Best Prelim location for couples match?

[Fish123]

Hi everyone,

I need some advice. My fiance and I are both 4yr US med students. I'm going Radiology and she's going Anesthesiology. Both of us matching prelim has become a real concern since the NRMP does not couple match prelim spots. Therefore, we will have to limit our prelims applications to only one city. Any suggestions or experience on what city is best? Also, is applying to only one city the best way to do this?

Thanks,
Fish123

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[ERMudPhud]

I would try to either go somewhere huge like New York where you could apply to tons of programs or pick a city you like and see if there isn't one program there with a low fill rate. If you're not to picky about what you do and where many cities have at least one program unpopular enough that it shouldn't be too hard to match in.

 

[Maxx]

I went through a similar experience last year, so here are a couple of pieces of advice:

- I think the best way do to it would be to pick 2 or 3 medium to large size cities. Then see where you both get the most interviews and interview only in that city.

- I disagree with ERMudPhud's advice to choose a city like new york. There are several potential problems with a city like this. First, New York is actually a fairly popular place to do residency.
There are a lot of people that wen to medical school there ane would like to stay. There are also a lot of people from other parts of the country who think it would be fun to live in NYC for a few years during residency. The other problem with New York or LA is that while there are a lot of programs, they are really spread out. Your spouse could end up on way out on Long Island and you could be in the Bronx. This would be a killer commute for one or both of you, assuming you want to live together during residency. The better choice is to pick a medium to large city that is somewhat less popular than other cities and has a lot of programs in close proximity to each other. There are a lot of cities in the midwest and the south that fit this decription.

- For rads and anesthesia I believe you can both do any kind of prelim you want (transitional, surg or medicine). Transitional years are typically much more competative than prelim med or surg. So you should definately apply to some prelim medicine or surgery in whatever cities you pick. Also, if you choose to do prelim medicine or surgery you will likely have better luck matching in a city that is more popular.

- I would imagine that you are probably interested in trying to do your prelim year in the same city as your residency, so you don't have to move twice. One other advantage to this strategy is that if some program is really interested in you they may help you out in getting interviews at prelim programs in the area.

 

[Fish123]

Thanks for the advice!

Maxx, could you please give me a few examples of the cities that you described? It would give me a good place to start

"The better choice is to pick a medium to large city that is somewhat less popular than other cities and has a lot of programs in close proximity to each other. There are a lot of cities in the midwest and the south that fit this decription. "

Thanks,
Fish123

 

[Anguscrimm]

I did not know that the NRMP didn't do couples match for a Transitional intern year.

I am in a similar situation. My fiance is going to apply for a transitional year, and PM&R as a PGY2 while I am going for Psych, which doesn't require a transitional year.

We were planning to try to couples match for everything in the same city/area.

So how can two people couples match if one requires a transitional year, and one doesn't and they both want to be together for the entire residency?

 

[Maxx]

Some cities I can think of: Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit. Philly isn't too bad either.

I can't confirm that NRMP doesn't do couple match for prelims. My situation was couples match with early match and prelim + rads.

 

[Anguscrimm]

Yes, those are about the same citites we are considering too: Chicago, Phily, Cleveland, and San Antonio down in Texas.

I called the NRMP and apparently, it is not possible to coordinate 3 different positions for a couples match. For example, it is possible for us to couples match for a categorical position (me) and and advanced position (her) but not possible to put the transitional year there too because of the way the system is set up.

So, for us to stay together, the only options are to:

1) rank programs in one city, including the PGY1 year, but have the higher risk of being unmatched.

2) Scramble for a TY or a Prelim Year in the city we match in (if we match) after the Match is over and we find out what city we are gonna be in.

I think we are leaning twds #2, anyone have any experience in scrambling for a TY or a Prelim Year?

Hopefully this will all work out.