I hate it when other people do this. They include a little newsletter in their holiday cards. A “newsletter!” Like the things they do with their lives are important enough for a specific periodical publication. I don’t care if little Jimmy got second place in his school’s Basketball Dribble-a-thon. I don’t care if aunt Kathy’s quilt is on display at the county administration office (2nd floor). And I certainly don’t care if Bill and Mary took a completely generic cruise vacation, played blackjack, won $20, and had a great time playing TV trivia because of their amazing knowledge of the hit program “Dancing With The Stars.” It’s insipid, boring, and it makes me want to kill. It makes me want to kill as much as it does when I see lawn after lawn with retarded light-up mechanical reindeer. Nothing says, “let’s celebrate the birth of Jesus (Lord and Savior),” like a ridiculous white, lighted reindeer that gently swings its head back and forth as a Rangifer tarandus metronome.

So, how was that for getting sent off on a tangent (see pic). Anyway, I was thinking how much I hate these newsletters, but then I decided to write my own. Why? Well, first off, because I’ve got a Web site and I’m not afraid to use it. Second, I’ve got lots of words in my head and I want to let them out (to make room for the voices). And finally, because it is a convenient way to keep in touch with friends that I don’t get to talk to that often. In fact, moving ahead, I think this is the way that people will ultimately connect all the time. MySpace, Blogs, text messaging, it’s the future. Some nights Jean and I are actually sitting in the same room, with dueling laptops, as we search for various things online, and we send links back and forth to each other. WTF? LOL! ROTFLOL! ^URS. JEOMK.

So, without further adieu, here’s my recap for two-thousand and six:

January
The year started out with me giving Jean a big kiss goodbye as I headed down to Maryland for six weeks of emergency medicine training at Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital in Baltimore. Personally, I think Baltimore is a pit. You couldn’t pay me enough to live there. The only good thing about being there was that January and February were a bit more mild temperature-wise for me, and I was able to get lots of trail running in. Well, as much as I could between studying and working four 12-hr shifts that included overnights. In any event, I had a good time learning, and I got to see a lot of interesting cases. I missed my wife, my dog and my bikes though. I did fly home a couple of times which was a good way to break up the six weeks.

February
Still in Baltimore, still at Hopkins. I got a couple of parking tickets. That sucked. All in all, I enjoyed the learning experience at Hopkins, and that’s what I was there for, but I was happy when it ended so I could be home. At the end of my rotation, I went to Washington DC for a couple of days to participate in a lobbying effort for the American Association of Physician Assistants. Nerd. From DC, I made a B-line for Maine for a few days of classes at UNE. The temperature change was quite significant from Maryland to Maine! After my emergency medicine rotation, I got to be home for good as my next two rotations were in Peabody. I made it home from Maine in time for Jean and I to run in a Valentine’s Day road race. In mid-February I started an internal medicine rotation with Dr. Mahesh Wadhwa, a nephrologist (kidney specialist). He was a very smart doctor and I developed a keen respect for the kidneys. They truly are amazing. In addition to working at this rotation, I was also studying as much as I could, and trying to spend time with Jean and Luna.

March
March didn’t bring any significant changes with it. I was still at my internal medicine rotation, but I was working on getting past as many PA school milestones as I could, including passing in my last research paper, and passing the two-months-to-go point for the national certifying exam. I was also able to hit some more races including one so close I was able to run to it, and another in Salem at the golf course. I actually got a medal at the one in Salem. Weird! Luna ran both of them with me—she’s so fast! Jean was on the road for a couple of days in the Big Apple. At the end of March, my internal medicine rotation ended and I started on my last rotation, in family medicine with Dr. Alain Chaoui.

April
Dr. Chaoui is my PCP, a friend, and he was my preceptor. The practice is insanely busy which translated into a good learning experience. April was starting to get busy. I was putting in lots of time with my rotation, I was trying to enjoy spring by running and riding as much as I could, I was studying as much as possible so I could be ready for my national exam. I don’t remember much more about April than that. All of my attention was on finishing school and being ready for the exam. You see, I LOVE exams. I put a lot of pressure on myself though because I honestly go into an exam shooting for a 100. Aim high baby!

May
Holy shit. May. May was scary because that meant that rotations would be over, school would be over, I’d be doing my final presentation, I’d be graduating, and I’d be taking my board exam. Graduation was a big hoopla event, and my mom came up from Florida. I even got to speak briefly at the ceremony. After that, Jean had to go to DC for a couple of days for work, so I just spent every spare second in the books. I studied, studied, and studied. I also did some riding and running, but mostly studied. Test day finally came and I flew through the exam. It was done. Now, I only had to wait for the results! To occupy my mind while I waited, Jean and I took off for a well earned, and well deserved vacation to the Southwest. We had a killer time hiking and camping all over Arizona. We LOVE the desert. We also met some new friends from Utah on one of our overnight hikes to some Indian ruins. If I get a chance, I’ll post some more pics from this trip, but that won’t be for a little while… The vacation also served as a way for Jean and I to celebrate our 1yr wedding anniversary. We still like each other—how about that!

