Second looks for residency programs & how I ranked my residency programs || Traveling to Cambodia
Completing my visionboard: I’m traveling!
It’s actually happening! I’m doing the things! For better or worse, I extended my rotations until early May to take off time to travel. My husband and I traveled with my father-in-law to Cambodia for 2 weeks.
It reminded me a lot of the Philippines. We went in February. The heat and humidity was punishing. I do think Grenada’s heat-humidity combo was worse. Though there was always ice-cold AC relief somewhere. I remember walking from my apartment to school because I missed the bus a couple of times. There was absolutely no shade. It felt like the sun was hugging me and the sidewalk was reflecting that love. I feel like Cambodians enjoy the heat because even in places that had AC, it was still warm. It’s been almost 10 years since I’ve been to the Phillipines, but even in the Phillipines we would go out to malls to enjoy the AC.
We ate a lot of good things! I loved all the fruit. I’m trying to find a Java apple tree to plant in my yard. My in-laws usually cook many of the dishes at home so it felt familiar. I learned a bit of Khmer (the Cambodian language) which I’m proud of. Hoping it helps with getting to know my in-laws better.
Surprise, surprise. There’s live wire hanging from the ceiling AND a zombie waiting in there for me. Well I can’t turn back so I ran for my life (ironically also the name of the run). Suddenly I’m on my knees on this dirty wooden floor. I felt the pain from the live wire running through my back again. Sadly I crawl under the wires and escape while another runner dealt with the zombie. I guess I’m not going to be the hero in the apocalypse. LOL.
Starting a running program
So I’m going to train for this 5K. I’ve done a couple 5Ks in the past powered by my youth. I just showed up to hang out with friends or family, suffered, and then forgot about them.
The first one I did was Zombie-themed. Actors chased my dad and me across obstacles for 3 miles trying to grab our flag football tails. I remember we were running towards this makeshift shack. He decided to run around it. I decided to run through it. Why? Great instincts of course.
Anyway, I’m using the Nike Run Club App for my 5K. It’s free! I love Coach Bennett. The coaches talk quite a bit, but they’re also comforting. I’ve been running with my boys so it’s doubling as quality time. Kalbi is happy to run the 0.5 mile loop warm-up. He becomes an absolute unit at 0.6 miles and won’t run anymore. Voila I bought a $10 human jogger stroller. He’s turning 9 this year and picking up this hobby with me. I’ve accepted we’re going to have to compromise.
Okay, maybe I had tunnel vision because I was unprepared for the post-interview season. I thought after interviews, there were some social events here and there. I hadn’t heard much fuss about what happens after and everyone said the social and second looks were optional. At the same time, many attendings/residents strongly encouraged me to go to the post-interview events. In my guestimation, most of the programs I interviewed at offer some type of social/resident Q&A, and more than half offered a second-look experience. Most of the socials were online and after the interviews.
My Social Event Experiences
I’ll call them all socials to include the in-person, virtual, before and after interview optional experiences. Most of the experiences offered were unstructured Zooms with residents to ask any questions. People usually asked the same questions about overall vibes, hours, and things residents were most happy about or wanted to improve upon. I personally didn’t enjoy the virtual social events. I’m an introvert. Plus in groups, I tend to let others talk. There’s also something horribly anxiety-producing about unmuting myself in Zoom. My heart races. Like can they hear me? Is my volume loud as heck? Did I interrupt someone? I heard in some virtual socials, they play games or do something structured which could be helpful as a vibe check. Tip: Come up with 1 or 2 fun facts for your intros.
My first social was virtual. It was 6 PM. I logged into Zoom. About 10ish other applicants also logged on. 3-4 senior residents came on. They welcomed us, encouraged us to do short introductions, and then gave us the floor to ask questions. I hadn’t rotated at this program. The residents felt very genuine. I loved their banter. It felt like a team I wanted to be a part of and I think that’s what I’m supposed to look for.
The rest of the virtual socials were very similar. I started to notice the different “vibes” of programs. It’s all subjective. The type of energy residents brought and how many attended. Does it mean anything? Some Redditors mentioned they thought a small resident turnout related to the work-life balance of the programs. I guess I’ll have to update this when I become a resident.
I had three in-person socials. One was the night before the interview. I actually really enjoyed it. We went to a cute downtown eatery. It was very casual. We got to order what we wanted. Most of the residents, even the ones on inpatient made an effort to come out. They weren’t cliquey and tried to talk to everyone. It was welcoming and I enjoyed meeting people before the actual interviews. It made interview day much easier. The second social shocked me. Okay, I reread and reread the invitation so many times. Maybe I’m just naive. The interview said casual dress, no attendance will be taken, just come out and meet the residents. There weren’t that many residents, there was a sign-in sheet, people showed up in suits, and the PD was there too! I really loved the program and the PD, but I was just shocked. So don’t pull a me, be professional at all times. Suit vs. jeans in a casual dress code? Mmm maybe something in between. Be ready for anything. The last social was so fun! It was a joint activity for a couple of hours with dinner catered. I’d say 90% of the residents showed up to play and eat. It was very relaxed. They tried to get to know everyone.
