Seattle Questions

Hey everyone!

I have a few questions:

First, anyone here from Seattle? U of Washington.

My hubby is hoping to get into Pain Management there and we are hearing a lot of things. I thought it might be good to speak with a wife of a pain fellow or anesthesiology resident if one exists and they happen to be on here???

I also wanted to get info on Shoreline if anyone knows anything.

We would be coming from Texas, and I heard that it was decently close and has pretty good schools for our 1st grader.

Any info would be much appreciated!! Thanks!

Hey everyone!

I have a few questions:

First, anyone here from Seattle? U of Washington.

My hubby is hoping to get into Pain Management there and we are hearing a lot of things. I thought it might be good to speak with a wife of a pain fellow or anesthesiology resident if one exists and they happen to be on here???

I also wanted to get info on Shoreline if anyone knows anything.

We would be coming from Texas, and I heard that it was decently close and has pretty good schools for our 1st grader.

Any info would be much appreciated!! Thanks!

For residency? I have friends who are there; he's either doing his fellowship now (peds onc) or research, I'm not really sure. She's an engineer, they just had their second kid and she's on mat leave right now.

[poky]

I also wanted to get info on Shoreline if anyone knows anything.

I grew up there and still have friends who live there; what do you want to know?

thanks!

I would like to know if the school pays for health insurance, or do residents/fellows have to pay monthly for it?

I'd also like to know if $800-900 a month for a 800-900 square foot 2 bedroom/1 bath apartment would be reasonable in Shoreline? How would the area probably be at that price?

Is the commute from Shoreline to U of W about 15-20 minutes as it seems from what I gather online?

Thanks!!!

[poky]

I have no idea about the med school, sorry.

As for apartments in Shoreline, Hm. I have a friend who lives in "Ballinger Commons" - it's on the north side of Shoreline, not far from I-5, nice big complex, and from what I see online it's a little higher than the pricerange you mention, but not *horribly* so. So yeah, I'd say it's possible. The further out from downtown you go, the cheaper it's going to get, in general.

As for commuting, that *totally* depends on what time of day you're driving. Regular commuting hours or before a sporting event downtown? Forget it. At *least* half an hour from Shoreline to UW medical center, and I'd not be surprised if it took 45 minutes (though it probably wouldn't unless there was an accident). Middle of the night/no traffic at all? Yeah, 15-20 minutes. This also depends on how far away from I-5 you are; I grew up a good 10 minute drive from the freeway, so it would take a little longer from there.

thanks!
I would like to know if the school pays for health insurance, or do residents/fellows have to pay monthly for it?

Is the commute from Shoreline to U of W about 15-20 minutes as it seems from what I gather online?

Thanks!!!

I'll ask about the health insurance.

From what little I know of the Seattle area, that sounds like a no-traffic commute time. (Which may be what he'd be experiencing with call schedules.) In morning traffic it looks more like 30 minutes. Google maps has a mode where you can apply traffic from different times of day:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&sour...,0.308647&z=12

Edited to add:
I found this on the GME web site regarding health insurance --

a) Residents & Fellows benefit summary: http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/b...es-fellows.pdf

b) A list of plans to choose from (PPO or managed care): http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/b...e-medical.html

c) Monthly premiums for the various plans: http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/b.../premiums.html

It looks like all of them have at least some employee deduction.

[medpedspouse]

I'd also like to know if $800-900 a month for a 800-900 square foot 2 bedroom/1 bath apartment would be reasonable in Shoreline? How would the area probably be at that price?

I have not lived there but have friends that do - that came from TX. Their biggest surprise was not the higher cost of living but the fact that parking was at a premium. They did not budget for the additional parking costs at their first apt but were at least glad they had a spot unlike some of their friends who had to find parking on the street. Don't know about the Shoreline area but wanted to make sure that if parking was an issue too, that you were well prepared.

[poky]

Shoreline is pretty suburban; I'd be really surprised if parking was at a premium there.

[Flynn]

I think 20 minutes from Shoreline to the U is VERY unlikely. At the wrong time, a 4 mile drive can take 35 minutes.

Traffic and housing costs (or renting) are two of my least favorite things about Seattle. I like pretty much everything else.

thank you all so much! I'm checking out those links now. Nice of you to clarify the drive...30 minutes-45minutes would hopefully be our max.

Parking is a concern I had not thought about (especially coming from a little city in Texas)

Hopefully we will know if we are staying or going to Seattle by the end of the day!!! Thanks so much!!!

You could PM Amiens -- they lived there a few years ago for a similar residency.

[spotty_dog]

Traffic and housing costs (or renting) are two of my least favorite things about Seattle. I like pretty much everything else.

Ditto. The population exploded, putting housing at a premium, but the infrastructure didn't keep up. DH grew up in Seattle but decided long ago he would not live there again. He's currently commuting about 2 hours when he works at the UW. (joz1234, I'm not sure we can contribute anything as he's an EM attending and I'm new to the area and not super familiar with Seattle, but let me know.)

But on the other hand, transit seems to be pretty decent, I have several friends who rely on the bus for a large portion of their intra-city travel and the new light rail is handy too.

I just know that rain and lack of sunlight is kind of a bummer.