How do you spell relief? M-A-T-C-H-E-D!
It is done. The weight has lifted. We can breathe again. C.J. matched to an ER residency.
I was prepared for the worst, but C.J. had hope. He's been following the story of Jeremy Lin obsessively. He was feeling like anything was possible.
I can hardly stomach the details or bare to admit them here. We will remember with wonder and humility and horror what a close call that was.
How C.J. only ranked five programs which means he had a 50 percent chance at best of matching; how he could have had another interview in Michigan in December but he declined because Graham was born; how his grades are good but not stellar, which is what they need to be; how he couldn't get a proper letter of recommendation from Hackensack because they are not a teaching institution which hurt his interview chances; how only about 15 percent of SGU students who applied for an ER residency last year got it; how SGU recommends ranking a back up specialty but C.J. chose to go the way of ER or bust.
There was every reason why he should not have matched and not many reasons why he should. Mature, dependable, smart and experienced just aren't enough, we're talking about some stiff competition here.
So we are beyond ecstatic and grateful. The black cloud of stress and fear has dissipated.
On Friday we find out where we are going. All options are number one, we can live with any of them, but here is the order in which they are ranked:
1. Austin, Texas. That's right, ATX is an option. Can you believe that? It is a complete fluke that C.J. got an interview here. This is the first year Austin has an ER residency program and they weren't even accredited until February so they extended an interview to some candidates that they would never entertain in coming years.
This program is run by UT Southwestern out of Dallas, which is a great school. They do not take foreign med grads and furthermore, any program in Austin gets it's top pick of students because, well, who doesn't want to live in Austin. So really, pigs will fly if C.J. gets a spot here. We are not even thinking about this one as a legitimate option, and I don't dare to dream (o.k., I dream a little).
2. Jackson, Mississippi. This is a strong program. C.J. was on a waiting list and bugged them enough that he got an interview. It is six hours from the Winckler family in Beaumont and not much farther from our friends and family in Central Texas. It is in a warmer climate. There are plenty of country music stations on the radio not to mention those Delta blues. Don't think for a minute that we wouldn't love to go here, I don't care what people say about Mississippi.
3. Lansing, Michigan. I don't care what people say about Michigan either. Nice-sized college town, a fraction of the cost of New Jersey and C.J. really liked the program director here. I only have to do the horrible winter three times, I can make it right? I'm sure I'll get seasonal affective disorder but it's better than the economic affective disorder I have living in the Northeast.
4. Newark, New Jersey. This is the program we expect to get. C.J. did a rotation here so the staff knows him which makes all the difference. He likes the program director here and he likes the current residents. If we can't get Austin, we might as well stay in Jersey. It means no moving, no starting over and per my previous post, it's not that bad. And again, only three more winters. I can do it.
5. Detroit, Michigan. The interview here was the weakest, C.J. doesn't expect to get this one. It would be a big surprise if we ended up in this program. But again, all choices are number one. We'll take it.
With residency will come more challenges - long hours, shift work, loan repayment. It won't be easy. But a big goal will be fulfilled. And that feels so good. Maybe, eventually, we'll even say it was all worth it.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Match week
The culmination of four years of medical school is the third week in March when all students find out at the same time where they will be placed for residency. Residency is like an apprenticeship for doctors - you do the job under supervision of more experienced doctors and get paid a partial salary. Residency lasts three years or more depending on the specialty you choose.
So the next step for us is a residency which would start in July, and we will find out this week which residency and where. Leading up to this moment, C.J. applied for various residency programs and went on interviews and then ranked his top choices in a computer system.
The programs he interviewed with also ranked their top choices. During match week, the computer system uses an algorithm to "match" students with residency programs based on how each party ranked the other. Tomorrow we get an e-mail that says either we matched or we didn't. If we match, we'll find out where on Friday.
Did that make any sense?
The bottom line is, this week is a big deal. We will find out where we will live for the next three to four years, and even more importantly, we will find out what specialty C.J. will work in for the rest of his career.
From the beginning of this journey C.J. wanted to be an emergency room physician. It was the whole point when he left his job as a paramedic to take pre-med classes oh so long ago.
However, ER is a competitive specialty. Most spots are filled by U.S. medical students. Very few foreign med grads get ER spots. So although C.J. applied for an ER residency and has several programs on his rank list, it's not enough to guarantee a spot.
If he does not match with an ER program, he will enter another round formerly known as "the scramble." It has a new name now, but I still call it the scramble because that's what it feels like we'll be doing. It is an appropriately frightening name.
