General Residency FAQs

[fang]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Because either the FREIDA database isn't updated correctly (you'll see the same information over and over each year), is simply "guessed" at by some clerical type person, is an act meant to conceal the truth (ie, they're lying to make themselves look better) or they don't count educational conferences (mandatory ones) in the hours total.

Bottom line: do not believe any of this kind of data on FREIDA, especially if you've heard otherwise from the residents.

ok, but it does have info about the last survey date for each program, seems to be updated regularly, and is the best web resource I know about to compare different programs. I'm sure each program tries to make itself look as good as possible. I was thinking along the lines of the your last suggestion, that the estimate doesn't include meetings or other mandatory time commitments.

 

[jbod34]

Hey guys,
I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate all you have had to say. I am a 2nd year and am getting married this June. My fiance and I have been dying to have kids but me being the ever practical one wants everything to be perfect (finances, school schedule, etc). I am starting to realize that if I wait till everything is perfect then I'll be waiting till I'm dead. I want to get pregnant in July of my 3rd year. I am doing my 3rd year rotations in a small town in Oregon. The nearest residency is 200 miles away. There is only one in Oregon. If I stay in this small town for my 4th year to be with my child, does it hurt my chances of getting a good residency? Do I have to do rotations in the city that I want to do my residency in? I want to do ER and Trauma.
Any advice you have would be wonderful.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Hey guys,
I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate all you have had to say. I am a 2nd year and am getting married this June. My fiance and I have been dying to have kids but me being the ever practical one wants everything to be perfect (finances, school schedule, etc). I am starting to realize that if I wait till everything is perfect then I'll be waiting till I'm dead. I want to get pregnant in July of my 3rd year. I am doing my 3rd year rotations in a small town in Oregon. The nearest residency is 200 miles away. There is only one in Oregon. If I stay in this small town for my 4th year to be with my child, does it hurt my chances of getting a good residency? Do I have to do rotations in the city that I want to do my residency in? I want to do ER and Trauma.
Any advice you have would be wonderful.

You do NOT have to do rotations in the city or program at which you would like to match. However, if you are contemplating a very competitive field (which ER is not; moderately competitive) you might be well advised to do an audition rotation at a big name or other program you might wish to do residency at. What counts more is your grades, USMLEs and LORs. Keep in mind as you pursue your career, if you are really interested in Trauma, at many Trauma centers the ER residents do not participate in the Trauma - that is the realm of the Surgery residents. Therefore, you might want to find a hospital without surgery residents (although I'm sure most Level 1 Trauma centers will have them).

 

[TommyGunn04]

I'm afraid this may be a dumb post, but after reading a number of threads here and exploring other sites like FREIDA and scutwork.com I still haven't been able to get a good idea about the match process, so here goes...

Basically, I'm wondering how anyone knows where to apply! I'm a 3rd year at Duke, so at this point I've been through my clinical rotations, taken Step 1, and have decided on internal medicine. But how do I know where I might be competitive??? Is there any method to this madness, or do concerns over lifestyle, location, and just plain old luck drive a great deal of the match process? I imagine a lot of it comes down to educated guesswork and research, just like applying to medical schools, but are there any useful resources I should know about? I've seen a First Aid for the Match book, and another one called Iserson's or something like that...are those books worth the price???

I understand the way the rank list works, but I don't understand how I can/should choose where to apply! I'm also wondering how many programs your typical IM applicant ends up applying to.

Thanks for any help you can provide! 🙂

 

[fourthyearmed]

Start by deciding where you would like to live. For me, I knew I didn't want to leave the southeast so that helped narrow things down. Then I decided which states/cities I might like to live in and started investigating programs in those places. For me, location was more important than prestige but most likely wherever you want to go there will be several very good IM programs. Apply to a full range of programs, some very competitive, others that are more like backups. I bought both First Aid for the Match and Iserson's and both were very helpful. The whole process is kind of a learn as you go thing unfortunately but these gave me a lot of help. I'm doing peds which is pretty similar to IM and I applied to 12 programs, was invited to interview at all 12, and did 10 interviews. I'm an average applicant from a not-so-prestigious school. You will probably be surprised at some of the places you get interviews, things are not as competitive as med school was. Also keep an eye on this site, you learn a lot of helpful info. Good luck. Feel free to ask more questions along the way!

