Where in the US...

I guess I should write about this since not everyone has a husband in medical school or even a husband in medical school that goes into the same field. I feel like I have done nothing, but talk about and try to explain David's schedule/ future work prospects for the last 3 years haha! So in hopes of having everyone know what goes on around here, I will explain some more. 

Medical school is a 4 year program followed by a residency. A residency can last 3-5 years and can be followed by a one year fellowship depending on what the person wants to specialize in. To put that into perspective when I married David I basically signed up for (braced myself for) 10 years worth of schooling. 

Residency is a PAID program but it only starts out at about $45- 50 thousand a year. That may sound good but the first year of residency (also known as an internship year) can have weeks where you work 80 hours. This usually brings even the higher paid residents to about $5 an hour. Different specialties make more or less in residency and work more or less hours in the week. Thankfully radiology isn't going to be nearly as awful as surgery! I was preparing for a lot worse then what we are signing up for. Most of David's interviews so far have said that he will work from about 7 or 8am until about 6 pm and some even give off weekends and holidays (such a blessing!!!). 

Radiology has a 4 year residency that does not include the internship year. Unless you go to what is called a categorical program, then you get to stay in one location for 5 years. 

Timeline

Medical school-
year one- book learning and class

year two- book learning and class

year three- rotations and testing

year four- some rotations, interviews and more testing

Radiology residency-

transitional year- WORK, WORK, WORK

Resident year one

two 

three 

four

Fellowship- one year

Another thing I always get asking is where we will be going next and my answer is always "I don't know" because I don't. Right now David has about 20 some odd interviews planned at various states all over the country. Several Arizona & Ohio programs (including Case Western in Cleveland), 2 in Florida, Spokane WA, Michigan, California, New Mexico, 2 in Texas, Wisconsin, Dartmouth, Jons Hopkins,  New York, and thats all I can remember for now.

We were a little annoyed that a program in Utah has already denied us, but I have to think about the fact that David already has 2 Ivy league residency interviews, one at Case Western and was even put on a waiting list at Harvard! Bottom line? It's a good thing we did not hold our breath waiting for the Utah program which isn't even as highly rated as his other interviews (so dumb). We aren't the first family we know to get turned down by a program in Utah, heading back to home (or close to it) just is not very typical.

In February when all the interviews are done and we have had some time to think about it we will rank the programs we liked best. Then the schools rank you, next both lists are put into a computer program and the matches are made. David and I do NOT know where we are going UNTIL March 15, 2014. Until then it's anybody's guess.

David has completed about 5 interviews now and so far his top two choices are in Arizona and Florida. Neither program is a categorical though so if we got into either we would be living in some other random area/ state for a year. When we think about what programs we like best our top 3 important factors tend to be 1. How close is the nearest temple (we hate being so far away from ours right now) 2. What is the general cost of living 3. How close is it to family. Some of the less important things that come into the equation is the weather, certain friends, airport size and distance, Ikea, and of course how much money we will make, but schools, local church presence, program benefits (insurance), and 4 year versus 5 year programs all make a difference too.

Basically there are a LOT of choices and still plenty of waiting time before David is hopefully matched. We just hope and pray that with David's two awesome Step scores we won't need to worry. However, worry is always inevitable.