Day 1...sort of

8,189 days ago, an MD PhD was born.

Wow, that's a lot to digest.

Where to start? Ok details first. No, strike that, let's jump into it and I'll fill you in later. For the last six months I have this morning routine. Alarm goes off, check e-mail. Hit snooze. Repeat 3 or 4 times, hoping that a juicy interview offer/acceptance note would be coming my way. For 3 of those months, nothing. Not a peep. At the VERY end of February, I. Was. Freaking. Out. What am I going to do? Should I apply for jobs? What about school again next year? Can I pay for that? Very Type-A, and very, very distraught. Ask Kelly, she'll give you the horror story - thanks for sticking with me, sweetie! For anyone applying to medical school, the end of February is sliding more towards hell than purgatory. Your chances of acceptance are slimming. Friends are getting accepted. Spots are filling. Rough days. Take it from me, send in that primary on June 1. Trust me.

February 22, 2010: I rub my eyes, and what is this? An INVITATION TO INTERVIEW?! At MCW?! FOR MSTP? In the words of Matt Eggert: AWWW YEAAHHHH! Finally, Raman Kutty is comin' home again (PS: throughout this journey together, expect lots of lyrical references. I live and breathe music...although I can't sing. Odd!). Anyway, time to go back to Milwaukee, the place that started it all. My home. The roots of my education. Where my research started (Shoutout to Dr. Patel, you're the man and a hero). Oh boy, I can't wait!

March 3, 2010: Well, I made it to Milwaukee. Mom gave me a ride, how sweet of her! Always has been there, especially in the clutch. Here come the biggest 7 interviews of my life, and I'm so excited! Papers to read, researchers to...well, research. Time to review 3 years of research experiences. Lots to do all before dinner!

March 5, 2010: Whew, all done. Things seemed to go well, I'll know from the MD side in 1 week or so about their decision. At this point, it is completely out of my hands, so I'm a little nervous. Still, it was SO nice to be back at MCW! I love this town and could certainly see myself here for 4 more years. 8? Now THAT would be a trip!

March 11, 2010: What's this? An e-mail from MCW...oh shit. Here it is.
"Congratulations. I’m pleased to inform you that the admissions committee would like to offer you a space in the entering class of 2010 at the Medical College of Wisconsin."
No. Words.
I'm going to be a doctor! I'll admit it, I cried. I cried like a little tiny girl. Poor Jeff, he's just starting his morning and I'm wandering out in the hall sobbing and fist pumping like there's no tomorrow. Sorry if I scared you buddy...
So many thoughts rushing through my head...I'll be able to prescribe medications? ME? Someone's going to put their life in my hands? Wait, am I really ready to do this? Ok ok, hang on. Wait, I should really rethink this thing, maybe I'm not cut out for this, really. But then again, 22 years of hard work finally paid off! I'M GOING TO BE A DOCTOR! I'm not sure who was more emotional about the whole thing, my Mom, Dad and Ramani or me, but one thing is for sure. I'm in. Time to make some phone calls. Lots of them.

March 21, 2010: Just got back from Milwaukee after watching the NCAA tournament with the Fearsome Foursome: JStepp, JPL, Silvio and some of our friends. What a blast! And what's this? A letter from UW-Madison Med School? Huh, they said "no dice". Meh.

March 25, 2010: It just happened. Checked my e-mail, nothing. Checked it after my shower (you have to understand, I can do the command-shift-N (check new mail) command in my sleep...and I'm pretty sure I have)...and there it was. A message from Carol the program coordinator of the MSTP with subject "You are being sent and accept...." Blackout. Literally. Before I even opened the message.

I finally made it. 8189 days after October 23, 1987, I made it.

I got accepted to a dream program. I'm going to be a doctor, yes. But on top of that, a doctor doctor. Just like the 11th, so many thoughts going through my head. Can I be a good physician-scientist? What if I don't get grants? A lot of people wrote a lot of letters and really worked hard to help me out here...I hope I don't let them down! Wait. No, I got in because I can do this. I can do this, I'm going to do it. In 8 years, I'll be Raman Kutty MD, PhD (or should I go maverick and go PhD MD? Can you do that?). This feeling is like 1000 Julys.

Ok. Whew. Thanks for being patient (PUN INTENDED). Here are the details, aka, what we know that we know:
Fall 2010-Spring 2012: Medical school years 1 and 2 (M1 & M2)
Spring 2012-Spring 2016: Grad school. G1,2,3,4. If all goes well.
Fall 2016-Spring 2018: M3 &M4.
Wow. 2018?!

The best part? Free tuition plus stipend. I think these guys are serious. Really serious.
PhD: No mentor yet, I'll do rotations in a couple of labs for the M1/2 years until I find one that's right. For now though, I'm thinking cell biology or biochemistry. Dr. Barbieri (The Director, the big cheese, all that) suggested computational biology...maybe! Decisions, decisions.

For those who know me, the fact I am starting a blog highlights how significant this is. I generally dislike hate blogs (no, I don't need to know your opinion about your cat's tail length and neither does anyone else), but I thought that this is going to be a bit of an adventure so I might as well document it while everything is going on. From a strictly scientific point, it seems like too much data to pass on. God, I'm a nerd. And absolutely loving it.