other than that, I just want to end the year with thanks. I continue to be grateful for each and every individual who takes the time out of their busy lives to read my blog. It truly means a lot to me, so thank you for reading. And as for the upcoming year, I'm not sure the direction I want to go with continuing to share my journey, but I'm definitely going to aim to make it to the ten year mark with this blog. I'm also thinking of venturing out into other realms to share my journey and insights, but for now you'll just have to stay tuned ;)

Happy Holidays!

I am excited for 2023 and for the wild ride I'm sure it will take me on. Every year that goes by, I learn more about myself, and good or bad, I enjoy the growth that comes with every year. To everyone reading this, I hope you had a very happy holiday season and I wish you an incredible New Year filled with love, joy, and accomplishing feats you never thought possible. See you next year!

 

Plastic Surgery Year Two: First Quarter Update

In my element :)

Can you believe it's already October?!?! I feel like this year has flown by so fast! It's been 4 months since my last update which was right at the start of my final month of intern year. After going through two separate intern years, it feels good to finally have PGY2 status and never have to go through that again! Right now, I am currently in the fourth month of my second year as a plastic surgery resident physician, which means it's time to update everyone on the past few months.

A fun weekend of plastic surgery education in San Francisco

June: When I last left off, I was just starting my final month of intern year. This was a fun month on the plastic surgery service! I had the chance to do a lot of procedures both in the office and the operating room, and got to spend the month working directly with my program director. I even had the opportunity to fly to San Francisco at the beginning of the month to attend an Allergan KEYS conference where I learned all about a variety of topics such as breast reconstruction, cool sculpting, Botox, and fillers. There was even a hands-on injectables session where I had the chance to perfect my technique using silicone model heads.

My super awesome plastic surgery attendings

July: I started off my second year on a combined Burn/Trauma plastic surgery service at an outside hospital, and it was busy! Between Fourth of July firework celebrations and people having a whole lot of free time to do silly things, every day was a new experience. I experienced a lot of professional growth, and it was a good start for what has been a busy second year. 

Dr. Velma Scantlebury: Super Doc and best mentor ever!

August: August was another surgical critical care month, but thankfully the last time I would have to spend a month in the ICU. This time around wasn't as bad as January (maybe because I was a bit more comfortable?), but I was still ready for it to be over. One on hand it's a blessing to be able to take care of the some of the sickest patients in the hospital, but doing it every day can get to you. The true highlight of the month was getting to see my mentor Dr. Scantlebury! She was in town for a short time speaking at a conference and it was amazing how our schedules magically aligned to meet up and catch up. I don't have to tell you how much I appreciate this woman...my old blog posts do that for me :)

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A post shared by Danielle Ward, DO, MS (@minoritydoctor)

September: For my third month, I was back on the general surgery service, but in my home hospital, so it wasn't bad. We get a lot of hands on operative time in my program, so I enjoyed being in the operating room daily. The patient census also wasn't too bad, so the month was smooth sailing. I will say that my favorite part of September was finally getting in a vacation! My last vacation was back in February as a belated birthday celebration, so I was ready to have some fun. My little sister blessed me with a gift of a FREE Virgin Voyages cruise, and it was amazing! I had never been on a cruise, so I was a little apprehensive at first (especially given it was the height of hurricane season), but I am so glad I went. I ate a ton of food, had some great drinks, and even visited Cozumel, Mexico and Bimini, Bahamas. It was a much needed reset button and I've included a quick Instagram video recap above. 

Random early morning selfie

October: This month I am on the acute care general surgery service but back to rotating at a hospital a little over an hour outside of Miami. The service isn't too bad, and I'm getting a ton of OR time, but I miss being able to go home and sleep in my own bed. The hospital has also switched from 24 hour call to a night float system which means I am alternating between days and nights this month which messes up my system. Right now, it's 4am, I'm at home (yay!), and I'm typing this post as a way to stay awake since I switch to nights tomorrow/today after being on days all month. If you've been following my blog since my original intern year in Philadelphia, then you already know how much I absolutely love post call days. These no longer exist with the night float system, but it is nice being a little more refreshed at night and not having that drunk feeling that occurs after being awake for 20+ hours.

My phenomenal daughter!

Mommy Life: I'm always getting asked about my daughter (and she loves seeing herself on my blog lol), so I'll update on her too :) I officially have a 10th grader! My daughter is still heavily involved in color guard and pretty much every weekend she's away at some competition, but she is doing amazing and absolutely killing it! This semester she's taking a health core science class, and seeing her in her little white coat and scrubs made my heart melt! It's so interesting seeing how excited she gets showing me how to put on sterile gloves or going over different body parts. She's still undecided on what path she'll take in life, and I honestly wouldn't push medicine on her given all the struggles and sacrifices that come with it, but I fully support any route she chooses. She also has a learner's permit and has been practicing her driving too. Next month she'll be turning 16 and has been bugging me for a car, but doesn't seem to understand that it won't be possible since I'm back to being a broke resident. Oh well, hopefully she'll at least find my uninterrupted presence meaningful. Other than that, she surprisingly continues to be a super sweet and responsible teenager, and I'm thankful for that :)

A future Dr. Ward?

Welp, it's now after 5am and I think that about sums everything up. As I'm reflecting back on the past few months, I'm realizing this post misses so much and I really need to do a better job of updating everyone on here a bit more frequently. I can't promise I'll post again next month, but I will definitely post again before the end of the year. Right now, I'm going to go watch a movie, sleep, and then get ready for my night shift. As always, I thank you for reading!