Minneapolis Graduation

Yesterday marked the beginning of the official celebration season as we look toward the end of residency.  The University of Minnesota (which our residency is affiliated with) held its official graduation in Minneapolis.  The Duluth cohort took a charter bus down for the event where we joined everyone from the other U of M residency/fellowship programs.

The bus ride was great, with cribbage, snacks, and even "Time of Your Life" by Green Day, (requested by Eli, of course).  We can count on one hand the number of times that everyone in our class has hung out together; there are always a few people on-call at the hospital at any given point in time.  So it was a fun treat to see everyone together (spouses/fiances included).  We've been blessed with a great group of residents in Eli's class the past three years.  We are all beyond ready to get out of here, but we truly feel blessed to have traversed this tough road with such quality people.

To our surprise, Eli was honored with a Resident Teacher Award!  He didn't know until they called his name.  It's for demonstrating an "interest in and commitment to family medicine education."  Very cool.

Our residency was the very last to receive the certificates, but we're a strong bunch and many people will be practicing full-spectrum family medicine in rural Minnesota.  We are passionate about rural medicine and the great need for doctors in small communities, so we are proud that so many of our classmates are fulfilling that calling!

It was a lovely occasion made even more enjoyable by the fantastic desserts :)  Two of our fellow residents are currently pregnant, so I, being a breastfeeding Mama who also loves to eat, hopped on the hungry train with them and ate my fair share of food.  Good catering makes a good event even better :)  

We brought Kai with us and he was a total peach.  This kid is an all-star traveler and he handles being out of routine quite well.  He snuggled with Grandpa Horn most of the evening and didn't make a peep during the ceremony (at least not that anyone heard).  

Later this month we'll have another graduation ceremony here in Duluth for just our program.  Most of our fellow residents will be done at the end of this month while we have a couple months to go (because Eli took time off when both our boys were born, and thus is off-cycle), but the end is in sight - very near sight - and we are beginning a season of anticipation and rejoicing as we're about to close the final chapter on a very long and very difficult journey.  So let the celebrating begin!