2024: Another Year of Happiness

December 17^th marked 11 years since this blog has been in existence, but for the first time ever since its creation, I managed to go the entire year without a single post! I've honestly thought about discontinuing this blog and not paying for the domain anymore, but out of all my various social media accounts, I find blogging to be the most therapeutic and writing brings me a ton of joy. Plus, it's crazy to believe that when I stared this blog I was just a premedical student and now I am 4th year Plastic Surgeon in training accomplishing things that I had never even dreamed of.  I originally started writing this post on the day of my actual blogiversary, but as you can see, life has been super busy and I never got around to finishing it. So with that being said, and today being New Year’s Eve, I'm going to use this post to give a recap of 2024 :)

January

During my last post, I was in Orlando, Florida completing my pediatric craniofacial and plastic surgery months. January was a continuation of my Orlando experience with Pediatric Surgery. It was a great month operating on newborns, babies, and children. I was definitely ready to return back home to Miami though. Luckily, my program called a mandatory in-person team building meeting on the last day of the month which also happened to be my 37th birthday :) We also found out that our residency program had recently received full ACGME accreditation (we were brand new when I started), so we celebrated both with cinnamon rolls and our program coordinator also gave me the sweetest birthday sign. My significant other also surprised me with surgical loupes, so it was a great end to an already fantastic month.

February

I was glad to be back home in February, but this was also the month where I tried to stay under the study rock as much as possible and used my free time to prepare for the upcoming plastic surgery in-service exam that we take every March. During the month, I was on a plastic surgery rotation that combined aesthetics, hand, and reconstruction, so it was good to be exposed to everything. I did find time to have a tiny bit of fun that month though and used it to try out the true Miami lifestyle for a night. When I moved here, I thought that nightlife was dead, but I just realized I was doing things too early lol. In February, I decided to see what the hype was about, so on a weekend I wasn't on call, I worked all day Friday, came home around 8pm and went to bed, woke up after midnight, got dressed and made it to the club at 2am and got to see Jeezy perform front in center. I had definitely been missing out!

March

March was a significant month because it was my last time ever having to rotate on General Surgery ever!!!! If you've been reading my blog for a while, then you know I basically completed a General Surgery based intern year. On top of that, the first two years of my plastic surgery residency were very general surgery heavy. It felt so good to know I will never have to remove a gallbladder or appendix again, lol.

As for other March highlights, I was able to attend the Annual Medical Education Conference (AMEC) of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), and celebrate the SNMA's 60th anniversary. I am proud to have served the organization as its 54th National President (and I was the first osteopathic medical student to ever serve the organization as national president), so it was a joy being back in the conference setting and seeing thriving premedical and medical students. It was also great being able to catch up with old colleagues, and I ended the trip with my first ever cooking class! I now know how to make New Orleans style eggs benedict, pralines,  shrimp etouffee, and crab cakes :) 

As my in-service exam was finally complete and I had room to breathe. I also took some time to hang out with my daughter in March. I'm sure we filmed a random TikTok video on her account that never got shared, but as always, we had great mommy/daughter bonding time. 

April

I started off April operating on a great abdominoplasty case with my attending Dr. Adam Rubinstein. He had an observing student with him who captured some great pictures of me working, so of course I had to include the above one in this post. Since we don't do official rotations with him until our 5th year of residency, it was great getting the chance to work alongside him for a few days in April as I was on the general plastic surgery service and we had enough coverage for me to be able to leave and join him.

Because I was not allowed any PTO for most off the first half of my 3rd year of residency, I was finally able to put in a request for April. I took advantage of the time off by taking a trip with my SO to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic where we stayed at an all-inclusive and had a great time. I probably ate and drank my weight in food, so there's not much I can recap about the trip other than it was amazing.

Lastly April was the month of my daughter's junior prom and she looked absolutely amazing!!!! The picture above is just me being a proud mama, but since a lot you have been following along on this ride since she was in elementary school, I'm sure you can appreciate the growth.

