Robin....... ( 1

Did you go through the match this year? Any news? Did your hubby decide on Anesthesiology AND...did you guys check out Geisinger....{insert gasp for air here!} We just got an email from someone else who just went through the match and I couldn't help but wonder what you all had decided....sorry for the 20 questions





Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

Thanks for checking up on us. We are still hanging in here getting through the interview process. The match is at the end of March. Yes, Russ did decide on anesthesiology and has been interviewing but we have no idea where we want to go yet. Russ loved Iowa City and the program seems wonderful. I think that is where he is leaning but he does worry how far away it is from family. We didn't apply to Geisinger because we decided to interview only in the west, as far as Iowa. After being in Michigan for two months, Russ decided it was just a little too far from everyone that we know. So we applied mostly to the western states. He has one more interview to go which is on Thursday in San Antonio. His top choices right now are Iowa City, Oregon Health Science, UT Southwestern in Dallas and Arizona's program. He has heard good things about San Antonio too. So.... we shall see.



The rank order list is due by the 21st of February and then it is the LONG wait. It is driving me nuts not knowing. We will only have three months to try to sell our house and move and get settled before residency starts. Both Oregon and Arizona are three year programs so if we match there, we would be able to do our internship year here. (We hope.) I am just hoping that we will end up in a place that will not only be good for Russ' education but for our family. I can tell you that this has been VERY stressful and my time has been very limited because Russ is gone so much and I am working so many more hours trying to help pay for all these flights etc.



Thanks for asking. We will definitely let you know when we find out. I think I will be a nervous wreck on match day!



Robin

[DCJenn]

Robin-



We're here in San Antonio. It's a great city- the summers are brutal but you just get used to it. (We have the humidity and the heat!)



Rick has a few co-worker's whos spouses are interns at some of the local hopsitals, so let us know and I can find out from the inside scoop!



Jenn

[houseelf]

Oh Robin,



You and your family are in my heart! Good luck with all of this. I wish that there was something that I could do to rig the computer in charge of the Match for you. However, my computing skills are limited, so all that I can offer is my hopes and prayers for you.



Can you tell that I'm reliving part of my experience through you?



Kelly

I loved Iowa City, Robin...I hope that you all end up there...it is just such a neat place! It must be stressful for you though having to add to your already full workload of children and pre-residency/pre-moving stress!



There are a couple of people here from San Antonio that can probably fill you in...and my mom is in the dallas area...I went to my last two years of highschool there....there are a lot of things there for families as well....



All of the places sound good.......Are you all finished with the interviewing?



BTW...what work do you do?



Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

As of yesterday ... THE INTERVIEWS ARE OVER!!!



Yeah... one accomplishment. Now we get to rank the places. Thanks for the input about Iowa City and San Antonio. Russ really liked both programs. I got a phone call from friends that we haven't heard of from ages and they moved to San Antonio a year ago and absolutely love it. Iowa sounds great to me too, not to mention Russ also liked Arizona's program in Tucson. It will be interesting to see how this all works out.



Kelly, I think about your experience with the match all of the time! I could really relate while I was reading your story and I wonder how I will feel on match day. It is a stressful time but I am starting to get a little bit excited (more stressed though!)



I work as a medical transcriptionist at home. It has gotten so busy that I have no time for anything and it is driving me crazy! I have worked almost full time this month but I am at home so it seems longer. All of my spare time is spent typing in between taking care of kids and running them to scouts, soccer, school etc. I am ready for things to slow down.



Anyway... enough complaining! I like hearing about the different places we have applied and envisioning living there. There are pluses to all of them. Jenn, thanks for the warning about the summers. I am not used to humidity but I am used to VERY hot.



We will keep you posted. Thanks for asking.



Robin

YEAH!!!!!! I'm glad that all the interviews are done..now it is just time to shore up the list and wait it out, huh?? I can't wait to hear where you all match...I'm voting for Iowa City, because we loved it so much...but SanAntonio is nice too. Have you guys gone to realtor.com or homefair.com to compare schools, cost of living, etc.? It might help you as you work out your lists....just a thought anyway.



How did you get into doing the transcription work from home? It is great that you do that...I'm sure that it made a HUGE difference in terms of paying for all of the interviews, etc!



Well...good luck with the list...I think we're all eager to hear what will happen!!!



Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

Robin -

Congrats on finishing the interviews! Try to think about other things until March - I know, impossible, isn't it? Everything will work out for the best - it always does. I would like to think that we came to this dreadful city for a reason - what that reason is, I have no earthly idea yet but I'm *trying* to keep an open mind!

Keep those boys out of trouble!

Thanks Claudia. I am sure that you will figure out why you are supposed to be there. You are right. Things do work out the way they are supposed to but it is the not knowing that drives me crazy! I have people asking me if we are moving and where and I have no clue. I keep telling them to wait until the end of March. They seem more impatient than me! Russ and I went out to dinner last night (yes, an actual date!) and talked out all of the programs pluses and minuses etc. We have an initial order but we are going to think about it for awhile. I am sure there are some things that we haven't considered.



