23 May 2018 - Home Stretch

It's the home stretch now. It's been a long journey: 3 states, 5 out-rotations (and a day doing canine anesthesia), 1,000+ cases, and a doctoral project later we finally attended graduation from NEU earlier this month. After finishing up clinicals, we'll soon get some time dedicated to sitting down and reviewing for boards. Looking over test material it's amazing to see how much I've forgotten from Phase 1.

For review materials I've purchased a couple of review apps, a subscription to APEX earlier in Phase 2, as well as attended Valley Review. The apps were cheap question and answer banks and were worth the $50 or so I spent on them. As for Valley Review vs. APEX, I can't really endorse any one of these over another; they both have their strengths and weaknesses and is probably best discusses in another post. The short of it is that APEX is probably a more detailed and up to date but the attempt at creating third-order questions makes the rationales given seen like a stretch. Valley Review is bit dated but the questions and information are a bit more straight forward and seem well vetted. Also, people that learn better from a lecture would probably benefit from the 3-day review session. For those that don't want to spend the money, sitting down with Barash, Morgan & Mikhail, or even Nagelhout and outlining the chapters is probably just as well.

In typical Army manner, however, even though I'm studying for boards, I'm also starting to get things together to out-process and PCS to my Phase 3 duty station. There's always multiple things to do. At least I'll get some time to go visit California for a bit between stations. Will update again soon.

4 July 2016 - Start of Phase 2

It's been a while since I've updated this blog. It's been hectic moving again half way across the country but I've arrived at my next duty station in North Carolina and will be starting Phase 2 soon while finishing up some in-processing.

Apparently, each Phase 2 site is run slightly differently. We pretty much hit the ground and are now scrambling to figure out where we are at. There hasn't been much sleep and its been a bit overwhelming. The staff and faculty are supportive and do understand the struggle, however. We're given plenty of time to settle in and overall my family and I are happy where we're at.

I feel like I've already forgotten most of what I learned in Phase 1, or if I do remember, it's wrong, not practical, or not congruent with practice where we're at. Phase 1 was definitely one of the most challenging academic experiences in my life and built a great knowledge foundation. Phase 2 is a completely different workflow. I figure, however, that it's one of those "if I can do it, anyone can do it" type of things. As has been said by many before me: I'm not the smartest person but I'm willing to work hard and sleep less.

2 AUG 2015 - The fire hose is on.

It's been a while since my last post. Here's a quick catch up since then:

1) Finished BOLC. Basic officer leadership course for the Army. Not bad at a all. You get a 2.5 month crash course on what it's like to be an Army officer. There's resources for BOLC all over the place so I won't go into too much detail other than to address a few main points.

The basic officer leadership course does three things: gives you a basic introduction to Army life so you don't look foolish when you forget to tuck your shirt in or forget to return a salute to a private. You'll also learn how to shoot firearms, learn the command structure, and where to go for resources you will need for your future career as an Army officer. You'll also get a chance to taste Texas cuisine and most importantly, NETWORK with other officers.

2) I've moved my family out here from California. I do question the strain on my family though. I won't go too far into detail with this.

3) The program has started and the fire hose as been turned on; The program directors literally equate it to drinking out of a fire hose which is started it at a trickle and as you're slowly gulping it down is turned on full blast. But the first rule of USAGPAN is that you DO NOT TALK (BAD) ABOUT USAGPAN.

And really I can't. It's a great program, The staff are phenomenal and the support system backing you is tremendous. There are resources for you everywhere in this program not just academically but socially and financially. The instructors have so far been amazing and everyday my mind is blown by how much more information they can pump into my head. I'm surprised by how often I get that "Hmm..." and "Ahh ha..." moment where you realized you probably could've killed a few of your patients a few times over. Thankfully, the human body is an amazing and resilient machine.

More to come...

28 February 2015 - Goodbye SoCal, Hello Texas.

It's finally happening. I've said my farewells, made peace with the fact that I was moving out of California, where I've lived my entire life, and made the drive out to San Antonio. The drive was pleasant; I wish I had more time to actually enjoy the scenery and explore a little bit.

I arrived to Fort Sam Houston to check in per orders; of course, there were still a few hiccups. I was supposed to get the ball rolling in terms of reporting in to my command, getting checked into temporary living quarters, oathing to Army, getting all my paperwork filed so I could get a new ID card, find housing, and start getting my pay and keep my family insured. Unfortunately, I checked in with my command, but the person I was supposed to see was gone for the day. It's probably just my case since the transition between branches has been so chaotic. So basically I'm here in the hotel until I can check in on Monday. Suck embraced. 

Lighter note, I did make a few stops on the way out to take pictures.

First stop, Davis-Monthan AFB and the Pima County Air Museum. I had a chance to stop by and take a tour of the boneyard. That place is massive, I've never seen so many fighters before. Definitely a must see for jet fighter junkies. Did you know they restored a mothballed B-52 from junk to fully functional in about 2 months and flew it out of there a week ago? That's nuts. Those things are older than I am and they still fly. They also had a bunch of A-10's parted out. Beastly planes they are. 

The drive from Arizona to New Mexico wasn't too bad. That is until I decided to divert from my originally planned route and went into the back country. I drove for about maybe 4-5 hours without reception hoping my GPS wouldn't lose signal, no phone reception the entire time. Stopped a few times in some one road towns and to take pictures of these giant satellites in the Plains of St. Agustin:

Cue X-Files theme. The truth is out there...