May

I started off the month of May performing my first circumferential body lift, and even better, I hit the milestone of having MY FIRST ACADEMIC BOOK CHAPTER PUBLICATION!!!!! Under the guidance of my wonderful attending Dr. Christopher J. Salgado, I was able to participate in a chapter titled "Aesthetic Male Genital Surgery" in Advances in Cosmetic Surgery. Up until this point, I had published my own book and was included in various publications through my previous research, but I had never had an academic book chapter. This was a major goal for me, and I'm super thankful I was able to accomplish it.

I also took a few more days of PTO in April and spent it on a wonderful Virgin Voyages cruise. I sailed to Turks & Caicos and the Bahamas while enjoying unlimited food and great drinks. It was another great reprieve, and a fantastic end to the month.

June

June came with even more accomplishments as one of my articles discussing gender affirming hormone therapy was published. That article can be read HERE. But we didn't just stop there! I was fortunate enough to have another academic book chapter published under the guidance of my attending Dr. Tarik Husain. This chapter was one that we actually started during my intern year and submitted when I was a 2nd year plastic surgery resident, but the process was soooooo long!!!! I was so happy to finally see it come to fruition. I don't have a free PDF to share, but if you're interested in the book, you can buy it HERE.

Another major highlight of June, was being able to have the first resident clinic patient of my program and operate on my own patient. We performed a mommy makeover that included a breast augmentation, liposuction 360, liposuction of the arms, and an umbilicoplasty. I have one happy patient and it was a great experience having autonomy but with the guidance and direct supervision of my attending to ensure great results. I have so many great before and after pictures too that I received permission to share, but I don't know the full rules on what I am allowed to share under my resident status, so for now you'll have to stay tuned. Since I was very close with the patient, I will say that operating was super scary and also nerve racking because I’m not used to being close with patients or them having constant access to me. It was definitely a lesson learned in trying to avoid that, lol, but then again, I'm happy it was with me :)

July 

I officially became a 4th year Plastic Surgeon in training in July! I am now a more senior resident and with that comes more responsibility and the growing fear (and excitement!) of knowing I'll be on my own in a few years, but I'm loving every moment of it! In July, we welcomed our new interns and we had a great educational/fun night at Top Golf where we learned about wound reconstruction and ended the evening showing off our golfing skills. 

August

August was a super busy service as I was back doing microsurgery, general reconstruction, aesthetics, and gender affirmation surgery. I think we had two phalloplasty procedures and two vaginoplasty procedures just in August alone! One case alone took 16 hours to perform, and I believe I only scrubbed out once or twice to use the bathroom and eat. Although this month was super busy, I loved it because it was both challenging and fun at the same time. Plus, I learned a lot and could really feel and see myself growing as a surgeon.

 

September

September was a continuation of the August service, so it was completely busy as well. The major highlight of the month for me was being invited to attend the annual Osteopathic Medical Education Conference (OMED) as a keynote speaker for the Student Track of the conference. This was HUGE for me because the other keynote speakers for the conference were Montel Williams (one of my favorite 90’s talk show hosts) and Dr. Kevin O’ Connor (longest serving physician to the United States Presidents). I was floored that I would be considered to be a speaker at such a prestigious event, and I loved my time there! Although I was a virtual speaker with my idol Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee at OMED few years back, I had never actually attended in person until this conference. I loved interacting with my fellow DO colleagues and learning new things.

Conference season didn’t end there though as the following weekend I was in San Diego attending the annual Plastic Surgery Meeting (PSTM). It was such an insanely good conference, and I met sooo many amazing stars in the field of plastic surgery. A recap of that would make this post way longer than it should be, but please check out my Instagram post HERE so you can read about why I was so inspired.

 

October

I don’t have much for the month of October, so it was likely very busy, but I did get a chance to kick off the month by speaking to the medical students from the SNMA chapter of the University of Miami School of Medicine. I always love interacting with students, so it was a great experience.

November

November started off immediately in mommy mode as the first day was my daughter's Senior Night at school. She has been involved in band and color guard for years, so it was great  being able to walk the field with her as she was recognized for her accomplishments. I also always love seeing her perform.

