My niece Alexis, whom some of you like, some of you dislike, and of whom some of you have never heard, graduated today with her medical doctorate at the age of twenty-three. She will fulfill at least the first year of her residency in Canada.

I like her, I like her!!!!!

elderolddog Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like her, I like her!!!!!

I shall tell her, elderolddog! LOL

Congratulations to Alexis! Wonderful news, scmd. You must be very proud of her.

summer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Congratulations to Alexis! Wonderful news, scmd.
> You must be very proud of her.

I am proud. She's had her share of hurdles, and she managed to get her twin brother through medical school as well. I should have said that my niece AND NEPHEW have officially graduated from med school at the age of twenty-three.

Congratulations to both! I always think of her when I read your posts because your writing styles are similar.

MnRN Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Congratulations to both! I always think of her
> when I read your posts because your writing styles
> are similar.

My wife is an English usage Nazi who has drilled a few pet peeves into both of us. My wife unfortunately can never make a decent typist of me.

Congratulations to Alexis, and to the brother of Alexis, too!!

Have twins ever before gone through medical school together?

Is this history-making?

:D

Tevai Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Congratulations to Alexis, and to the brother of
> Alexis, too!!
>
> Have twins ever before gone through medical school
> together?
>
> Is this history-making?
>
> :D

It's tough to research, my brother-in-law told me, because multiple births are reported with any basic data in connection with medical school. They're supposedly the third set of twins (there are more non-twin siblings) to graduate from their med school in the same year.


It would be interesting to know if Alexis and Matthew are the youngest twins to graduate med school in the U.S. in modern history, but again that is very tough to track. In a typical medical school, often the youngest graduate is Asian, but Asians have lower rates of twinning. They produce monozygotic twins at the same rate as Caucasians, but have fewer dizygotic twins.

In the early part of the 20th century, an undergraduate degree was not required for medical school admission, so it wasn't uncommon for MDs to graduate at 20 or 21. Since the mid-'30's or so, a bachelor's degree has been a prerequisite. Twenty-five is considered relatively young to graduate. I served a mission first, so I didn't complete medical school until I was 27.

Good on you, Alexis!

Congratulations are in order! That's amazing news!

Wow. Proud uncle! Great news.

Multiple MDs. Must be good genes in your family. And a better use of time than a routine mechanical putting-in-time mission; going to university, learning about the world, graduating with a licence to help.

If your niece has a choice of location and can come to western Canada I'm sure she'd love it. The closer to the ocean the better. (Expensive though). Temperate climate. Arts, culture, great food. Diversity. Cutting edge medicine. Good folks. Lower Cdn $. :)

>
> If your niece has a choice of location and can
> come to western Canada I'm sure she'd love it. The
> closer to the ocean the better. (Expensive
> though). Temperate climate. Arts, culture, great
> food. Diversity. Cutting edge medicine. Good
> folks. Lower Cdn $. :)


She'll spend the bulk of her time in the west though not on the coast. She's in a unique program that will allow her to spend time in all provinces. I'm not sure about the territories. She has dual U.S./Canadian citizenship. She will have the option of remaining there after the completion of her residency if that's what she wants to do. Her brother is fulfilling his residency near Atlanta.

My son did his graduate studies in Vancouver, BC. It was all covered by a stipend/scholarship. He loved it there.

Amyjo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My son did his graduate studies in Vancouver, BC.
> It was all covered by a stipend/scholarship. He
> loved it there.

My niece had enough leftover scholarship and grant money to cover med school. The parents paid for her brother. He had a baseball scholarship for undergrad. They were able to use money they had saved for both kids' undergrad to pay for med school for the one kid.

They'll earn barely enough to live off in their internships/residencies.

That was about how my son made it through grad school. I paid for his cell phone to save him that expense, and so he'd stay in touch better than without one.

His health insurance was mandatory there, so that was something this mom didn't worry about.

Vancouver is/was very expensive to live though. He found a suitable apartment very reasonably priced that was a fluke. His landlady lived upstairs and treated him like he was her son. She told me when we met her son lived in the states and she was as good to my son as she hoped Americans would be to hers.

She even cooked meals for him, bless her heart. That wasn't included in his rent. :)

Costs are astronomical now for rents and purchasing is far beyond the means of many, even with two partners working. So much business and development in Vancouver now and landlords and sellers can ask the earth for even small, old, and otherwise not very attractive places.

I don't know how much the residences at university cost, likely a lot, as the main ones are in city centres.

It's sure not cheap to get higher education. Scholarships are the way to go if at all possible. Sounds like things went OK in that regard for niece and nephew.

Nightingale Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Costs are astronomical now for rents and
> purchasing is far beyond the means of many, even
> with two partners working. So much business and
> development in Vancouver now and landlords and
> sellers can ask the earth for even small, old, and
> otherwise not very attractive places.
>
> I don't know how much the residences at university
> cost, likely a lot, as the main ones are in city
> centres.
>
> It's sure not cheap to get higher education.
> Scholarships are the way to go if at all possible.
> Sounds like things went OK in that regard for
> niece and nephew.


