Bad luck?

So, I got two letters on Friday: (1) a typed letter from MGH stating that I would be joining the WACC Outpatient team on Sept 4th and it gave me details concerning orientation and my salary, and (2) an email introduction letter giving me my clinical instructors name and hours. The main difference between these two letters was the outpatient clinic where I was to work. The first stated it was the WACC, or Wang Ambulatory Care Center, which is at the main hospital and where I really wanted to go. The 2nd said: "As you know, you have been selected to go to our Waltham clinic." Well, not only did I NOT know that, I had just received contradictory information. I called the coordinator of clinical education at MGH and she confirmed what I feared: that I was actually chosen to go to a site that is not accessible via public transportation, that has a smaller number of clinical specialists (1 vs 5+), and that doesn't have a large neuro population. The woman I talked to was sorry that I had received incorrect information and was surprised that I had been chosen for Waltham when I don't have a car.

This changes my plans for the year slightly, as I will not be able to get a dog, and will have to borrow Matt's car. We need to work out an arrangement where I will probably pay the bulk of his car insurance, gas and some maintenance to have the use of his car during the week. I guess I will be helping him out with financial concerns right now, which is good. And I just mapped the route and should be able to ride into work at least a few times a week. It's about 9 miles, and with my new road bike, it should take me less than 45 minutes. I just hope there is a shower there or some way for me to cool down before my shift. My hours are as follows...

MWF 7-3:30, TTh 10:30-7pm. The MWF shift is too early to take the commuter rail, which would be a 2 mile walk to work anyways, and I won't be able to bike in the winter. I guess I will figure it all out.

I thought I was going to be able to stay in Boston, continue commuting on my bike, and have a regular schedule. Apparently that was not in the cards for me... is ti bad luck? or perhaps a blessing in disguise? I guess I will have to wait to figure that out.

I get a raise...

So even though I have yet to start nor do I know the clinic where I'll be working, they have seen it fit to raise the hourly wages of the interns by an extra $0.90/hr. This means I'll have an extra $36/ week... perhaps enough to pay for a puppy! I'm already looking at dogs online, although I need to know exactly where I'm working (downtown or Waltham), my hours and my roommate's availability. Within the next year, however, I would love to have my own dog :)

Bride and Groom at Sunset

Bride and Groom at Sunset
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Heather and Alex had everyone meet them at the Vermont Brewfest to enjoy some microbrews and to take pictures with the newly weds. We took a bunch of group photos at the large Adirondak chair, but Stephanie also snapped off a couple shots of them alone at sunset. They are so perfect together, and I wish them the best!

Under the Umbrella

Under the Umbrella
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

This is a picture of Michelle and I at Heather and Alex's wedding a couple of weeks ago. After months of planning and getting everything in order, the weather decided to not fit into the plan of a lovely outdoor wedding. The bride in groom took it in stride, however, and still walked down the "aisle" to the tree house where they exchanged their vows while we hundled under umbrellas down below.

I'll admit that I did not actually hear much of what was said between the two of them, except I did hear Heather replace "I promise to stand by you through the trouble we may have" with "we WILL have." A nice touch that got a laugh out of those in attendance. The wedding was followed by a pig roast and dancing at the St. John's Club.

It was a great weekend, as I was able to go for a long bike ride with my friend Josh on Saturday AM and then head to the Vermont Brewer's Fest with the wedding party in the evening. I realize being up there again how much I really love the people and the atmosphere in general. Perhaps I'll end up in VT by the end of 2008... who knows?

First Brick Workout

I did my first brick workout today. It wasn't planned but I was feeling great and felt like pushing myself, so after my 30 mile bike ride with Katie, I ran 3.5 miles. I was tired, but I felt like my legs were underneath me and I could continue to push through the fatigue. Of course, I did not swim beforehand and didn't run the 6+ miles I am going to need to pull off on August 26th, but I think this is a good place to be 5-6 weeks out. I am planning on biking 40-50 miles this weekend up in Burlington, VT with a good friend and avid rider. The couple I lived with for 10 weeks is getting married on Friday afternoon at a public park right on Lake Champlain, and I figured I might as well bring my bike and log some good scenic miles on Saturday!

I think I am even starting to think like a triathlete now, scary!

It's A Small World After All

So, last night was Matt's DJ night at Rivergods. A new wave/ post punk night at a very chill venue in Cambridge conveniently located a few blocks from his apartment. He spun from 8-9, 10-11, and 12-12:30. I made it till just after midnight when I had to head out. A good group of my friends came out to enjoy some drinks along with the tunes and I think it was a pretty successful night.

