Commuting to work

[Abruptio]

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My wife is/will be working in Bethesda Md and thus i'm left trying to find a residency close enough to make "life" work. I understand that there will be many a call nights that I won't be able to make it home, but is there a consensus as to how far is too far to commute to work. Obviously, DC or Baltimore would be the best bets, but would places such as Philly or Richmond, which are 2hrs away (live halfway= 1hr commute) even be possible considering the nature of residency schedules? Thanks

 

[RichL025]

Uh, have you ever lived in that area? Richmond is 2 hrs away from Bethesda only with a tailwind and if you're making the drive at 2:30 am. Otherwise it takes you a solid hour just to get from Quantico to the beltway!!!

Hey, if you're a confirmed road warrior, that's OK, but if I see the inside of my car for more than an hour and a half per day, I just can't help thinking about all the wasted time....

GWU & Georgetown both have a wide variety of residency programs, an they're in DC. With Baltimore you might be OK - there's a humungous suburbia that has sprung up on the interstate between DC and Baltimore, and you should be able to find a place about halfway that would keep both your commutes at an hour or so. Baltimore obviously has Johns Hopkins & UM for residencies...

Good luck, I'm happy to be from the Bethesda area instead of going there...

 

[RichL025]

Also - I forgot to add - many people who work in DC commute from Frederick - it's a straight shot down I-270 for her, with commuter trains available also. There's I-70 that heads right from Frederick to Baltimore. I'm not sure, but that might be an hour for both trips. Count on a bit more for the trip home, though (nature of DC traffic).

If you need the white picket fence suburbia house, Frederick might be a good option, otherwise check out the I-75 corridor between Baltimore & DC.... or match at GWU 🙂

 

[Abruptio]

hey, ya..no clue on the driving situation. I'm from the midwest and my wife is in my class doing the navy program. I won't go through the match for a year, but she's pretty well locked into bethesda and so I'm trying to exhaust my options as to what programs will allow us to have a semblance of a family life together. I knew this situation would come up when we got married, but i'd hate to do the whole, live apart and see eachother on the weekends thing for the next 3 yrs or so.

 

[DrQuinn]

hey boss-
originally from the DC area and signed a contract with teh new Georgetown EM Residency Program. You could have her work in Bethesda... and you could probably attend only the GW/GT, and Hopkins/Univ of MD residencies. If you went to Hopkins/UMD, you could live in Rockville or even Frederick and commute (and her commute wouldnt' be so bad). The GW/GT programs would be even easier, you could live in Montgomery or PG county and both of your commutes woulnd't be so bad. If you decide to go to GW or GT, then you should try to live inside the beltway.
Q

 

[Homunculus]

hey, ya..no clue on the driving situation. I'm from the midwest and my wife is in my class doing the navy program. I won't go through the match for a year, but she's pretty well locked into bethesda and so I'm trying to exhaust my options as to what programs will allow us to have a semblance of a family life together. I knew this situation would come up when we got married, but i'd hate to do the whole, live apart and see eachother on the weekends thing for the next 3 yrs or so.

i'm at said Bethesda navy hospital now and again (we have a joint peds residency there and at Walter Reed). I also moved there from the midwest. man was i in for a surprise, lol.

back in the midwest we rented a 3BR 2BA single family home with a 2 car garage and a nice yard for like $800 a month. here a condo anywhere near the district is 2K+. townhomes in the 'burbs start at the mid 200's. but that's a different post. i'll stick to your queston.

Quinn's advice is on the money. i live in the corridor between DC/Baltimore and the commute isn't that bad, and the real estate prices were more reasonable. it takes me about 45 minutes to get to bethesda in the mornings, and about the same on the way home (sometimes longer) during rush hours. i've never seen 5 lanes of highway stopped on a regular basis until moving here. i would say anthing in baltimore would be fair game and you could split the difference, or as Quinn mentioned inside the beltway for GT/GW. unfortunately the $$$ for housing increases exponentially hte close you get the district, so there really is a balance of commute time and what you buy. chances are your wife will be getting a housing allowance of roughly $2K, which makes a nice monthly mortgage payment (or rent, though i'd recommend buying as the real estate appreciates like mad out here) and as long as you aren't used the extravagant life you'll be fine. we have some residents in our program who have spouses at Hopkins and they live in teh same area I do (Laurel/Columbia) and it seems to work out pretty good. on inpatient rotations you'll be missing the AM rush anyway, so those times you won't notice if you live a ways out. knowing what i know now i'd try to find something in the columbia area. lukcily for us schools weren't an issue but if you have kids you'll be forced basically live in montgomery county (rockville/gaithersburg) or private schools. PG county has lackluster schools to say the least.

good luck 🙂

--your friendly neighborhood country mouse in the city caveman

 

[Abruptio]

That's some really great info...the really wonderful thing is, is that i'm having to bank on getting into one of four (JH, MD, GT, GW) programs that are all very competitive in order to make things work. That's not daunting at all! 🙂 Any advice on how to significantly increase my chances...outside of the whole, do well in school/boards type deal? Speaking of which, I should probably go study. peace=)

 

[colforbinMD]

York would be doable. Not ideal obviously but doable. Good luck.

 

[corpsmanUP]

York would be doable. Not ideal obviously but doable. Good luck.

Well now that we are moving into the "not ideal" category, then you may as well consider Penn State Hershey and look at the midpoint on the map between Bethesda and Harrisburg. I think you would be looking at a solid hour commute each though.

And forget the whole Richmond gig. I used to be stationed in Quantico and my wife was stationed in Bethesda. We lived in Annandale, Va off the beltway and it took each of us about 45 minutes door to door. And I was going against traffic going south. You would have the same benefit going to Richmond but add an additional hour at least for a nice 2 hour commute each way. Just start kissing up to Quinn and do a month elective there with him. You may need to detail his car and rub his feet each morning as well since you are gambling with only 4 programs

 

[Abruptio]

Nice, i'm a DO student, so i've got some mad foot rubdown skills. Pop in the karate kid and i've got the car wash down too😉

 

[DrQuinn]

Nice, i'm a DO student, so i've got some mad foot rubdown skills. Pop in the karate kid and i've got the car wash down too😉

I sure could use a "Buck's Fascia Myofascial Release"

Q

 

[corpsmanUP]

I sure could use a "Buck's Fascia Myofascial Release"

Q

I'd like to see him give you the old Hiss Whip!! Remember that one Quinn? 😀