 

[carol ann]

Another good way to start getting a list together is to schedule a meeting with one of the people at your school who is involved with the fourth year process and/or the program director. My PD was VERY VERY helpful -- he asked me what was important to me, what my geographical preferences were, and then spat out a list of 12 schools that he thought would be a reasonable list for me...with a broad range of competitiveness. Worked well for me!

 

[medmom]

I am a pre-med and trying to explore all options. I am a mom and I know I want to go to med school but sometimes the 8 years of 80+ hours can be pretty daunting as far as my family goes. So I was looking into part-time/shared residency. I am wondering:
How exactly do they work? 2 people share? One person just does say 3/4 time (which is what I would love to do)?
How does they pay work?
Anyone ever done one?
If I was interested in part-time but not sharing (like 3/4 time) how does that work when you match? Do you have to go for shared or do you ask when you interview?
Any other info would be great.

medmom 👎 👍

 

[Winged Scapula]

I am a pre-med and trying to explore all options. I am a mom and I know I want to go to med school but sometimes the 8 years of 80+ hours can be pretty daunting as far as my family goes. So I was looking into part-time/shared residency. I am wondering:
How exactly do they work? 2 people share? One person just does say 3/4 time (which is what I would love to do)?
How does they pay work?
Anyone ever done one?
If I was interested in part-time but not sharing (like 3/4 time) how does that work when you match? Do you have to go for shared or do you ask when you interview?
Any other info would be great.

medmom 👎 👍

Generally part-time residencies are either done as a shared position between 2 residents (in which each essentially shares the work - ie, half time, half pay) or by extending the residency. The pay works as you would imagine - if you work half time, you are paid half the salary. FREIDA does lists whether or not shared positions are offered; but this database is notoriously inaccurate and you would be well advised to check directly with the programs themselves.

Positions are not typically advertised for part-time or shared; they are generally arranged once you have matched (obviously you would discuss this with the program while interviewing).

Be prepared for a hard go of it; these are not common and typically not well received by programs due to administrative difficulties. The positions are few and far between.

You will need to decide whether or not you are willing to do a typical residency because if you cannot find a part-time one, what will you do? Consider more family friendly residencies where the hours are perhaps less (although all interns do long hours), with more home call and there is a history of offering shared or part time positions. If you are already a mother and not yet in medical school, your child(ren) will be of school age when you start residency and perhaps in less dire need of you being home (presuming there is another parent around) as often.

Check out the Non-traditional forums and MDMom as I'm sure you will find others with similar concerns who may have more information.

 

[bof]

Talk to the PD/Chair at your home institution. He/she will have the best idea of what programs you are competitve for. You probably need to supply the geography and your personal interests. Good luck.

I'm afraid this may be a dumb post, but after reading a number of threads here and exploring other sites like FREIDA and scutwork.com I still haven't been able to get a good idea about the match process, so here goes...

Basically, I'm wondering how anyone knows where to apply! I'm a 3rd year at Duke, so at this point I've been through my clinical rotations, taken Step 1, and have decided on internal medicine. But how do I know where I might be competitive??? Is there any method to this madness, or do concerns over lifestyle, location, and just plain old luck drive a great deal of the match process? I imagine a lot of it comes down to educated guesswork and research, just like applying to medical schools, but are there any useful resources I should know about? I've seen a First Aid for the Match book, and another one called Iserson's or something like that...are those books worth the price???

I understand the way the rank list works, but I don't understand how I can/should choose where to apply! I'm also wondering how many programs your typical IM applicant ends up applying to.

Thanks for any help you can provide! 🙂

 

[Blade28]

Look at Iserson's to see a list of different factors that may or may not be important to you.

