Officially a 5th Year Plastic Surgeon (In Training)!!!!

Officially a 5th year Plastic Surgery Resident!!!!

Ah, the happiness I feel when I log in to type up a blog post is unmatched! In trying to keep up with social media and what people want to see, I think I somehow forgot that the whole point of documenting my journey is so that I can have something to look back on to make ME happy. So with that being said, I'm glad to be back on this platform, and this post will pretty much be a recap on how the first half of this year has went for me. 

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JANUARY

I always consider January to be the best month because it's my birthday month, but this year it came with a little extra flair as I took on the role of becoming a (short-lived) professional model for Hypothesis Scrubs. So to give a little backstory, a production company reached out to me last September to do a major campaign for NYC healthcare professionals. As I am Miami-based, I politely declined, but told them to please let me know if anything arose in my area. Imagine my surprise when they reached out again in late December for a campaign in Miami! I scheduled my Zoom meeting with the company for early January, and I remember the interview vividly because even though I had scheduled it for late that evening, I was still in the middle of operating when it came close to my interview time. Luckily, I have an amazing attending who let me scrub out to take the meeting. It was quick and I wasn't sure if I would be picked, but about 2 weeks later I received the message that I was in and was given shoot dates for the end of the month. Of course, I had to ask permission to leave work for one day of filming, but considering that my residency pay is extremely low and this would pay more than I make in a month for only one day of work, I jumped on it without hesitation!

The shoot day was super fun. We started bright and early at around 530am, and I had both a hair and make up artist. I had already done my fitting during the weekend, so I knew what I would be wearing and how it would fit. Not even gonna lie, I hate paying for scrubs (especially when I'm in hospital-issued scrubs 95% of the time), but their scrubs fit and felt so good that I am still considering buying a few pair of my own. But anyway, back to the shoot. There was an entire crew and we filmed at the University of Miami, so there were demo operating rooms and patient rooms ready to go. As this was my first time doing anything modeling related, I had to get used to the lingo (ie reset means go back and do the same exact thing over again), but I loved seeing myself on the screens. Plus, the Amiga Studio production staff were all incredible. We shot videos and still shots and they all came out amazing! Click the pic above to watch the extended YouTube video and let me know what you think :) And if you'd like to buy a pair, feel free to check out the link HERE.

 

As for other photo shoots in January, I had always wanted to do a birthday one, so I did just that! I loved being a model and got some great shots. The crazy thing is that I had a really bad allergic reaction that caused my lips to swell up the day prior, and even though it was improving, my lips were still pretty swollen during my shoot so I received a ton of questions asking if I got fillers, lol. Nope! I just really wanted to do my photo shoot and wasn't going to let a little swelling stop my shine 😂 Overall, I ended up having a great birthday experience, and January was a fun month to ring in Chapter 38.

FEBRUARY

  

February also had it's fun and new adventures. I was with the same plastic surgery attending as the previous month, and he had just launched his new vitality drink, EUROKY, so of course there was a launch party. The party took place during my birthday weekend, so I counted it as a celebration for me since I wasn't allowed any time off for a real vacation. It was a great time and I actually enjoy the drink, so if you're into vitality energy drinks with a great taste and no jitters (I am extremely caffeine-sensitive, but this doesn't have a bad affect on me), then head over to Amazon and buy today!

I was also invited to VCOM-Virginia as part of the William G Anderson, DO Black History Month Keynote Speaker Series, and it was such an honor to speak with the students and staff of this wonderful institution! Getting to Blacksburg, VA was a bit of a feat with an almost near-death plane experience that included a diversion and a van shuttle in from a different state, but once I made it, I was happy to be there. The SNMA leadership made sure I was well accomodated, and being able to speak to over 200 attendees was incredible. 

Even before stepping foot on campus, I was absolutely floored by the level of professionalism and kindness of the faculty, staff, students, and VCOM-VA SNMA leadership. They gave me the opportunity to meet with the legendary osteopathic physician/surgeon, and civil rights leader Dr William G Anderson via zoom to hear his story personally from him, and when I arrived they gifted me with a signed copy of his book that reads "There's more room at the top...Go there!" 🥹 I truly hope my visit impacted them as positively as they impacted me.

