Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Take the average EM rotation month. Take out all the meetings, Journal Club, House call, and BS or residency. Drop the hours by about 4-5 shifts
each month and actually be making money. Is he at a busy ER? Is it metro? That's level 1 isn't it? He will be ready for anything if he can conquer that. DH is on call 1-2 times a month. In the 6 years he has been called in less than 10 times. He is at 2 hospitals: Grant and Riverside.
Believe me, it does get better.

That sounds much better! He is at Detroit Receiving Hospital -- they wrote the book on EM™! Yes, it is level 1. One of the reasons he wanted to match there was because he figured it'd make him a bad-ass desirable attending!

It's funny though, we were totally expecting the ED there to be the gun 'n' knife club and everything, but he has yet to see a single GSW; he's seen one stabbing. Mostly it's routine stuff; lots of homeless and/or mentally ill "frequent fliers," lots of urban poor. It is good training, though.

Oh, I'm the only spouse who shows up to Journal Club, it's kind of funny. They do it as a dinner party, so it's not completely weird... I just go in another room and read when it's time to get down to business, or hang out with the host's family. It's just a way to get out of the frickin' house once in awhile... I'm afraid the other residents think I'm weird though... :P

[spotty_dog]

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!



Another EM spouse here.

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

[peggyfromwastate]

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Welcome- my DH is an intern in ENT (surg). He is *older* than some of the interns, younger than some. Personally, I think being older is an advantage- having "previous life skills" and all that. Anyway, it sounds cool what you do with music! Incidentally, my mom is a musician (oboist) and my dad was an ER doc for 25 years! So that's kinda sorta like your situation!

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

[planet]

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Welcome!

I've been the only spouse in the room before too. Ah well. Free food is good.

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!



EM spouse here as well. DH is doing finishing up his prelim year in surgery. I look forward to getting to know you better!

[Lo]

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

welcome!!

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Hi! My hubby is a PGY-1 too... I totally feel your pain as do all these other great people. I play the violin, but I don't write music- what an incredible gift you have! So glad you joined us.

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Welcome! My dh is currently applying to EM residencies.... and I am looking forward to that next step in this nutty adventure!
We went to college together, then he worked while I did graduate school. Next came our two children and then medical school! So, dh definitely will not be the typical resident. Lucky for him, he's very smart but also wise, gentle and unassuming. We're enjoying this new phase of our lives. I'm actually glad he didn't do this right after college and before kids - because back then he wanted to be a surgeon....
Anyway, back to you! I hope you're finding some interesting people and places to explore in your new home. How are the arts (music and otherwise) in Detroit? Dh is applying there and the arts are what I am really into.
Best to You!

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Welcome! My dh is currently applying to EM residencies.... and I am looking forward to that next step in this nutty adventure!
We went to college together, then he worked while I did graduate school. Next came our two children and then medical school! So, dh definitely will not be the typical resident. Lucky for him, he's very smart but also wise, gentle and unassuming. We're enjoying this new phase of our lives. I'm actually glad he didn't do this right after college and before kids - because back then he wanted to be a surgeon....
Anyway, back to you! I hope you're finding some interesting people and places to explore in your new home. How are the arts (music and otherwise) in Detroit? Dh is applying there and the arts are what I am really into.
Best to You!

There is a surprisingly good music and arts scene in Detroit! We weren't expecting much when we arrived, but the Detroit Symphony has been doing some interesting things. They put on a summer festival called 8 Days in June that was really cool, and a contemporary music ensemble just got started this past summer: New Music Detroit. Then there's the Detroit Institute of the Arts, which has been doing a major remodel and will reopen in November, and two small, funky galleries for contemporary art: MOCAD and CAID. Those are the highlights I've found, and there are other things too. We're pretty happy here so far. Only thing I don't like is that we live further out in the suburbs than I would prefer -- we're thinking of moving closer in. Many people will tell you that Detroit is still on fire from the riots in the 60's, but they don't know what they're talking about.

Which program(s) is DH applying to?

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

It is good to hear there are some positive things in the arts going on in Detroit. That could really win me over. I should look on line some more before January or February, when rank order list is due.