For example, I found the following very important:

Geography
Program stability
Faculty interest
Esprit de corps
Health benefits
Volume

 

[medmom]

Thank you, I do already have my children and am not in med school yet. So my kids should be in school then I was hoping to find a way to not be gone like all evening ecery evening if it was reasonably possible. Also, I am married with a very supportive husband. i definately will do a normal residency. I had just heard of part time where one peron did 3/4 time and finished her FP residency in 4 years rather than three. Obviously, beneftis were cut as well. I had never heard of someone doing this before. As a mother this sounds great if you could cut the daily load a bit for the kids sake even if it does take longer. Although I suspected it was pretty uncommon. Anyways, thank for the info.
medmom

 

[carol ann]

Thank you, I do already have my children and am not in med school yet. So my kids should be in school then I was hoping to find a way to not be gone like all evening ecery evening if it was reasonably possible. Also, I am married with a very supportive husband. i definately will do a normal residency. I had just heard of part time where one peron did 3/4 time and finished her FP residency in 4 years rather than three. Obviously, beneftis were cut as well. I had never heard of someone doing this before. As a mother this sounds great if you could cut the daily load a bit for the kids sake even if it does take longer. Although I suspected it was pretty uncommon. Anyways, thank for the info.
medmom

They are pretty uncommon - I haven't done one but I thought about it for a while...I don't know if you are aware of it, but there is a website: www.mommd.com and I am pretty sure that there is either an article on their website or a forum discussion that talks about this. I know most times it works out that when you are doing your inpatient rotations, you end up working full time due to the nature of the work, but those are spread out over a longer period of time.

 

[mamadoc]

I don't know of anyone, even in the most demanding surgical specialties, who's working 80 hours a week for eight straight years. During medical school, you've got two years of most classroom stuff - you can definitely be home in the evening. Third year you'll have some long hours and some rotations where you take call, but you'll also have vacations and rotations that don't require nights or weekends. Fourth year of med school you have a LOT of freedom to arrange a schedule that gives you time off and/or easier rotations. (I took one "course" that met for one hour a day.)

Your first post-graduate year as a resident is the toughest, but even then you'll probably have some months where you're not taking call. Those months you're not likely to work even close to 80 hours a week. And during ward months, where you're taking call, the days you are NOT on call you will be shooed out of the hospital by 5 or 6pm at the latest, so as not to exceed your 80 hours weekly average.

I am currently a family practice intern and a LOT of my months include q4 call. So one night out of four, I am not home for dinner or in the evening. One other night out of the four, I've only gotten home a few hours prior to dinner and am exhausted after being up all night the night before - but I do still try to stay awake for dinner with my family. The other two nghts I am definitely home for dinner. Similarly, there's one weekend a month where I'm off both days, two weekends where I'm off one of the two weekend days, and one weekend a month where I'm there from Saturday morning til Sunday afternoon.

After your intern year, call schedules vary hugely depending on specialty, but for lots of residents they improve. So it doesn't usually get any WORSE than what I've described above, and usually gets better.

I offer these details to put the whole thing in perspective. You may hear this and still want to pursue the part-time residency idea, but you need to know that perhaps residency isn't QUITE as horrendous as you're imagining. I have lots of colleagues balancing it with kids and while it's tough, they're managing.

 

[medmom]

Thanks momadoc, that doesn't sound near as bad as what I was thinking. I was thinking I would never be home for dinner and barely make it in for bedtime except for my like 1 day off a week. So yes that was VERY helpful and helped put it into a much better view. I am thinking I want to do either family practice or OB/GYN, do you know if OB/GYN is the same way?
medmom

 

[TommyGunn04]

Look at Iserson's to see a list of different factors that may or may not be important to you.

For example, I found the following very important:

Geography
Program stability
Faculty interest
Esprit de corps
Health benefits
Volume

Thanks for your responses everyone!

Blade28, what do you mean by "program stability?"

 

[GonnaBeAnMD]

Say I only want to go into a cash business as Restalyne, Botox and other cosmetic procedures. Does that 1 year "general practice" residency still exist? I realize it's better to do 3 years of something and become board certified - but if legality would not be an issue then it will be fine for a cosmetic practice. Is such a thing available?