MARCH

March was spent in Miami Beach doing a combination of aesthetic plastic surgery and hand surgery. I also completed my 4th annual plastic surgery in-service examination, and was happy to have another year behind me. Honestly, I think March was where I really started to resurface again after months of trying to be under a rock for in-service studying, work, and everything else, so I can't remember much else that happened during this month.

APRIL

The first weekend in April, I had the pleasure of visiting Newport Beach, CA for the Allergan Knowledge and Education for Young Surgeons (KEYS) program. I always love attending Allergan events because I learn so much with the plus of exploring new areas! As the meeting starts on the first day at 7am, I was able to fly in the day prior and take advantage of some much needed "me time" before the conference began. I treated myself to a massage and a day at the spa followed by a wonderful dinner at a restaurant called Ocean 48. Apparently, this was a new and extremely popular restaurant, but I was able to obtain a last minute reservation at 430pm which for me was 730pm east coast time so it was perfect! They sat me at the best table in the restaurant next to a gorgeous pool and I had the best solo dining experience ever! I literally felt like Queen Latifah in that movie where she goes to a restaurant and orders everything on the menu to enjoy her last days.

As for the conference, I loved actively learning about breast reconstruction. They even had silicone breast models that we practiced markings on as small groups. There was also an injectable portion that went over the different available fillers, and I liked how hands on it was. It's crazy how much the conference covers in only one day, but the busy resident part of me truly appreciates opportunites like this that allow me to get away without affecting my work. I also enjoy interacting with residents from other programs across the country.

I can't end April without discussing my little one as this was also her prom month. My daughter was absolutely gorgeous in her dress! I actually never got to have the true senior prom experience as I was in college full-time as a joint enrollment high school student, and I didn't really know anyone since I moved so many times during my childhood, so it has been such a blessing getting to witness my daughter have experiences I never had. 

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My daughter also finally decided on a college in April and made her announcement. I'm so excited that she will be headed to my alma mater, Louisiana State University! 💜💛💜💛 I think I'm even more glad to be done with all the college visits. We had our final one to FAU at the end of February, but over the course of the past year, I think we had more than 5, so I was tired of the whole process. I'm excited that she'll be attending a school that I am familiar with and that will help get her out of her shell while molding her to be successful in life.

MAY

And continuing on with my daughter, I'm officially the mother of a high school graduate!!!! I was so extremely proud to see my baby walk across the stage and receive her diploma with distinction in May. Celebrating her and all her accomplishments made all the stresses of graduation and partying planning worth it for me. I had planned a mommy/daughter trip but cancelled it last minute because she said she wanted to hang out with her friends. She ended up not going out and staying up under me for the week, but it was great to have uninterrupted bonding together. I'm so extremely blessed to have such a great daughter.

Oh, and speaking of graduations, Larkin Plastic Surgery officially graduated its first class of residents! We had a beautiful dinner to celebrate our outgoing chief residents at the end of May. Which reminds me, we also had our 1st ever Larkin Plastic Surgery Women's gathering at the beginning of May, and we looked good, so sharing that pic above.

JUNE

The next month sucked as I was on transplant surgery, but it was my final month as a 4th year plastic surgery resident, so that was the highlight. I also met some awesome students that knew me from social media, so it was great being able to catch up with people in real life. I honestly don't have much for June other than working. I did get to do some nice liver and kidney cases, but honestly I'm happier with plastic surgery, and I'm glad that from here on out that will be my focus for life. I ended the month (and another year of residency), by attending the Jeezy TM:101 20th Anniversary Black Tie concert, so that was my fun highlight for June.

NOW

I think that pretty much sums up the first 6 months of the year. Ya girl is officially a 5th year Plastic Surgeon (in training) as of last week, and I couldn't be happier! There's not a day that goes by where I don't wake up feeling blessed to be in the position I am in. Yeah, I might b*tch and complain every now and then, but I am truly ecstatic to be actively pursuing my dreams with a MAJOR milestone in sight! Going back through this blog and seeing where I started versus where I am now is so surreal. 5 years ago at this time, I would have never imagined that at this time I would be living in Miami and training to be a plastic surgeon. Just goes to show how God truly is in control and how trusting in Him and His process will always cause things to work out for the best. 

