The interview is over...now the waiting begins!

Hey family!

I am writing this post after an exhausting (but thrilling) day at UW.

I had my interview at 8 a.m. this morning and it went really well (at least I think I did). Obviously there were things that I wish I would have said better, or things I wish I would have added to my answers, but would I be Deanna if I wasn't a little bit paranoid about my performance?

They tried to pressure me a little bit, and made me answer a LOT of theoretical and ethical questions (which there is no completely right or wrong answer to). I think I stood my ground well and presented my opinion in a confident way. I decided that for the most part they probably didn't care a whole lot (okay, maybe a little) about what my solution to the theoretical problem was, but they were more interested in how I go about solving problems and my rationale for my solutions. So, I did the best I could to answer the tough ethical questions and managed to keep the interview more conversational and less "interrogational"...in fact I even made them laugh on a few occasions (and no...they were not laughing AT me :).

I was interviewed by a surgeon named Charles Rinker from Billings and a family medicine doc from Bozeman named LeAnna Muzquiz (in case any of you know either of these two individuals...you know Montana is a small world after all). I also had a 2nd year medical student on my panel of interviewers, which I wasn't expecting, and it was really nice. It was nice to have someone my age, who had been through the process before to kind of guage her reactions.

Anyway, I had a tour of the school and a luncheon with current students followed by meetings with the admissions counselors and financial aid office. Lastly, I attended a lecture for first year students. It was a musculoskeletal class and I am happy to announce that I successfully passed my first med school quiz :). They handed out a one-question quiz (can you really call that a quiz) at the beginning of class, and of course because of the large class size I was seen as just another student, not a visitor and I also got a copy of the quiz. I had to describe the location of the obturator nerve in relation to the adductor brevis muscle and I nailed it :) where do i sign up for classes? Hee hee, Just kidding. But, it was a good feeling!

Alright, I'm exhausted and ready for some good sleep before it's back to work tomorrow. I won't know until late march the outcome of the interview, in fact they haven't even met to decide how many applicants from Montana that they can afford to accept! But, I'll keep you posted--as soon as I know something, you'll know something! There are many more details of the day and the school I'm leaving out, but I'm sure I'll get a chance to talk to most of you about it soon.

Thank you to everyone for your love and support and your kind words of encouragement yesterday and today as I headed off for the interview! It means so much to have you all behind me!