Going once, Going twice....Sold?

Well, we officially put our house on the market last Monday. It is a pretty cruddy time to be selling, but even if by some freak chance we stay here, we need a larger house. Our kids are getting bigger and we could use some extra space. Well, in this market, it is taking forever to sell homes, so we wanted to get it listed sooner rather than later. It went up on Monday, we had 2 realtors bring clients through last week, and got an offer yesterday. Granted, it was about 10% below what we were asking, but it was a start. We countered and they would like to walk through again tomorrow. Wouldn’t that be crazy if we sold quickly?

If we do sell quickly, we are planning on moving in with the in-laws…again.

Match is 3/20 and the following week is Audrey’s and the kids’ spring break, so we will be traveling to wherever I match for residency to look for a new home. Then, I have 9 ER shifts in April to do back here in Phoenix and 1 exam left before graduation. I might therefore move our stuff and do any maintenance/customizations to our new home during that time. It is all just flying by and seems like there won’t be enough time to get everything done.

Our Little Family

We took a recent trip to Sedona, AZ for New Year's and had a wonderful time. After the trip, we continued up to Utah to interview at the Family Medicine program in Provo. This was a picture taken by Audrey's sister during a family hike at a state park in Sedona.

Match results

Well, the osteopathic residency match happened on 2/11.  They were not the results that I was hoping to see.  I did not get an orthopedic surgery match.  I still have 1 orthopedic program ranked in the allopathic match scheduled for 3/20.  However, I feel that one to be a long shot.  I also have a family medicine program ranked in the allopathic match.  It is in Provo, UT.  When I interviewed there, I was very impressed with it.  In many ways, I prefer it to the orthopedic surgery position I am also ranking.

 

Let me briefly explain the match and ranking.  Medical students need to do a residency.  Hospitals need residents.  Students apply to residencies in fields of interest.  The hospitals interview candidates that they feel are qualified and are potential residents.  The students determine which programs are preferable and rank them 1, 2, 3, etc.  Those rankings go into a computer.  The hospitals then rank their preferred applicants 1, 2, 3, etc.  A mouse is enticed with a big piece of cheese and it runs in a big wheel.  That wheel powers a giant computer that tries to match students with programs based on their rankings.  It weights the students preference over the hospitals assuming that the hospital finds the particular student acceptable.  It is a complicated and expensive process, but a necessary evil.

 

Unfortunately, in the competitive fields i.e. orthopedic surgery, there are many more applicants than there are spots.  The 2 places that I was most interested in had 3 and 2 spots respectively.  The first ranked me 8^th and the second ranked me 3^rd.  both had over 150 applicants and interviewed 12.  Either ranking could have been fine if enough individuals ranked above me had preferred other programs.  But that was apparently not the case.

 

As it stands, I am still waiting to find out what field of medicine I will be practicing and where I will be training.  We should know everything on 3/20.  We hate waiting!

 

As a side note, our house will be going up for sale tomorrow.  We hope that we can get it sold in this market.  We are pricing it aggressively, so we are optimistic.  We’ll see how far optimism gets us.

Long time no see...

So, it’s been about 18 months since I’ve written anything.  What can you do?  We’ve been busy.  Without taking a year to go over all of the details, I’ve been busy rotating in Orthopedic Surgery trying to get a residency spot.  I spent 3 ½ months in the Midwest at 3 different programs.  As a result, I got 4 interviews for positions.  I have already been to 2 of them and had to turn 1 down because it was at the same time as another interview.  I cannot express how utterly gut wrenching it is to be trying to get into Orthopedics.  There were 130 applicants for 3 spots at the first place that I interviewed. They interviewed 15.   I did not get a guaranteed spot, but am ranked high enough that if things work out just right, I could still get a spot there.  The second place that I interviewed has 2 spots and 120 applicants.  Can you see where this is going?  They interviewed 12.  I am waiting to hear where I ranked with that program.  There are a bunch of legal issues with programs directly telling applicants where they are ranking them, so I cannot really give many details.  Sometime, I’ll have to describe the match process for getting into a residency, but not now.  I have 1 more interview in 2 weeks, but am hoping that I will hear favorably from the program from last week.  If I do, I will not have to travel again.

 

Right now, I am back in Phoenix rotating in Internal Medicine.  It is alright, but not my favorite.  To each his own.  I am sure glad that there are people that enjoy doing that work.  It is very important, but not my cup of tea.

Tadaima....

That’s what you say in Japan when you return home from being gone somewhere.  It is typically followed by someone at home saying, “Okaerinasai”.  That means literally that, “You must enter”, but in effect simply means welcome home.  It’s been a while (OK, a year and change) since I posted anything.  Frankly, I was surprised that my blog was still active.  Seeing as it is, I guess I should use it again.

 

Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say that the past year of school was long, hard, confusing, trying, exhausting, depressing, and fattening.  However, in retrospect, it has flown by.  Last week I finished finals and now have about 3 weeks to complete preparing for my first board exams.

 

Being a DO student, I have the option of attending either an allopathic or osteopathic residency.  I am intent on becoming an orthopedic surgeon.  However, currently there are no orthopedic residencies in Phoenix.  Good Samaritan is planning on opening one, but it is not running yet.  There are two different board examinations available.  The USMLE, is required for MD physicians and the COMLEX examination is required for DOs.  However, DO students wishing to compete for an allopathic (MD) residency also need to take the USMLE.  Long story short, I am taking both so that I can apply to whichever programs I choose.  First, I take the USMLE and then one week later, I take COMLEX.  I have a long way to go before I will be ready for the exams, but much like the Grim Reaper and April 15^th, regardless of what I do, the exams will come.  I guess that I should use my time wisely.  Therein lies the challenge.  It’s like trying to review and relearn the equivalent of a 4 year degree (we have accumulated 136 credit hours in 2 years) in 3 weeks.  Granted, I have been reviewing over the past 2 months also, but now it’s crunch time.  I just keep telling myself, thousands have done it before me and passed.  I will, too. 

 

 

Hopefully……..