 

[docB]

I don't think the old stand alone internships exist any more however the difference between that and a transitional year is probably just semantics. You could also (and I'm not recommending this, just thinking out loud) sign on with a residency and bail after 1 year. Remember that the licensure requirements vary state to state. Eg. in CA you can be licensed after 1 post grad year but in NV you can't be licensed until you've completed 3 post grad years.

 

[OSUdoc08]

Say I only want to go into a cash business as Restalyne, Botox and other cosmetic procedures. Does that 1 year "general practice" residency still exist? I realize it's better to do 3 years of something and become board certified - but if legality would not be an issue then it will be fine for a cosmetic practice. Is such a thing available?

You can do a 1 year internship and become a licensed physician in some states, however you will hold no board certification. There will be many limitations as a result of this. It is no longer called "general practice" however. This is because it is no longer appropriate to skip residency.

Don't kid yourself into thinking you can do plastics without board certification or even surgery certification and think you won't get sued daily by the few patients that don't take the time to see you are uncertified and come see you.

 

[tr]

Say I only want to go into a cash business as Restylane, Botox and other cosmetic procedures. Does that 1 year "general practice" residency still exist? I realize it's better to do 3 years of something and become board certified - but if legality would not be an issue then it will be fine for a cosmetic practice. Is such a thing available.

Um, I'm guessing the high-income patients who can afford to pay for these elective procedures are going to be savvy enough to make sure they see a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon.

Just a hunch of mine.

 

[lowbudget]

Ha. You can do one year of internship, get your license, and do the things you're talking about. But just be aware that when medicine moves forward, it may leave you behind because you don't have the skills nor the access to stay current (workshops or whatever offered through specialty societies).

Also be aware that patients will demand high quality health care, and so you may not be able to compete with specialists and other primary care docs for patients unless you serve patients who are underserved.

One story I heard was about a GP who practiced in a small town in Texas for 20 years, was quite established. But when a board-certified FP came to town, his group advertised the fact that the GP was not board-certified and negotiated more favorable contracts with insurance companies, effectively taking market share away from the GP. GP closed down and had to move away because he couldn't compete.

 

[raptor5]

Cash Business is OK no problems with HMOs wanting BE/BC but the sticking point will be malpractice unless your fortunate enough to have a few hundred grand laying around and live in one of the states that allow for self-insurance.

 

[Jalopycat]

I have a friend who is finishing up her intern year and has decided to quit after this year because she already has a job waiting for her to do botox and stuff like that. So yes, you can just do an intern year. It's probably not the best plan, but it's still doable. I know several female residents who are deciding they want to spend more time with their kids so they are opting for these types of jobs which allow them to work less than full time. I can't say I blame them.

 

[tigershark]

Um, I'm guessing the high-income patients who can afford to pay for these elective procedures are going to be savvy enough to make sure they see a board-certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon.

Just a hunch of mine.

Think again.

The majority of people who get cosmetic prodedures are not high-income patients, most of them cant afford it in any realistic sense.

I meet girls all the time <21 with implants they put on credit cards etc.

There's a killing to be made in simple cosmetic procedures like botox etc., and the OP is a savvy person looking to milk the cash cow.

 

[tr]

Think again.
The majority of people who get cosmetic prodedures are not high-income patients, most of them cant afford it in any realistic sense.

I meet girls all the time <21 with implants they put on credit cards etc.

Ugh, are you kidding me? What kind of 'doctor' agrees to sew bags of silicone into the bodies of growing adolescents?

There's a killing to be made in simple cosmetic procedures like botox etc., and the OP is a savvy person looking to milk the cash cow.

Okay, fine. Doubtless you know more about this than I do; but as far as I can tell, the target market for Restylane is mostly these Upper East Side ladies-who-lunch. I agree that breast implants may be attracting a younger, less wealthy crowd, but those involve actual surgery and as such ought to require a surgeon - definitely out of the realm of the GP.

