Doctor Wives Blog Giveaway

Hey everyone,

If you're not aware of the Doctor Wives blog, it is a great resource for all of us on the journey to being a medical spouse (there are doctor husbands on there, too!) This blog was started by a recent OSU SAA alum and now includes spouses from all over the country. It is a great forum to learn about our shared experiences and what lies ahead, as well as encourage each other.

Anyway, in celebration of their 200th follower, they are hosting a giveaway. Head on over here and become a follower and you can enter there to win one of the cool prizes. I'm kind of hoping for the choffy. :)

Thanksgiving Dinner!

Spook-O-Ween!

Don't forget that Spook-o-ween, SAA's annual family and kid friendly carnival, is coming up next week! Dress up your little goblins (and yourselves!) and come join us at 6 p.m. in Founder's Hall on Thursday, October 28th. There will be games, food, costume contests, and more. See you there!

*Spookoween is one of the fun things SAA does with money raised from the Oktoberfest fundraiser going on this week. Thank you to all who are helping! It really does take a village...

Free Flu Shots

I'm sure everyone has a different opinion on whether getting the flu shot is actually necessary. [Insert personal experience: All I know is that before flu shots were developed, I got the flu every year and it developed into a 3-4 month long bout of bronchitis, which triggered temporary asthma. No fun. I don't get sick often, but when I do, it sticks around for a while. Since I've started getting the flu shot, I have gotten the flu just a couple of times, but not every year and it has not developed complications. So, while I avoid the flu mist at all costs (it's a live virus), I do get the flu shot every year and usually for free. When we lived in Shawnee I always went to the awesome drive-through flu clinic, and the last two years I have gotten it from the health department.] 

This year I was especially concerned to get us all vaccinated because 1) James is doing rotations and exposed to sick people daily. He will be doing Core IM rotations in January / February and that is when flu is most rampant. 2) Jaycen is too young to get vaccinated for flu, and I want to improve his odds of not catching it by making sure the adults around him (and most importantly, my two year old) are vaccinated. :) This is not just because flu is bad for babies, but especially because 2 years ago Alex and I did get the flu during his first winter, and his flu turned into dangerous pneumonia. Scary stuff.

SOOOOO, this year I was rather horrified to hear that there will be no free flu clinics!!  Even the health department is charging $25. Multiply that times the 3 of us and that's $$$ I don't have!! (J has gotten his shot for free at OSU CHS before, but this year so far we've only seen an email advising all students to get the flu shot, not advertising when it's offered to them).

Yesterday I found out a little known fact: Flu shots are in fact free to those who fall below 185% of the poverty line. That most likely includes all of us since med school loans do not count as income, and even if they did, we still fall below poverty line for our size family based on our loan "income" (for a family of 4, 185% above poverty line is $40,792.50. Is it just me or does that sound like a LOT of $?). Check it out here: http://www.tulsa-health.org/testing-immunizations/immunizations/seasonal-flu-immunizations/?lid=1845

I'm not sure what they require to prove income, as some of you with (loans only) won't have a paystub as I do for my part time work. I heard from friends in OKC that they just had to verbally state their income and not require proof. I would call in advance to see what they require.

Sorry for the long post. It's the blogger in me dying to get out. :o) 

Disclaimer: Yes, yes, I know that even the free flu shots in the past were not really "free". Don't get me started, lol.

Clerkships

The start of third year has brought a lot of uncertainty to our household! While core has not been as bad as I had anticipated (really!), the thought of applying to residency and the preparatory steps it requires is hanging over our heads.

I wanted to let you all know what we did together that really helped! As you know, there are contacts at OSU-COM that help students with any questions about rotations--both away and local. We went and visited with Sherry Eastman yesterday for 2 hours and she is AMAZING! Not only is she very knowledgeable about the entire process, but she knows a lot about what each specialty is looking for--allowing us to cater the next year to the specialty and programs of Scott's choice.

While I'm sure your student knows Sherry, if you're free, it might be a great opportunity for you to go with them. This allows you to learn more about the coming months, but helps you know the deadlines and materials required. Plus, it got me really excited about the process and made it all more clear versus confusing and overwhelming.

Good luck!

Amy

SAA Membership Drive -VP Lunch!

September 25 at 12 P.M.

