The simple joys of life

We are getting really good at finding the simple joys in life!
Sometimes I get caught up in the "When we finish med school" or "When we can buy a house" etc.  I hope I'm not the only one ;-)

Honestly it's hard to see my friends growing up, buying houses, having babies, and going on exciting European trips. Oh how I do wish that could be us somedays. I have days where I wish I could paint my walls because they are mine. Or that we could book a trip to Jerusalem and not have to worry about homework.

Even though I get caught up in these thoughts every once in a while they don't last.  I do love where we are at. Even though we are years and years away from buying a house I enjoy decorating our cute condo. Even though we can't go on fancy vacations I like to plan little "staycations" to help us get-away. Even though we can't go out and buy new fancy things we love working on our budget and trying hard to find good deals.

Anyway....yesterday was one of those moments. Though we are living a simple life we found joy in that. Zipcar (our great option for a vehicle) was doing a special for election day. I jumped at the chance to get a car for a couple of hours. We bundled up and headed to Costco. While walking through the aisle we both looked at the things we wish we could have. After passing up a few items that we just couldn't afford we decided to splurge....and what did we get?

Rasberries and Muffins! Yep, and I was so excited!!!! I ate a muffin for dinner last night and had both for breakfast this morning.

It may not be a house but our costco muffins and raspberries sure brought some simple joys into our home. We're thinking raspberries, warm hot fudge and ice cream for dinner tonight :-)

So on the days I get caught up in the "When we can...", I'm going to try my hardest to remember what we have now!

Why I'm grateful for my Mr. Med Student

So last night I really learned what it was like being a med students wife!
Be warned the story below is a long one.....

Spence and I had the missionaries over for dinner. I sure love having them come over. Anyway, we decided it would be fun to make them breakfast for dinner. We were running a bit late so of course we were both doing too much at one time. The missionaries showed up and I was still finishing the eggs and bacon. In my rush I basically dumped bacon grease all over my right hand.

In that moment both Spence and I realized I had done something bad. We quietly rushed me over to the sink where I pretended to play it cool in front of the missionaries. After some cool running water I got some ice and sat down. Dinner was actually really fun. Even though I was in a ton of pain I was able to enjoy the time with the missionaries. The sweet elders kept asking how my hand was doing. I guess I couldn't hid the pain completely.

Before they left I was in some serious pain. With the missionaries help, Spence gave me a blessing that my hand would feel better. We said goodbye to the missionaries and sat down to relax. At this point the pain really hit me. It was bad and I needed help. We rushed to Walgreens and picked out the best burn jell we could find.

When we got home we tried the burn jell. Spence put it on my figures but I only lasted about 30 secs. The pain was unbearable. I quickly put my hand back into cold water. A couple of hours later I came to realize I wasn't going to sleep. So we had a little sleepover in our family room so I could watch TV.

Around midnight I forced Spence to go sleep in our bed. At least one of us should get some sleep. My hand was fine as long as I kept ice on the burn or moved it around in cold water. After some cheesy netflixs movies I was so tired. I was finally ready to fall asleep. I refilled my bag of ice and cuddled up.

I was almost asleep when the pain hit. It was like my hand was smashed by a car. I quickly put my hand in cold water. It was the only thing that felt good. I sat on the couch in tears. I was finally able to get to the bathroom. Running cold water over my hand I realized I was in trouble. If I took my hand out of the running water I was in serious pain. At this point, though I felt horrible, I knew I needed to wake Spence up.

How grateful I am for my sweet husband. He quickly got up and rushed to the bathroom where I sat with my hand in water. At this point we both realized I had frostbite on my fingers. My hand had been in ice water or directly on ice for the past 7 hours.

So here we were, 3am, in our bathroom not really knowing what to do. I was a mess! The pain was horrible and I felt so stupid for keeping my hand on ice for that long. We decided we needed to go to the ER. After some research we realized the ER that is across the street from us is covered under our insurance plan (blessing!). Spence started to help me get ready to go to the ER when I knew we should say a prayer. After the prayer I just knew I could make it through on my own.

So Mr. Med School made us a plan. We would keep my hand under running water and slowly increase the temperature of the water. According to a google search we needed to get my hand to stand up to about 100 degree water. The next hour was painful. My cute husband pulled two chairs into our tiny bathroom. To distract me from the pain we turned on some White Collar (again blessing!).

Slowly but surely I was able to stand warmer water. I was even able to pull a couple of fingers out of the water! Finally, about an hour later I was able to stand my whole hand out of the water. Spence sweetly tucked me into bed, kissed me goodnight, and got about 1 hours sleep before he had to wake up to finish the homework he didn't get done last night (because he was taking care of me).