I also ended up in Las Vegas at the Allergan Surgical Solutions Symposium where I participated in the breast surgery. There were amazing panels and discussions which included preoperative planning and live patient markings, reimbursement guidelines, managing complications, and even lectures on GLP-1 weight loss medications and how plastic surgeons can adapt to treating these patients. My favorite part of the conference was getting to practice markings on anatomic models and then putting the work in action as I got a chance to perform an augmentation-mastopexy (breast implants with a lift) on an actual human cadaver!

My daughter also turned 18 in November! Yep, I’ve officially been a mommy for eighteen years and I am so incredibly proud of the young woman she is becoming. We celebrated by traveling to New Orleans during her Thanksgiving break where she got a chance to check out Bourbon Street for the first time and be horrified, lol. We also toured a couple of colleges on her list (she currently has quite a few acceptances, and I am one proud mama!). Lastly, We saw Justin Timberlake perform in concert which was her only birthday wish, and through the most random occurrence ever, he said her name twice during the concert. Of course she lost it and started crying tears of happiness, so it was even more beautiful to see so much joy in her.  

December

December has been a whirlwind! Like the others, this month as been super busy and with a lot of interesting cases. Reading through this post now, I’m honestly shocked at how I’ve been able to manage studying, operating, traveling, and everything in between. Right now, I only have the time to write this post because I put in my PTO for the last few days of this month as my next two months will likely be super busy. I truly love what I do though and operating makes me so happy. Plus, my program director recently commented on how much better and faster I’ve gotten in the operating room, and that made me smile.

This month, I finally had the chance to attend the annual Florida Society of Plastic Surgeons Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida and it was a great experience. As always, I learned a lot and the location was beautiful.

As for fun moments this month, we had our residency holiday party, and it was nice being able to spend a fun evening with my colleagues. I actually started writing this post about an hour before the party, and then never got to finish it until now. The day after our holiday party, I had a chance to see Usher perform and it was a great experience. I was originally supposed to see him perform on a Saturday in October which was a lighter month work-wise for me, but because of the hurricane that month, his concert was moved to a Wednesday in December. I debated going because I worked a full day and had another full day the next, but I am glad I went. He is a great performer and it was definitely worth missing a little sleep.

I think that pretty much sums up 2024! The next two months will be spent working hard and studying even harder as I prepare for our annual inservice exam in March. I haven’t quite taken a moment to fully reflect and map out my goals for 2024, but one of our medical students recently gifted me with a beautiful gratitude book, and I plan to write something in it daily. I’ve also decided that I will start taking bigger leaps, being more unapologetic, and truly embracing this beautiful journey in 2025. If you can believe it, since starting residency I’ve really been trying my best to lie low, but playing small just doesn’t cut it for me. I am about to enter into another beautiful era of life, and I want to continue to inspire, shine, and encourage others with my light. So here’s to another year of good vibes, new goals, and growth!

If you’ve managed to read this far, thank you so much for reading and your continued support. I wish you nothing but joy, happiness, and success in 2025 and for years to come 😊

 

I wrote a book! Atypical Premed Available Now!!!!

Click the picture to buy now!

I am excited to announce that I finally wrote and published my first book!

I have teased about writing a book over the past few years, but for various reasons I never finished the process. Well, it's a new decade and a great reason to stop procrastinating, so I finally got it done.

Writing this book was certainly not easy! I not only wrote the book, but completely self published meaning I was responsible for making sure every aspect was complete from finding an editor to book cover design to even creating the ebook and finding a distributor (please don't punish me on the ebook formatting...that was the hardest part!). I have developed a new respect for all authors out there, especially ones who self publish. It was a completely new world for me, and I was definitely out of my comfort zone, but I am happy with the final result.

So what is the book about?  

Atypical Premed: A Non-Traditional student's Guide to Applying to Medical School is filled with advice, tips, and my own personal experiences to both guide and encourage students from all backgrounds who are interested in pursuing a medical career. Whether you are overcoming low GPA and/or MCAT scores, a single parent, changing careers, involved in the military, an older (or even younger) student, or involved in anything else that does not fit the typical view of an entering medical student—if you plan on applying to medical school, this book will have something for you.

