This is what my e-mail said this morning after my post-defense meeting at the graduate school to review the formatting of my dissertation, turn in the final approval document, and submit my dissertation online to the library. When I asked about the publication fee I knew was owed to the University, however, I was informed that because I was an MSTP student this fee would not be assessed until I finished my MD, and that if I am lucky, it will have disappeared by the time I graduate. Hopeful as I am to avoid the $70 fee, I do wish, at least a little bit, that my dissertation could be available online (and in a bound version in my department) before 2013. Apparently they don't process anything really until the degree is conferred, which in my case is not for another couple of years.

Lesson #1: No matter how much you love the MSTP, it is impossible to also love all of the exercises in delayed gratification.

Lesson #2: Publish your work so that you are allowed to show it to your family and friends before you graduate.