Exam Time Again

Kelly should be a few hours away from completing her Internal Medicine boards exam which started this morning. Good luck, Honey. I hope you packed enough for lunch and snacks. I am praying and thinking of you.

Life Saving Stuff

It has taken a long time, I know. And even still only a sampling was posted. But Kelly did a good job to finally get some (photos) on Facebook.

Another week has come and gone. All in all it has been quite an eventful week! Let me recall:

(1) Kelly saved a baby's life
(2) Ethan's been chatting up a storm with his classmates and knows about 20 words (does not speak them all, but can point or demonstrate understanding) - most if not all Chinese words
(3) I've secured nearly (cough) $1.3M in contracts for our research company (in the first quarter of 2008) and met with Ray to re-negotiate my employment contract

Blue Lips

Kelly was to round on a baby at the hospital after work one day. Quite routine really. On our way to pick up Ethan from Linda's place, I dropped Kelly off at the hospital, planning as we normally do to then pick her up once I got Ethan. I get a call from Kelly saying she will be a "couple of hours at least" and to just go home with Ethan and pick her up later in the evening.

As it turns out, an 8-hour old baby boy born that day had a congenital heart defect called Something Something (medical terminology). Kelly first noticed the newborn had slightly blue lips. Asked the nurse in charge if she had noticed the baby's lips, the nurse replied "Oh, they are just slightly bruised". Not content with the nurse's reply, and wanting to err on the side of caution, Kelly ordered a few "pulse ox" tests to be done. Basically, leads are connected to a finger or a toe that measures the blood oxygen level of the baby. For a newborn, blood oxygen level is normally at 95% or greater. Baby Boy was at 74% and fell as low as 54%. Some other medical insight that Kelly knows confirmed her initial instincts that this baby may have a heart defect (which is very common apparently).

Baby boy gets rushed to another hospital in TN that has a pediatric cardiology unit with surgeons and other specialists on board. Taken away by a helicopter, baby boy was given oxygen and monitored closely and parents were very worried and sad (understandably).

That evening, baby was stabilized and the attending physician calls Kelly to congratulate her on her insight, intuition and quick action.

Long road still for baby boy, but there is no doubt, remove Kelly from this story this particular evening and baby boy would not survive.

All other events (for us this week) really pale in comparison now, no? Hahaha ..

Well, sufficeth to say Ethan and Dad are progressing, too, thank you. And that's all we'll share for that. For now.

Board Certified

Nervous and trembling, Kelly opens her email which would tell her whether or not she passed her Pediatrics board exam she sat in October. Everyone that knows Kelly probably had no worry at all that she would pass. Easy to be on that side of the fence, isn't it? Well, y'all are right! Kelly passed and is now a "board certified" pediatrician!

What a long road. Already with her Georgia medical license she can practice both her specialties in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, but board exams make it all the more official (and are they required, Honey?).

In any case, one down, one to go. Kelly is already registered to sit the Internal Medicine board exam in August. Luckily for her, the medicine boards is a one day exam, compared to the pediatrics one which is covered over two exhausting days.

Peds Boards

We are spending this weekend in Atlanta. Ethan, mom, Kelly and I are driving down tomorrow (Saturday) and returning Sunday. Dad arrives on Sunday and we'll pick him up from the airport and spend the afternoon together in the big city. Kelly will stay behind for Monday and Tuesday, for her pediatrics board exam which is sat over two days.

Kelly has been studying now for a few weeks/months. I am sure she will be very relieved once this is all over with. GOOD LUCK, HONEY! I am sure you will do very well.

And since she is double specialized/trained in both internal medicine and pediatrics, in order to be board certified in internal medicine she will have to sit the IM board exam which is next year (August 2008).

But first things first.

The peds boards are more demanding also, being a two-day exam (the IM boards "just" one day).

In Atlanta, we hope to do some shopping (IKEA, asian grocery stores, etc..) and eating out, and perhaps meet up with some friends if we can get our act together and coordinate everything.

Only a couple more days to go, Honey. You can do it!

Medicine/Pediatrics Senior Dinner

A wonderful evening has come to an end, and friends are now making final preparations for the next phase in their lives. Perhaps I will sit and write a more detailed and thoughtful entry in the morning. Well done to all! And good luck to next year's SARs.

Medicine Senior Dinner

Last night was the Medicine Department's dinner for the graduating senior residents. Like last year it was held at the beautiful Hope Valley Golf and Country Club which happens to be very close to where we live. Dinner was the same as last year - or at least what I had (Filet Mignon). Can't beat a good quality steak no matter what the other food options in my opinion.