In full disclosure, I will also say that the majority of my book comes from previous blog posts that have been edited to reflect my current status as a physician. This means you can still find answers to your most frequently asked questions within my blog since I have always been an advocate for affordable and/or free resources for premedical students. I am also open to feedback and suggestions so that I can create updated editions in the future to reflect the needs of current premedical students.

So surreal having a book with my name on it!

Help Atypical Premed reach #1!

Atypical Premed is available now in both paperback and Kindle ebook versions on Amazon, and can be purchased by clicking HERE. The book will also be available through major book retailers such as Barnes & Noble in the coming weeks (or you can request it directly at your local bookstore to get it faster), and I plan on putting out an audiobook version in the coming months.

For those of you who may already be medical students or physicians, my book would make a great gift for your mentees. For the premedical students, my book is an excellent starting point to helping you on the path to becoming a physician, and it was written by someone who has already went through the process (me!). I would be more than honored if you all would buy my book, take pictures of yourselves with the book, and post using the hashtag #AtypicalPremed. I not only want to hear your stories, but I want my book to reach those who may need it the most. I would also love it if those who buy the book would leave me a 5 star review on Amazon so that others may find it too (note: Amazon gives more weight to verified purchases when leaving reviews).

Win a free signed copy of Atypical Premed!

Giveaway Alert!

If you're tight on money, I have great news! I am offering the ebook version of Atypical Premed free for the next 24hours, and will have a few more free promotion days over the next couple of months. The ebook is also free indefinitely for Kindle Unlimited subscribers. As for the paperback version, I am giving away signed copies of my book to five lucky readers. All you have to do is the following:

- Follow me on Instagram
- "Like" the post on Instagram with the above picture of me holding the book
- Tag two friends in the Instagram post with this picture
- Extra points if you comment under this blog post and tell me what makes you an "Atypical Premed"

*Giveaway ends Monday, January 20, 2020 at 12am EST
*Multiple entries allowed with additional tagged friends
*Winner will be randomly selected and announced in both my Instagram comments and story section in addition to receiving a DM

Thank you so much for inspiring me to reach another goal, and I hope you all enjoy my book!

Featured on CBS46 News Atlanta

My first television appearance!

Happy New Year!!!! Last week I was given the opportunity to discuss the recent flu spike and its impact in Georgia on CBS46 News. 

I honestly had no idea I would be doing a news segment when I went to work that morning, and only had a few minutes to prepare for filming which took place in between seeing patients, but I'm always more than happy to educate my community. 

It was definitely a fun experience, and I look forward to doing more in the future. I am including it on the blog so that I have a fun memory to look back on. Plus, who knows? I may even get a chance to become a featured medical correspondent on national news one day ;) 

Click here to watch the full segment and let me know what you think: https://www.cbs46.com/news/flu-cases-on-the-rise-across-georgia/article_0d930d26-31a0-11ea-b505-cf0bcac45363.html

Celebrating a Decade of Accomplishments

So much to be thankful and proud of this past decade

I know everyone is currently reflecting over the past year, but can we talk about the past decade?!?! What an incredible ten years it has been! I won't lie and say it has always been happy and full of success, but looking back over the past ten years, I can't help but smile and feel a sense of pride about all that I have been able to accomplish.

Started the decade as a research associate

At the start of 2010, I was a few weeks freshly divorced, a new college graduate, and I had just moved into a new apartment. Since I had to leave my campus and work-study jobs behind after I graduated in December, I remember spending New Year's Day 2010 frantically searching for jobs because I had a child to take care of and I needed money! I was blessed not too long afterwards when I received an interview for a parasitology & immunology research associate position and got the job. This began a very rewarding career in research for four years, and during this time, I helped manage a laboratory, presented research, had my name published in a few papers, and even received a master of science degree in biochemistry. The goal was always to become a physician though, so my career happily ended when I finally received an acceptance and started medical school in 2014.