Matt also had a good group of friends come out for it, most importantly his friend Rachel who has just moved from Albany to Boston (a transition he knows well). She arrived with the guy she is currently dating who, as chance may have it, is my ex's good friend from high school. Not Brian, but my ex from 4 years ago Mike. I tried to fight of the ghosts of ex past, but this guy kept offering up unsolicited information about Mike's business, his new girlfriend, and how they've moved in together. I tried to redirect conversation and insert some tidbits about how I am also doing well: dating a wonderful guy, about to finish graduate school, working at an amazing hospital, training for a triathlon, etc. He then started to pump me for information about Matt and I in order to report back to Mike. Yuck.

I am really glad that Mike is doing well, and has finally moved out of his parents' house. I know that I have moved on and have finally reached a place in my life where I feel truly happy, but the conversation last night through me back into a time when I was being rejected and struggling to find self-worth. Luckily I phoned Sara before walking home and going to bed, because I woke up fully refreshed and feeling quite confident that breaking things off with Mike and the rest of the decisions I've made in the last 4 years have led me down an amazing path. One that I am still excited to see where it goes!

Walden Pond Swim Route

Walden Pond Swim Route
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

We went out to Walden on Saturday and I finally swam the entire length! Here is an estimate of my route. I obviously need to work on swimming straight. The pink is the way I went out and the orange back. Notice the improvement in aiming for the correct part of the shore. I think it's much easier on the route back because there are a ton of people camped out on the beach and you have a larger visual target.

It's ~1/2 mile across, so I actually swam over a mile total (counting my detours) with one break inbetween. I felt great and even managed to run for 30 minutes after the swim. I feel much more prepared for the swim portion of the race, although now I need to focus on the run and the bike!

A Funny Side Note

Apparently the suit jacket was a wasted purchase, as the interview for MGH was the one where I had to find a different outfit when my suit was locked in the building. Perhaps my resourcefulness won them over... it certainly wasn't the stylish black button down shirt I wore.

My Year Long Placement

We received notification of our internship placements today at 4pm. I ended up getting my first choice, which is Mass General Hospital Outpatient. I'm not sure yet whether I will be in the ambulatory care center attached to the hospital or at a satellite clinic in Waltham. I think I remember the director telling me that she wouldn't send me to Waltham because I don't have a car, and I would love it if I get to be in the hospital. I am very excited about this news, although I am also nervous for a few reasons:

1. I know that this will be the most challenging of any of my placements... Vermont tends to be a laid back place, and The General (I should start using the lingo) is anything but.
2. I think I may be placed with another Jessica R in my class and she is quite competitive. Great, they will definitely be comparing us now, not that I think I wouldn't match up if we were to be compared. I just don't think that is the point of our internship year.
   
3. And this one is silly... there is no more pretending or fantasizing about the different places I might end up and how each one would present different challenges. I now know where I'll be and that kind of takes the guessing out of things for the moment. I still don't know where I'll be after this year, so perhaps I can just start fantasizing about that early :)
   

Face Scan

Face Scan
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

I participated in an MIT face scan study yesterday. The whole process, which consisted of me sitting still for 2 minutes inside a metal dome filled with cameras as they took 900+ pictures of my face, took all of 15 minutes to sign in, set up, and get all the photo's taken. For that they gave me $30 and some of the images, thus the spooky picture of me in a hairnet looking like a statue. I wish I could have posted the 3-D image... it was in a strange format and would not save to a standard .jpg format.

I guess they are using the data to develop software to age images, and various other reasons. They don't exactly seem to have all the uses for this data hammered out yet, but it definitely seems interesting and totally worth $30 for my time :)

Memorial Day BBQ

Memorial Day BBQ
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Matt and I went to a BBQ in Cambridge on Memorial Day at his friend Irene's place in Cambridge. There was a grill and people were instructed to bring food. Someone decided to bring stuff to make Smore's and I came up with the brilliant idea of melting my chocolate using a spatula and tin foil prior to placing it inbetween the graham crackers with the toasted marshmellow. I did this because the marshmellow never seems to stay hot enough to melt the chocolate. I figured I would just preheat the chocolate, easy solution!

Well, the chocolate definitely metled and here I am attempting to eat my Smore's without losing too much of the marshmellow and chocolate oozing out the sides. Matt is laughing at me, but I still consider the venture a success!

Cape Cod Crew

Cape Cod Crew
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

A month ago, a bunch of us headed down to the Cape for some R & R before I started classes and the summer officially begun. We were down at Matt's parents' house the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, which was rainy and cold the entire time. Still we managed to entertain ourselves and have a great time.