This morning when I woke up it hit me like a ton of bricks. The sweet blessing that my husband and the missionaries gave me truly helped. I was almost asleep with my hand on a bag of ice when the pain hit hard. I woke up with this thought "get your hand in water". I thank Heavenly Father for that thought. If I would have fallen asleep with the ice on my hand I think I could have caused some serious damage to my hand. I am grateful for my sweet husband who knew how to fix the problem and held me the whole time I was in tears.

 See that white spot....thats a pretty blister from the burn

 So pictures aren't that great but these are my pretty fingers. All blistered and red from last night. 

Some nice little ice burns on the pads of my fingers. Luckily only my middle finger still hurts!

So moral of this long story.....
If you burn your hand with bacon grease don't keep it on ice for hours.
It's great having a med student as your husband. He's super smarty pants!
White Collar is a much better distraction than cheesy netflix made for TV movies.
Priesthood blessings are a beautiful thing.
I am typing this right now.....aka my hand is doing much better.

D.O. Schools

As promised, a little information on DO schools. I think it is important for anyone who is going in to medicine to know all of their options and then make their decision based on what kind of medicine fits them best. For a long time DO schools have been considered "back up" schools to MD schools, and that is still somewhat true. For D and I, it was a back up option before we learned more about the programs and what it means to practice holistic medicine. I don't know what route we will go until we hear from schools but I like knowing our options so we can make the very best decision for our family.

When D and I first started looking at what school to apply to, I didn't even know what DO stood for. But today, over 20% of medical students in the US are training to be osteopathic physicians. I have a few friends in DO school currently and for D and I it is a really great option. I'm excited to get to talk about this a little because many times people tie smoke and herbs and stones and voodoo medicine to DO's and that is not the truth!

First off, DO stands for Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. Osteopathic medicine provides all of the benefits of modern medicine including prescription drugs, surgery, and the use of technology to diagnose disease and evaluate injury. DO's use a holistic approach to medicine rather than basing treatment on symptoms. 

Here is what a good friend of mine that is attending A.T. Stills in Missouri [in his 2nd year] has to say about his experience and thoughts on being a DO:

"My opinion is that the only reason to be nervous about going the DO route is if you feel like you need clout and prestige. Can you find more MDs who are geniuses on the breaking edge of medicine? Probably. Can you expect better treatment from an MD as opposed to a DO? I don't think so, and I've seen studies to back that up. Many of my classmates got accepted to both MD and DO schools and chose to come here. The curriculum is almost identical. Many DOs take the same boards as MDs and do comparably well. DOs have an 80% pass rate and MDs have a 90% pass rate. It is better for MDs, but it is not a complete contrast of excellence and ineptitude. I know several DOs in my ward who are in competitive residencies like dermatology, ENT, and anesthesiology. Just like anywhere, we have good professors and bad, but mostly they are excellent and dedicated. If someone has insecurities about being a DO instead of an MD, they probably should not do it. If they wants to be a good doctor with the chance at a competitive residency, either path will get him there." 

There are Osteopathic schools all over the country, as seen on the map below:

There is a TON of information out there about the Osteopathic route. I would encourage anyone applying for med school to look in to it thoroughly before selecting their schools! Talk to doctors that are both DOs and MDs, and get to know students that are going both routes. That has been the most helpful thing for D and I during this crazy journey!






Links:
AACOM
Map 

Happy List for a Monday

Hi there! I hope your weekend was as great as ours was. You can read about my weekend here if you wish.

I saw this fun linky party that was a happy list for Monday. I thought it would be the perfect way to start my week.

+ Waking up to the cool crisp autumn air
+ Mom, Megs and Lainey are coming to visit us tomorrow
+ Pretty trees that line our street
+ Leggings and boots
+ Finally figuring out some med school planning
+ Staying up late to watch The Voice
+ Still not having to turn on our heat
+ Halloween decorations
+ Getting to go visit home again next week
+ Deciding we need a car in Chicago
+ Surprise checks that come in the mail
+ Cider smelling candles
+ Left overs from dinner

I can't believe it's already October. Where has this year gone. I am super excited it's finally fall but also freaking out (just a bit) about the upcoming winter. I've heard it's brutal here and I'm making all the needed preparations...aka buying a huge thick puffy coat.

 First....I am in love with my city right now! Seriously so beautiful!

 Second....can't wait for these three to get out here! Girls trip!!!!

A little Test Week Advice

To all you wives out there that have husbands in graduate school:
My advice for surviving test week.....