Became a Student Doctor midway through the decade

This blog started right before I entered medical school, so those of you who have been around from the beginning know what a wild ride it has been! If I have to go back to my first favorite memory of my medical school career, I would have to say it would be the day of my white coat ceremony, but there were so many awesome moments during my time as a medical student. I had the chance to meet and interact with many inspirational and influential people (such as television personalities, former surgeon generals and congressmen), became the first osteopathic medical student to ever serve as national president of the Student National Medical Association, was featured in various newspaper and online articles, and not only got the chance to perform surgery with the first black female transplant surgeon in the United States, but received the amazing blessing of her becoming both my friend and mentor! I ended medical school in 2018 with the Mason W. Pressly Memorial Medal (the highest honor given to only one medical student each year at my institution), my picture hanging on my medical school's wall, and having achieved my lifelong dream of becoming a physician.

Ending the decade as a physician

The past two years have been mostly a transitioning phase. I made it through a grueling traditional rotating internship year in general surgery working in a program that tested my limits in every way imaginable, but I thrived as chief intern and finished even stronger than when I started. And despite two unsuccessful match cycles, I continued to press on by completing and passing my final medical board licensing exam, obtaining a full unrestricted medical license, and successfully landing a position as an urgent care physician this year. It's been a crazy transition full of opportunities that I never thought possible, and I'm looking forward to what the beginning of the next decade will bring.

A decade full of fun and adventure!

This past decade hasn't just been all work and no play though. I can honestly say I took advantage of living life to the fullest extent as much as possible, and I feel truly blessed for the many experiences this decade has brought me. I traveled to seven countries with a few solo trips that allowed me to meet awesome new individuals while finding myself and immersing into other cultures. I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried things like skydiving, surfing, zip-lining, and even pole dancing. I spent time with my daughter and had many memorable moments with her such as attending her first short film premiere (back when she was into acting), surprising her with a trip to Disney World for her 6th birthday, or even more recently taking her to France for her 13th birthday. I spent time with my family and loved ones whether it was just because, for the holidays, or girls trips with my sisters, and I kept up with blogging for the past six years. This has been quite a fun decade and I'm already excited for the adventures the next one will bring.

Stay tuned for more from Dr. Ward!

So what's next for the upcoming decade? I tend to stay quiet about my plans, but those close to me say I should speak my goals into existence, so here's what I see for the upcoming ten years:

In the first few years of the decade, I will have published my first book, started a business, and finally landed a surgery residency position. By the end of 2029, I see myself ending the year as a board-certified plastic and reconstructive surgeon and being a part of a growing practice. **Ten years gives a lot of time to accomplish this, so don't count me out yet ;)** My daughter will likely have just finished college (Can you believe that?!?!), and I will have finally settled down enough to be a homeowner. Because I love to travel, I already know I will have added at least five new countries to my travel list. I will also be very active in my community, likely through mentorship, but I wouldn't be surprised if I ended the decade in some sort of leadership position. Outside of that, the next ten years will be filled with me working towards my surgery dreams while staying true to myself and loving on those in my inner circle.

I hope those of you reading this had a decade full of accomplishments, and I wish you an upcoming decade filled with hope, love, and new adventures. I appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts, and I hope you will stick around with me into the next decade. If I don't make it back to post again tomorrow, I wish you all a safe night and a very happy New Year.

Intern Year: Chapter Closed

Graduation selfie :)

Yes, I realize this post is well over a month late, but I've been so busy lately that I actually forgot I never posted about this accomplishment until my graduation certificate came in the mail the other day. But as of June 24,2019, this girl has officially graduated and is no longer an intern!

I'm pretty sure graduation was my first time getting cute since starting LOL

It was weird being in another graduation so soon after my medical school graduation which took place a little over a year ago, but since my internship was a one year standalone program, I was technically graduating. I debated going, but realized it would probably be the last time I would see a lot of people I spent the past year with, and I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to get a little cute and enjoy some free food and drinks LOL. Plus, it was a graduation for all of the residency and fellowship programs at my institution, so I wanted to cheer for some of the senior residents I worked with over the year. 

