Akron Children's Hospital
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: It's a nice children's hospital. The residents really enjoy it there. There's a new program director that seems to be changing things for the better.
Cons: Passage rate for Peds boards is only in the 50th percentile (ouch). Serious NICU cases get sent to other hospitals. Lack o' Culture in Akron (that's my way of saying there's not much in way of the arts). They don't tend to draw the strongest of candidates. Poor electronic records. 5 hours to both sets of grandparents.
Bottom Line: Ehhhh- let's just say we'd rather not end up there.
Our current rankings:
1. Pitt
2. Rainbow Babies
3. VCU
4. Syracuse
5. Akron
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
Interview #4
Cleveland Rainbow Babies
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: Beautiful hospital that offers a lot of specialties. The residents are all really happy. The faculty is really involved with the residents. Cleveland is an inexpensive city to live in.
Cons: 5 hours to both Grandparents. Old electronic system - mediocre. Emergency room is tiny and not the greatest.
Bottom Line: A great program that Joel would be happy with if he matched there.
Our current rankings:
1. Pitt
2. Rainbow Babies
3. VCU
4. Syracuse
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: Beautiful hospital that offers a lot of specialties. The residents are all really happy. The faculty is really involved with the residents. Cleveland is an inexpensive city to live in.
Cons: 5 hours to both Grandparents. Old electronic system - mediocre. Emergency room is tiny and not the greatest.
Bottom Line: A great program that Joel would be happy with if he matched there.
Our current rankings:
1. Pitt
2. Rainbow Babies
3. VCU
4. Syracuse
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Happy Day
When we walked out of the temple there was a couple getting their wedding pictures taken and it just made me smile.
(November is a good month to get married)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Interview #3
Syracuse Children's Hospital
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: We love the area (Weggie's anyone?) and the housing is really affordable. It's basically in the backyard of the Stuetz Grandparents (although my dad claims that could also be seen as a con) :) An innovative, flexible curriculum with an education expert on staff.
Cons: Residents were unhappy or talked negatively about the program (unprompted). It's not entirely electronic, similar to Hershey. There are barely any fellows, and the program did not know how to sell itself well. It did not come across as a very good program. 5 hours to the Thompson Grandparents.
Bottom Line: The program was underwhelming and Joel was not impressed.
Our current rankings:
1. Pitt
2. VCU
3. Syracuse
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: We love the area (Weggie's anyone?) and the housing is really affordable. It's basically in the backyard of the Stuetz Grandparents (although my dad claims that could also be seen as a con) :) An innovative, flexible curriculum with an education expert on staff.
Cons: Residents were unhappy or talked negatively about the program (unprompted). It's not entirely electronic, similar to Hershey. There are barely any fellows, and the program did not know how to sell itself well. It did not come across as a very good program. 5 hours to the Thompson Grandparents.
Bottom Line: The program was underwhelming and Joel was not impressed.
Our current rankings:
1. Pitt
2. VCU
3. Syracuse
Monday, November 2, 2009
Interview #2
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: Joel's impressed with the city; it's inexpensive to live in & family-friendly. In Joel's words "the hospital is GORGEOUS inside & out." (state of the art with pristine facilities & free-standing peds hospital). Even the hospital is family oriented (ex. fold out beds for parents in in-patient rooms & dedicated children's library). It has complete electronic records, residents all seemed nice and appeared to love it there. Faculty has an interest in education; close relationships with the residents (most on first name basis). Only 3 1/2 hours away from Thompson Grandparents.
Cons: Geography- Still in Pennsylvania (Joel kind of wanted out) & lots of Steelers fans. :) It's 5 1/2 hours away from Stuetz Grandparents. Thruway fare is over $13 each way to visit Thompson Grandparents (that adds up).
Bottom Line: Joel was shocked at how much he loved it and would love to match there.
Our current rankings:
1. Pitt
2. VCU
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: Joel's impressed with the city; it's inexpensive to live in & family-friendly. In Joel's words "the hospital is GORGEOUS inside & out." (state of the art with pristine facilities & free-standing peds hospital). Even the hospital is family oriented (ex. fold out beds for parents in in-patient rooms & dedicated children's library). It has complete electronic records, residents all seemed nice and appeared to love it there. Faculty has an interest in education; close relationships with the residents (most on first name basis). Only 3 1/2 hours away from Thompson Grandparents.
Cons: Geography- Still in Pennsylvania (Joel kind of wanted out) & lots of Steelers fans. :) It's 5 1/2 hours away from Stuetz Grandparents. Thruway fare is over $13 each way to visit Thompson Grandparents (that adds up).
Bottom Line: Joel was shocked at how much he loved it and would love to match there.
Our current rankings:
1. Pitt
2. VCU
Monday, October 26, 2009
Interview #1
I've decided to chronicle Joel's experiences as he interviews. If this bores you, feel free to skip these posts. :)
Today was his first interview: VCU in Richmond, VA. It was kind of fun for him to return to his previous stomping grounds from when he was at University of Richmond for undergrad.
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: Joel LOVES Richmond, a very nice facility (really nice PICU & NICU), complete electronic records, residents all seemed nice and appeared to enjoy it there, they appear to have lives outside of residency as well
Cons: Geography- 4 hours away from Thompson Grandparents & 9 hours away from Stuetz Grandparents. (That's too far for a weekend trip home to Syracuse) & it's slightly more expensive to live there (although the foreclosure rate is on the higher side, so we might be able to find something).
