A phone call has a high risk for awkwardness on both sides. If it is out of the blue and unexpected, the PD may be caught off guard and not recall who you are. That would not be very reassuring for the candidate and puts the PD in an awkward position. Even if the PD remembers you and you tell him they are your number one choice, there could be a long pause as you wait for them to respond with their love for you. It would most likely be like telling the girl you've been dating for a month that you love her and expecting her to return the favor. Instead, you get an awkward pause. You will have no way of interpreting the cause of the pause in your phone call with the PD. So you will be thinking:
Does he not love me too? Does he even remember who I am? Am I highly ranked and he just can't remember the details of the list? Did he say he loves me too just to be nice? Are they busy or with a patient? Are they even going to rank me all? Why won't he take my call? I left a message, but he never called back! Is he on vacation? Did he even get the message?
I think there is only a small chance you will hang up the phone and say, "Boy, I am really glad that I made that phone call." Say it in an email or a letter so that you can choose your words more carefully and don't have to think on your feet.