Cupcakes

Girls Nights

Shopping Trips

And chick flicks

Thank you Nicole for being my best friend this week (and for inviting me over for dinner so our husbands can stay late and study). Thank you Sprinkles Cupcakes for offering a great deal. Thank you downtown Chicago for some awesome window shopping. Thank you Netflix for cheesy chick flicks. 

This is how I am surviving our first test week.

Must have books

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week. Spence and I have been so sick this past weekend. He picked up a nice cold from school (yay for going back to school) and decided to share it with his wife. So nice of him!

So I was thinking back to our med school application days and I was trying to think what books were our favorites. Through out the whole process we constantly referred to two books.

1. The USA News Best Medical School Book find here.
2. MSAR: Admission requirements found here.

The MSAR is an awesome book that goes through all accredited medical schools. It will tell you a bit about the school and what kind of requirements it had. It was really useful when applying and trying to decide where to fit the school in our list. The MSAR will ist the cost of the medical schools as well so we didn't have to go searching for that information. It also helped Spencer get a better idea of what the school was like for interviews.

When it  came to us deciding on schools to go to we used the USA News Best Medical Schools book to compare rankings. This was nice to put our top schools side by side and really see who had the best rankings. We didn't go just off rankings. But it was nice to see how schools ranked.

When we found a school we liked we compared it's USA ranking and the averages from the MSAR book to see if Spence should apply. It actually worked out really great. We were able to find a lot of schools that fit our needs, Spencers levels and interests.  Just keep in mind the MSAR wasn't always correct on tuition and levels. Always refer to the school site if you want a firm answer.

So if you are applying or thinking of applying these two books are a must have. FYI if you get the online version of the MSAR book you can compare schools side by side (way awesome when choosing between schools).

I know that USA News also has ranking books for Dental Schools, Law Schools and other Graduate programs. A great way to compare schools!

Do you have any other book suggestions?

The White Coat

northwestern founders day ceremony was held on friday

aka spencers white coat

this was a special ceremony for all incoming m1's (first year med students).  it was when they received their white coats. after years of prep and applications and planning it was so nice to jus sit and watch. we were finally here. a day we have talked about for what seems like a life time. he may not be a dr. yet but this was the first big step forward. now, with his white coat he can go into the hospitals. help dr.s and treat patients. i loved looking at my cute man in his coat.

please excuse the heads in front of me....i was pretty far away and didn't want to stand up.

welcome to northwestern medical school. interesting fact...northwestern was the very first medical school to have clinical work included in the education. before northwestern med students just took science classes and called it go. they were dr.'s before even seeing the inside of a hospital. boy am i glad things have changed.

spencers mom flew out for the event. it was so wonderful having her with us. thanks to her spencer is here today. she and his dad put so much time, effort and money towards spencer and his education. thank you for getting my man to this place in life!

of course we had to run outside and get a picture in front of the water. we may not be in cali but chicago has great waterfront. thank you waterfront! boy does my man look cute in that coat!

the classic three. i have a feeling these three will be inseparable during the next four years. how grateful we both are for friends this early on. 

and the wives. boy do i need to grow a foot or two. how grateful i am for these girls. they are already my best friends here. girls nights are going to be in high demand with our boys studying late into the night.

in four short years a little md will be next to that name.

we finished taking pictures and headed over to a reception held in the med students honor. it was fun to see the sea of white coats, meet some of spencers friends and see what life as a med student will be like. we spent the rest of the weekend playing with mom!

so proud of my mr. med school

The Med School Budget // I Need Advice!

Ahh I'm such a slacker lately! I spent all day yesterday trying to decide what I was going to write about. And then finally last night I decided....but ended up falling asleep on the couch. Fail!

Anyway...back to med school. I actually didn't want to really give much in the way of advice. I wanted to ask for advice. Spence and I have officially been in Chicago for 3 weeks now and have started school and everything that comes with that. Including....(insert dun dun dun here). THE BUDGET!!!!

Reality hit the other day when we received our loan money. Ouch was all I could say. I didn't realize school (just school) could cost that much. So we spent the rest of that night going over our budget and trying to figure out how we could get through this without debt (expect for tuition). So here is the deal...we've come up with a pretty decent and simple monthly budget. But I want your help and advice. If you are in medical school, law school, or really no school at all but have tips for saving money please pass it along. I think I am going to start a small "series" on how we are managing paying for medical school. I'll get more into the details of our decisions for things and how we are handling other parts of medical school payments but for now I wanted to focus on a monthly budget. I feel like every newlywed or young married couple/familes could benefit from some advice.

So all of our readers...please comment! I want your advice. Do you have any tips and tricks for saving money. What do you splurge on and when do you save?