My ex-stepdad was from there, so we visited there and he was a big tigers fan and had also worked at mo-town records while college aged. His family moved out to Bloomfield Hills when he was in high school. He still goes back there and has told me there are some nice things about it and it's not as bad as people say. He said we'd like Rochester Hills where there is a school I'd like for my kids (Oakland Steiner School). Is that near you? What area closer to the city do you like?

My dh is applying to St. Johns (has an interview offer for November), Wayne State/Detroit, Waine State/Grace and Henry Ford.

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Virgomusic:
I just thought of a question since you are a professional musician........
Are you a fan of Verdi's Requiem? The classical radio station in Chicago recently played it (with Pavarotti - to honor of him after his death) and I was in tears driving along listening to it. The power was overwhelming. I am looking into purchasing a recording of it. I am thinking of the Robert Shaw/Atlanta Symphony recording based on some reviews I read of various versions.
My grandmother was a singer and thought it was the most perfect piece of music ever written. I now have her copy of the score with the soprano part highlighted and little notes she wrote in the margins. I wish I knew when and where she sang it!
Hey, she must be really on my mind tonight because I'm baking "palm leaf buns" from the Joy of Cooking she gave me as a wedding shower gift! They are for my sons class snack tomorrow afternoon. yum!

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

monadatter -- Yes, I love Verdi's Requiem! In fact, the Detroit Symphony is performing it next month! DH is a big fan of it, too -- he sang in a chorus that performed it back in college.

You know, DH and I don't have kids (my stepson is 20 and still lives in CA), so I am clueless about the schools around here. Rochester Hills is about 5 miles north of here -- we happened to drive through there a few days ago and it looks pretty nice. It was nice to see some hills, actually -- it's very flat here.

Being childless and carefree for the moment, we're interested in living in a condo right near the medical center, close to Symphony Hall and restaurants and art museums, etc., etc., but where the public schools are probably pretty scary. Alternatively, we'd move to Ferndale, which is just north of the city limit, and is known as the gay/artsy enclave (I'd feel right at home as I lived in San Diego's equivalent to that). Before I moved here, someone who'd grown up in the area said that Ferndale was dangerous, but I've since learned that her info was several years out of date.

Another area I want to look into is Hamtramck, which is a city-within-a-city a couple of miles from the Med Center. It's sometimes referred to as the Hoodski -- historically, it's been home to Polish immigrants. Someone I know who plays in the Symphony owns a house there. Rents there, according to Craigslist, are absurdly low, leading me to wonder what's wrong with it. I need to go check it out myself, but for me it's something to consider.

If you have 2 cars it doesn't matter as much, but right now we only have one, so the longer commute is a strain. We'll probably have to get a 2nd car soon; I'm resisting because of my lingering grad student/penny-pinching/tree-hugging mentality.

DH interviewed at WSU/Detroit, WSU/Grace and Henry Ford, but not at St. John's. His impression, though, is that the residents at Ford and St. John's are the more competitive types, possibly more academically-oriented, and the WSU folks are a bit more down-to-earth. But I'm sure it varies by individual.

Where are you currently?

Re: Resident spouse: THANK GOD I FOUND YOU!!!

Are you going to hear the Detroit Symphony play Verdi's Requiem? It would be amazing to hear it live! I will put that down on my list of wishes... to hear that someday!

Dh is setting up his interview at St. John's for early November. I wonder if he should contact any of the other programs in Detroit to tell them he will be there? It would be nice to combine so he only has to travel there once.

Ferndale sounds like somewhere I'd want to look into - in addition to Rochester Hills.

I remember being in Detroit as a kid and my ex-step-dad's Mother grew up in that little Polish city you mentioned within Detroit, we drove through there. But my ex-step grew up on the block where all his dad's family lived - and they were Romanian and all his aunts and uncles lived up and down the same block. I don't know how extensive the Romanian community was. I think it was near the Tiger's stadium and the freeway eventually went through their block.

Currently, we're in a suburb of Chicago. We love the city and would move there for any of the residencies here. But they all would mean long commutes - either dh or me and the kids. The Waldorf school in the city is in Rogers Park. It is wonderful but FULL, and I need to apply there this fall for next year to see if our kids could even get in.

m