Keeping my boys out of trouble is a full time job!!! It's a good thing that I love it (most of the time!)



To answer your question Kris about the medical transcription. It was such a lucky thing for me to fall into. My good friend here, whose husband is a year behind us in med. school is a medical transcriptionist with her own doctors. She was in desperate need of some help to keep up and asked if I knew anyone. I volunteered, though I had never done medical transcription before. I have done A LOT of data entry. Plus with a med student for a husband, I have a built-in resource. When my friend got caught up and didn't have as much work for me she introduced me to a lady she used to work for. I started working for her in October and life has been VERY BUSY ever since. I do like the challenge of it and the money is nice. But, I sure feel like I am missing out a lot with my kids. My two-year old is watching way too many "Buddy videos (those are any Disney movies with animals in it.)



Okay only 54 more days until the match!



Robin

Robin,



It sounds like the job came to you at just the right time...what an AWESOME opportunity to make some money from home!! I'd really like to do something that allows me to be home right now and earn a little but those opportunities (the genuine ones) seem to be hard to come by!



We'll be counting down to the match with you...I hope that you all end up where you want to be!!!! Have you decided how to rank the programs?



Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

[Meenah]

I cannot even imagine the stress of not knowing when or where I would be moving. Good luck.

Luanne

Our top five list looks something like this ...



1. Iowa.

2. San Antonio.

3. Univ. of AZ.

4. UT southwestern - Dallas

5. Portland, Oregon Health Sciences



Iowa and San Antonio could flip positions. That is just where we are at now. They really are pluses to all of the programs and we will actually be happy to go to any of them. My family wants us to live closer but, of course, those were the programs we liked least. I guess we are getting used to being away from family. Only my parents and Russ' parents have come down to Arizona to see us. And, we have absolutely no family here. It has been good for us in a lot of ways and I think it has prepared us for expanding our horizons and moving to another state. We have a tendency to get in our comfort zone and not want to change anything. I guess that is why we get so anxious about this. I lean towards going to San Antonio for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that we have a couple of REALLY good friends and it would be nice to know someone before we go. But... we are hoping to submit the rank order list on Sunday or soon thereafter. Being the church going people that we are, we are going to pray and fast about it and then go from there! Wish us luck!



Thanks for all the support. It is nice to know that many of you went through the same process and survived!



Robin

Thanks Kris! I am glad you think it is exciting! :LOL I am about to pull my hair out! Actually, my emotions run the whole gamut and I am eating way too much because of the stress. I am really struggling to relax about the whole thing.



Anyway... I try to keep a positive approach about it especially with the kids. They are more apprehensive than excited right now. They don't want to leave their friends and they have settled in here so well. It will be hard for my two oldest the most so we try to be really positive about it all. We pulled out their Big Book Atlas (it is 4ft tall) and we had fun looking at the different possibilities and all the pluses of each. At Tyler's school they have a united states map painted in the common area and we would jump from state to state that we could possibly go to. My five year old is more worried that we will leave his toys or something else important behind.



I do have a question regarding all this match stuff if anyone can help. I went over to Student Doctor Network (which I swore I wouldn't do any more because of the stress it causes!) but ... how did you follow-up with the programs that you liked. My hubby sent out a bunch of thank you cards this week telling programs of his interest etc. but on SDN people were doing A LOT more. From phone calls, to second looks to e-mails in addition to cards etc. Some schools even call their students' top ranked programs for them but, of course, our school doesn't do that. I am just wondering how much more work goes into getting a spot AFTER the interviewing. Any suggestions?



We are hanging in here and crossing our fingers. We are going to call my best friend's new brother-in-law who graduated from Iowa in anesthesia and get his take on the program and then we are going to decide and send the darn thing in!!! Wish us luck!



Robin

This is so exciting, Robin...I can't wait to hear where you all match! Are your boys excited too or are they more apprehensive about the move?



Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

Oh, Robin! This is such a stressful time for you! I remember how hard it was to just NOT KNOW ANYTHING for a few weeks! It's maddening! You can't really "continue" on with life b/c you have no idea where you will be in a couple of months!



I don't know about the cards, etc. - I will ask my husband tomorrow. I am trying to remember if he did anything like that and my first instinct is that no, he didn't - but I might be wrong. I do know that at the very most, he just sent a letter or something thanking them for the interview. I don't know much about that and I honestly haven't heard of many people doing that - it sounds a little kiss *&(@ to me. If they like you, they like you, you know? I think a thank you card is plenty. BUT AGAIN, I COULD BE VERY WRONG ABOUT THIS!



Keep hanging in there!!! You all are in my thoughts and prayers!!!