Here are a few links I found just for fun as a starter....
-Case Western's thoughts
-From a med student
-From a med students wife (like us)
-The law school way

Med School Update

Well, we are back to the waiting period of the med school process. This is the part I hated most last year! But surprisingly, I think it won't be so bad this year. Maybe because I know more about what to expect and I'm feeling encouraged with one interview coming up in just a little over a week! I'm only letting myself check D's email once every few days (last year I checked it like every 30 minutes hoping for an interview invite) and it is making the whole thing much easier.

I'm loving the med school in Michigan because they have a student program where you sign up for your date and then they match you with a med student to stay with (no paying for a hotel!) and get a ride to and from campus. We we super excited because we emailed in and the guy in charge of the program is a BYU grad, so D is going to meet up with him and get a feel for the wards and the campus. I wish every campus would do a program like this! I know we will be offering up our place for interviewees once we get settled because we know how expensive it is.

We also got a killer deal on the plane ticket and rental car. We learned last year that if the school isn't in the heart of the city it is cheaper to rent a car. Taxi's and even shuttles can cost an arm and a leg while you can save money by renting a car. This time we booked the flight with Orbitz, which ended up being the same price as everywhere else I looked but we got a free car rental with it! Maybe this is old news, but I'm bummed we never bothered to book the flight and car together in the past.

Renting a car also gives the added benefit of checking out apartments and the town in the hours after the interview before your flight leaves. Hopefully, going this route will help when we need to choose a school and pick an apartment. Last year I went with D to his interview in Downer's Grove, just outside of Chicago. We had so much fun but this year I'm holding out for Chicago (hello, Syd lives there now!) as well as Boston but we will see how it goes!

Keep your fingers crossed!

Dr. Shadowing

Dr. shadowing is a must for any med school application. Most schools recommend about 25 hours with a physician. One reason they want you to shadow Dr's is so that you know what you are getting into. If you follow a Dr. around for a few hours and absolutely hate your life then I don't think med school is for you.

Med schools want to know that you really want to be a Dr. They want to know that you have done your research into the profession enough to really think you would be a great fit as a Dr. That is why Dr. shadowing is so important.

Tips: shadow as many different types of dr.'s as you can. Try to get different practice areas. For example go to your family Dr. Then try a surgeon at a hospital. Maybe an internist or an pediatrician. It is also helpful to consider shadowing both DO and MD Dr.'s. Especially if you plan on applying to DO schools.

Make sure when you shadow that you spend a good amount of time. I'm talking 4-6 hours with each dr. You may need to go two separate times.  Spencer shadowed about 6 different drs. Two of those he spent about 12 hours with each.

Also, make friends with those you are shadowing. Take the opportunity to ask them why they wanted to be a Dr. Ask about how they managed med school and family and such. Keep in mind that you may need a letter of recommendation from a Dr you've shadowed.

After you have completed the shadowing write Thank You notes. These relationships may come in handy in the future. For letters of recommendation, referrals or even advice down the road.

Below is a great site with advice for how to find dr's to shadow.
http://www.startmedicine.com/app/shadowing.asp

Good luck!

Patient Exposure

All med school have a list of things they look at outside of your GPA, MCAT and letters of recommendation. Most schools have a required minimum (or average) hours in categories like: extracurricular activities, community/volunteer service, leadership, research, physician shadowing and of course, patient exposure. The University of Utah webpage says the following to define the category of patient exposure:

Patient exposure is defined as direct interaction with patients and hands-on involvement in the care of conscious people in a health care related environment, attending to their health maintenance, progression or end of life needs. It is important that the applicant be comfortable working with and around people who are ill.

Direct patient exposure can be gained in a variety of ways. Patient contact must include patients other than family members and friends and does not include indirect patient care such as housekeeping (cleaning operating rooms or patient rooms) working at the hospital information desk, or working in a pharmacy.

• The minimum patient exposure requirement is 4 hours per week for a period of 2 months or the equivalent of 32 hours.
• The average applicant spends 4 hours per week in patient exposure for 3 months or the equivalent of 48 hours.

The U of U is somewhat particular about their patient exposure (as are a few other schools) but this is a big one to look out for and one that will often set you apart from other students as it is harder to obtain lots of hours. 

For us, these hours were really intimidating and we really didn't know where to start. Patient exposure, especially, concerned us as Danny didn't work in a hospital, have an EMT certificate or have any past experience with patients. So again, we turned to research. We contacted the BYU premed office for opportunities, looked at local community sites, called the local hospitals and then googled everything we could think of. We got a lot of dead ends but in the end found a perfect match for us. 

