The rumor mill is funny….good news travels slowly….”Oh such and such got married 3 months ago eh?…you don’t say”….meanwhile bad news travels at M.A.C.H. 3 (three times the speed of sound for my non-scientifically inclined readers)….”You heard such and such just broke up 5 minutes ago?!?!”….

And so it goes with my old classmates and the step-1 results….I’m hearing through the grapevine that people are having one of two possible outcomes….they are either blowing it out or they are failing….

What is step-1 you say??….I’m glad you asked, it’s the first of three tests that prospective doctors have to take in order to get licensure (and you thought it was over after the MCAT??…no sirree bob!…that’s a piece of cake compared to the step exams!)….the first step exam tests the students knowledge of the basic sciences….the basic sciences include: Gross Anatomy, Biochemistry, Neurosciences, Microanatomy, Physiology, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Behavioral Sciences, Biostats/Epidemiology/Public Health, Physical Diagnosis, and Genetics….that’s a whole lot of course work if you aren’t aware!

So what we’ve been finding through the rumor mill is that unless you’ve been doing consistantly above average (A’s and B’s and high subject board scores) you are probably NOT going to do well on the step….

The Killa Cal cannot afford to not do well on the step exam!….I want to go home and practice in the state of Georgia….you can take the Step as many times as you can afford to sit for it, but to practice in Georgia you have to pass your step exam the FIRST time….not only that, but The Killa Cal also wants to practice anesthesiology…..anesthesiology is a HIGHLY competitive field and you pretty much have to blow the step out to get a residency in that….

I say all of this to say, I have been bullshitting too much good people….I spend too much time on this computer….too much time at parties….too much time drinking beer….too much time watching sports….all of that has got to stop….

I’ve called people all sorts of lames and things, but those people are gonna knock the step out while I’m sulking and considering my life in Idaho or some other state where you can have multiple sittings of the step exam….that’s not the kind of life I want to live….that option isn’t even being considered in my life plan….so folks, I’m going to have to shut it down a little…

I mean I’m still gonna write here (not like anyone was going to be tremendously upset if I didn’t)….but other things are gonna have to be curtailed seriously….I am going to have to be more disciplined than I’ve ever been….I’ve already started a little, going to the gym and things was a huge step for me….now I do push-ups every morning and again at night….the diet that I was on for awhile is another small step that shows me I CAN discipline myself…but it’s going to be hard….

Sometimes I honestly wish I had taken some time off from school to get my act together….get all of this partying and whatnot out of me….but what’s done is done and I KNOW I can still do this….it’s just gonna be a little harder than I thought….

I gotta get my act together….