Here we all are eating breakfast the first morning. Michelle and I, seated at the head of the table here, made waffles and eggs each morning since we tended to be awake a good hour or two before anyone else. See, it pays to bring a morning person on trips like this!

Matt and Rob look quite pleased about their waffles :)

My Last Interview

So, I was trying hard not to have any interviews on my birthday but when the opportunity came up to get both of my Mass General Hospital (MGH) interviews done in one day (on my birthday), I decided to just get the last interviews over with. I had a group interview Tuesday at Newton Wellesley that consisted on 6 of them grilling the 5 of us on various topics mainly related to spine manipulation.... grueling! This was followed by a more casual one on one interview at Youville on Wednesday, saving 2 interviews (one with the department directors, and one with 2 clinical specialists) at MGH for Thursday.
Well, after the Youville interview, I decided to leave my nice pants and blazer (my interview outfit that I will have to take a picture of and post for Sara) at school in my locker, since I had to bike in early Thursday morning to work in the computer lab. My plan was to bike in, change, work for 2 hours, and then take the Partners Shuttle over to MGH for my 9:30am interview.

I biked in yesterday morning, with my portfolio and various other school items, to find that the entire Naval Yard was without power and even though the security guard had keys, he would not allow me to go upstairs to get my suit with the lights out (liability or some crap like that). I waited an hour for NStar to figure out the power issue, and then decided to bike home (25 minute ride), change into the best pair of pants and shirt I could find, and then take the subway to MGH.

I made it to my interview on time, and the new outfit was acceptable, but I still told them my story to explain my slightly more casual attire and because it was so unbelievable. The interview seemed to go really well, and now I have a tough decision to make. I need to submit a ranked list by next Friday, and I think it now looks something like this:

1. Mass General Hospital
2. Spaulding
3. Brigham and Women's
4. Youville
5. Newton Wellesley
6. Shaughnessey Kaplan

Although I am debating on rearranging the top 3. I plan to discuss it with some faculty members who's opinion I value, and hopefully I will have a concrete list that I feel good about. And then I should find out my placement in July. I'll keep you posted.

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

My roommate recently moved out of the apartment she had live in for 7 years, leaving me with a lot of cat hair and grime to take care of! I decided that if I was going to put in the effort to fix the place up, that I would go all out. My mom came up from PA to help and in 4 days we managed to fully clean and paint the place.

Here is what the living room now looks like with the fresh coat of paint and my furniture.

I just signed a 15 month lease starting June 1, so it looks like I have a place to call home for a while.... ahhh, it's about time!

Intership Interviews and the Beginning of the Semester

It's odd being back in classes for what is my last semester of coursework. After that I will be starting my year long PAID clinical internship, which I have started attending information session for and submitted my resumes to the hospitals where I would like to work. I have 3 out of 8 interviews already set up (Brigham and Women's, Spaulding and Newton-Wellesley, first one June 1st), 1 that is currently being scheduled (MGH), and I'm waiting on 4 other sites to accept me for an interview (Boston Medical Center, New England Rehab, Shaughnessey Kaplan, and Youville: a new addition to the list). 29 students applied to Boston Medical Center for 1-2 positions, so they have decided not to interview everyone and will be hand selecting interview candidates. Shaughnessey is having their information session on Friday June 1, and the other two have not yet reviewed all the resumes.

The whole process is frustrating and nerve racking as students are looking around the room at the other information session attendees sizing up the competition. Meanwhile we've started 4 classes, with 3 more that will begin once we are through the interview process, and not much work has been assigned and there appears to be a lot of confusion in terms of logistics. I guess it'll all settle out once interviews are done, and our final ranking lists are submitted. That will all happen by June 25th, so I guess I only have a few more weeks of stress ahead.

Oh, and to add to the stress and confusion of my life right now... my roommate moved out yesterday and I have the next week to clean up, paint the place, and be ready to great my summer roommate, Amy. Amy is a first year DPT student at the institute adn her orientation is the 2nd week of June. I'll be able to give her some pointers and books... not sure who the roommate will be for Sept 1. We'll see.

Triathlon Training

Well, now that I am back in Boston, I have officially started my triathlon training. Anna has been taking swimming lessons and biking with a group out of Newton while I was in VT, and boy do I need to catch up! My two workouts so far this week have left me fairly exhausted: swim ladder (300m warm up, 200, 300, 400, 300, 200 and 100 cool down), and a 20 mile bike ride with a lot of hills. I actually felt better with the swim, which means I need to work on my riding. There is another 15 mile ride planned for tomorrow, and I should plan to do another longer ride during the week. Our race is in August: The Cranberry Country Triathlon. I should be able to build up my biking endurance by that time. My lungs hurt when I returned back home yesterday and I was coughing for an hour until I felt better. Crazy! Well, I guess I'll be in great shape by the end of the summer.

