Jessica Update:

Hi everyone

Well, pediatrics has flown by, and I was all finished with it as of Sunday morning. The rotation went well. It was a bit disjointed, with 2-week stints in 3 different places, but it was fine. I wrote the exam last Thursday, handed in all my evaluations, and now I'm moving on.

Tomorrow I start a 4-week neurosurgery placement here in Hamilton. I'll be working with 2 different doctors, one pediatric neurosurgeon, and the other an adult surgeon. I've been told that the adult neurosurgeon is a Christian, and that he's great to work with, so we'll see. I'll basically be splitting my time 50/50 between the 2 doctors, so it'll be half pediatric and half adult, which should be good. I'd certainly appreciate prayer over the next 4 weeks. I'm looking forward to this placement, but have gotten the impression that it may be quite a challenging one. I know the Lord is the One who has put this together for me, and I'm sure He knows what He's doing, but prayer coverage never hurts!

Once those 4 weeks are done, I'll be heading into another 8 weeks of surgery. It will consist of 4 weeks of General Surgery (same type of thing that I did in Chatham before Christmas), 2 weeks of Orthopedics, and 2 weeks of something else yet to be decided. All of this will be in Hamilton. That'll take me to the middle of June. It will be a very busy time, without as much sleep as I'd like, but I'm looking forward to it.

So basically the next 12 weeks will be focused on surgery, and I'm excited about that.

I'm also in the process of preparing to write part 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Exam in the summer. The Canadian licensing process doesn't start until you graduate from medical school, but for the US the process starts halfway through med school (and I'm really past that point now). My classmates think I'm a bit nuts for doing this, but I really feel it's important to pursue licensing in both countries, given the direction my life is headed. So between my clinical rotations (which involve being at the hospital all day, and sometimes all night too, as well as studying the subject material for that rotation) and studying for this exam, I've got a lot to do. Sometimes it feels like this process is never going to end, and I have my moments where it's tempting to just forget it all and jump on a plane to China. But I know that this is where I'm supposed to be right now, and most of the time I'm okay with that. Overall, I'm enjoying what I'm doing and learning, and am having a lot of fun with all my placements. This is definitely the right field for me! But I appreciate prayer, because there is a lot of pressure coming from a lot of angles, and it can get overwhelming when I forget Who's in control of it all. I can't imagine how people survive when they don't know that Someone's got their life in His hands, and that it's all going to be okay!

I think that covers it for now. I really appreciate all your prayers and e-mails and support. They make a huge difference! Thanks so much.

Love and blessings

Jessica