Bottom Line: Joel walked away really liking it and would be happy if he ended up matching there.
Today was his first interview: VCU in Richmond, VA. It was kind of fun for him to return to his previous stomping grounds from when he was at University of Richmond for undergrad.
Initial Thoughts:
Pros: Joel LOVES Richmond, a very nice facility (really nice PICU & NICU), complete electronic records, residents all seemed nice and appeared to enjoy it there, they appear to have lives outside of residency as well
Cons: Geography- 4 hours away from Thompson Grandparents & 9 hours away from Stuetz Grandparents. (That's too far for a weekend trip home to Syracuse) & it's slightly more expensive to live there (although the foreclosure rate is on the higher side, so we might be able to find something).
Bottom Line: Joel walked away really liking it and would be happy if he ended up matching there.
Residency Process
Prior to meeting Joel the world of medicine was very foreign to me. In fact, I rarely if ever even went to a doctor- school physicals were just about it. The process of applying for residency is another one of those mysteries of medicine. I get asked a lot how it works, so I thought I would take a minute to explain its inner workings.
Ok, so you have 4 years of medical school. The last 2 years of medical school you rotate through many areas/specialties- this gives you the chance to experience tons and get an idea for what you are interested in specializing. In the case of Joel- he's known he's wanted to do Pediatrics since before medical school started. He's just been playing around with what specialty within pediatrics.
At the beginning of 4th year (this past summer) we started making lists of where he wanted to apply for residency. The decision of how many places to apply to is somewhat of an art as well. It depends on how marketable you think you are and what type of places you're applying to (if your specialty is extremely competitive & the ranking of top schools). Some people can apply to over 50 places. We're lucky because Joel did really well on Step 1 & 2 of his Boards, and had high grades. Pediatrics is also not a very competitive specialty (Dermatology being one of the most competitive). We were looking at applying to about 15 places, but his adviser told him 11 would be enough. We went with 13 to be a little more on the safe side. (I've heard too many horror stories of not matching).
The application is due Nov. 1st, but you really want it in by September because they start interviewing early. Your goal is to hear from about half to two-thirds of the schools requesting an interview with them. We were incredibly blessed to hear back from all 13 of our schools, but will probably choose not to interview at all of them.
Now the fun part begins- you go to each of the interviews and see which places fits you. You interview, meet the other residents and tour the facilities. After all the interviews you rank all of the schools in order of where you would prefer to go - #1 being your first choice. The schools also rank all of the students they interviewed.
This is where the magic and a little bit of voodoo occurs. It all goes in a computer and it tries to match up everyone with their highest rankings to the school's highest rankings. On the 3rd Wednesday in March ("Match Day") everyone assembles and opens a letter that informs them where they'll be going for residency. It's quite the event.
It is possible to not match and then you have to scramble and find any openings there are - they may not even be in your specialty. I'm hoping to avoid that step.
Now you understand when I mean it's a long, complicated process. If you want to further specialize then you have to go through a similar process for a fellowship. So, after this year we're looking at 3 years of residency and then a possible 3 more years of a fellowship.
Ok, so you have 4 years of medical school. The last 2 years of medical school you rotate through many areas/specialties- this gives you the chance to experience tons and get an idea for what you are interested in specializing. In the case of Joel- he's known he's wanted to do Pediatrics since before medical school started. He's just been playing around with what specialty within pediatrics.
At the beginning of 4th year (this past summer) we started making lists of where he wanted to apply for residency. The decision of how many places to apply to is somewhat of an art as well. It depends on how marketable you think you are and what type of places you're applying to (if your specialty is extremely competitive & the ranking of top schools). Some people can apply to over 50 places. We're lucky because Joel did really well on Step 1 & 2 of his Boards, and had high grades. Pediatrics is also not a very competitive specialty (Dermatology being one of the most competitive). We were looking at applying to about 15 places, but his adviser told him 11 would be enough. We went with 13 to be a little more on the safe side. (I've heard too many horror stories of not matching).
The application is due Nov. 1st, but you really want it in by September because they start interviewing early. Your goal is to hear from about half to two-thirds of the schools requesting an interview with them. We were incredibly blessed to hear back from all 13 of our schools, but will probably choose not to interview at all of them.
Now the fun part begins- you go to each of the interviews and see which places fits you. You interview, meet the other residents and tour the facilities. After all the interviews you rank all of the schools in order of where you would prefer to go - #1 being your first choice. The schools also rank all of the students they interviewed.
This is where the magic and a little bit of voodoo occurs. It all goes in a computer and it tries to match up everyone with their highest rankings to the school's highest rankings. On the 3rd Wednesday in March ("Match Day") everyone assembles and opens a letter that informs them where they'll be going for residency. It's quite the event.
It is possible to not match and then you have to scramble and find any openings there are - they may not even be in your specialty. I'm hoping to avoid that step.
Now you understand when I mean it's a long, complicated process. If you want to further specialize then you have to go through a similar process for a fellowship. So, after this year we're looking at 3 years of residency and then a possible 3 more years of a fellowship.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Chocolate Death
I'm in charge of the treat for Young Women's in church today. I went with a chocolate lovers paradise- if this looks gross to you then you probably prefer fruity things to chocolate things (like Joel). It's quite simple: Brownie Mix, M & M's, Snickers on one half and 3 Musketeers on the other with 2 layers of melted chocolate chips. They're called Goblin Bars- probably because they will take away your soul - or at least cause a serious sugar rush.
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