A doctor... with a job!

It's official: we're moving back to Utah.

You already knew that, but just today Keith finally signed his contract with the Department of Dermatology at the University of Utah! He has a dual appointment as a dermatopathologist and a Mohs surgeon. Because it's an academic program, he'll also be an assistant professor.

It is the perfect job for him and for his unique set of sub-specialties. That's the good part about going back to a place where you trained -- they are more likely to do things like create a position just for you.

After 11 years of medical training, it's hard to believe that Keith's long road to this point is coming to an end.

All of the steps have been very, very challenging and I'm very, very proud of him.

Keith and I started dating when he was applying to medical school. That was so long ago that he had to fill out the applications with a typewriter... an actual typewriter, with a white-out ribbon. I vividly remember sitting in the kitchen of his crappy Brighton apartment helping him type those things... and using the white-out ribbon -- a lot.

And I fondly remember the day he was accepted. He was on the wait list and got the call a few days before classes started, so it was a happy, crazy rush for him to close out his praying-to-get-into-med school life in Boston and rush out to Syracuse.

Then of course there was the five years that we lived 300 miles apart, trading off on the 10-hour roundtrip weekend trips. And all of the stress about whether he could nab one of the highly competitive dermatology residency spots.

More stress around the two --also competitive-- fellowship spots. Countless hours of studying for important tests. Frequent car trouble. Frequent exhaustion. Lots and lots of our own money spent traveling to interviews and moving back and forth across the country. And millions of huge medical books that are getting really heavy to move around. An obscene amount of paperwork -- especially this year, with the whole Canada thing. Now, 11 years later, he [finally] has a job that I think will be perfect and very rewarding for him. Did I mention that I'm proud? And relieved :-)

To recap what he's been doing all that time, including the locations, here you go:

- 4 years med school (Syracuse and Binghamton, NY)

- 1 year post-sophomore fellowship in pathology (Syracuse)

- 1 year internship (Boston)

- 3 years dermatology residency (Salt Lake City)

- 1 year dermatopathology fellowship (Chicago)

- 1 year Mohs surgery fellowship (Vancouver)

Moving back to Utah (possibly for a long time) is a little bittersweet for me, as I'll be 2,000 miles from my family and closest friends.

But, what can I say, we really like it there.

So, to get you ready, I'm going to get a little Utah quiz together, which I'll post soon. You might want to start studying, though you won't need 11 years.