Robin....... ( 1

[houseelf]

Robin,



I'm not even sure that my dh wrote thank you letters. Seriously, the prospective candidate's credentials and interview should speak for themselves. No amount of kissy-face stuff will jockey around the positions. Besides, if the program knows that they have students ranking them high, that doesn't necessarily motivate the program to rank those students high. In my outsider's analysis, it would seem that they would put their best candidates first and then rely on the fact that they have a long list of willing candidates who ranked the program high to fall back on. (And yes, I think that these programs ARE that self-serving.)



We took a couple out to dinner last Saturday while they were in town on a second look and while the U. paid for dinner, my hubby said that so far the program hasn't asked him about any further impressions about this candidate.



Hopefully, some of this will allay your fears.



You are in my thoughts!



Kelly

Thanks Claudia. It is stressful and I need to just calm down and take things one step at a time. My hubby has an easy rotation right now and has been working on little things on the house here and there. Painting the playhouse today, going through boxes of junk and getting rid of stuff. It has been nice for me too because I have been so busy with other things that part of my stress has been about all the stuff there is to do to get our house ready to sell. I am glad he has been around more. Though, he has already told me that he is coming home on the day of the match because he doesn't want to take the chance that I will find out the results before he does! I can barely stand not opening a letter from a program. He got one the other day and I had opened it in seconds and then spent the night apologizing. I can't stand it and he knows it. We laugh about it but I know he will take the day off and hang out at home waiting for the results!



Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. It means a lot!



Robin

[DCJenn]

I was just remembering-



My husband was talking about the input they had in the incoming interns. Apparently they are all asked about their impressions of the med students, what they liked, what they didn't- areas of strength or weakness, and even personality - how well they dealt with stress or chaos.



I thought that was interesting. The superiors really did listen to what they (the interns and residents) had to say.



Just a little more information.



Jenn

Thanks Kelly and Jenn. I am hoping that the thank you cards are plenty are enough. I am glad that we didn't spend a lot of money going for second looks. We didn't think it would make a huge difference and with us not having a lot of money it really was out of the question. Kelly, that makes me feel a lot better.



Russ had dinner with all of the programs the night before but it was never referred to as a "dinner interview" until Russ scheduled his interview with San Antonio. They called it an interview so Russ got the feeling that the residents did have an input on the decision. It worked out well because there were only two of them that were able to make it so they had a really good talk with the residents. Russ thought it went well so that is a plus. We are turning in our rank order list tomorrow. Then I am going to try not to think about it for a month!



Robin

Robin, I saw that your husband's top five picks for match included UTSW. My husband went to school there and went ahead and interviewed there for residency (he thought, what the heck, why not check out the rad program there as well). From our experiences there the residents at that place in practically every program are really, really overworked. Even a seemingly benign program like radiology had miserable residents! UTSW is a good name to have on your resume, but I just thought I'd warn you of the working environment your husband might encounter at that institution. Parkland is a great learning environment for medical students but it is pretty bitter for the docs who work there!



Jennifer

I didn't realize he's applying for a surgery residency. I just spoke to a good friend this weekend whose husband is inthe surgery program at UTSW. It's pretty bad apparently. Two surgery residents in their first year just quit because it was so bad. Apparently this "jumping ship" phenomenon happens to some extent at that place because of the h**l the surgery residents in particular are subject to. Sorry to be the annoying doomsday person, but I'd be glad if I were you that he ranked UTSW last for surgery.



Jennifer

Thanks Jennifer for the warning. We have heard that the residents worked more hours but I didn't know that they were miserable. I guess 70 hours a week still sounded "okay" since he had been considering surgery at 100 hours a week! The residents played up the fact that they got a lot of experience but they didn't seem bitter to my husband and he asked some of them outright if the work was too much. Hmmmm...



We are ranking them #5 but that is because my hubby only interviewed at five programs! It is his last choice (a change from my list above) but he thought it was still better than taking the chance of not matching. We will just have to cross our fingers and hope for the best. Thanks for the insight.



Robin

Thanks Jennifer for the concern but Russ is actually doing anesthesia. He was going to go into surgery but decided against it in September because of the long hours at any program. He is doing anesthesia now and still very happy about his decision. (crossing my fingers!)