Of course, I made some contact with aliens and spent the night in Roswell:

The rest of the drive into through New Mexico into west Texas was pretty uneventful. The weather was getting gloomy and everything just felt run down and gloomy. I don't think I'd personally be able to live out in rural America. But the New Mexico sunsets sure are beautiful. The juxtaposition of the lonely road on to the landscape and the open skies is really something else. I could really disappear out here one day if I wanted to.

All that driving by yourself really messes with your head. You really start to feel lonely and insignificant. But that's why you go to have a good foundation at home, right? I'm going to miss my friends in California, but I'll see you guys later!

11 Feb 2015 - Orders are in, getting ready for the move.

As always, life as been pretty hectic so I'll do a quick update.

1) Everything that has happened up until this point has been nerve racking; transferring branches of service is not easy. It's been back and forth about who "owns" me, the Air Force Reserves or the Army. There's been paper work mix ups regarding who had authority to sign what which was easy to clear up. I've already signed my contract with the Army, but I guess it was an "illegal" contract since AFRC hasn't released me. Then AFRC didn't want to release me until I had orders from the Army, but the Army didn't want to give me orders until AFRC released me. Then AFRC didn't want to release me until I had an oath of commission into the Army, but technically I'm already oathed in as a military officer of the United States. Not a problem though. The Army will oath me in again when I go to BOLC. So basically I'm currently in a grey area where I belong in two branches.

2) The good news is that on 29 Jan 2015, I finally got the call from my recruiters saying my orders are in and I've been approved to attend BOLC with a report date at the end of February. I guess one month notice is gracious enough for the military and I've already turned in my two notice at my civilian employer. I'm in the middle of packing up my apartment right now and planning a small road trip while driving out to Texas later this month.

3) The great thing about USAGPAN that has impressed me so far is the guidance and the organization. What's really helped so far is the fact that they actually had a current student contact me as a sponsor/mentor. It's great to have a resource to answer your questions not only about the program itself but about life in general, such as moving, living arrangements, tips about BOLC, and other logistics. The other thing I find interesting is that the community is tiny; I've already made contact with a couple of future classmates online through various forums and boards.

 

31 Aug 2014 - Hurry up and waiting on that Scroll...

First off, to my former co-worker that got into KPSA, good luck on the start buddy!

I got my official letter from Northeastern University earlier this month as expect. Still no word from the Army, however. According to my recruiter, my packet has already been approved by the Department of the Army for the program and my name has been sent up the chain for scroll approval, a process by which no one has any real idea works. Having been scrolled in before when I commissioned into the Air Force Reserves, I know that the wait feels longer than forever. 

Basically, your packet is sent to the board for your branch for review. If you're approved by your branch it's supposed to be pretty much automatic that you're in because if you're going to get rejected, it's at the branch level. Your packet then gets sent to the Secretary of Defense for scroll approval. My assumption was that company grade officers O-1 to O-3 only required SECDEF approval which was usually automatic. I was told, however, that a law passed a few years back requiring Senate approval for all officers entering AD; Senate approval used to be be required only for field and flag officers. My guess is that it's supposed to be a formality so that the Senate can have more oversight over military spending. 

The important part, however, is that the Senate has the ability to line out specifics from the scroll. So basically, I can still be rejected if I pissed off a Senator or two who still have the ability to line out my name on the scroll. It just takes a long time because of the bureaucracy. That and since it's the end of the fiscal year, my guess is I won't be finding out until October when I get to commission in. 

01 August 2014 - One down, one to go.

I'm on vacation in Kauai right now and work doesn't seem to understand that. Neither do the roosters. I've been getting called every day for overtime, so for the most part my phone's been off on radio silence.

I turned it on this AM and sifted through the junk pile up this morning to find this email. Got in. Now just waiting on the recruiters to call me back with good news.

09 July 2014 - USAGPAN Packets are in. Soon.

Late post: My packets are in for USAGPAN. I can finally breathe easy. The application process for USAGPAN is a two step process:

The first step is the apply for the contract school that USAGPAN runs its program through. In this case, it's Northeastern University. Application for the that is in and complete. I spoke with Ms. Litzinger from the anesthesia program there and confirmed my packet is completed and my letter of recommendation is in from the Phase II director from Madigan Army Hospital. I'm just awaiting review by their admissions panel sometime this month. Results should be in by the end of the month with resulting email notification of acceptance by end of August.

The second step is to apply for commission to the Army Nurse Corps. As stated previously, my situation is a little more sensitive than a regular Direct Accession since I'm transferring branches. My conditional release from the Air Force Reserve is only good for a set amount of time, my recruiters were working double time to get my packet in for boards before it expires. I had a little hiccup going through MEPS with my laser eye surgery documentation, but my waiver for that has finally been cleared. Yesterday I signed my digital signature to approve my packet to be sent to boards. Somewhere in the clouds my packet is sitting awaiting to be reviewed by a special committee for approval for commission. According to my recruiters, I should hear back by end of July or early August.

Its complicated, but I will need acceptance from both boards to be admitted into the program. I also found out from my recruiter that you only get two shots at applying; if I don't get in this time, I only get one more try. I guess that means I better vibe hard for that acceptance.

It's been a long process, but I'm glad I went through with it. At least now I can relax, finish up my biochemistry refresher, enjoy life again for a little bit. I go on a long awaited vacation in two weeks, should be back first week of August hopefully just in time to find out results. Can't wait to go from HUA to HOOAH.