 

[Jalopycat]

I think when tigershark was talking about women under 21 charging their implants, he was making a point that cosmetic procedures aren't neccessarily for the rich. Most girls under 21 have no money (of their own).

I don't think he was trying to say that GP's could perform surgery. That would be malpractice!!

 

[mamadoc]

Thanks momadoc, that doesn't sound near as bad as what I was thinking. I was thinking I would never be home for dinner and barely make it in for bedtime except for my like 1 day off a week. So yes that was VERY helpful and helped put it into a much better view. I am thinking I want to do either family practice or OB/GYN, do you know if OB/GYN is the same way?
medmom

Dunno about other programs, but my impression of the program at my institution is that OB/GYN is pretty demanding and probably asks closer to 80 hrs/wk all four years of residency. I would guess that it is comparable to other surgical residencies (people tend to forget that OB is a surgical specialty). Definitely check with the OB folks for more information on that, as my experience is quite limited.

 

[LADoc00]

What baffles me is why do people think doing an entire residency is somehow a prereq for a job? Do a part-time internship or better yet a completely office based internship, get an unrestricted medical lic. and open a practice.

 

[Museless]

What baffles me is why do people think doing an entire residency is somehow a prereq for a job? Do a part-time internship or better yet a completely office based internship, get an unrestricted medical lic. and open a practice.

While not absolutely required, I think finishing a residency opens way more doors in terms of entering into contracts with managed care organizations, joining other docs in group practices, and gaining practicing privileges at local hospitals. While being a true "GP" is still totally possible in many rural areas, it's harder elsewhere.

Got any FRIEDA numbers for completely office-based internships? I'm dead serious, you know of any, fill me in. 🙂

 

[LADoc00]

While not absolutely required, I think finishing a residency opens way more doors in terms of entering into contracts with managed care organizations, joining other docs in group practices, and gaining practicing privileges at local hospitals. While being a true "GP" is still totally possible in many rural areas, it's harder elsewhere.

Got any FRIEDA numbers for completely office-based internships? I'm dead serious, you know of any, fill me in. 🙂

I actually know a ton of internships where you take zero call and fulfill the requirements for a medical lic. The problem is medicine is filled with so many lemmings that survived undergrad and premed by running with the pack and grinding out the grades, that no one thinks outside the box. And by the way, I am dead serious.

 

[Museless]

I actually know a ton of internships where you take zero call and fulfill the requirements for a medical lic. The problem is medicine is filled with so many lemmings that survived undergrad and premed by running with the pack and grinding out the grades, that no one thinks outside the box. And by the way, I am dead serious.

Frieda numbers/Hospital names?

 

[GonnaBeAnMD]

I don't think doing a GP and going into such procedures is smart because it will go away soon. Or the prices will drop drastically. I hear dentists are trying to inject Botox. I've already seen Opthamologists doing it. I wouldn't take this route because it's not long term - would rather be Board Certified and do these procedures - and then fall back on my specialty when this craze dies out (profitability of it at least). Awesome responses.

 

[CambieMD]

I have a friend who is finishing up her intern year and has decided to quit after this year because she already has a job waiting for her to do botox and stuff like that. So yes, you can just do an intern year. It's probably not the best plan, but it's still doable. I know several female residents who are deciding they want to spend more time with their kids so they are opting for these types of jobs which allow them to work less than full time. I can't say I blame them.

I have heard stories about docs leaving after completing an internship, also.
This is short sighted. Cutting your training short severely limits your options.
A physician who doesn't want to work long hours should complete a residency and then find a part-time job.

CambieMD

 

[icebrat001]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anyone knew if people of alternative lifestyles were able to participate in the couples match.

 

[GopherBrain]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anyone knew if people of alternative lifestyles were able to participate in the couples match.

Anyone can couples match. I could couples match with you if we wanted to. There are no requirements at all, except for mutual interest.

