The great match decision

Maybe I'm a control freak but if it impacts where you are going to live it should be YOUR list too...

Word!

[corn poffi]

Oh, don't worry, I definitely gave him my rank list of preferred cities. He's not ranking anywhere that I would hate to live. Obviously, there are some places I like more than others, and I've told him, but I'm not focusing too much on that, since his top four rank exactly like my top four. The end of our lists are a bit different, but I don't expect them to be exactly the same.

I'm just an eternal pessimist, and don't want to focus too much on what I'll be doing, since who really knows where he'll match anyway! I'm definitely not going to follow him blindly and move to a new place without a job or anything. I'm kind of just waiting to see where he matches to make my next plans.

My apologies if it came off like I was going to let him make the decision without giving my opinion! Once you get to know me, you'll see this would never be the case! :rotfl:

[MarissaNicole]

Okay I only skimmed the prior answers but these are the things that WE considered:

1) Reputation of program (not always parallel with the happiness of the residents though- some programs are GREAT for a career, but you might be miserable there)
2) How DH liked the residents/attendings (gut feelings)
3) Location for 3 reasons
a) Proximity to any family or friends
b) Weather
c) Ease to travel in and out of (for us to go home/for people to come visit)

I would suggest you think about what is important to you and try and have some input in your fiance's decision. Ultimately its a crapshoot, but you still want to have some input because while your fiance/husband is living in the hospital, you'll be living in the town. For some, cost of living is key (so they can stay home, or maintain a certain lifestyle), for others they need to be a location where they can have good job opportunities, and other want to be in a location where they can go to grad school. For me I wanted to a)either be close to some family or friends or b) be somewhere warm!

Good luck!

[diggitydot]

Some programs do a TON of heavy recruiting. Their normal standard-operating-procedures could make a potential candidate feel way more warm and fuzzy than intended. DH's program does some insane recruiting, but they do it for everyone. It doesn't have anything to do with how they rank the candidates.

[corn poffi]

Yeah, that was my first thought when I heard what they were telling him/doing for him, that they must do that for everybody, since it's probably not a real popular program. But, my BF has two friends who also interviewed there last year (one in gen surg and one in peds), and neither of them got the same treatment. But, they both matched there, so I keep mentioning that to him...sometimes it's hard getting through that thick head of his!

ALWAYS, ALWAYS make YOUR rank list according to YOUR preferences and not based on the FEELINGS conveyed by programs. If this said program is your #3 then put them #3 and if you're #1 and #2 don't rank you to match, YOU will know instead of always wondering.

If I could stress any one point - THIS would be it. Most definitely.

Yeah, that was my first thought when I heard what they were telling him/doing for him, that they must do that for everybody, since it's probably not a real popular program. But, my BF has two friends who also interviewed there last year (one in gen surg and one in peds), and neither of them got the same treatment. But, they both matched there, so I keep mentioning that to him...sometimes it's hard getting through that thick head of his!

I think sometimes it is hard to get through ANY of the doctors thick heads
Good luck with the whole process!!

My husband's only a 2nd year but he plans to apply to basically only programs in our current city. Since there is only 1 med school in our state, it is usually fairly easy for students to get placements in town. Obviously he'll apply at a few other places in other nearby cities, but we're hoping to stay in town. (He also is currently interested in med peds which isn't too hard to place in).

[poky]

My husband's only a 2nd year but he plans to apply to basically only programs in our current city. Since there is only 1 med school in our state, it is usually fairly easy for students to get placements in town. Obviously he'll apply at a few other places in other nearby cities, but we're hoping to stay in town. (He also is currently interested in med peds which isn't too hard to place in).

I have to ask - you know there are only two accredited peds residency programs in all of Indiana, right? I hope by "nearby cities" you mean places like St. Louis? Don't get me wrong, you probably have a decent chance of staying in town if you want to, but I definitely wouldn't count on it; if there's one thing I've learned here, it's that medical training, and the match in particular is a fickle bitch.

[bokelley]

My husband's only a 2nd year but he plans to apply to basically only programs in our current city. Since there is only 1 med school in our state, it is usually fairly easy for students to get placements in town. Obviously he'll apply at a few other places in other nearby cities, but we're hoping to stay in town. (He also is currently interested in med peds which isn't too hard to place in).

I would be very careful doing that. Even with just one med school in the state, other students from all over the globe will try for those spots. So you will competing with everyone for them. Match knows no state boundaries. It is a open field.

I have to ask - you know there are only two accredited peds residency programs in all of Indiana, right? I hope by "nearby cities" you mean places like St. Louis? Don't get me wrong, you probably have a decent chance of staying in town if you want to, but I definitely wouldn't count on it; if there's one thing I've learned here, it's that medical training, and the match in particular is a fickle bitch.

Most everyone I know who has graduated from IU has applied to programs in Indianapolis and were matched with them. In fact, I don't know anyone who wasn't placed in Indy. (Granted I only know of 6 people but still). I just threw med peds out there, he likes it but he's not certain. He also likes Neonatology (which I'm guessing we would probably have to move for) and Emergency Medicine. He's only a 2nd year so I think it's hard to know at this point. If it's a fairly non competitive program I don't think we'll have an issue staying in town.

He'll most likely apply to places in Michigan as well since we have family up there (although I really don't want to live in the cold arctic again...) and neighboring states.

[Deebs]

If he's going for EM, you'll definitely have to look beyond Indy. It's a really competitive program. I think the current thought in EM is to rank at least 10-12 programs to be fairly certain of a match. Don't take this the wrong way, but get used to being flexible now - it will serve you well in so many upcoming situations!

Me standing above a dead horse with a club..... the match is a crap shoot, do not bank on anything, only rank places that you would not hate to end up in...

[diggitydot]

Wait, isnt Indy only a couple hours from the Michigan border? I think that still qualifies for frozen tundra status.

Wait, isnt Indy only a couple hours from the Michigan border? I think that still qualifies for frozen tundra status.

hahaha, good point. It's about 2 and a half hours from the border. Michigan gets way more snow though because of the lakes. Northern Indiana gets the lake effect snow too but usually we don't down here. Although we have had a TON of snow this year, but then again I think everyone has!