Back in Beantown

So, in just 9 more days I will be back in Boston for a full year! Yup, I got my internship list back and am approved to apply to all the places on my list that I posted a couple of weeks ago (except New England Rehab which is still not a definite option). This means that I will be living in Boston for another 15 months, and I have already spoken to my landlord about signing a 15 month lease at the current rent. She is even redoing the tub for me, buying paint for me to fresh up the place, and having her carpenter come in to discuss where he will build shelves in the kitchen to make it more usable. Oh, and she said I could have a dog in there if he wasn't a real barker. I just need to find a roommate for when Helen moves out and I am all set! I am so excited to finally fix up this apartment, to be on a lease, and to have all my furniture in one place. You know, to be somewhat settled.

I've been having fun with my last few weeks in VT and am helping my roommates with a neighborhood yard sale this weekend, and doing a charity walk. Anyone can donate. It's the COTS Walk to benefit homeless shelters, and my team is the Burlington Hash House Harriers. Matt is coming up this weekend to hang out and help move my stuff back to Boston. He has been absolutely wonderful in helping me get ready to come back and is showing my apartment to potential roommates tonight for me. :) Hopefully one of them works out.

Running for a Good Cause

My friend Megan and I traveled down to Albany this past weekend for the Captain Timothy J. Moshier 5K Fun Run/Walk in memory of Matt's best friend who's helicopter went down in Iraq last year. It was great event with over 120 volunteers who made it all happen, including Matt's parents who helped with registration and course direction. It was a great day for running: overcast and in the high 50s, and we all did really well. Matt got 4th place overall and Megan and I had strong finishes as well. Below are my times:
89 Jessica Riggs 27 F Somerville MA 23:59 7:44

I was 89th out of 364 people, some of whom walked, but not bad for not training! I wonder if I could get my time below 7 minute miles with training. In any case, I am really glad that I was able to make it down there to cheer Matt on as he sped past me coming back in, to lend my support, and to spend time with Matt's family and the Moshiers. It was a great weekend.

Therapy Garden

Therapy Garden 1
Originally uploaded by jessriggs.

Every Spring there is a photo contest between the different rehab departments at Fletcher Allen. Apparently the acute rehab team has won 3 times in the past 5 years. The idea for this year's picture is that we are a growing therapy garden. One of the PTAs who's been here for a while is the farmer with the pitch fork, the site manager is watering the back row, and our secretary is watering from the side. You can just barely make me out in the back. My clincal instructor is the one to the right of the "Support Staff" sign. A very fun group of colleagues!

I'll let you know if we win! The prize is $500!

Clincal Update

I am now only a couple of weeks away from the end of my clinical affiliation at Fletcher Allen Health Care, and then I'll be returning back to Boston for my last 2 and a half months of classes. I've started to like being at the hospital now that I'm picking up patients with more complex medical issues. I really like working as part of the medical team and I now feel comfortable talking with the nurses, doctors and social workers to help decide what is best for our patients. However, when patients have more complex diagnoses, it can be more emotionally draining. I have a patient in the ICU who slips into an irregular heart rhythm every time I get her sitting up, and another patient who has to have both legs amputated or he will most likely become septic and die. I find that I am exhausted at the end of the day, and I worry that in the morning I may find out that one of them didn't make it through the night. Although it seems rather bleak, but I really like what I am doing.

The next step will be interesting, and I wonder where it might take me. I have decided to stay in Boston for my year long and only put places on my list that I can get to via public transportation. I just really want one more year close to my friends before people start going their separate ways. I know Anna plans to possibly move to Seattle, and Nelly and Rob are moving there this summer. Matt is also thinking that he might not stick around much longer than a year, so I guess it would be fun to stick around another year and spent time with the people who mean a lot to me. So here is the list I submitted:

Spaulding Rehab Hospital, Boston Medical Center, Shaughnessey Kaplan, MGH, Newton-Wellesley , New England Rehab, and Brigham and Women's.

Hopefully everything will go well with the application and interview process. They should tell me what places I can apply to by early May, and then the interviews will happen in May and June. I'm excited to have a year where I will be working a regular schedule and be able to have time to spend with friends... and maybe I can even get a dog. :)