Thank you! (And a deluge of questions)

[Dobiecka]

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Hi all! I've been reading these forums for a week or so now and all I can say is that I am really thankful that they exist. I know almost nothing about residencies and yet desperately need to learn more in order to attempt to get one next year. So any advice at all is welcome! Here's the situation:

I'm a graduate of a Polish medical school and I've been living in California for three years. Because I am in a same-sex relationship and the US has no gay immigration rights, I had to be on a student visa and ended up getting my RN license. Anyway, it turned out to be a good thing since I'm being sponsored for a green card now and I totally enjoy working in the ICU. So now here is where I stand - I graduated in 1998 and did a one year internship, I took the USMLE step 1 in 2000 and scored a 83. I took the step 2 last month and I anticipate a similar score, I plan to take the clinical skills assessment (for foreign graduates) soon and apply in 2003 for a residency in internal medicine the following year. So my questions:

1. Should I only be looking at fairly uncompetitive programs? What are some less competitive programs? How low are my scores? Would the fact that I graduated in 1998 be a problem? Could my experience as a critical care RN be helpful in being accepted into a residency or is it irrelevant?

2. Is there any way to find out what hospitals have domestic partner benefits? Are there any hospitals or locations in the U.S. that my family (as a lesbian couple with children) should avoid?

3. What other resources do you know of that might help me to find out more about residencies?

Thank you!!!

 

[Mindy]

East coast: NOT VERY CONSERVATIVE. There are many openly gay communities in New England (a famous one being Provincetown, Massachusetts.) Boston and New York tend to have liberal ideologies (generally speaking.) Many large city clubs and bars have "gay night", etc. once a week. Of course as a parent you may not be interested in this scene but it is a marker of acceptance. As a note however, America is generally not receptive to gay couples with children (still a shocking concept.) Hospitals and other health care fields tend to be conservative across the board in the US. I think that this is a trend of the school of thought that liberals are irrational tree-huggers who would make shaky patient care decisions if left to their own devices. (I hope anyone reading this noted my sarcasm.)

Mindy

 

[IBDCURE]

Hi-

I agree with the other posters... Family Practice and Internal Medicine offer lots of positions, so unless you are set on going to a large-named institution, you should have no problem getting a spot.

Parts of Florida are somewhat liberal as well. I think the saying goes, "the further south you go in Florida, the further North you are." (On the East Coast, the North tends to be much more liberal.) I don't know much about gay marriage and adoption, but when I read your post I thought of that movie starring Brooke Shields recreating a gay adoption case in FL (I think it is still not legal in Florida.)

Scutwork is an awesome site to get residency information. You may also want to check out the AMA's Freida site:
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2997.html

Oh yeah, (if you're not interested in surgery) and you think you may ever be interested in pursuing a fellowship after residency but you enjoy primary care, I'd go for either internal medicine or pediatrics. It'll keep your doors open.

Good luck!

 

[Voxel]

If you like the ICU, then I would consider anesthesiology (which is getting more competitive) and Internal medicine followed by a Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship.

Anesthesiology = 1 year PGY-1 preliminary in medicine/surgery/transitionalyear and 3 years in anesthesiology PGY-2-4. 4 Years total.


Internal Medine 3 years and Pulmonary and Critical care 3 year fellowship. If you want to just do critical care you can do a 2 year critical care fellowship. 5-6 years total.

 

[samenewme]

Much of the Deep South is pretty much Bible Belt and not a good place for a lesbian couple with children. I'd particularly avoid rural areas of Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and much of Louisiana. New Orleans may be something of an exception--there's a large Catholic population, but also something of a "live and let live" philosophy, against the backdrop of a flamboyant gay community in the city. On the down side, the public schools are not all that good and most of the private schools are Catholic.

Can you tell I grew up in New Orleans? 😉

Milwaukee might be pretty nice for you (I live here now), plus there's a pretty sizeable Polish community here.