I have been waiting to blog this post for a very long time - I have even dreamed about what it would be like.... so here goes....
It's Tuesday Morning the 8th September, or otherwise known to us as 'D' day... Mick gets ready and spends the morning reading over some cards (thousands of white cards he has spent over a year writing) while I sit there trying not to talk to him. 10.15 arrives and we walk 2 minutes down the road to the AIM building, where Mick's exam will be held. I say goodbye and go for a walk around St Kilda and am very happy to receive a phone call about 40mins later to say that the Pharmacology exam is over and he feels quite good about it all.... phew... 1 down and 1 to go. I meet him back at the hotel with some blackcurrant juice and lemons as he is starting to lose his voice (Mick caught my cold on Thursday and has slowly been getting worse) I leave quickly to give him some more time to prepare for the physiology exam.... so I go and do some more exploring. At 3.00pm I wait in the lobby of the AIM building and watch a lot of very nervous people come and go, I hear one guy screaming with pain down the lift and see a few others leaving in tears... 15mins later Mick appears with a small smile on his face and I think - you beauty! Until I realise the smile was just because he saw me, he then begins to tell me he is not feeling as confident about that one. We spend the rest of the day waiting.... we get some Nandos for dinner and then slowly head to the ANZCA building (Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists) where the results will be pinned on the board at 1900 hours. The room slowly begins to fill with lots of very anxious looking doctors.... and by around 7.15pm there were about 60 people there and we were all starting to get sick of the small talk and wanted to yell "hurry up"!! The mood was amazing though - it was quiet, nervous chit chat until the Chief Examiner arrived on the stairs... 'here we go, we are all thinking' but to our displeasure he announces that they are running a little late and hope to have the results out by 7.30pm!! They do bring out the food and bev at this stage though so that keeps us a little bit happy. And then it finally happens.... 'The List' is pinned up on the board and people nervously head over and look for their candidate number... Mick is 226.... he takes a deep breath and over he goes.... the mood in the room quickly changes, I can hear cheers of excitement, congratulations passed and lots of 'I got it's'. I see smiles and hugs everywhere, tears of joy and also a few tears of disappointment... my eyes are glued to Mick though.... he looks at the Pharm results and then at the Phys results. He turns and walks back to where he thinks I am... but I moved, so there is some confusion for a second.... but then he finds me and says " I got it, both of them" My eyes light up and I give him a big hug! At first we can't really believe it, so Mick decided he better go check the board again, meanwhile one of his bosses, who was one of the examiners (but not Mick's) tells me that he is not surprised and that he was feeling quite confident for him. The atmosphere in the whole room has changed in a matter of seconds, we catch up with a few others and talk about the results before getting out of there so we can call home and tell all about the good news, which everyone else was doing too!
What excitement! After many SMS's and phone calls we go for a drive around the city and park at the Crown Casino. After a quick look around we head up to the 88th floor of the Eureka Tower - what a sight! It was great and a nice way to celebrate. Congratulations Mick! You did it! After lots and lots of sacrifice you are finally an advanced trainee! You have the Primary Examination in the bag!! And for us, normal life can now begin!!
Mick looks just a little happy to say "bye bye books!"
These are Mick's cards, every one of them has something on it that he needs to remember... almost all of them are double sided and he has written out every one of them... now that's a lot of cards and a lot of things to know!
Mick may even have withdrawal symptoms tomorrow because for the past year or so he has nearly always had a stack of these with him!
Sacrifice... it's a very important part of life!
16 comments:
Well I guess if he didn't pass he could have just put the patients to sleep by reading the cards to them - or is that what hes's been doing.
Now if we had had some of that knowledge on Tuesday night when we were trying to get Emily to sleep that little needle might just have come out and gone into the little Angel's hand while she started counting.
I can't believe all those cards! That is amazing! WELL DONE MICK!!!
"Congratulations Mick" that is awesome news, very happy for you all.....!! And WOW what alot of cards.
Thats awesome Mick - Well done. Finally it's all over!
I once heard a quote about what sacrifice is..
'Sacrifice is giving up something good, for something better'
I guess mick could have given up and just been 'ok' with where he was, but he decided to sacrifice and make life 'better'..
Glad your study is over Mick...
Great news Mick, Congratulations!!
Phewww what a relief Han, I bet your glad thats over
;-)
Congratulations Mick. Now its time to thing about packing up your little family and heading overseas for a year, Hope this all goes well.
Oh wow - that must have been intense! Congratulations Mick. What a relief for all of you.
Yay well done Mick!! We knew you could do it:) Well done to Hannie too for not talking to Mick for all those nights of study...!
Congratulations!
Congratulations Mick (and Hannah because ALL good things are a family affair)!
Congrats to both of you...that's awesome news. I guess those cards worked then.
Well done guys, congratulations, that's totally awesome!!!
Shame we didn't get to catch up, probably good thing though as Blanche has been really sick too!!
I know I've already said it, but this time it's in writing.... WOOHOO!!! SO glad for the four of you. We'll celebrate when mum and dad get down this weekend....as for the cards, I remember them when he was at uni and I had to test Mick before some of his exams. Looks like they've GROWN tho!!!
Thanks for all the comments everyone. We are all so grateful and excited that its over... for a year or so anyway!!! Yes... the testing is fun hey Rach - especially when you can't even say most of the words! Oh and these cards are ALL NEW ONES! The Uni ones are in a box somewhere!!
way to go Mick. Congrats! And Hannah, way to go too, you deserve a medal! I know what it's like being married to someone studying and doing exams!
That is so awesome! I got chills reading it...must have been so tense and exciting all at the same time! Congratulations - hope you are both taking it easy and enjoying a bit of chill-out, normal family time now!
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