That's about all I have to say, but if you've read this far, thank you for much for continuing to follow along on my journey. I'm still here, still kicking, and can't wait to become your favorite plastic surgeon 😁

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!

 

From Urgent Care Physician to PGY1 Plastic Surgeon!!!!

#PlasticSurgeonLoading

Ahhhh I can't believe it's been almost 3 months since my last post! So much has happened, and the past few months have been a whirlwind of change and excitement. I honestly haven't had time to sit down and type up a full post, but I will do my best to catch everyone up on this one. This post might be a bit lengthy and random, but guess I'll start from the beginning :)

Closing my chapter as an urgent care physician!

After Match Day, the most important things on my list were finding a place to live, obtaining my training license, completing onboarding work for my program, and making as much money as possible before going back to residency pay. I worked a ton of shifts, taking only Mother's Day weekend off, and on May 16th, I finished my last shift as a full-time urgent care physician. My last day was so busy that everyone joked the patients must have known I was leaving, LOL. I didn't finish until a couple hours after my shift ended and this was AFTER having to close the doors early due to the large number of patients. The bright side is, I was surprised with cakes, a card, and gifts from everyone I've worked with, and it made me feel so loved. Unfortunately, we were so busy that day that none of us actually had a chance to celebrate at work, but I was happy to celebrate and go bowling with a few of my faves a week later. I've been blessed to worked with some great people over the past couple years, and I will surely miss them. 

Officially a Floridian!

As for finding a place to live, I am now a Florida resident and finally settled in! I got very lucky with finding a safe, affordable place that is super close to the hospitals I will be rotating at. I secured my place in early April with the help of an awesome realtor who not only went above and beyond, but sent me full videos of my place which included the drive around the area, and picked up my keys for me when it was time to move in so I could stay in Georgia and finish working. Once I finally made it here, it took a few weeks to get settled since I decided to buy all new furniture (so many trips to  IKEA!), but now it finally feels like home :)

Blessed to have some of my SNMA fam in Miami!

The day before orientation I got the chance to hang out with some of my SNMA fam and residents from another residency program in Miami. We spent the day having fun on a boat, and it was such a great way to kick off my training. I am beyond blessed live in a place where I already have a built in support system. It's no secret that residency is hard, but having people around that you can trust and vent to makes it so much better.   

My Plastic Surgery team!

Orientation week started June 14th and was a two-week affair. Nothing too exciting to note, but it was nice meeting all the new interns in the hospital and everyone in my program. I even got a chance to hang out with my co-interns outside of orientation, and I am so lucky to be training with such an awesome group of individuals. 

My 1st First Author Publication!

Oh wait, I forgot to mention that I finally have a first author publication! It was during orientation week that my case report was published in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports. Even though I have multiple publications, and even published an entire book, I feel so much achievement at finally being listed first on a peer-reviewed academic publication. To break it down in layman's terms: this was basically a report on removing a gallbladder in a 32 week pregnant female, and it was a case I helped perform during my original intern year in general surgery. Having this published during my plastic surgery residency orientation was a great closure to the general surgery chapter of my life. If you're interested in reading (it even has cool pictures!), you can find it HERE (Click "Download PDF" at the top if you want to view the full neat version)

Much needed bonding time with my daughter!

After orientation ended, I had a few days until my official start date of July 1st, so I took advantage of mommy-daughter time. My daughter will be starting high school this fall, is actively involved with band, recently made the color guard team, and said she would like to stay with my family and near her friends out of state instead of moving to Florida. I grew up military and went to 4 different schools during high school alone, so I agreed to let her stay and have the stability I never had. This means we will not get to spend as much time together, but I've always stressed quality of time over quantity, and she's always been so supportive of my surgery goals. With that being said, during my final days before starting, I joined my daughter and her friend for a mini vacation in Orlando. I got us VIP tickets to the park which allowed us to skip to the front of every line and jump right on the rides. We enjoyed 14 rides including the newest rollercoaster that was super intense, got a tour through private areas of the park, and had the greatest time together. It's always worth it seeing a smile on her face, and I love creating memories that will last a lifetime.