 

[DrDre']

Surprisingly enough (and thankfully), I have heard that anyone can do it. Supposedly even great friends (platonic in the non-plato kind of way) have matched together. That said, it would likely require you telling PDs and such on the interview trail about your partner- either you would have to just state you were best friends who wanted to be at the same institution or same city or would require "disclosure". You can "informly" couples match and just rank the same institutions or cities in order and hope for the best. I would search out people at your school who might be savvy about this, OR someone in administration who would be open to the discussion. Our school would likely be very helpful with this as we are lucky to have cool admin.



Good luck!

 

[mosche]

I've actually done a considerable amount of investigation in regards to domestic partner benefits, and have been surprised to discover that several institutions are actively recruiting lesbian/gay residents -- especially the schools in the Big Ten (I mention that only because my partner and I really want to stay in the midwest, and were pleasantly surprised to find that midwestern schools are quite open/receptive. I'm sure that northeastern and western schools are also). Anyway, two schools have informed us that they have had gay couples match together -- Wisconsin, Madison and Iowa.

Since my partner is not a physician, we have never asked specifically about a "couples match"; however, we have always been made to feel very comfortable when asking questions that are somewhat unnerving. My advice: be open and honest. Most schools will be very glad to answer any questions that you might have. As for those that are "put off" (if there are any), you probably wouldn't want to match there anyway.

Good Luck,
Mosche

 

[madcadaver]

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if anyone knew if people of alternative lifestyles were able to participate in the couples match.

See: http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/special_part/us_seniors/couples.html

Any two people can participate in the couples match. It is not neccesary to tell program directors that you are couples matching if you don't want to, though in many situations it is helpful. Read the above link to the rules on NRMP before listening to any more advice.

Good luck!

 

[Pingu]

I recall that when I was at emory they do couples match plus provide benefits for life partners.

 

[Apollyon]

That said, it would likely require you telling PDs and such on the interview trail about your partner- either you would have to just state you were best friends who wanted to be at the same institution or same city or would require "disclosure".

This is bad advice, except for the friends part. You don't have to give more out than, "I'm applying to the couples match". The programs would, of course, need the name of your partner, but, if you're like most people that follow an 'alternative lifestyle' and are not a stereotype of the lay public's perception, then there's nothing to explain. If they ask the relationship between you and the other person (which they are not allowed to do, but sometimes do anyhow), you can either just say it's your good friend, or, if the vibe is right and you're out, you can say it's your partner. You just don't HAVE to. If someone pressed you, that would be a good sign to cross that one off the list.

 

[icebrat001]

Thanks for the information!

 

[Cardsfan]

Anyone recently matching go through the couples match? How did it work out, were y'all happy with your spots, were there any departments more receptive? Any comments would be appreciated

 

[Pilot Doc]

Anyone recently matching go through the couples match? How did it work out, were y'all happy with your spots, were there any departments more receptive? Any comments would be appreciated

Your question is too broad. Focus your thoughts and repost.

 

[madcadaver]

Anyone recently matching go through the couples match?

Yes.

How did it work out, were y'all happy with your spots, were there any departments more receptive?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

How did it work out, were y'all happy with your spots, were there any departments more receptive?

Agreed.

And before somebody asks a stupid question, please review:
http://www.nrmp.org/res_match/special_part/us_seniors/couples.html
THOROUGHLY. It is not rocket science.

 

[kdoc2005]

I went through the couple's match, and my husband and I got our #1 choice. The key is to be up front when you apply and interview. The PD's in our departments at the places we intereviewed contacted each other, which was a great help. Obviously, if you both are strong applicants there should not be a problem. Problems arise when one or both applicants apply to super competitive specialties OR there is a large discrepancy in the strength of applicants. I had a few friends who tried to "beat the system" by not actually registering as a couple and just trying to match in the same city. It did not work -- they ended up in different cities.

You must also realize that you should interview at more places than a person applying alone. I interviewed at 18 places, which was more than sufficient for my specialty (ob gyn).

I hope that helps!

