Bill's Residency Interviews

Normally I try to come up with some creative title for my blogs but this subject is overwhelming my tiny little brain so much that I just can't think of anything fun.  So just imagine something funny that has to do with pee.....smiling?  Or perhaps confused??  Good.

Bill is currently in his 8th and last year of med school.  Why 8 years?  Because he flunked a few times.  :)  He usually thinks my blogs are funny, he might not anymore.  It's been 8 years because he's completing 4 years of med school and 4 years of graduate school so he could get his PhD in Immunology.  He'll finally graduate this May.  What this really means, however, is that he'll be moving on to a residency program in his desired specialty - Urology.  Yes, he's going to be a pee pee doc.  Get your jokes out now. 

I've been along for this ride since the beginning.  We were dating when he interviewed for and started med school, got engaged after year 1, married after year 2, and all the while speculated on where we might end up after year 8.  As far away as this moment seemed, we CANNOT believe that it's finally here.  And it's actually very bittersweet.

The first "end in sight" moment came when he defended his PhD thesis last March.  Once that was done, we knew he only had until the following May.  Then in August, he needed to post his resume and letters of recommendation in the residency match system along with picking the programs he hoped to get an interview with.  After that, we waited almost a month to see which programs would grant him an interview.  We didn't start hearing from programs until late September and it went through late October.  Then the interview season really began as he tried to jockey 14 interview offers over the course of 6 weeks.  Programs only offer about 2 interview dates so you can either take the interview or you can't.  Unfortunately due to conflicting dates, Bill had to choose between some programs and ultimately went on 12 interviews literally coast-to-coast.  He traveled by car and plane to 10 cities beginning the last weekend in October through Thanksgiving and the last 2 were after Thanksgiving.  In 7 days alone, he went to 4 cities in 3 states.  Audrey and I didn't see him much but we were cheering him on from Iowa.  We were fortunate that a few of his interviews took him to Ohio so Audrey and I were able to go with him and visit my family.  It was fun to go along for the ride. 

After his wirlwind tour of the US, he submitted his preference list after New Year's day.  And now we're waiting again.  We find out on Monday (sometime between midnight and 8am) via EMAIL! where we're heading.  I'm not going to divulge the list on this forum but I will tell you that Iowa is on the list so there's a chance we won't be moving.  It's crazy to think that something of this magnitude is shared over email.  Maybe it's because most students moving on to their residencies are only 26, unmarried and no kids??  I don't know but I feel too old to be relying on an email to tell me where I'm moving.  At least make it formal with a phone call.  I need more stability in my life!  Anyway, depending on the program, we'll be in the next city for 5 or 6 years.  And thankfully, in terms of my job, the plan is that I will keep it and work from home wherever we move.

My stomach nerves are going to be the death of me before Monday, I'm sure of it.  The decision now is whether to stay up and wait for the email or just go to bed and see what Monday brings.  We've heard that last year's email went to students at 1:00am.  I'm thinking we should try to sleep because once we get the news, I know my brain is not going to stop.  I'll need to be up for the day thinking of all the things we have to do.  Wish us luck!