Happy to have served a one of the Chief Interns :)

It was a very intimate ceremony with the program directors taking the time to talk about each of the graduating residents and tell where they would be heading for fellowship or to start practicing independently. The interns were called up last, and it was nice hearing my name being called and walking across a stage again. Plus, I was given a large plaque to commemorate my role over the past year as one of the Chief Interns :) It was a really nice evening and a pleasant end to a long year.

"Last Day of Intern year" Selfie

Unfortunately, graduation did not mean that intern year was officially over, because I still had a full week of work ahead of me with call. It's funny because I started the very first day of intern year on a Sunday working a 24 hour call shift, and I ended my intern year by starting on a Sunday morning and working a 24 hour shift until Monday morning. I was even more amused that I would be the one acquainting the new incoming interns bright and early as they rolled in Monday morning. They looked super scared as I walked out the door at 6am and said goodbye to the program forever, and I couldn't help but smile at the fact that I was probably just as scared when I first started, but somehow managed to make it through and truly grow as a physician. It's amazing how much one year can change a person.

My official internship completion certificate

I should and probably will write a post about lessons learned from intern year, but right now I am just enjoying the close of another great chapter. Plus, I still need more time to gather my thoughts about the past year so I can write about it in a way that doesn't scare off anyone. I'm also in a transitioning phase right now that has kept me pretty busy, albeit in a good way, but I'll make sure to get back on here soon with ALL the updates. I'm sure everyone is wondering where I am right now, what I'm doing, and what's next for me, but you'll just have to stay tuned. I promise to share more. Just not today :)

Gearing Up for Residency!

I've got a long white coat now!

Things are starting to get real! I’ve spent the past few weeks completing on-boarding residency paperwork and courses, finding a place to live, moving, going through ATLS training and residency orientation which ended yesterday, and trying to mentally prepare myself for the fact that TOMORROW I officially begin my first day as a resident physician. I can’t believe I’ve made it to this point!

My daughter really knows how to make me emotional

If I’m going to keep it real though, everything has been a bit overwhelming, and I’m still in the adjustment phase. The largest adjustment so far is not having my daughter around for intern year. My parents (and my sister who I will continue to pay) have agreed to keep her for the year in Mississippi so that I can really focus on killing it as an intern, but not knowing my schedule also means not knowing when I’ll be able to see my daughter and the strong possibility of having to miss her birthday and the holidays with her. It is a blessing knowing that she’ll be taken care of, but the mommy-guilt is super strong! My daughter, on the other hand, is all happy go lucky, especially since my parents spoil the mess out of her. She even had the nerve to ask me why she couldn’t just stay with them for a few years until I finished residency :-/ I know being away from me is best right now, especially since I’ll be super busy this year, but she could at least pretend to miss me, LOL. She knows how to cheer me right up though, and the text she sent me the other day (above) really made me smile.

I’m also adjusting to my new surroundings. Believe it or not, at the beginning of this month, I had no idea where I was going to live! Philly prices are beyond expensive and since I won’t have my daughter this year, I decided to do a roommate search online. This resulted in a one-day flight to Philly a couple of weeks ago where I literally landed around 730am and flew back to Atlanta at 8pm. The day was a success though because I found a great roommate and now have a home for the next year. While here that day, I also took care of the FBI fingerprinting that I had to do in person, ate some great food, and since I found my place pretty early during the day, I even had time to go to the movies and have dinner and drinks at Morgan’s Pier before going back to the airport. The following week, my mother and sister drove to Atlanta to get the bulk of my belongings, so I literally made the drive to Philadelphia six days ago with what could fit in my car. This meant minimal belongings along with the pleasure of sleeping on an airbed all week, but luckily my last year of medical school was spent constantly on the move, so I’m used to traveling and getting used to new surroundings. Hopefully, I’ll get used to parallel parking and living in the city soon, but the bright side is Amazon delivered my bed today, so I’m looking forward to some real sleep tonight. 

