The 1st Step

From the first day of medical school, all you hear about is the Step I exam. Advise from upperclassman all comes down to one thing: Learn it well the first time around. Easier said than done. It occurs at the end of second year and covers all of the material taught up to that point. It is a right of passage. It consists of 7 50-question blocks that last an hour each with 45 minutes of total break time, adding up to an 8-hour marathon exam.
Jordana and I took the exam this exam two days ago, thursday, and it was everything we had heard it would be. It was the toughest single thing we have ever done, but now we're finished! And as long as we passed (fingers crossed) we will be starting 3rd year in 3 short weeks and finally working in the hospitals with real life patients! We're both very anxious and excited. We feel completely unprepared and overwhelmed, but in a good way. We know we'll learn quickly.


Here a snapshot of what the last 2 years of our lives has been like. The book is a succinct review of our first two years and we've become quite close over the last couple of months.


My roommate Joe hard at work.


Joe likes to study at home and he also likes to takes breaks every now and again to stay sane. This was one of his better projects while taking a break that allowed hiim to be a bit more productive while studying on the porch. He's quite good with wood, something that may or may not have gotten us kicked out of our last apartment!

Our cozy study porch.