Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Rank List

I'm sure lots of you can guess what happens in 15 days.  Any guesses?  Anyone?  

Rank lists are due.

I knew this wasn't going to be easy.  But I didn't anticipate how hard it would be either.  How do you decide when you're torn between two places?

Maybe you guys can help.  Will you listen to our dilemma?  I would really appreciate it if you did.  

Soooo...  Our first choice was easy.  A no-brainer actually.  But two and three, we keep debating on.  We go back and forth every day.  Maybe we should rank program X as two and program Y as three.  And by the way, four through eleven, we know.  It's two and three we can't decide.  This is where you come in.  

Let me tell you about program X.  Mav fell in love with it.  He loved the program.  The people are really cool.  The hospital is practically brand new.  It's not a real huge city.  Low crime rate.  Cheap price of living.  The weather is comparable to St Louis: hot, humid with more snow in the winter.  But it's further east.  Basically, it's an amazing, awesome, incredible program.  But it's further east.  

Now, program Y.  Not nearly as amazing as program X; still good though.  Mav feels like he would still get good training.  Now, this program is closer to home.  As a matter of fact, it's a day's drive.  We would have non-stop visitors.  We could go camping and snowboarding.  I could have my horses and dog.  The weather is warm.  It's cheap price of living.  Did I mention I could have my horses and dog?

Oh.  And I should mention, one of these two programs has a few DO's in each class and the director of the residency is a DO.  Does this matter?  Will it matter later on when Mav is trying to get a real job?  

See how we're struggling on this one.  Do we go with the program Mav loved or go with everything we love?  We are seriously torn.  

Here's my other question.  Does this even matter?  Really.  It's our two and three spot.  They're both high on our list.  Do we just flip a coin and say whatever?  And who knows exactly how the match really works?  What would you do?  How did you handle this?  Were you torn?  

And why, if everything is left up to a computer, do we have to wait until March 15th for match day?  Really?  It's electronic!  It should be faster than a month's wait to know where we're going.  Just saying.

2 comments:

  1. When my husband and I made his rank list, I would have told you to rank the location you liked better. But now, being a 5th year resident, I would definitely say to rank the better program higher! That is what will determine his future job prospects. And it sounds like the city it is in isn't terrible either. Location is temporary! I don't have any advice as to the DO question though...Good Luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. DH went to MS in STL... I loved the zoo and Grant's Farm, otherwise I hated it there. :-) I would rank the "best" program where he will have good connections, receive good teaching and training ( especially OR time if that if that applies), AND be happy. If you can help it, residency is a long time to be miserable. I would try to ensure that he will get along with the residents and staff. During residency DH worked long, long hours but he got on great with the residents and his staff. I can't recall him ever complaining once about long hours or long cases during the entire 5 years of residency. He was tired after being on call and operating for an entire weekend, but he never complained about the work. Best of luck with the match. If you don't get your top choice, try to make the most of it. Life is happening now, don't wait for training to end to live. Take care.

    ReplyDelete