Also a note about applicant interactions, I honestly didn’t have any negative interactions. Everyone was very kind. Most of the time, it was nice to bond over how anxious we were. I saw some people many times because we had similar geological preferences! I even got to bond with some and toss ideas about how we were ranking. You never know who’s going to be your co-resident.
The socials helped me make my decision. Going to these events helped me picture myself in certain programs and if I’m a good fit for their vibe. I would encourage everyone to go if they can, especially to those programs you’re really interested in. It may or may not matter. Probably does. Who can say?
My Second Look Experiences
I attended two of the four second-look experiences I was invited to. These tend to be more formal, like a business-casual vibe. Experience #1: The event was about 2 hours. There were different dates we could attend. I went to a meeting room in the hospital. There were a bunch of roundtables and a table of little snacks. The residents spread out to the tables and met with us applicants. We got a tour of the hospital. I’ve rotated here so it was more of a formality but nice to meet more residents since the program was big.
Experience #2: I went to the hospital and there was one other student. We were scheduled for half a day. One resident met with us and gave us a tour. Then we had lunch and hung out with residents in the office. We were scheduled to sit in on a lecture, but it was canceled for the day. Then we shadowed 1-2 visits one-on-one with one of the senior residents. It was awesome to get a full experience of what it’d be like and what the residents were like on the day-to-day. I really enjoyed the more personal experience.
How I Decided My Rank
From September when I submitted my application to February 1st, I thought about my rank every day. There came a point where I couldn’t make plans too far into the future. So the thought of what life would be like kept popping up! The one thing I knew and was willing to risk the biscuit for was location. Mainly because my husband bought a house here. So the programs were narrowed down to around my house. Beyond that, I have no doubt that all the programs in my region would provide more than awesome training. So it’s a win-win?
In those 5 months of interviewing, I got to know my top 4 since they were very close to where I lived. I got a chance to imagine myself in each of these programs and envision completely different futures. I would think “it would be a dream to be accepted here”. Especially as an IMG, there were so many people who told me that I’d be lucky to have anything at all. Now, I have options to think about! I really hadn’t considered I’d be this lucky to have this predicament. It was a rollercoaster.
I did my clinicals at small community hospitals or county hospitals. I loved my work with the underserved. Programs serving the underserved were mostly county programs and county programs were hard. My late twenties came with all these revelations about all the things in life I haven’t explored yet. I found how much I valued my family, friends, and life created outside of medicine. I loved all the people in my top 4 programs. So I had to get out of the mindset of I’d be lucky to have any position to question what I wanted.
Like when we were trying to find a house, I made my needs and wants list.
Needs:
Close to home
PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness). Especially as an IMG with half a million in debt, it was important to me to start thinking about how I was going to pay that back.
Curriculum. My goal, at least for now, is to work a hybrid schedule (outpatient & inpatient) when I graduate from residency. I tried to see if graduates/attendings were doing that from the programs
Chances to do community service like free clinics, sports medicines in local schools
VIBE
Cool bonuses:
Mentoring options both for me and how I can help others
Food stipends
Resident-designated places like one program residents had their own desks! It’s so small and trivial but having my own space made it feel like I’d really belong there
Opportunities to learn procedures, ultrasounds (some programs gave out ultrasound machines)
Cool electives like Medical Spanish or Wilderness Medicine
Annual retreats
Epic
I asked so many residents during my clinical rotations how they shaped their rank list. I wanted something concrete, formulaic. Most told me one or two things, but ultimately there was a gut feeling or vibe that simply clicked for them. That felt way too intangible to me at the time. Ultimately between my #1 and #2, it was a vibe check. Did the residents seem happy? Did it feel like I could fit in here? How would it be to spend an absurdly large amount of time with these people I just met?
Fast forward to ranking. Of course, you sign into a whole other system to rank, R3. On February 1st, R3 opens and you can submit and certify your rank. To my surprise, the programs you interview with are not in the system. You have to add them manually. I’m not sure why I assumed this would be the case. But it added another layer of insecurity, what if I add the wrong program? Wait you can rank a program that you didn’t even interview at? Why?
But I submitted and certified! I took a screenshot, I checked, and double-checked to see it was in! You can do it an unlimited amount of times before it closes at the end of the month. It was a long month. So much doubt crept in. Am I ranking out of my league? I had a great experience but did the staff feel similarly? Will I miss this about Program X or this about Program Y?
I didn’t end up changing the rank I set on the first day. I hope it works out. I’m telling myself it’s out of my hands, so I should stop worrying right?
Warmly, Rainee
SGU sent our match kits! Next time we talk…it’ll be Match week. Wish me luck!