Because I am a nerd, I found an Internet café in Flagstaff and I insisted on checking daily to see if my results were in from the exam. They were not. We finally got home at the end of May, and the first time I went online the results were there—I passed (actually, I really, really passed).

June
With good news for my certifying exam in the bag, I now started the process of obtaining my state license, my DEA license, my state controlled substance license, my National Provider Identification number, and worked on getting a job. I got a really good offer from a company that did occupational health services, but I turned it down. I felt that it was too narrowly focused, and at times the pace looked like it would be too slow. I wanted to go into family medicine because I’d see EVERYTHING, work with patients of every age, and I’d get a generalist’s experience. I had a great relationship with the doctor that I had done two of my family medicine rotations with—Dr. Chaoui, and we were able to work out a deal. I’d start June 15th! That left me a only few days to do 2yrs of work around the house.

With school finally over, and the board exam finally behind me, I was also looking forward to having a normal life again… you know, spending time with Jean, playing with my dog, training and racing, seeing friends—I couldn’t wait to be normal again! I did a mountain bike race, missed Jean while she went to Nashville for a couple of days, and got a new car! Jean and I decided that 200,000 miles on the Ford van was enough and it was time for something new. In light of all the things that we like to do, the perfect car for us was the Honda Element. It’s awesome.

July
In July, I was continuing to work and learn. I was also trying, as mentioned earlier, to reclaim my “normal life.” That meant either racing or traveling on weekends. Jean and I would take off for the mountains of Vermont whenever we could, frequently with our friends Ron & Renee. Unfortunately, I’d usually end up getting out late on Fridays, so we’d roll into the campground at around midnight. It’s no fun to set up a tent after a long drive at midnight. We were able to, however, get away for a week of hiking, camping and mountain biking. We do love Vermont and even after only working there for a month, the vacation was needed.

August
I don’t remember anything noteworthy happening in August… Just lots and lots of working. I was at the office from 8am to about 10pm almost every day. I think I was seeing less of Jean than when I was living in Maine!

September
By September, the hours at my job were starting to wear on me. MAYBE I’d get out a little earlier than 10pm sometimes, but that was rare, and certainly not early enough to be notable. I never got to see Jean. I’d come home from work, tired and frustrated, I’d complain for a little while, and then go to sleep. Another hard part was that Jean could never depend on me for anything—I was completely unavailable every Monday through Friday. I couldn’t pick anything up, I couldn’t make any calls, I couldn’t do anything—I just didn’t have the time. That meant that Jean had to do it all. I’d be so busy all week that weekends simply became two days of “catch-up,” for laundry, house cleaning, dry cleaning, yard work, and other errands. It was completely disruptive if we wanted to get away for a weekend. Also, I never got to go for a post-work ride or run. In fact, the only riding I was doing was a couple of times per week with my buddy Mike at 5:00am.

I liked the job—well, for the first 9 or 10 hours, and I liked the doctor I was working with, and I liked the patients, but something needed to change.

Then, totally out of the blue, I talked with an emergency department doctor with the Cambridge Hospital. They were looking for a PA and they could offer more money and better hours. It was a difficult situation because I knew that my supervising physician at my current job was counting on me as he was moving his practice from a group practice to private practice, but I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. This is especially true because I had really wanted to eventually work in emergency medicine—I just didn’t think the opportunity would be there until I had had more experience. They were willing to completely train me. Anyway, I accepted the new job—I was psyched!

October
October first was the official day that Dr. Chaoui’s practice would officially become his, and I had the dubious honor of giving my notice on this day. It wasn’t by choice that it would be this day, but I had wanted to give as much notice as possible, and that was when I finally had confirmation of my other offer. I would be working for a week, going on vacation for about 10 days, coming back to work for a week, then going to a CME program for a couple of days, then giving myself some days to get caught up again with life. Did I mention vacation? Jean and I went to Germany. It was totally, completely awesome. Read more here. Anyway, with my mind set on my new job, I was all about getting ready for it.

November
The new job started officially November 15th. I’ve loved every day that I’ve been there. Yeah, sometimes the hours are long, and the patients are difficult, and the pace is crazy, and I have no idea what I’m doing, and I have to learn from everyone, but it’s challenging, I work with a great group of people, and I’m learning something new every day.

I had some time to do fun things including doing my first trail marathon, and banging out a cyclocross race. Jean and I also ran in the annual Feaster Five road race on Thanksgiving Day. It was amazing to have time to do the things that I love doing—spending time with Jean, playing with my dog, and riding/running. Hell, I’m even having time to take out the freestyle bike every once in a while, and getting back into my freelance writing mode!

December
So far, December has been busy with the upcoming holidays, work, continued mild weather, and Luna’s insatiable exercise needs. I’m totally looking forward to 2007 with my new job, and more time to enjoy life.