Uncle Bucks located inside the Bass Pro Shop in Broken Arrow

You are invited to the Annual Vice President Luncheon at Uncle Bucks Restaurant located inside the Bass Pro Shop. The lunch is free to all spouses/significant others of medical students. Bring another spouse/significant other who is interested in OSUCOM SAA! Come and learn more about the Student Advocate Association. Children are welcome to attend. Please RSVP to hcampbell81@cox.net

Sponsored by Student Advocate Association & the AOOA

Settling in - an invitation

Hey Everyone,

MSI brought us many changes - new routine, "single parenthood", new place to live, new crazy Tulsa drivers, new job (for me)... so much change in so little time. It took a while to get settled again.

One of the hardest things for us to do was find a new church home when we moved to Tulsa. J and I have different denominational backgrounds, and we had attended a Korean church, a Latino church (that turned international), and a Baptist church since we were together. In Tulsa we opened our horizons and attended literally more than a dozen churches of all backgrounds and denominations near our apartment before finally - a year later - settling on our church home. We love our church, SHBC - it has really become a family to us. It is located at 56th & Lewis, fairly close to I-44 and Riverside area of town. We had never considered SHBC in our search because we lived in South Tulsa, but a friend's invitation opened the door and we felt at home. :)

This Sunday is SHBC's Fall kickoff, and I just wanted to extend an invitation to anyone who is looking for a church home or even just curious to come and join us. I know from experience how it can feel to visit a church where you don't know anyone, or no one even realizes you are visiting. We'd be more than happy to be a friendly face and host you for the day at SHBC - sit with us, join our Life Group, and make you feel at home. They are having a special preview day with continental breakfast, inflatables for kids, and open house style Life Group before worship. The breakfast stuff starts at 8:30, Lifegroup at 9:30, and Worship at 10:30. No strings attached - but if you'd like to join us, please email me at flyingajoshi@gmail.com and We'd be happy to meet you there and be your "hosts" for the day. If you can't make it this week but would like to try another time, that's fine too!

God bless!

Desiree

If you want to learn more, go to www.shbctulsa.org or find the Southern Hills Baptist Church page on Facebook. While you're at it, find me on Facebook. :) Hope to see you there!

1st Week Pool Party

The pool party was a big hit! Doctors, their spouses, students, significant others and kids all got in on the summer time fun. Janell and Dr. Cyrus were wonderful hosts at their beautiful home. It was pretty exciting to watch all the students thrown into the pool by one another. Can't wait to do it again next year.

Coupon Swap?

Living on a budget in med school... fun times! I've been trying to learn from the Money Saving Queen's website, and one of her ideas is a coupon train. Mailing the coupons around sounds like a lot of work, though.

Since we meet monthly anyway, I was thinking we could bring extra coupons we don't need and swap? Anyone interested?

One Person's Junk

So, I have some things that I would like to get rid of, as I am sure most of us do. I was thinking that maybe we could have a large group garage sale. We can either use the money as a fundraiser or just give the money to whoever brought the item. If we have one large sale then we can take out an ad in the newspaper during someone's neighborhood garage sale day. What are your thoughts on this? Do you have some stuff hanging around that you don't want or could you use some extra cash for that summer vacation?

Letter from (past) President

Well another year has come and gone! We are all one step closer to our goals. Yea!

I just wanted to thank everyone who has helped with SAA and attended the meetings this year. If we keep up the good work and involvement we can make our organization one of the best in the nation. This year has been a fun learning experience for me and I want to thank Holly, Desiree and Amy for being great officers! SAA has helped make me more aware of the problems/stigma that DO physicians face and how to correct/improve them. Also, I have made many new connections throughout the nation and I truly feel that I have gained a family within the osteopathic profession. I look forward to another year at OSUCHS and being involved in SAA with my friends!

A big thanks and yahoooo to the new officers and standing committee chairmen!
Holly Campbell, President
Amanda Lee, 1st VP
Jammi Bailey, 2nd VP
Lynsie Harmon, Secretary
Amy Clore, Treasurer

Desiree Jang, Newsletter
Becca Peterson, Hospitality
Spring Mason, Playgroup
Jennifer Gavitt (no longer Gavitt! Congrats by the way!), Social
Fundraising, PR/Service, 1st Year Rep and Student Liaison still available! Or if you would like to be on any standing committee please let us know!

I know the new officers will do a superb job this year and changes are underway so I encourage you to get involved and share your ideas and opinions. You can make a difference in the world of medicine. Behind every good doctor there is a significant other or wonderful SAA member that pushed and shoved them through medical school!

Thank you,

Jammi Bailey
SAA Past President

Health Fair

Better late than never!

Here is a photo from OSU-COM's Health Fair at Eugene Field's Elementary on April 23. We had a great time interacting with the (elementary) students and their families. Also, it was great to spend time with our own students and learn more about what they do at community events.

