Go together well

On Monday, October 28, my first niece was born! That morning, my brother sent me a text message at 6 am (4 am for them), stating that they were at the hospital, 8 cm dilated. Twenty minutes later, another message: Marion Jean Dorwart, 6 pounds 12 ounces, 19 inches (the name was inspired by  this Indiana Jones character , and the middle name by baby's maternal great-grandmother). She is beautiful, and I can't wait to meet her in person! {Dad/Grandpa, Dan/Dad, & Baby Marion} Halloween weekend, I made a trip to Philadelphia with a group from my residency program to attend the Family Medicine Education Consortium, leaving Chris to hand out candy to a number of dragons and football players. I learned about leading group medical visits and heard a great speech about the future of primary care by Dr. Ted Epperly , while representing my residency program to potential future residents.  After the conference, I took a $3 Megabus  ride to Washington, D.C., where ...

Today is my brother Matthew's 23rd birthday! (My family prefers to have birthdays exclusively in the months of April and November .)  At some point, I started calling Matthew "Maffrew," which has subsequently been shortened to "Frew." I don't really know how that started, but I don't think he minds. At least,  I think he prefers it to "Math," which is what one of his kindergarten classmates called him.  ("Can I call you Math?" "No." "Hi, Math!") {me at 5-1/2, with baby Frew} When my parents told my older brothers and me that we were going to have another sibling, I promptly began to pray each night for a sister. In spite of the fact that my prayers were not answered, I wasn't all that disappointed in the end (as you may be able to tell from the picture). He even let me dress him up in a tutu and teach him ballet positions, so I really wasn't deprived at all.  We have missed him a lot sinc...

Today is my brother Bill's 33rd birthday !  {a few years ago at Santa's Workshop in Colorado Springs} Bill will finish his family medicine residency at about the same time that I start mine. He's a great doctor, and he is part of why I made my way back to family medicine after a "tour de possibilities" (geriatrics, general surgery, OB/gyn, gynecologic oncology...)  When I graduated from medical school  last May, I was fairly certain I would go on to become a gynecologic oncologist . At the start of my MPH coursework, I planned to do a women's and reproductive health concentration with a particular focus on cervical cancer among medically underserved populations . I spent time meeting with a gyn oncologist at Hopkins and shadowing her in the clinic and operating room...but my various classes reminded me that my interests are very broad--perhaps too broad to enter such a specific field of practice. I loved learning about such public health issues as en...