As usual, they had a slide presentation of all the SARs (senior assistant resident -- don't know why they are called this actually) in which they made fun of most/all of them. It was good fun, and not that emotional though. The medicine dinners always seem more proper and formal than personal in my opinion. We managed to take but three pictures all night. I will post all here. I will certainly take more pictures tonight, which is the senior med/peds dinner - Kelly's graduating class of 6. It will definitely prove to be much more emotional for sure, since this intimate group/program has really grown close over the past 4 years.

The Mostaghimi family babysat Ethan and put him to bed (in their home). THANK YOU!!! We left the festivities early (10pm) to hang out with Zhila and Parvaneh a little before taking Ethan home. What a great family we have in our colleagues and the Baha'i community. All will be terribly missed when we move to Blue Ridge.

Senior Farewell Dinners

Senior Class Photo, Duke, Internal Medicine & Pediatrics combined residency program, 2007
[Back L-R: Kelly Koay, MD, Jennifer Walker, MD, Krishelle Leong-Grotz, MD; Front L-R: Christian Ramers, MD, Mathew Schwartz, MD, Reilly Coch, MD]

It is that time of the year when graduating seniors bid farewell to mentors, friends and colleagues, and look back on their training here at Duke with fond memories and astonishment at just how quickly 3 years (4 for some) has flown by. A word reiterated through speeches offered by many describing feelings they have during this time of the year was "bittersweet". And I can say, as a spouse to a medical resident, I concur.

It is hard to survive and sacrifice so much to go through a residency training. And I have to say it is probably a lot harder trying to do a combined program like medicine and pediatrics. It is one year longer than most (4 instead of 3) and you find yourself in your second year of the program being called a "senior" to interns who end up, by the end of their first year, actually having more experience (than you - if you did med/peds) in either single discipline.

So much self-doubt you have to overcome because of the nature of the combined program and split schedules, which pushes you to always have to "catch up" and learn quickly to "keep up" with medicine or peds colleagues.

And now it is Kelly's class' year. Their time. They are the ones being celebrated this year. Can you believe it is now their time? The many senior dinners we've attended, and the emotions we saw in the graduating seniors of those years - so palpable. And now Kelly and her class take their rightful place.

It is sad.

We have made a family in Durham. Not just our immediate family with Ethan born here, but with our many friends and colleagues who have truly been there through all the "major" events in my and Kelly's life. They have witnessed our early days as friends, then our days of dating, engagement and attended our wedding and were a witness to our marriage vows. They saw us through our first pregnancy and the eventual birth of our first born. They celebrated the highs, and commiserated with the lows. Many dinners, parties, get-togethers, game nights, movie nights.

And now, the group moves on to the next phase in their lives and professional development. Quite literally, the Duke med/peds class of '07 will be relocating to all four corners of the country - Seattle (Pacific Northwest), San Diego (Southwest/coast), Ithaca, NY (Northeast) and Georgia (Deep South) :-D

Thank you for the memories guys. We look forward to a reunion in the near future and good luck with all your future endeavors, be they professional, personal, or of service.

With two more senior dinners left (the medicine department and med/peds), emotions will be building, and ultimately come pouring when the med/peds class say 'good-bye'.

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alright, reality check, Noomz needs a poopie diaper changed... and oh yea, we still have this thing called a house to sell.. .argh!

Making The Grade

CONGRATULATIONS, HONEY!!!

Kelly just passed her USMLE (medical licensing exam) Step III with a score in the 97th percentile :-D Well done, Honey.

Let's celebrate!

Next up: Board Certification exams for both Internal Medicine (August '07) and Pediatrics (October '07)...

You can do it!

Medicine Dinner

Last Friday (12/9) was the Duke medicine department's annual Christmas dinner party, which traditionally was held at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club - the venue of our very own wedding two years ago.

This year's dinner - the food - was much better than last. Similar to last year, they had various 'stations' set up in one of the large ballrooms. They had an Asian station with stirfry, chicken skewers, shrimp skewers, and the like. Another station was set up with a large carving roast under a heating lamp with a chef ready to serve you, and garlic mashed potatoes. This was my station for the evening as we often eat Asian cuisine at home.

The real treat, however, was a large chocolate fountain, with fresh fruit (strawberries, blackberries, honeydew melon), marshmellows, cheesecake, and regular cake on skewers for you to coat in chocolate - I suppose like a fondu but instead of dipping your fruit/cake into a bowl of melted chocolate, you simply let the chocolate fountain coat your skewer. Neat :-D Needless to say the crowds were around this station.

And after having one too many chocolate coated cheesecake skewers, I was near about to puke. In hindsight, I would have simply stuck to the marshmellows (light!) and the no-fail, always-excellent-coated-in-chocolate, strawberries.