Thanks to all the volunteers for all their hard work!

OSU's Press Release about the event

OOA Convention 2010

Whew! What an amazing weekend. Four SAA members attended the annual Oklahoma Osteopathic Association Convention in OKC. It was a busy and fun time. All the Oklahoma advocates and the physicians were so nice and helpful.

There were so many activities for us to participate in. From running the auction booth with the AOOA, playing carnival games at the family Big Top night, Bunko with great prizes and a Saturday evening Gala where Dr. Cyrus, Janell's husband, was installed as the new president of the OOA.

Heidi Couch, the National President of the Advocates to the American Osteopathic Association was in attendance and gave us some great advice. I know I can't wait to go back next year. Who knows, maybe we can double our attendance!

Housing Options

In case any new students are interested in renting options (or current students looking to move), there are some great houses for rent here http://www.tulsapm.com/

The site lists three in Jenks (two in our neighborhood, Churchill Park) for $1200 - a great deal considering most houses rent for $1400+ here. The neighborhood is absolutely wonderful - safe and very quiet. It's about 15 minutes from school in no traffic and 20 minutes during rush hour (right off of I-75).

We rented a tiny apartment our first year and were so burned out on the lack of space that when our house back home FINALLY sold (1 year + on the market), we then bought a house and long story short, it burned and we are buying another. If I had it to do over again, I would rent, rent, rent!!! All the joys of home ownership, without the pain of getting a loan or trying to sell it when you go into residency! :) (We made double house payments the first year of med school - it nearly killed us waiting for our old home to sell).

I just wanted to share!

Spin Results

Alright, second years! Is everybody happy with how the spin came out yesterday?

Spencer got core 1, for which we're really excited! And I think it's just exciting to see where he's going to be on the others. This seems to be a really big step to me in the journey to becoming a doctor. I can't believe how fast it's all going! We'll probably try to plan a trip to Utah to visit family some time during core and possibly during the rural rotation, but we'll have to see.

So let's hear it. What did you get? and are you happy about it? And does anyone have any plans for the really busy/away times for their student?

Valentine's Dinner with Friends

I hope everyone had a great time at the Valentine's Dinner! It was good to catch up with friends and enjoy some great food from Gina and Giuseppe's on the Riverwalk in Jenks. The dessert was my favorite part of the dinner-that may be because I helped Brandon eat his. A big thanks to Amy for organizing the SAA Valentine's Dinner.

Join our blog!

After receiving some great input about our blog, we realized other SAA members did not have the privileges to post! I have sent invitations to all our members but please feel free to email me if you never received one or are new to SAA and want to share your thoughts. We don't mean to exclude anyone, it's just Google's way of keeping things straight.

Also, it was great meeting so many new people at Admitted Student Day last Saturday. Holly, Jammi and I had a great time and are so glad we were able to answer some of your questions--the change to medical school can be a bit overwhelming! We're looking forward to seeing more of you all in the future.

Hang in there, everyone, it's almost Spring Break!!

Don't forget - Meeting tonight!

We have a great meeting scheduled for 5:30 tonight - check your email for the location as it will be at one of our member's homes. Pizza will be served - bring a dessert or salad if you can - and children are welcome (there will be a playroom for them to hang out in while we learn all about what to expect in 3rd and 4th year).

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Anyway questions? Leave a comment with your email or best number to text and I'll respond.

12 Types of Med Students

Desiree found this and passed it on. Is your student any of these? Can you think of other classmates that are? Have fun!



Comic courtesy of Michelle Au, doctor blogger of theunderweardrawer.blogspot.com

Financial Aid Repayment Calculator

This is a great tool for those of us borrowing our lives away with student loans: http://www.finaid.org/calculators/scripts/loanpayments.cgi

It will tell you how much your payments will be and how much Uncle Sam will earn in interest... it sounds bad, but honestly it's a lot less interest than we'll pay over our 30 year mortgage! :)

First meeting of 2010!

Hey Everyone,

The officers and I met this week to go over all the fun things we have planned for you and the students. The first activity will be our monthly meeting on Tuesday the 19 at 5:30. We will have our regular business meeting where you will get a tentative schedule and afterward we will have an educational workshop-Health and Fitness- by two of our awesome members. Ginny will be giving us tips on fitness and Holly will give us ideas to help us stay healthy when making food choices. This will be a great meeting after we have made our New Years resolutions! We hope you can make it.

Thanks,
Jammi

PS: I will get back with you on a location for the meeting after Sandra approves the room.