Update: Interviews, The Gunner, Holidays and Moving!

Since my last post, I have had interviews 3-6. All of them were very interesting, and I actually really liked them. I have been surprised with my happiness at the places. I was expecting to dislike some, but actually I've been pleased. What is not fun? The traveling. Ugh. I'm so sick of it. I sure have met some interesting people. In the beginning I expected to dislike all the other candidates, but I actually enjoy talking to them! In fact, I often find myself talking to them more than the residents!

I have run into The Gunner again. At Interview #4, we interviewed together. Let's see, she did not wear a suit. She invited herself to some food during the tour in the residents' lounge without being invited. She asked an inappropriate question while at the hospital (you can get away with some of these questions at the dinners the night before). Oh yes, and she seems to think we are going to be colleagues. And frankly, I'm getting a little concerned that we might be. Our top two choices are the same. Yikes.

I have moved! Well actually I'm in the trek across the country right now. My parents, sister and Jake spent this last week in Ohio packing me up (and man oh man what a job that was). I would have been screwed without them . Since my apartment was all packed up, we spent Thanksgiving on a dinner cruise on the Ohio River. It was okay. We all said that we'll probably never eat out again for the holiday. It just doesn't seem like it's Thanksgiving.

My mom, sister and I did get up to go Black Friday shopping. We had to shop in moderation since all of our vehicles were already going to be full. I did get an epic deal of the century on a mattress memory foam topper. I knew that all of them were 60% off. Once we got up to the aisle, the entire aisle was repeatedly marked $25.99, originally $89.99. While I thought that was strange, I grabbed the thickest one I could find and we got in line to check out, where we waited about 50 minutes. We get to the cashier and imagine my surprise when my topper rings up at $147, originally $350. My sister and I told the cashier, and she of course didn't believe me that it was marked at the price, so they were about to send someone up to do a price check. Well, the manager walked by and told the cashier that she had to give us that price. Plus my mom had a 15% off coupon. I got that topper for 94% off. Now I'm sure someone will be all up in arms about getting it for so cheap. Someone screwed up bad, because an entire aisle was marked for the same price.

Currently Jake, my sister, and I are at her house in Kansas. Tomorrow Jake and I are heading to his place in Colorado. My long distance marriage is officially over!!!!!

The Match

I don't believe I've posted exactly how the process works. Starting in the beginning of 4th year, I applied to all the programs I'm interested in. Then I continuously stalk my email waiting for interview invites. From Oct-January, - that's interview season. People spend a lot of time and money on traveling to these interviews (I have 3 next week), and time at home decreases....

On February 23, I have to submit my rank list. Basically, I rank the programs I interviewed at in the order I want to do my residency at. On March 14, I will get an email that says one of two things 1) Congrats you have matched or 2)I'm sorry, you did not match. Then on March 17th at 1pm eastern time, I will find out where I'm going. I think the worst part is finding out if I match.

There is so much more to this process than I had ever imagined!

The Scream

At my last interview, it was different, in that I interviewed with five separate people. I liked this method a lot better. Anyways, heading into my third interview, the coordinator tells me to go into the office. The interviewer is in the corner on the phone, with her back to me. She hangs up, smooths her hair, takes a drink of water, turns around, looks at me and screams at the top of her lungs for a good five seconds. People come running. I am wide eyed and apologetic. She had not heard me come in. Ok, so definitely a memorable start to an interview!
Throughout the interview, I'm having a hard time focusing because all I can think of is her screaming at me, and I have to bite my cheeks to keep from smirking. About halfway through, she asks me a question, I begin to answer, and then she doubles over laughing and says "I'm sorry, I just keep seeing myself screaming at you." At the end, she says "Hmm, maybe I should scream at everyone during their interview to see how they handle themselves. You remained very composed."

Well, that will hands down be my most memorable interview!

A Gunner story

Actually, I'm not too pleased with this one. At my last interview, one of the residents who I loved, says to me "So, your friends with The Gunner?"
Me- "Umm, no, she is not my friend. She is someone who I met this last year, and we seem to be on the same trail."
Resident-"I was wondering, you guys have very different personalities."

So the reason the resident knows The Gunner, is because we both have done audition rotations at this place. I just finished, she's on it right now. So it sounds like she is already effing it up there as well. The reason I'm not pleased, is that I don't want people at this program to think we are friends and that my behavior was anything like hers. I phoned a friend (a previous attending who knows some people) to keep her up to date on my thoughts, and she decided to make a phone call to make sure that no one confuses us. This makes me happy :)

My interview at this place went exceptionally well, I think. Except for the scream, which will be in my next post.

The Interview Trail

Since it's November, I'm currently in the midst of the interview trail. I've only been on one so far, and tonight starts another, but I think I get the idea. Typically, the night before I head to a dinner for mingling with the residents. Before going to my first one, I was looking forward to this part. After the first one, I realize this is the most nerve-wracking part. There are other candidates there, and we're all competing for the attention of the residents! No one wants to be rude, because don't be mistaken, that dinner is very much apart of the interviews. From what I can gather, the residents at the programs I'm interested in, get a pretty big say in who gets in. So it's important to fit in with them. And while it's important to impress them, it's also to determine whether or not I fit in with them. I do not want to work with residents for 4 years, 80 hrs a week, with whom I don't get along. So anyways, these dinners- they're typically at pretty upscale places with alcohol. My rule is no more than two drinks. This is the best time to get a lot of questions answered.

The next day, usually has some part where the program director gives a presentation on the program, we get a tour, and then the real sit down interviews. There are a few ways to do the interviews: at my first one, it was a panel interview, there were 3 attendings and 4 residents. At my next few, there are a bunch of one on one interviews with really important people.

The next few weeks are pretty busy for me with a lot of traveling. It's exciting/tiring/nerve-wracking. Oh and just because I think it's annoying but hilarious, The Gunner (who I have previously blogged about) is running into me all over the interview trail.

If you are wondering about what specific programs I'm interviewing at or am interested in, please email me.