Danny connected with Harmony Home and Hospice. This was such a good experience! They are always looking for volunteers and there is no prior experience needed. D explained how many hours he needed to reach and they were great at working with his schedule and getting him multiple patients. If you are going to BYU and were in the same pickle as us, Harmony Home is a great option. Not only did it meet the requirements but Danny loved the people he met and it made his desire to be a doctor grow.

If you are working with patients as your job you are so lucky! If not, you have to think outside the box. We discovered lots of opportunities and then we set up a plan over a six month period of time to make sure he not only fulfilled this requirement, but went over hours. 

Currently, Danny works for the Utah State Developmental Center which is nothing but patient exposure. They are also a place that is always looking for volunteers so if you are in the Utah County area these are two great places to get your patient exposure!

The newest Chicago Residents

The Barfuss family is officially in Chicago and loving it. Finally starting med school feels so great. Spencer officially started on Wednesday night with a welcome bbq. Orientation started on Thursday and continues till August 20th. It's been a whirlwind of events these past couple of weeks. We are finally settled in our new place. Met a few friends. And explored our new city. I still feel like there is so much to see and do (because lets be honest there is).

Real life hit on Friday when I had to go back to work and Spence was in class all day. He even had homework this weekend. The reality of being a wife to a med student hit me hard. To the point where I was in tears. Yes, I'll admit that. But I am trying to be strong these next couple of weeks. Give myself time to get use to the schedule and demand on my husband.

Some other things we are adjusting to....
1. Not having a car. It saves us money but is oh so hard to get used to. Hopefully in a month it will be no big deal.
2. New shopping experiences. AKA groceries. They dont' sell all our favorite brands here. Some of them yes but a biggie...bread. Not our favorite bread. So we bought 3 different brands to see what one we like the best.
3. Humidity. AKA my hair is a flat mess by the end of the day.

We're slowing still figuring everything out. I have found my favorite shopping streets, clothing stores, and restaurants. There is the cutest little street right by our house that I am dying to ride my bike down...but if only it will stop raining.

Here are a few pictures of my mr.'s first days of school.

First causal day. Check out that awesome bag...oh wait you can't see it. His new "medical professional" fossil bag. We are both in love with it. He looks so grownup wearing it. 

First professional day. I am so excited for him to start wearing stuff like this everyday. Doesn't he look great! So proud of my mr.  (sorry for the garbage in the hall, I'm still going through all our stuff).

we're saying goodbye

well this weekend has been a whirlwind of events
we are in the middle of our move....finally!
we spent the weekend packing up, saying goodbye, eating way to much (because thats what you do when you say goodbye), and just enjoying our last few moments in utah.

the beginning of the summer we decided to make a list of all things "utah" we wanted to do before we left. to be honest i think we did 1 of those things. but it's okay because instead we spent time with family and friends. and in the end thats the most important.

so now here we are. days away from being chicago residents. we load up the truck tonight and spence takes off tomorrow. his sweet dad and uncle are driving him out. they are letting me have a little bit more family time in jackson hole.

so now i'm off to pack up our track. here are a few of our recent goodbyes!

 saying goodbye to mzy after 7 years. it was a hard goodbye

 don't mind my hunch back ...no idea what i was doing
saying goodbye to my roommates. sure love these girls. we missed megs though!

 saying goodbye to meh (best friend) but it's only goodbye for like a few weeks.


goodbyes are hard but how grateful i am for facetime, email, and unlimited mobile to mobile minutes.

next time i'm blogging i'll be in beautiful jackson hole...and the time after that i'll be in chicago (my new home)

Letters of Recommendation

A good set of letters of recommendation can really boost your application.
First steps in getting a good set of letters is starting a list of all those you can think of who will write you letters. We made a good list of professors, employers, volunteer organizations, dr.s and who ever else we could think of. Now keep in mind we started this list a good year before we were going to apply. It was important to us to give each person plenty of time to accept the invitation to write a letter as well as write a good letter in plenty of time.

BYU where Spencer went to school offered a program where your letter writers could turn in their letters to them. Then when it was time for us to turn in that part of our application BYU did all the work. This made it really easy to ask for letters early and not worry them later. See if your pre-med department offers something like this. It was a great help for us!

Also remember that professors will most likely be writing letters for a lot of other students as well. If you want your letter to stand out ask early and give them plenty of time to write a good letter. Also know that with professors you want a letter from a professor that knows you well. There were a few professors that we would have loved to ask for a letter  but Spence didn't feel they really knew him. He was just a student in a class of 400. So we went for professors where Spencer had a personal relationship with them.