If he does not match tomorrow he will receive a list of programs that still have open spots. He will then rank new choices from what's available and hope he gets picked in the second round.
The programs available in the scramble will most certainly not be ER since almost all those spots will fill due to high demand. Spots left over will be mostly in internal medicine, family medicine and psychiatry. C.J. will have to settle for a specialty that is not his first choice, and it could be anywhere.
But that wouldn't be terrible. At least he would be working as a doctor in just a few months time. He can build a satisfying career with whatever specialty he would get in the second-round match.
The worst case scenario, the unthinkable, would be if he doesn't match in the first or second round and gets nothing at all. This means he would have to apply again next year and go through the interview process all over again for the 2013 match. Isn't that a sobering thought?
It's like torture, waiting for Monday to come.
Foreign medical students do have a benefit over U.S. students, they can sign on to less competitive programs outside of the match and avoid this process. We know several SGU students who have taken this "pre-match" in internal medicine. They know exactly where they will be going in July.
We've made it a little harder on ourselves and are taking our chances on a risky bet. The odds are not in our favor to get the ER placement. All this work is coming down to one week and we could be in for a big shock.
We have spent countless hours talking about how to rank the programs he interviewed at and what the strategy will be if he has to apply for a residency in the second round. And I do mean countless hours. I feel like my head is going to explode from talking and thinking about it so much.
I've been wishing the week would hurry up and get here but now I'm scared to death of the news we're going to get. Is anyone else feeling the stress?
So the next step for us is a residency which would start in July, and we will find out this week which residency and where. Leading up to this moment, C.J. applied for various residency programs and went on interviews and then ranked his top choices in a computer system.
The programs he interviewed with also ranked their top choices. During match week, the computer system uses an algorithm to "match" students with residency programs based on how each party ranked the other. Tomorrow we get an e-mail that says either we matched or we didn't. If we match, we'll find out where on Friday.
Did that make any sense?
The bottom line is, this week is a big deal. We will find out where we will live for the next three to four years, and even more importantly, we will find out what specialty C.J. will work in for the rest of his career.
From the beginning of this journey C.J. wanted to be an emergency room physician. It was the whole point when he left his job as a paramedic to take pre-med classes oh so long ago.
However, ER is a competitive specialty. Most spots are filled by U.S. medical students. Very few foreign med grads get ER spots. So although C.J. applied for an ER residency and has several programs on his rank list, it's not enough to guarantee a spot.
If he does not match with an ER program, he will enter another round formerly known as "the scramble." It has a new name now, but I still call it the scramble because that's what it feels like we'll be doing. It is an appropriately frightening name.
If he does not match tomorrow he will receive a list of programs that still have open spots. He will then rank new choices from what's available and hope he gets picked in the second round.
The programs available in the scramble will most certainly not be ER since almost all those spots will fill due to high demand. Spots left over will be mostly in internal medicine, family medicine and psychiatry. C.J. will have to settle for a specialty that is not his first choice, and it could be anywhere.
But that wouldn't be terrible. At least he would be working as a doctor in just a few months time. He can build a satisfying career with whatever specialty he would get in the second-round match.
The worst case scenario, the unthinkable, would be if he doesn't match in the first or second round and gets nothing at all. This means he would have to apply again next year and go through the interview process all over again for the 2013 match. Isn't that a sobering thought?
It's like torture, waiting for Monday to come.
Foreign medical students do have a benefit over U.S. students, they can sign on to less competitive programs outside of the match and avoid this process. We know several SGU students who have taken this "pre-match" in internal medicine. They know exactly where they will be going in July.
We've made it a little harder on ourselves and are taking our chances on a risky bet. The odds are not in our favor to get the ER placement. All this work is coming down to one week and we could be in for a big shock.
We have spent countless hours talking about how to rank the programs he interviewed at and what the strategy will be if he has to apply for a residency in the second round. And I do mean countless hours. I feel like my head is going to explode from talking and thinking about it so much.
I've been wishing the week would hurry up and get here but now I'm scared to death of the news we're going to get. Is anyone else feeling the stress?
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Roly poly and space case
At our two month check up last week we discovered that little brother isn't so little. He is off the charts, weighing in at 15 lbs and 2 oz. Kids usually double their weight by four months, he's almost done it in two.
For reference, at three months, Liam weighed 12 lbs, 4 oz., which is about average.
Graham, aka Bruiser!
The experts say breast feeding can raise a child's IQ. What they didn't say is that it lowers Mommy's IQ. This week a check was returned to me from the local water department. And I was feeling so smug for paying all the bills on time.
Oops, forgot something
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