Rough seas ahead?

It should have been simple: finish the first year, get the house ready for sale, and concomitantly buy a house close to the university. The plan emerged literally 2 days before the last exam. My wife and I decided that it would be much easier if we lived in the same house when I worked my way through the second year. So for three weeks we feverishly worked on cleaning up the house and improving the property, to bring the whole thing to a sellable condition. And two-and-a-half weeks ago we finally put the house on the market. Yet the right house near the university has eluded us. We decided to withdraw our offer on what was supposed to be the 11th-hour house that would have closed right as the kids were ready to go to school. The house was in no condition to move in as I realized yesterday, so it became a no-go. Now we're staring the prospect of potentially moving in the middle of winter, when the kids finish their first semesters along with me.

Other than real-estate hell, though, it's been a decent vacation, if one could call it that. Early in June I visited Chicago for an AMA conference. It was an eye-opening chance to see politics of a large organization in action. Much of the student section's work was devoted to debating and voting on proposals that were to be later taken up by the doctors' sections.

No research for the summer. I was planning to get together with a radiologist in town to do a paper study that would have likely yielded a publication, but the family life won out in the end. I wanted to spend some time with the kids and do some studying. And I had a chance to do both. There is also a chance to do some research at the university once things start back up again. I'm counting on 2nd and 4th years to attempt the research, since I hear year 3 is jam-packed.

The time away from school has also given me some opportunity for reflection on my future role as a doctor, on medicine, and on that most precious thing that is health. In coming days I'd like to comment on a few things; hopefully there will be time to do a bit of writing.