While you are preparing for Medical School (way before applications) it is a good idea to get to know your professors, make friends with those you do research for, work hard as a volunteer. Not only are these things good for hours/service but you will also make a good impression for when you ask for a letter of recommendation later on.

Another thought....a couple of times Spencer was asked to write a letter of recommendation for himself. Then he would send that to the individual writing his letter. This gave the letter writer a chance to see what Spencer thought of himself and also what he wanted those reading the letters to see. It gave the letter writer a good starting point for Spencer. Just a thought!

Good luck with your letters. Like everything I've said before...start early so you don't have to worry about it later on!

Links:
AMCAS has a special letter writer application.  You can find info here
Here is a site with some other suggestions
BYU has a great document to get your mind on what kind of letters you want and what info you would like. Read it here.

6 do's and don'ts of a personal statement

Spencer started working on his personal statement in April. Finally during a family reunion the end of June he finished. It was a rough beginning but slowing we put together a statement that we were proud of. 

Here are a few hints from USA News. You can read the entire article here. 

To help ease the uncertainty surrounding the personal statement, here are some do's and don'ts to follow.

1. DO make sure your statement addresses these two important points: your reason(s) for wanting to pursue medicine and your appeal as a candidate to medical schools. It is important to cover both these points; often, many statements only answer one of them (usually the first one). These types of statements risk getting lost in the shuffle with inundated admissions committees searching for those whose unique qualities shine through their application materials.

2. DON'T choose a subject matter simply because you think it will impress. Admissions officers have read it all: "I want to help people," "I want to make a difference," etc. They would prefer to read a much more personal story of learning and growth, regardless of the topic—though it's probably best to avoid controversial topics. You never know who will read your essay!

[Get more medical school tips and stats.]

3. DO broaden your list of potential essay themes. Believe it or not, this is your moment to be creative! This is not only the time to think outside the box, it's also the time to review certain aspects of your life, including your experiences (school or non-school related), motivations, and personal qualities.

You don't have to include all of these things, but organizing your thoughts into these categories will give you a better picture of your list of potential essay topics. You can also combine categories in formulating your topic.

4. DON'T rehash your résumé or other parts of your application in your essay. All too often, the personal comments section quickly becomes a summary of accomplishments that are listed elsewhere in the application. Doing this could squander a potential opportunity to show another side of you not reflected in transcripts or recommendation letters.

[See the 10 most popular medical schools.]

5. DO give yourself enough time. Because so many components are involved in composing a strong personal statement, it's important to start at least the first step—brainstorming—early on. Each year, a substantial number of applicants express some regret that they felt rushed to submit early and lost critical time in working on their statement; when they realize how much time it involves, it's often too late.

Give yourself enough time to write multiple drafts and have them read by others; remember that professors, premed advisers, and writing centers at schools might be very busy with others in the same boat this time of year. 

6. DON'T gloss over any potential red flags. If you have something on your record you think may raise questions when admissions committees review your files— a difficult semester, low science grades, or a gap in your educational history—it's important to use the personal statement as an avenue to address these issues.

The upside to this is that the personal statement is your chance to describe what lessons you learned from what happened. Sometimes, applicants who have been through unfortunate circumstances may be inclined to justify or defend what happened. Keep in mind that acknowledging mistakes and highlighting what you learned from them can have a profound effect on even otherwise marginal applications.

Now our advice....

-Start early

-Start with lists. List all of your strengths and then find stories that show those.

-Be yourself. It should be polished but it should also be real. Make sure it is readable and shows your personality

Good luck! 

Med School Journey: The Barfuss Family

our med school journey started way back in 2010. even before we were mr. and mrs.

i knew spence wanted to go to med school.  by the time we were engaged he had 1 class left to take. i pushed him to take the mcat that summer so we would be entering fall of 2012. as much as i pushed spencer didn't feel he was ready to take the mcat. considering we were getting married that summer he also felt that applications would be too stressful. he was right.

i was worried about him having a "break year". which is basically one year between undergrad and post-grad. he assured me he would be alright. so it was decided. he would take the mcat spring of 2011 and apply that summer.

we didn't wait that long to start the process though. after lots of research we found we needed to track his hours. service/work/leadership/research etc...so we started a google doc and started tracking. it was long and stressful but we were able to sit down and really remember all that he had done. we also compared what spencers activities looked like to the requirements of the university of utah. we were told that if he reached what they were requiring we'd be more than good to go. so we compared that to spence and got to work.

he started extra volunteer hours that fall. also did a lot of dr. shadowing. another thing we took care of in the fall was his letters of recommendation. it's never to early to request those. byu where spence went to school has a great pre-med program that allows for people to turn letters into them. they keep them all until the application opens and then at that point they will import them to the amcas letter program. (easy peasy).

