Married to med student who is a year ahead of me, how to match in same city

[naus]

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My wife is one year ahead of me and would like to do pediatrics, I on the other hand am shooting for ortho. We are both in the top 10 percent of our classes, and on track for AOA. Her Step 1 is 255 and I anticipate mine to be in the ballpark. What should our strategy be to match in the same city on the East Coast?

Should my wife wait a year to do some research or maybe get an MPH and we do couples match together, or should she just match where she wants (obviously in a major city that has many programs for me) and I follow her?

If I were doing something less competitive, she would just go straight into her program and I follow afterward. But would this be really risky with ortho? How much sympathy would program directors have for my situation? I feel I'm certainly competitive on my own merits, but if my wife works in the same hospital at another department, would the PD for ortho at least give some preference to my application all else being equal? Because if I don't match in the same city, odds are my wife will transfer to wherever I land.

 

[Winged Scapula]

This is a common question and I suggest a search.

You've essentially outlined all the options. Conventional wisdom has it that the best option is couples match with her taking a year off, or extending her final year into 2.

It will be easier for her to find a Peds position (especially with her Step 1 score) than it will be for you to find an Ortho one. And its not all that easy for her to start and then just "transfer" if you match elsewhere - the news of your match will not come until March of her intern year. By that point most PGY-2 positions have been filled for the following year. Residency is not like medical school. She may end up having to start all over with PGY1 (although many residency directors would be sensitive to the issue, she cannot just transfer - there has to be an open funded position).

 

[starbrite637]

Hi Naus!

I am in a similar situation where my fiance is one year ahead of me in his intern year of general surgery and I am applying for ortho now with only ONE program within two hours of him. EEK.

I would suggest couples matching over trying to 'follow' because following creates a year of anxiety and so many questions of how to transfer, can I transfer, how do I rank my list, do I change my specialty to be where she/he is, etc.

Your wife's numbers are fantastic and very competitive for any peds program, she should not have a problem going where you go for ortho. A year off may also strengthen her application, giving her 'something else' to talk about about and something that makes her different from the rest of peds applicants.

My fiance and I are trying our hardest to make sure everyone at his program knows about me and my desire to match into ortho and hoping that the PD will give some sympathy to our situation. I am sure I have to be competitive in my own merit and the program has to like me, but at least they will for sure know what my #1 will be =). If you decide to follow, both of you just have to be honest with the program and hopefully, if your wife matches first, she will be at a program that does not like to break marriages and is supportive of residents' and their families. Look for programs where the PD in both Peds and Ortho are on good terms and would be willing to help the both of you end up in the same spot.

Of course, after saying all this... ask me again in March and we'll see how everything turns out... =)

 

[Pkboi24]

My wife is one year ahead of me and would like to do pediatrics, I on the other hand am shooting for ortho. We are both in the top 10 percent of our classes, and on track for AOA. Her Step 1 is 255 and I anticipate mine to be in the ballpark. What should our strategy be to match in the same city on the East Coast?

Should my wife wait a year to do some research or maybe get an MPH and we do couples match together, or should she just match where she wants (obviously in a major city that has many programs for me) and I follow her?

If I were doing something less competitive, she would just go straight into her program and I follow afterward. But would this be really risky with ortho? How much sympathy would program directors have for my situation? I feel I'm certainly competitive on my own merits, but if my wife works in the same hospital at another department, would the PD for ortho at least give some preference to my application all else being equal? Because if I don't match in the same city, odds are my wife will transfer to wherever I land.

I have three sets of friends actually that are going through this right now. One of the girls is going into med-peds at the home program and her bf wants to do general surgery and is applying this year. They are both probably top 30% of the class so they didn't want to take any chances with very competitive programs. Not that the home program isn't a great one, but they just figured they'd have a better chance.

The other two couple I know of are doing the wait one year deal so that they can couples match. It's probably the safest way to guarantee that you'll match together. The problem with this is that one of the guys had to wait 2 years for his gf because something came up in her life and she couldn't graduate that year so he ended up having to switch over to a masters program just to have something to show for that extra year. Probably won't happen to most people but you never know.

 

[naus]

Hi Naus!

I am in a similar situation where my fiance is one year ahead of me in his intern year of general surgery and I am applying for ortho now with only ONE program within two hours of him. EEK.

I would suggest couples matching over trying to 'follow' because following creates a year of anxiety and so many questions of how to transfer, can I transfer, how do I rank my list, do I change my specialty to be where she/he is, etc.

Your wife's numbers are fantastic and very competitive for any peds program, she should not have a problem going where you go for ortho. A year off may also strengthen her application, giving her 'something else' to talk about about and something that makes her different from the rest of peds applicants.

My fiance and I are trying our hardest to make sure everyone at his program knows about me and my desire to match into ortho and hoping that the PD will give some sympathy to our situation. I am sure I have to be competitive in my own merit and the program has to like me, but at least they will for sure know what my #1 will be =). If you decide to follow, both of you just have to be honest with the program and hopefully, if your wife matches first, she will be at a program that does not like to break marriages and is supportive of residents' and their families. Look for programs where the PD in both Peds and Ortho are on good terms and would be willing to help the both of you end up in the same spot.

Of course, after saying all this... ask me again in March and we'll see how everything turns out... =)

Thank you for sharing!

I definitely will contact you next spring to see how everything turned out. G'luck!

 

[Bernalillo]

This is tough. We're two years apart. Lived together for three years in medical school and got split up after his Match. I'm in my last year of Ob-Gyn training 800 miles away from my partner (just started his second year in Ortho). I would say go for the couples match. Being in a long-distance "relationship" during training is hard, even if you have a great foundation going in. With the couples match you'll have to make some sacrifices regarding your program choices but if you're both strong candidates I'm sure you can find some good choices. I wish you luck!

 

[tootsweet]

My husband and I graduated from med school the same year. We decided to have a baby at the end of 4th year and I took the year between med school and internship care for our newborn. He matched (rads) into a large urban academic program with lots of other surrounding residency programs. We ended up at the same institution but, had I not matched at the same place, there would have been lots of other places for me to do residency. I definitely told everyone I interviewed with why being in *bigcity** was critical for me and I think it made a difference. He also told his program director who called the program I was applying to.