 

[Cardsfan]

My appolagies for the first post, I never realized how offensive vague questions could be 😉
Anyway, I guess my specific questions are:
Is it necesary to apply to more programs than normally?
How hard is it to match both people into the same department?
Do interviews get sceduled on the same day?
Do people that couple's match have to go lower on their rank list.
What departmens are more receptive?
Anyway, I hope this is "more focused" and would welcome any input.
I've already read about the logistics of the process, just wondering how it actually worked out for real people.
Thanks

 

[hcj13]

me and my girlfriend went through the couples match, we had a great match.
like earlier post said, have to be upfront about it and notify the PD on both sides.

you have to appliy and interview at more programs. don't be afriad to spend extra on the eras. since not both of you are guarenteed to get interviewed at the same city/hospital. you pick your interviews on how the invitations come back.
you could also write the the programs, if one of you got an interview at a program both of you really wanted to go to. sometimes asking your advisor for help on this won't hurt. (have them write/call)
there is the chance that you will fall further down your rank lists because one of the programs doesn't like either one of you. you never know who and it is kind of tough. but if you think the relationship is strong, then it doesn't matter.
you could try to schdule interviews close to each other, different programs interview on different dates. i think they are pretty receptive to you coming at the same time.
appling to the same specialty can be more tricky, but i have had friends matching into the same optho programs, and others in peds, so it can be done. the larger the program, easier it is. the pd wants to make sure the relationship doesn't jepardize the working environment.

our relationship went through a lot of tests during the past year and we are happy it worked out. and it will for you too in the end!

 

[gvmatt]

here is my experience with it.

we interviewed at more than enough programs - 12 i think.
i matched in peds, my husband in fp. so not the hardest programs by any means. we were both very competitive candidates, which made it easier.

we were able to schedule all of our interviews together except one. we actually did one big driving tour for of the interviews except one which we flew to together. we interviewed on the same day or off by one which was a lot better. all of our hotels were paid for. in cities where we were off by a day- the other person got to explore the city and look at housing.
and as far as the scheduling went - we had made up ahead of time a tentative plan for how we would like to do our interviews. we looked at the websites or called to find out what days interviews were offered on. then once we got the offers we just scheduled them as we had planned on and it all worked out. we always called the day we got the offer, which helped so the dates didn't fill up.

during the interview, we always brought up the fact that we were part of a couple's match. afterwards - we followed up with a letter to the pd expressing our interest for both programs. truthfully - i did not send a thank you to every program - only the ones we both liked. we also received follow up from all of the programs which was reassuring. it seemed like an fp trend for pd's to call the candidates which was not a trend at all for ped. but it was nice to hear from the pd's cause they always mentioned what the peds pd had said to them re me.

rank list- we ended up only ranking 4 programs each, then with a combo of one us matching c the other unmatched. so a total of 7 rank slots for each of us. we debated ranking more, but we were pretty certain that we were going to get our first choice. and i know other threads have horror stories of people under the same impression and then having to scramble. but we did get our first choice - mayo - for both of us. so we are quite happy.

there were several other couples in our school. they all matched and all got there top 3 or so choice as well. one couple were both going into peds - and got it at a top 10.

hope this helps and reassures you that it is possible and not that hard - well depending on specialty i guess.

 

[vitaminjb]

My appolagies for the first post, I never realized how offensive vague questions could be 😉
Anyway, I guess my specific questions are:
Is it necesary to apply to more programs than normally?
How hard is it to match both people into the same department?
Do interviews get sceduled on the same day?
Do people that couple's match have to go lower on their rank list.
What departmens are more receptive?
Anyway, I hope this is "more focused" and would welcome any input.
I've already read about the logistics of the process, just wondering how it actually worked out for real people.
Thanks

IT TOTALLY DEPENDS ON SPECIALTY.

I went through a couples match with me doing a non-competitive specialty (int med) at competitive locations, and my partner doing one of the most competitive surgical subspecialties imaginable. We preferred to be at the same institution, but we would take (and got) same city, or even very nearby cities.