i'll go more into this later...

fast forward. spence took a great mcat prep course and really did awesome on the test. (again the prep-course was the bomb.com). we started working on his application may of 2011 and turned it in early july 2011. we applied to about 30 md schools, 6 texas schools and 3 do schools.

started in late july he got requests for secondaries. at that point we narrowed our list to 25 md schools and 3 texas schools. spence decided that do wasn't the route he wanted to take so we veto'd those secondaries. interviews started in the fall. spence got invited for 10 interviews. lucky some of the longer trips we could bundle to save money. he decided to go to 8 of the interviews. a little more than average but we felt like it was worth it. finally in december we got our first acceptance. northwestern university in chicago. we were beyond thrilled.

1 acceptance, 1 rejection and 6 waitlists later here we are. we decided that northwestern was above 4 of the schools that waitlisted him. so we nicely dropped ourselves from those lists. so that leads us to now....still accepted and planning on northwestern but still on 2 waitlists.

we are still holding out hope that one of these two schools will come through. mainly because of $$ and location. northwestern is an incredible school and we're excited for chicago so if we don't hear good news from these other two schools we're still really excited.

so 3 years ago this time we had just started planning for where we are now. honestly we're still waiting and planning. we've decided to go full force on our own (no military though we considered it) and no government aid. these were both very personal decisions. i will continue to work full time and we'll see where we go from here.

we've learned a lot along the way and i'm excited to share a bit of what we've learned. for now here are a few sights...

fyi sites:
university of utah med school requirements
amc prep for med school site (awesome!)
student doc (great of a good overview)

Med School Journey: The Catts

Our med school journey has already been an interesting one. 

Danny took the MCAT in May of 2011 and applied in late July of 2011*. He was going into his senior year at BYU that fall, so we were on track to graduate from undergrad and go straight into med school. We applied to about 20 M.D. and D.O. schools. 

In August Danny decided he was interested in doing med school through the Air Force. I have always been afraid of being involved in the military and my first reaction was "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!". But we looked in to it so we would know all of our options. In early October we both felt confident that we should apply for an Air Force scholarship. It was a quick transition for me to make, since I am usually very cautious but I felt really peaceful about our decision so we decided to move forward. 

Well just a few weeks later Danny was playing in an intramural football game and he got blindsided while making a catch and his leg snapped. I was on the sidelines chatting with some of my girlfriends when  one of them pointed out D had been injured. Like a good wife I continued telling them my story and figured he would walk it off, only to have one of my friends say, "Michelle, I think he is really hurt". I turned around and saw D's face and my stomach dropped. I knew he was seriously injured.  

The broken leg landed us in surgery a few days later, a cast for about five months, a couple of months of physical therapy and a solid year of no running. In January our suspicions were confirmed and we were officially disqualified from the Air Force. 

During this time Danny was invited to a handful of interviews but no schools we were really excited about. So when decision time came we rejected our offers and decided to wait the year to try to get a school we loved and do our entire med school journey with the Air Force**. 

We made a lot of mistakes our first go around and fate seemed to intervene but we learned so much. We just applied for our second time on June 5th (opening day) and we are excited to see what happens!

        

                                                             

*We will do an in depth post on this later but long story short, Danny's pre-med adviser encouraged us hold off on applying to bulk his service/shadowing hours. Don't listen to anyone who tells you to wait.

**Again, I will talk about this more in depth later. But there is a big difference between starting out with the AF and just doing a partial scholarship. 

the b. family update

insta weekend for the barfuss family:

we are doing just great. trying to enjoy our last little while around family and friends. we spent the weekend together. which is our favorite thing to do. the mr. got me flowers, my favorite ones to be exact. isn't he the best. 

we spent a lot of time driving this weekend. first up to "the valley" for a little family birthday party. halfway through dinner, spence was kidnapped by his cute little cousin (who is 3). she decided he needed to learn some dance skills (thinks little l for helping my main man out). you can't really tell but i caught them in the middle of "first position". loved it. 

second we spent sunday driving back and forth to church and families houses to celebrate fathers day. how grateful i am to have both of our families so close. i'm sure going to miss that when we move.

our weekend was also spent talking about med school. it seems like that is our favorite topic (or the most pressing). right now our plan is still chicago. we're excited but still aren't 100% set on that. spence is currently sitting on a few waitlists that we're hoping for. 

this whole waiting process is hard. i big part of me wants to just cash it in and say chicago is where we're going for sure. i'm so ready to find a place to live and really start planning. but then a part of me wants to keep hoping we'll hear something from one of these other schools. it's a hard waiting game. anyone else dealing with the joy of waitlists?

we are apartment hunting. we've decided we need to do at least that. so for right now we're searching but still hoping. it's hard...northwestern is an incredible school. but lets be honest...it's dang expensive. do we pass up incredible for money? haha that's what we're still trying to figure out. 

so there you have it. the barfuss family is alive and well. enjoying the summer and also enjoying the stress of a new situation! i'm so excited for change but at the same time want time to stand still. how perfect life is right now!!!