My niece did a visiting clerkship and became friendly with a surgeon at her site who has a studio apartment above his garage that he will rent to her. She's getting a decent deal and should actually be able to live on what she earns. With the hours that residents work, they need clean and comfortable lodging, but anything luxurious would probably be a waste since they're not home enough to enjoy it.

Things seem to be going very well. I hope your niece likes the Canadian West. Even if not located on the coast here's hoping she gets a bit of time to check it out (I know they work long hours and don't have much time off but hopefully in the modern age the institutions know how important a bit of recreation is to body and mind).

I have a thing about the water. Always have to see the sea. You know that John Masefield poem - "I must go down to the sea again, to the lonely sea and the sky, and all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by". Love it.

Anyway, scmd1, if your niece is near the coast at any time (or even if not close) and needs anything, even a quick break, or friendly face, or whatever, maybe she could get in touch. I would help out with whatever if I could. I imagine though that she is well set for her big adventure and will have plenty of good people around her.

Amyjo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> His health insurance was mandatory there, so that
> was something this mom didn't worry about.
>


Comprehensive health coverage for the resident, spouse, and any dependents is a part of the standard package for almost every medical residency program in the U.S. or Canada. They usually get quick appointments for specialists as needed without the long waits sometimes experienced. It's not entirely altruism driving this. They're a cheap source of labor, and the system needs them healthy and not worried about immediate family members in order to get the usual more than its money worth out of them.

The world has enough smart women. She should go home and make donuts for the men! /s

kilgravmaga Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The world has enough smart women. She should go
> home and make donuts for the men! /s


I will share your wisdom with her. The world needs more women who make quality donuts.

Just think, with the MMJ laws she could combine professions.

Please pass on my congratulations. My last few notes to her have bounced

Congrats to her, and the rest of the family!

Maybe she or her brother will become a neonatologist and take my place...I finally exited the work force..residencies can be physically and emotionally grinding but I am sure you have discussed with them

Gatorman
Ready for College World Series

Gatorman not logged in Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Maybe she or her brother will become a
> neonatologist and take my place...I finally exited
> the work force..residencies can be physically and
> emotionally grinding but I am sure you have
> discussed with them
>
> Gatorman
> Ready for College World Series

My niece has a cushy surgical residency. Her hours will be limited. It probably won't be as easy as the contract says, but she should be OK. She has a couple of health issues. My nephew has been accepted into a cosmetic surgery program. He will go through hell.

P.S. The College World Series is awesome.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/17/2018 09:52PM by scmd1.

Congrats to your niece and nephew! That is something to be very proud of.

Awww... I am a fan of Alexis!

Congratulations Alexis!!!!!!

Tom in Paris
a notorious fan of Alexis ;-)

Thanks to the beloved Correlation program I have been groomed to have this amazing way of thinking that all started back when I was a toddler and gained a strong testimony in Nursery that the Cheerios were true. I don't recall what specifically happened that day with the Cheerios but I have a testimony that many tears must have been shed in that sacred room. And surely you must know that tears means Spirit which means witness of truth which means we are invited to make commitments which means that we get to be blessedly stuck into needing to obey our holy leaders forever :)

Well one of the sacred teachings I got in my upbringing is that the Deacons and other priesthood holders have this incredible Priesthood power. Does your niece have this power herself? If not it doesn't mean she is a bad person. It just means, thanks to this wondrous gospel of ours, that she is doctrinally a lesser inferior person.

Honest TBM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>Does your niece have this power herself? If
> not it doesn't mean she is a bad person. It just
> means, thanks to this wondrous gospel of ours,
> that she is doctrinally a lesser inferior person.


She's either a bad person or inferior depending upon how one views it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/2018 12:29AM by scmd1.

I hope they like it. Too late to back out now if they don't. Too much pressure and too much investment.

Kind of like church.

Free Man Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hope they like it. Too late to back out now
> if they don't. Too much pressure and too much
> investment.
>
> Kind of like church.


There are many branches of medicine. They should be able to find something even if they have to put in extra training of a few years at some point.

You must be SO proud! You set a great example, I'll bet!!

Exiled in NM now, and unable to afford to move back home, I keep hearing about these cutting-edge things the medical profession is doing in California. My DH says we are about a decade behind, out here in NM.

Anyway, multiple congrats!!

catnip Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You must be SO proud! You set a great example,
> I'll bet!!
>
> Exiled in NM now, and unable to afford to move
> back home, I keep hearing about these cutting-edge
> things the medical profession is doing in
> California. My DH says we are about a decade
> behind, out here in NM.
>
> Anyway, multiple congrats!!

I'm very proud. I take more credit for than I am due. Niece put me through enough hell that I feel entitled.