Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween y'all! 

We've been celebrating Halloween all week long.  Last night, it was the barrel racing association's annual costume contest.  I believe Squeaks and my horse looked pretty darn cute.  I made their costumes.  I know, I know.  I'm great. 

And not only did my horse look good, she ran good too.  I finally landed in the pay window.  $42.  It's been a while since I've won money.  But that's the way it goes when you're away from home for almost four years.  With us being home since August (for Mav's away rotations), I've been riding nearly every day.  Riding consistently sure does pay off.  Literally. 

Let the Interview Season Begin

It's really happening.  We are all applied for residency.  And we're already hearing back for interviews. 

Mav has applied to 28 programs.  We have been requested to interview at 12 of them and we're on the waiting list for another.  Not too shabby if I do say so myself.  We've heard back from nearly half of the programs we applied to.  Rumor is from a lot of people in this residency that we'd be lucky to hear from a quarter of them.  I think we're doing good. 

Does anyone else say 'we' when it comes down to this whole medical career thing?  Sometimes I found myself thinking it's really weird that I say 'we.'  I'm not the actual one in medical school you know.  But you know what, I have been with Mav since his second year of undergrad.  This is a 'we' effort for us. 

Back to the residency thing.  I'm super excited.  I'm just curious of y'all.  How many have residencies have you applied to?  Have you heard back from some?  Are you going to travel with your spouse to the interviews?  I wish everyone the best of luck through this year's interviewing season. 

Away Rotations Really Do Take You Away

We've been gone.  We've been gone for a long, long, loooong time now. 

We decided to do two away rotations.  We've heard from a lot of people in Mav's chosen specialty that it's who-you-know in this specialty that will get you noticed, interviews and hopefully, a job.  So two away rotations it was. 

Man.  We've regretted it.  I think with Mav's Step scores and how well he's done in everything, really everything, we probably didn't need to do the two.  One away rotation to the our top pick would have been just fine.  But no.  We decided to heed everyone's advice and do two. 

You guys.  It's sucked!  Well, let me take that back for a second.  The first rotation was great.  Fantastic.  Amazing.  Mav loved it.  He would come home with a skip in his step and would be so excited to tell me about his day.  He loved the first program.  He loved the residents.  He loved the place.  He loved it, to say the least.  And they loved him!

But this second one, it's been something else.  It's the complete opposite from the other away rotation.  Yeah, the residents are nice.  But Mav feels like this place doesn't care about him in the least bit.  They don't seem to care that he's chosen them or even care about the amount of money he's spent to come do a rotation with them.  We're talking nearly a thousand bucks y'all.  He's nearly done with this rotation and no one has presented him with information about the residency or tried to talk it up.  Did I mention the tears that were shed when Squeaks and I dropped him off at the airport?  The second rotation has been aweful.  It's been hard.  It's sucked!

Mav only has nine days left at this horrible place.  Then we'll head back home.  And let me tell you how excited I am for that.  I cannot wait to get back to our normal again.  I cannot wait for Squeaks to get back to a routine!  She hasn't had one since August.  It's taking its toll on me and her. 

And how I wish internet friends, that I could tell you just where Mav is so you too can avoid this horrible place.  But I'm sure you understand that it must all be so discreet until Match Day.