First day of residency selfie!

After my trip, it was time to get to work! Like most residents across the country, I started on July 1st and it was actually a great day. I arrived at the hospital around 6am and after rounding on my patients, I spent a good part of the day learning the system and getting access to the major things I needed. I didn't feel like a fish out of water, and felt like I was moving at a decent pace. I also wasn't on call, so I was able to leave at a decent time and come home to study. I am on the General  Surgery service for my first two months, so it feels good being back in familiar territory. Plus, I really like the culture of this program so far. I can tell it's going to be a great year, and I'm ready for all the learning and growth that comes with it!

Happiness after operating for the first time in 2 years!

On my second day of work I got a chance to operate for the first time in over 2 years! I can't tell you how good it felt to be back in the operating room. From scrubbing, to gowning, to performing the most basic parts of a procedure, and even getting grilled on my knowledge by the attending surgeon, I've missed it all. The operating room is truly my happy place and I feel so incredibly blessed to be in this position. So many emotions!

Your PGY1 Plastic Surgeon!

I think I've pretty much summed up the last few months as succinctly as possible. Even though I haven't been actively blogging, I have been making an effort to quickly jot down highlights from each day in a journal. I'll try to update the blog at least once a month, but at least now I'll have a reference to catch everyone up in case I get too busy to sit down and type. Outside of being an active team member and learning as much as I can during my rotations, my biggest focus is on reading and studying so that I'll perform well on my in-service exam in the spring. This means blog posts may be infrequent, but you can still catch me on social media. I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my posts, and I look forward to sharing all the exciting times ahead. As for today, I've completed my presentation for didactics tomorrow and finished my readings, so I feel like I've earned relaxation time for the rest of the day. Until next time!

It's My Daughter's 14th Birthday!!!!

When did the baby on the left become the young lady on the right?!?!

It's November 10th which means I am officially the mother of a 14-year-old! Yup, today is my daughter's birthday so what better reason to type up a quick post :) 

I started this blog about a month after her 7th birthday and received my acceptance to medical school about a week before her birthday. Soooo much has happened since that time! I still remember people telling me I would never make it through medical school or become a physician being a single mother, and I was determined to prove everyone wrong. Looks like I've accomplished all that and more, but it wouldn't have been possible if I didn't have such an amazing child. My daughter has been supportive through all the long hours spent studying, leadership roles taking up a lot of my time, and even through us having to live apart from when I moved to Philadelphia to start intern year. She has never once complained or made me feel like I wasn't being a good mother, and for that, I will forever be grateful. She is my entire world, and everything I do is with the intent to show her that all her goals and aspirations can become a reality. 

With that being said, I am big on birthday surprises, and I think this year was the best one yet! I not only pranked my daughter in the most epic way possible, but I ended up making her cry tears of happiness for the first time ever! 

The video is below, but here's a recap (copied from my Instagram caption) for those who don't want to watch the full 3 minute video: she's been bugging me for a bass guitar for months, so for her early 14th birthday celebration (a very small get together with only immediate family and the two friends she hangs out with all the time) I surprised her with a Disney princess ukulele instead. After seeing everyone's initial reactions, I acted like I was upset and said I was going to pee, only to return with both the bass guitar and amplifier she wanted. Her reaction was priceless! Cried in front of her friends and everything 😂⁣

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A post shared by Danielle Ward, DO, MS (@minoritydoctor) on Nov 7, 2020 at 5:26pm PST

⁣Why was the prank so successful? Our deal was that she was supposed to have straight A's, but she ended up getting a B a couple of days ago, so I told her she would now have to wait until Christmas. I'm also known for not giving what people think are the best gifts (I got her a period starter pack and math book as one of her Christmas gifts a couple of years ago and my family still won't let me live it down), and I'm also a bit cheap, so the ukulele wasn't exactly out of character for me. I also made sure to only tell my sister since the rest of my family can't hold water, which helped make it a surprise for everyone. Did y'all peep the look of horror on her friend's face after she realized what it was? My brother also looks like he's super disappointed 😂

Anyway, my daughter now has her bass guitar and couldn't be happier. As for me, I thankful to have raised such a smart, brilliant, sweet, and wonderful young lady. Can't wait to witness all that she will accomplish in both of our lifetimes 💕 

Still Kicking! An Update

Still here!

