interview and spouses

[luvtrauma]

Does anyone have any advice about bringing your spouse to an interview. In other words, do programs have a tour for spouses ? or do they just wait in the hotel room while you interview? I understand that the spouse should come to get a lay of the land but is there more that a spouse could get involved in?

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[surg]

In general, the spouses I have seen come to interviews either wander around town on their own during the actual interviews or stay in the hotel. They are welcome at the more informal social events (such as the night before dinner or bar night) often, however, I don't think I've ever noticed one actually come to the interview day. I am not aware that programs have set up spouse programs to run in conjunction, however, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see if there are any resident spouses willing to give a city tour.

 

[Skylizard]

Originally posted by luvtrauma
Does anyone have any advice about bringing your spouse to an interview...I understand that the spouse should come to get a lay of the land but is there more that a spouse could get involved in?

In some of the more "family friendly" specialties (i.e. FP), spouses are quite welcomed and made to feel as if they are a significant component of the interview process. I have seen one or two programs out there make some....tiny strides in this respect as far as general surgery. I suspect with time Gsurge will start more and more to come around in the area of spouses and other carrots in the recruitment process. You may see more gsurgery residencies start to pay some minimal moving expenses, pay for training licenses, pay for step III, etc... However, it will likely take time. There does in many programs still exist the idea that anyone who matches in a program should feel "privileged" that they are actually getting paid to train in such a great field. I think this attitude is melting away. Once it is completely gone you will start to see more of the wholelistic approach to resident recruitment which will involve spouses and healthcare coverage and other benefits. the more programs feel they need to extend efforts in the recruitment process the more they will start to put on the table and the more wholelistic they will be towards the family concept. I have always brought my wife around to ensure the city/community will be at the very least tolerable for the "long hall". She has always spent time run around the city, picking up information on real-estate, and getting an idea of the resources available (i.e. malls, supermarkets, schools, etc...). Some programs have spouse organizations which love having potential new members call them.