Do PD's favor married couple over single!!

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So me and my wife we both in same year ms2, I overheard in hospital yesterday that PD's give preference to married couple if husband and wife apply to same program, is that true?

Originally Posted by jatt12

So me and my wife we both in same year ms2, I overheard in hospital yesterday that PD's give preference to married couple if husband and wife apply to same program, is that true?

Obviously, this is going to depend on the specific PD, but if I were to guess a general trend, I'd think it would be the opposite: Prefer 2 "singles" over a married couple.

Probably not. If you are married, a year or so behind your partner, are a competitive applicant, AND your partner is at the target institution then perhaps you have a better than normal chance simply because the PD is more likely to believe you when you tell them that their program is ranked extremely high on your list.

I think this is probably highly PD dependent. Single people tend to have (or are believed to have) fewer obligations outside of residency. During my obgyn residency (at a top northeast/malignant program), three of the 6 residents in my year got pregnant during the third year. These residents took their shares of calls, but certainly we all had to accommodate the change in the call schedules for them.
Also, I knew a few married residents (granted in different specialties-same hospital) who divorced during their residency.

But, single people can also have complicated lives outside of residency. So, I really don't know if there is an universal "true" answer to your question. I think PDs are just people and we all form our views based on past experiences. So, if a PD was burnt once by a messy divorce might steer away from married couples. Or if PD had a couple who were both superstar residents, then he or she might want to recruit more of the same.

Anyway, I think you really shouldn't spend too much time worrying about this.

Originally Posted by jatt12

So me and my wife we both in same year ms2, I overheard in hospital yesterday that PD's give preference to married couple if husband and wife apply to same program, is that true?

I think you probably misinterpreted what they were saying about the Couple's Match (or you were hearing about it from people who don't know what they're talking about which is equally likely).

There is a way, within the match, to link your list with somebody else (you don't actually have to be a couple). Some programs find this to be a plus, others a minus, most probably don't care. Also, plenty of people (most?) who couple's match do so in different specialties in which case it doesn't matter much what the two PDs think about couple's matching.

I wouldn't lose too much (i.e. any) sleep over it.

Originally Posted by gutonc

I think you probably misinterpreted what they were saying about the Couple's Match (or you were hearing about it from people who don't know what they're talking about which is equally likely).

There is a way, within the match, to link your list with somebody else (you don't actually have to be a couple). Some programs find this to be a plus, others a minus, most probably don't care. Also, plenty of people (most?) who couple's match do so in different specialties in which case it doesn't matter much what the two PDs think about couple's matching.

I wouldn't lose too much (i.e. any) sleep over it.

Thanks

Originally Posted by Sol Rosenberg

Obviously, this is going to depend on the specific PD, but if I were to guess a general trend, I'd think it would be the opposite: Prefer 2 "singles" over a married couple.

I think it would be nice if husband and wife apply to same program at same hospital and get match, i mean he or she is less likely to leave that program in between training. Lol i wanted to ask this question to one of the PD, but was kinda embarrassed.

It will help you get more interviews than if you were applying on your own.

Originally Posted by jatt12

I think it would be nice if husband and wife apply to same program at same hospital and get match, i mean he or she is less likely to leave that program in between training. Lol i wanted to ask this question to one of the PD, but was kinda embarrassed.

Actually the opposite. Now if you have a child, both of you are on leave at the same time. This affects other residents greatly at some programs. Also there is the added risk that a divorce could cause huge strain on the working environment.

Less competitive locations may prefer to take those risks in exchange for 2 quality applicants. I could see other PD's believing that it isn't worth the risk.

Originally Posted by TexasPhysician

Actually the opposite. Now if you have a child, both of you are on leave at the same time. This affects other residents greatly at some programs. Also there is the added risk that a divorce could cause huge strain on the working environment. .

Even taking divorce out of the picture, most marriages have ups and downs and those are pretty highly on display in something as tight as a residency class.

Add to that the fact that you also have two individuals who will likely want vacation at the same time and all the pain that would cause?

Matching partners into one residency class would be bad juju.

Ugh, it's bad enough when two people are dating in the same residency. I can't imagine a married couple being a positive thing.

I couples matched in the same specialty.

It is possible but no easy.

Programs run the gamut from one program in our specialty that refuses to interview couples in the same specialty (it was a not a desirable program anyway) to one program that used it as a tool to try to recruit two better than their average residents (they brought us both in to interview with the PD at the same time and he offered us matching schedules...vacation at the same time every year, same days off etc...very tempting).

That said, being married is probably a little bit of an advantage over dating or engaged, we allowed anyone who assumed that we were married and not just engaged to continue in that assumption.

We ended up matching into different programs in the same city...good result, about 4th on our combined list.

I think if one of you is weaker academically, it could hurt the stronger applicant in the Match. There are programs that seem to prefer married people in general, thinking they are more stable and less likely to be depressed, etc. because they have social support. Certainly many of the residents in my program were already married, and those of us that weren't sometimes felt we were the odd ones out...but I digress.
We had 1 married couple in our IM program, and they were very well liked by the PD and faculty...I think being married helped them both. Some locations (i.e. not NYC and downtown Chicago, etc.) that are cheaper to live in (rent or buy a house, and maybe have better schools) tend to attract more married applicants in general. Less expensive cities and/or areas that are more family friendly will attract more married and engaged people in general...though most are not married to other docs, some will be.
I think a lot of peds and IM programs like married people...I can imagine some harder core surgical programs might not like people to be married, or might not like them to be married to an also-working spouse, but I don't have proof of that.

Too many variables to be able to make a blanket statement.