We actually received a very nice handwritten card by one of the interviewers at UTSW yesterday hoping that Russ will rank them highly. It was nice but the letter from Iowa also received yesterday was even better, being that we are ranking them at the top. It was very encouraging and not one of those generic letters that get sent out.



Talking to my hubby about your comments, he said that he did get the impression from the residents that they were overworked. (He didn't share that with me!!!) He rarely saw them because they didn't have time to visit at all. He did ask a few about being overworked but they looked at the positive side of it ... i.e. how much experience they were getting etc.



We will hope that our top choices pan out. Whew... I wish we knew. All our nonmedical friends and family keep asking us if we know yet. Even after explaining the match and when it is, they still call to see if we know where we are going. It is kind of funny!



Robin

[Amiens]

I haven't posted in a while- Emma keeps me very busy these days.

I am glad to see that you guys are hanging in there- just think only another week and you will know where you are going!



What did Russ decide to do for his intern year? Transition, Surgery or IM? What were his supplemental lists like?



Sorry for all of the questions!



Good luck!



Crystal

http://www.geocities.com/mattfowler_md

Crystal,



We haven't heard from you in awhile...I wondered what had happened!



I LOVE your website and all of the updates on Emma....and the sewing updates...I'd love to start making matching mommy/daughter dresses for myself and my 5 yr. old...



It sounds like you all are really looking forward to going to Washington. What program is Matt doing that requires him to relocate after internship year? Yuck!



Kris
Time is a Dressmaker, Specializing in Alterations!

[Amiens]

Matt is doing Anesthesia. Anesthesia requires that you do an intern year in transition, surgery, or IM, and most programs don't include that in the training, so when submitting your match list you have to do a supplemental list. Matt decided that if he matched at Univ of WA then he wanted to stay in CO to lessen the moving.



I can't believe that I have (and Matt, too) survived the intern year. I am looking forward to next year- every other weekend off, and post-call days Matt will be home at 7 am. Matt is looking forward to it, too. He loves spending time with Emma.



Thank you about the website! I made it so that when we move to Seattle, everyone can stay updated on Emma and the two of us.



About the mother-daughter outfits- I am not sure they make them in one pattern anymore. I think Simplicity used to put out Laura Ashley designs (and they are big on mom-daughter stuff), but I don't think they do it anymore. One suggestion- you could find a similar pattern in both, and make it out of the same material. That is what my mother use to do.



Emma has been keeping me busy, but I am learning how to take time for myself. She is finally getting quicker at nursing! She has her 2 mos appt tomorrow. Oh joy!



Crystal

Crystal - I am glad that everything is going well for your family. I bet Emma keeps you really busy. Are you getting much sleep yet? How are your plans for moving to Washington going?



I can't believe we only have one more week. I must admit to being more nervous now than excited as the day comes closer. Who knows where we will end up. Russ has both IM and transitional programs on his supplemental list for the internship year. He would prefer to have had more transitional year choices but most of his interviews in Phoenix were for IM. If Russ gets a three year anesthesia program, he is hoping to stay in Phoenix for the internship year so that we don't have to move twice. We were really surprised at which programs became our top choices. All of our family is hoping for Oregon which would have been ideal considering how close to family we would be, how I would love to end up in southern Oregon eventually etc. BUT... Russ didn't feel good about the program. The interviews went really well but he came away feeling very disappointed. Who would have thought.... match day is definitely going to be interesting.



Congrats on almost being done with the internship year!!! YEAH!!!



Hang in there.



Robin

[Amiens]

Emma has been keeping me really busy! She is a really good baby though. She is sleeping 7 hours at night now (1030 until ~530 or 6), and what a great thing that is.



The plans for Washington are coming along, slowly but surely. We decided last night that because our lease on our apt ends 5/31, then we are going to pack everything up and live with my parents until we leave for Seattle on June 17th. It is going to be here before we know it.



Crystal

http://www.geocities.com/mattfowler_md

Good luck with all of your plans. We did a similar thing when we were coming to medical school and our lease ran out. We moved in Russ' parents home and it worked out well.



I am glad that Emma is sleeping so well! You are VERY blessed! My first three boys woke up every 2 hours for the first six months. I was lucky with the last one though when he was sleeping all night (7 to 8 hours) from about six weeks. It was heaven!



The time does fly. Hope your move is a smooth one!



Robin