Meet the Barfuss Family

Well Hello There!
We are the Barfuss family (yes Barfuss...feel free to laugh...I did when I first heard it!)

And here is our love story (simplified of course)

Spencer and I met in August of 2009. I had just returned from a study abroad in Jerusalem and had decided to take a break from boys. Little did I know Spencer would change my mind...pretty quickly. From the moment we met I knew there was something special about Spencer.

I remember the first real night we talked. We were neighbors and there was an outdoor movie just outside our apartment complex. I had a date that night but decided to stop by for just a bit. Spencer came up and sat next to my roommates and I. When Spence told me he was an economics major I knew something was different about him. I felt like all I dated in college were Exercise Science (Pre-dental or Pre-med). It was so refreshing meeting someone who didn't want to be a dentist or a doctor (or so I thought).

I was sold after that first night. Though I wouldn't have admitted it then. A few small breakups, declining dates, and "hang-outs", Spencer finally asked me out. Our first date was the most perfect date I had ever been on (and I had been on a lot of dates). I remember thinking to myself "wow...I didn't have to fake laugh once". So sad but so true. It started out perfect!!!

About two weeks later my roommates and I were chatting about Spencer. My roommate turned to me and asked "What do you think of his last name?". It hit me that I didn't remember his last name (or really knew if I had ever known it). She started laughing and could barely get out his last name "BARFUSS.....AHH!!!" At this point I had no choice...I was hooked. Looks like Mr. Barfuss was for me!

Fast forward a few months....Spence and I were "talking" about our future. At this point I was well aware Spencer wanted to be a doctor. Though at first I was hesitant about this I was excited for Spencer. He loved economics, politics, and current events. But science pushed Spencer and excited him. He wanted to help and heal and I was all on aboard with that.

In January 2010 I knew Spencer was there to stay. One long sad weekend my Grandpa passed away. A few hours before he died I had a few minutes with him alone. I remember laying in bed next to my Grandpa. Holding his hand and whispering in his ear that I had got what he always said I should get...a man who would love me, respect me, protect me, and make me happy for the rest of forever. I told my Grandpa that night that I would marry Mr. Barfuss.

Of course I didn't tell Spencer that himself...at least for a couple of months.

We got engaged April 2nd 2010. It was the most perfect proposal. Of course I said yes.

Though I wanted a fall wedding....Spencer convinced me into getting married that summer! Rainy July 29th 2010 we got married in the Salt Lake City Temple. It was the most perfect day. How happy I was to marry the man of my dreams.

We have now been married almost two years. We both graduated from Brigham Young University....him in Economics, her in Political Science. We moved up to the "big city" for our jobs. Spencer working for a small operations company. Me, working my dream job for a consulting company.

We're stocked to start our Medical School journey this August. We're getting ready to pack up and make the big move to Chicago so Spence can start at Northwestern Medical School. I couldn't be more excited to start this adventure with Spence. He is my teammate and I his. Here's to the next steps in our lives!!!

Wives, M.D.

Hi, I'm Sydney B. and this is Wives, M.D.

This blog came about after hours and hours of online research. Michelle and I both have pre-med husbands. Both of us have played the role of supportive wife (and possibly even crazy stressed out wife, more on this later) while our husbands have prepped and planned for medical school.

During the whole application to med school process I spent a ton of time online. I remember one day being so excited about the information I finally dug up. It was super helpful to know and really pushed things along for us. I remember thinking "Man there should be an easier way to share this information" and that's when the idea of a medical school blog started.

Of course I had to talk to Michelle about it. Not only was she my bosom buddy when it came to med school things but she was also a great friend and incredible  blogger. So together we perfected what we thought the ideal "Med School Wives" blog would be.

A little day-to-day posts of the lives of young couples in the post-undergrad world
A little advice for applications (both Med-School and others) and starting a professional program
And basically our story along this path of being a Medical School students wife.

Michelle and I both have very different Med School stories. We've both learned a lot along the way. Made a few mistakes but survived. Please, if you have any questions feel free to contact us. I found that just having someone to talk to and give me advice really helped us along the way.

So welcome to our blog. We're excited to share our journey with you.