I'm back! First, my extreme apologies for the huge lack of posts this year. I tell myself that no one actually reads my blog (which helps me be more open and personal with what I write about), and it doesn't actually matter if I post or not, but clearly that's not the case. My mentee passed along a "formal complaint" today that some of you have felt a bit ghosted by my lack of posts and updates, so I promised I would do a brief update.

A text from a friend today that pretty much sums up the 2021 residency season for me

For those who are wondering, I have not given up on my surgery goals. I have submitted my completed applications, and since the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) officially opened to programs at 9am EST this morning, I am officially back in the residency program waiting game. Unlike prior years, I will share my experience with the entire process on my blog BUT you will have to wait until after Match Day in March 2021 to read about it. I don't want anything written to interfere with my chances, so while I plan to write frequent dated posts throughout the process, I will not actually hit the publish button on them until everything is all said and done. I will continue to post about things outside of this application season, and I am always happy to take requests if there is a topic you'd like me to address. What I can tell you regarding this season is I have only applied to surgery programs, and I continue to remain positive and hopeful that everything will work out the way it should.

Post work glow :)

As for work updates, I am still enjoying my work as an urgent care physician. If it weren't for my love of surgery and the fact that I deeply miss being in the operating room, I would be completely happy with this lifestyle. I work an average of 3-4 days a week, pretty much get to pick my schedule, the attending physician level pay is a plus, and I usually have time monthly to take a quick getaway or have a staycation for a few days. Plus, working in the urgent care setting offers a ton of variety, I still get to perform small surgical procedures in addition to suturing, and I rarely have to type up notes at home.  

 

Me and my not so little one

For those of you who care about mommy updates, my daughter continues to do well. She is currently attending school in-person, remains an Honor Roll student, and in a little less than 3 weeks, she will be turning 14 years old...Can you believe it?!?! This blog has been around for half of her life! She still remains very supportive of my surgery goals and loves to speak things into existence by telling all friends about her "surgeon mommy" :) My daughter remains the biggest reason why I continue to push forward and I hope to continue to make her as proud as she makes me.

I voted! Have you?

Despite being in a pandemic, my life hasn't changed much, so I don't have too much in the way of updates. I continue to stay pretty busy with work (COVID testing and telemedicine services have added a new layer to what I do), and I'm always keeping myself occupied with new activities. My recent hobby has been testing out new vegan recipe ideas, so I hope those of you who follow me on Instagram haven't been rolling your eyes with all of the food posts in my stories, LOL. I've also been trying to make a better effort at promoting my BOOK since a few people recently were super surprised that I wrote one, so don't be surprised if you see a few shameless plugs in each of my posts. Other than that, the most important thing I will end with is I don't care if it's via absentee ballot, mail-in, early voting (like I did last week), or in-person on Election Day, please do not forget to exercise the right that so many fought for you to have. GO VOTE!!!!

      

I'm Officially the Mother of a Teenager! (Paris, France recap)

Smiles outside the Louvre Museum in Paris

Life has a funny way of working itself out. Around this time last year, I was feeling overworked and extremely upset at the fact that despite putting in my request well in advance and getting approved, I was still scheduled to work a 24 hour call shift during my daughter's birthday weekend. This meant having to cancel an already scheduled flight and miss my only child's birthday for the first time ever since no one was willing to switch call with me (and who could blame them?).