If you are in a position like I was, you will have to do MANY more interviews. I did 23 for internal med which would be ridiculous for a single doing int med. We had to apply geographically very broadly since my partner's specialty did not have many programs. In order to line up my programs geographically, I had to plan an interview schedule months in advance by finding out which days people were planning to offer interviews and "saving" the days for them (this was the only way I was able to do the Bay area in two days). My partner's specialty sends out interview offers in late November and December, while I was done hearing from internal med in late November. This meant I went on a few interviews early while we were still waiting for my partner to hear; sometimes this worked, and the internal med pd would call her program and she would get an interview; other times, I ended up taking a [expensive] trip for no reason (e.g. said trip to the Bay area). There was one interview when we were in the same city for one night and shared a hotel room. One!

Internal medicine departments were on the whole very interested in my situation and very willing to offer help or at least sympathy. One of the things I love about the program where I landed was that the pd said that they'd love to have me but it's more important that we couples match in the same city because we wouldn't be happy separately. (And we are absolutely so happy that we won't have to be apart.) The surgical subspecialties didn't really care at all about our couples match either way, it seemed. We did our best to portray me as a non-issue so I wouldn't be seen as a negative.

In making our rank list, I just made absolutely sure there were no programs on the list for me that I wouldn't be happy with. That is the only way to do it. It doesn't make sense to try and cheat the process by ranking as solo applicants because at the bottom of your couples rank list you can list every combination of all your programs in different geographic areas to make sure you match. We also had a lengthy "no match" section to get our back.

So in the end, we matched, but it was not easy. Now, did we go down lower on our list than other people would have? Well, I did. My position was determined in very large part by where my partner landed on her list. Of course, in this crazy process, I ended up ranking fairly low down a program that I loved and would have ranked very very highly as a solo applicant - and I got it. Go figure. Did my partner go lower on her list because of me? We will never know. I made sure that I had backups for the more competitive programs in the same city so hopefully I didn't keep her out of any programs.

It sounds like you are more interested in the couples match for two people doing the same specialty? I know a terrific couple who matched together at a insanely competitive program, and I saw them together at a few interviews. They were able to do many, but not all interviews together. Just spend more up front with your ERAS and don't be afraid to ask about your partner if one of you gets an interview (at least if you're doing int med). It pays to be bold.

Anyway, the bottom line is It Depends. It depends on what specialties, how competitive you are, how competitive your partner is, whether you set any geographic restrictions. In the end, it was all worth it.

 

[peptidoglycan]

I did a couples match in which we were both applying to internal medicine. We applied to a bunch of programs and then waited to see what invites we got. It turned out that we didn't get all the same interviews, and we decided that we wanted to be in the same program (not just same city), so we cut out the ones that didn't match up. For the interviews we did go on, all the programs we really nice about scheduling us both on the same day (and sometimes this required squeezing us in because they only really had room for one of us). Once we were there, we were often interviewed by the same set of interviewers (for some reason mostly in my field of subspecialty interest), which made our experience so similar that we were able to really thoroughly debrief after the day to decide how we felt about the program. We were always able to stay at the same hotel and save some money, and we had a traveling partner, which made the whole thing a little less lonely.

I think the biggest advice to give is that you have to be really open from the beginning with programs about your couples status. Some will ask you with whom you are matching and what his/her dept is, and others will never even broach the subject. You have to be totally forward about it and let them know that you want to interview together. If only one of you gets an interview and the other hasn't heard or is rejected, don't be afraid to contact the RD and let them know that you are not interested unless both of you are interviewed. I only did this really once and, after going toe-to-toe with an intern selection committee head who was arrogant enough to think I would pick his program over my fiance', I actually got my way and we were both interviewed (my fiance' had already been outright rejected). The committee guy ended up being a jerk even on the day of the interview, but the program was great and well worth the trip.

Good luck.

 

[needsadvice]

I would like to know how one goes about determining where to apply for residency. Personally, I feel that FREIDA, Scutwork.com, Iverson, and the particular hospital's website do not paint a good enough picture for me to compare between the residency programs. Are there any other sites I'm unaware of? Or, are most residencies essentially similar (within the "university/community" subcategories) and I should just apply by location and rankings?