Mexican Food and the End of Period 1

The third and fourth years of medical school are separated into blocks of 6 weeks called periods. Period 1 ended on Thursday. I only took 4 weeks of surgical subspecialty (2 weeks orthopedics and 2 weeks otolaryngology aka ENT) instead of a full 6 week rotation. However most of my friends took a whole 6 week required rotation. At the end of most required rotations we have to take a shelf exam which is a national exam for that specialty.

To celebrate the end of period 1 (and their first shelf exam) we met at a Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis called Dominguez Family Restaurant. John and I have had bad luck in finding good Mexican food in Minnesota but we were pleasantly surprised. When all of the girls get together we always end up talking about medical school stuff and the boys hate it. They put us down in the basement in our own private room and we had the boys on one of the table and the girls on the other. That way the boys couldn't complain about us talking about our rotations and exams the whole time.

Here are some pics of the girls in front of the restaurant:

From left to right: me, Meghann, Carmen, Erin, Christina

Here are some pics of the boys:

From left to right: Mark (Carmen's hubs), Ryan (Christina's pre-hub), my John, Jon (Erin's hubs).

Our friends Erin & Jon recently purchased a scooter. So John took a few pictures of them:

And you can't go to a Mexican restaurant without taking a ride on the donkey!

We used to see each other every day when we were in class so I was definitely going through withdrawals without seeing my friends. It was so much fun to see everyone again. I think we will have to make it a tradition to go out to dinner or lunch at the end of every period to catch up.

Period 2 starts tomorrow. I will be doing my general surgery rotation and I'm a little nervous. I'm sure I will find out what tired really is! Wish me luck!