Fast-forward to this year, and not only do I feel less stressed with the ultimate work-life balance, but I recently returned from a trip to France where I took my daughter to celebrate her 13th birthday. I seriously could not feel more blessed and thankful for life's current twists and turns :) This post will serve as a recap of our recent trip, but since I recently promised to get back to writing more frequently, more posts will be coming soon answering all your commonly asked questions and detailing my recent life experiences :)

Her first silk press!

I've never really understood why, but for the past few years, my daughter had been wanting to go to Paris. She has a picture of the Eiffel Tower on her bedroom wall and Paris trinkets throughout her room, so I figured I would surprise her with the real thing this year to ring in her officially becoming a teenager (yup, I'm now the mother of a 13 year old! *shock face*). But first, it was time for a trip to the hair salon for a new slightly more teenage look. She received her first silk press and judging by how many times she kept flipping her hair, I think she liked it.

Birthday welcome from the hotel

I don't think my daughter actually believed we were going to Paris until the plane started to take off, but the look of happiness on her face was priceless! It was the one picture I wish I would've captured. The flight was enjoyable, and when we arrived at the hotel there was a surprise gift, balloons, treats, and a welcome message waiting in our room for her. It was super sweet!

Sightseeing in Paris!

We arrived around 1pm and although we were tired and jetlagged, we knew we had to stay awake or we would risk being up all night. So we immediately ventured out for some exploring. We took pictures outside the Louvre, walked all the way down to near the Notre Dame so my daughter could check out a Manga shop that she swore had books in English (it didn't), took a little detour so that I could buy something nice for myself, and even went inside the Louvre and took silly pictures with some of the art. We ended the night with a nice dinner together, and then we were out like a light!

Day 2: More Paris sightseeing

We started off our second day in Paris with a trip to the Eiffel Tower where went all the way up to the summit and took in the gorgeous views of the city. Following this we used the hop on hop off river cruise (only $17 for 24 hour access!) to go to all the major stops in the city and take in the sights. We explored so much and the city was absolutely beautiful. In my Instagram highlight story reel of France, I have a video of a man playing the piano in the middle of the road. In my opinion, it captured the feel of the city so wonderfully, so feel free to check it out.

Eiffel Tower fun!

At the end of the day, we returned to the Eiffel Tower to see the light show. My daughter thought it would include various colors during the show and was not impressed with the 5 minutes of twinkling lights. I, on the other hand, was super enthralled! It was such a magical display and I was completely caught up in all its beauty.

Happy 13th Birthday to my little love!

The next day was my little one's 13th birthday and what better place to celebrate than Disneyland Paris?!?! After eating breakfast (during which the hotel surprised her with a cake and candle), we checked out, grabbed an Uber, and made our way to the happiest place in France. When we arrived at Disneyland, we went to the visitor center where she was greeted with a surprise birthday call from Mickey Mouse. I even got her to try escargot for the first time (she wasn't a fan LOL), we rode a few rides, had good laughs, and enjoyed both a parade and the evening fireworks show. I think it's safe to say she enjoyed her birthday :)

Birthday fun at Disneyland Paris

The next day it was time to return home, but we left France full of happy smiles and awesome memories. I'm so happy I had the opportunity to provide my daughter with such a memorable birthday experience this year, and I hope she'll cherish it for years to come. That pretty much wraps up our trip, but I thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed this recap. Until next time!

Match Week 2019: Part Two

So incredibly blessed to have this amazing woman in my life!

Now that I've explained the SOAP process and gotten all the negativity out the way in Part One , I will use this post to focus on the good that came out of Match Week :)

If you've been following me for a while, then you already know that my biggest inspiration and mentor in surgery is Dr. Velma Scantlebury, the first black female transplant surgeon in the United States. I am extremely blessed to have her as a friend, and last week she showed me the importance of having people in your corner who not only support, but encourage and uplift you.

Despite how open I appear on this blog, I'm actually pretty reserved emotionally and tend to not reach out to anyone when I'm upset or going through things. I've also been told that it's pretty hard for people to read me especially when I always appear to be happy and smiling. Last week was no different, as I continued to carry a smile, and didn't let people know that I was going through the SOAP process unless they specifically reached out and asked. Dr. Scantlebury was one of the very few people I reached out to regarding my lack of matching, and I was happy I did.