My first pager!

The day after moving to Philadelphia, I began part one of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course, signed my training license, and received my long white coat! The day started off rough when my GPS turned off and I accidentally drove to New Jersey, but I made it in on time, and everything went smoothly. I was officially ATLS certified on Tuesday, and orientation began on Wednesday. We were given pagers, and I also was lucky enough to get one of the spots as chief intern resident. This pretty much just means that the other residents will come to me with any issues they may have, and I’ll be responsible for keeping the Graduate Medical Education (GME) staff up-to-date on everything. I see it as a great way to get to know my fellow interns, in addition to getting to know some of the faculty and staff in the program. The rest of orientation went well, and yesterday after my ACLS/BLS re-certification, I attended orientation at the hospital I will be at for the next two months. It was so surreal being given a badge that has “DO” after my name and the word “physician” under it!

It's starting to feel real now!

Tomorrow, I officially start my first day as a resident physician, and I’m on the general surgery service for the next four months. I’ll be starting off with a bang, since my first day will be on call, but I’m looking forward to finally working again. If you’re not familiar with being on call, it means my shift will last around 28 hours. The good news is when I finish on Monday morning, I’ll be post-call and will have the rest of the day off to sleep and relax. I figure it will be a great way to adjust to my new position, and being busy helps get my mind off things. Plus, I finally had a day off today, and I took full advantage of it by getting a massage, going to the nail salon, and just overall relaxing and doing what makes me happy (such as typing up this post). I’ve been dealing with a little bit of sadness over what I’ve had to recently leave behind, but I truly am excited for the upcoming new journey. I worked hard to get to this point, and I understand that sacrifices are sometimes needed to achieve goals. Hopefully it won’t be too long before my next post, but right now, I’m going to go get ready for bed because the hospital will be waiting for me bright and early tomorrow morning!

Graduation Week 2018: Say Hello to Dr. Ward!

On May 24, 2018, I finally achieved my lifelong dream of becoming a physician! God is sooo good!!!! There have been so many emotions flooding through me these past few weeks, but now that I’ve finally calmed down from the high of graduation, I can reflect a little bit. I’m still at a loss of words to describe the joy I feel for this new accomplishment, so I’ll just let all the pictures speak for me. ***WARNING: Photo overload ahead!***

Hooded!

Hearing my name with "doctor" said in front of it as I walked across the stage was so surreal! It was even more amazing hearing the cheers of my friends and family.

My daughter has been my biggest supporter on this crazy journey. For years, she has told her teachers and friends that her mommy is a doctor. Now when she says it, it will be true! I'm so extremely thankful for her always being so understanding of my crazy schedule and the sacrifices made to get to this point. I hope I have inspired her to pursue any and all of her dreams.

So thankful for my amazing parents! My mom, who was the first African-American female from the state of Mississippi to graduate from the United States Military Academy (West Point), gave birth to the first doctor in my family. Excellence is in my DNA! And my dad is just downright awesome and not afraid put me back into reality when I get too big-headed, LOL.

My sisters are everything! I literally couldn't have made it through medical school without the support, babysitting, advice, and constant laughs they bring me. 

Thankful to this amazing guy for putting up with all my med school craziness for the past three years! Whether it was being my voice of reason when I had crazy ideas (and still supporting me when I did the crazy things anyway), listening to my rants, cheering me up during the rough times, or helping me stay current with the outside world when I got too far under my med school rock, I am so very appreciative of you! 

My circle may be small, but the love is strong! This journey would not have been anywhere near possible without the people you see above! I am truly blessed!

Thankful for everyone in my med school family. You all made this journey that much easier, and I am blessed to not only call you all my friends, but my colleagues. The GA-PCOM class of 2018 was the best to ever do it!

 

Check out all these beautiful black doctors! So proud of my classmates!

And of course, I couldn't end without giving a shout-out to the Student National Medical Association (SNMA). It has been such an amazing part of both my pre-medical and medical school experience, and I am proud to say that I graduated with SNMA!