Consecration to Mary and the USMLE and the Immaculate Conception!

Today I renew my total Consecration to Jesus through Mary! Says Pope Pius XII,

Consecration to the Mother of God is a total gift of self, for the whole of life and for all eternity; and a gift which is not a mere formality or sentimentality, but effectual, comprising the full intensity of the Christian life - Marian life. [This consecration] tends essentially to union with Jesus, under the guidance of Mary.

Today is also marked by the formal beginning of my preparation for Step 1 of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). We now interrupt this announcement for a brief rant.

Medical testing is expensive. The USMLE has three "Steps." I will take Step 1 this June, I will take Step 2 after third year, and Step 3 in residency. And these are some pretty pricy steps to take. I am about to pay $560.00 to take Step 1, which is seven hours (excluding breaks) of multiple choice questions. Step 2 has a multiple-choice component (eight hours) called "Clinical Knowledge" (CK) and a clinical component (eight hours of seeing standardized patients) called "Clinical Skills" (CS). Step 2 CK costs another $560, and Step 2 CS costs $1200 and can only be taken in five locations nationwide.

I thought the MCAT was a big test, but looking back, the MCAT cost $270 and was only five hours long (excluding breaks). However, there will be no inorganic chemistry, plant biology, or irrelevant physics on the USMLE. So I am happy. End of rant.

Traditionally, Christmas break of the second year is the time to begin studying for Step 1. I am especially fond of doing things traditionally, plus we have a practice Step 1 next Thursday; therefore, today I will begin earnestly reviewing and practicing for the USMLE. Since the formal beginning of the preparation for Step 1 and the feast of the Immaculate Conception coincide, I am going to do something rather special.

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I here consecrate all my studying for this largest test of my life to my Mother, Mary.

By this consecration I promise to become dependent on Mary in all my studies: to offer all my effort and time to God through Mary, and to seek every gift from God through Mary. 

And I do this with the greatest confidence. Since she is my mother, she knows my needs better than I; and since she is Queen of Heaven, she has immediate access to the infinite treasury of graces in the Kingdom of her Divine Son. 

I beseech her, with St. Joseph, my guardian angel and my patron saints, and all the host of heaven to intercede for me in this endeavor and in my perseverance in the imitation of our Lord Jesus unto my death. Amen.†

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An exciting period of my life has begun! Happy feast day to everyone!

† I took some of the text from my little consecration of USMLE prep from here.