Not only did she offer words of encouragement from the very start, but while she was in town for a speaking engagement on Thursday of match week, she took time out of her very busy schedule , waited for me to get off work, and came to see me. She treated me to an awesome dinner (complete with an unexpected live band), and we prayed together, discussed strategies for continuing in surgery, and she was honest and straight up with me about the tough road ahead. It was comforting to talk with someone who had gone through the process (you can read more about her story in her new BOOK, which I will do a separate post on at a later time), and it was nice not being alone to deal with my sadness that evening. I left with a true smile and was even more inspired to accomplish my goals.

Best daughter ever!!!!

The absolute best part of last week was getting to see my daughter! I hadn't had a full two-day weekend off since I took my vacation week at the end of January, and I was missing her and my other loved ones. I had a late flight booked for Friday evening, but due to a delay, I had to pick an earlier flight. I wasn't upset about this at all though because I was able to leave work early, and the three hour delay in Atlanta before my connecting flight meant that I got to have dinner with my amazing guy! It was a great start to the weekend, indeed :)

Seeing my daughter's smiling face made all the stresses of that week go away, and even though we literally video chat every day, she had plenty to catch me up on. Spending time with her and my family was much needed, and as always, there were lots of laughs and good times. I even got to have brunch and celebrate St. Patrick's Day with my family since I booked a late flight back to Philly, and miraculously my flight made it back to Philly on time! I was pushing it with a flight that arrived at 1am, when I had to be at work for 530am, but I made it and was sooo happy I wasn't on call that day because I was super tired!

St. Patrick's Day 2019 - Finally got to celebrate a holiday with the little one

Okay, Back to the Match. What's the Plan??

While the weekend was great, I still had to come back to Philly and deal with the reality of not matching. To be honest, I'm not as upset about not matching at this point, because I'm blessed to be in a position where I have options. My current plan is to continue to look for and apply for preliminary general surgery positions as they become available AND network my butt off. If that doesn't work, then I plan to work, do research, and apply again for a spot next year. The crazy thing that they don't tell you in medical school is that after completing a PGY1 year and passing all three board licensing exams (check!), you are eligible for a full unrestricted medical license in most states. What this means is I could have a career as a general practitioner or I could essentially moonlight the entire year as a physician at different hospitals, urgent care centers, etc., and make quite a bit of money while doing research and other things to strengthen my application. Most places pay around $80-150/hour for a 12 hour shift, and while residents will typically moonlight during their non working hours, I could dedicate a regular work week to just moonlighting. I know a few people who have done this and pulled in six figures, so it's a huge relief to have this as an option. With a daughter who I send money to every month to cover her many expenses and student loan payments, this is a much needed back up plan. Unfortunately, it won't allow me to be in the OR, it would be rough going back to a resident's salary after making money, and I would still be limited at some hospitals due to not having board certification, so it's just that - a backup plan.

Outside of the above, I honestly don't have a full solid plan in place at this point, and it looks like I will be spending yet another year of my life in limbo. What I do know, is I still love surgery and I would hate myself if I didn't try again. And oddly enough, I continue to feel nothing but calmness and I still have the faith that everything will work out the way it should be. I also can't complain when there are thousands of medical students out there currently unmatched who don't have the same options as myself. Those are the people who my heart hurts for and who I hope are able to secure residency spots in the coming months. I'm already blessed to be working, getting the chance to operate almost every day, and living my dream as a physician, so I really can't complain. I'm just going to keep pushing and be mindful that if this road were easy, every one would be doing it.

That pretty much sums up my Match Week 2019, and I am ending this post with a huge thank you to all those who reached out to me over the past two weeks. I really appreciate the social media DMs and emails from friends and even complete strangers reaching out just to say that they were thinking of me and hoping the match went well. I honestly didn't even think anyone would remember that I was still going through the process, so it really meant a lot to me. Hopefully I'll be able to share great news with everyone soon, but for now just know that I'm going to continue to keep grinding and pushing for my goals, and this smile isn't going anywhere :)