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Match Week, or "where toshi will spend the next five years"

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
You could always give up on that dead end and come design helicopter parts with me. Weagle turned me down.

i could do any number of fields (and rehab medicine is easy to get). but the one i want to do, radiology, is difficult, as i've found out.

i thought i was set, though. had the numbers, grades, UW's a decent school, etc.

i ranked 8 programs. according to page 118 from this pdf http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2007.pdf listing last year's outcomes, my chances were 36/39, or 92+%, that i'd match.

i guess i'm just lame enough to be part of that 8%. agh.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
regional match stats are up for filled and unfilled positions. relevant stats for me:

22 unfilled transitional (PGY-1) spots: 0 in the western region, 11 central (midwest), 7 southern, 4 in the northeast

tons of prelim surgery spots, 455 total
tons of prelim medicine spots, 127 total (including 13 out west)

3 unfilled PGY-1 through -5 radiology spots
19 unfilled PGY-2 through -5 radiology spots

22 open rads spots is enough to shoot for.


if the above didn't make sense:

1) i have three options for next year, my "intern year" (july 2008-june 2009). these options are transitional, preliminary medicine, or preliminary surgery. transitional is like a combination of medicine and surgery with a few months on each service, more or less, and is generally a bit easier.

2) i have two options for radiology. the PGY-1 through -5 programs include an intern year of some sort. they're rare. the PGY-2 through -5 programs would need a separate intern year. i can and will apply for both.

moral of the story: it should be easy to get an internship, and there are 22 open spots in the country for my field of choice (to be done after internship)... here's hoping that i'll land one of them.

(PGY = "post-graduate year")
 

-dustin

boring
Jun 10, 2002
7,155
1
austin
when g/f was going through interview season, she wasn't offered an internship at any firm she wanted (Big 4), so she went middle market where she accepted a position. lots of crying, lots of "i wasted 5yrs of my life, have a useless MPA". her senior manager lacked a CPA license. 1yr later she's now at KPMG making more than anyone else at her level, recognized as 1 of 19 CPA candidates to pass all 4 sections of the CPA exam w/o retesting this year (one person tried over 20 times).

moral of the story: hard work doesn't go unnoticed.
 

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,681
4,904
North Van
You could always move to Canada. It would kinda be like working for the Peace Corps... But with less AIDS.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
still scrambling, but it's not going well so far. that stupid standardized patient test that i failed (and retook, but whose scores haven't been reported yet) really sunk me.

long shots could come through as i still have applications out there, but it's looking more likely that i'll be either taking an extra year in school to regroup (and get that passing score on my record) or graduating in june without a position, working at a "normal" job to pay the bills, and reapplying next fall/winter.

horrible.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
"normal job" would have been outside of medicine. maybe use that CS degree of mine again.

i won't have to do that, however. assuming i did indeed pass that one rogue exam (retook it 2/20/8, scores should be back within the month) i have an internship lined up: UW preliminary surgery for 1 year.

either the scramble works out for radiology (it's still ongoing) or i'll have to reapply to the field next year.

this is much better than not having anything plus i get to stay around seattle another year, but it's going to be a tough year. UW surgery == hard core and lonnnnnng hours.
 

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,681
4,904
North Van
Montreal chicks are hot, and you'd get a job in 3 seconds.

Not sure how it all works, but you could could finish your residency at McGill, find a hot chick in Montreal, then take off to the States to make real money later.
 

DirtMcGirk

<b>WAY</b> Dumber than N8 (to the power of ten alm
Feb 21, 2008
6,379
1
Oz
Any surgery department is like that, especially if they think you're not staying. I'd advise looking up the term "someone's bitch" and the getting used to the idea of that being you.

Just remember you're never supposed to go over 86 hours a week.

You will.

All the time.

And it will suck.

But when you finally get to radiology, it'll be worth the crap.

And how'd you fail the standardized patient? Damn, I know you didn't get fired on your day off...
 

DRB

unemployed bum
Oct 24, 2002
15,242
0
Watchin' you. Writing it all down.
"normal job" would have been outside of medicine. maybe use that CS degree of mine again.

i won't have to do that, however. assuming i did indeed pass that one rogue exam (retook it 2/20/8, scores should be back within the month) i have an internship lined up: UW preliminary surgery for 1 year.

either the scramble works out for radiology (it's still ongoing) or i'll have to reapply to the field next year.

this is much better than not having anything plus i get to stay around seattle another year, but it's going to be a tough year. UW surgery == hard core and lonnnnnng hours.
Well now you have something in line which is good. Think about it this way, with the surgery elective you'll be seeing all the crap for real that you'll need to be able to see from images when you get to the radiology deal. PLUS that's one less year your nuts will be exposed to high doses of radiation. That's gotta be a good thing.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
DMG, i failed the standardized patient thing by not reading the first aid prep book. it's not done quite like a real clinic visit, and i didn't know this and got hammered for it.





DRB: radiology starts 2nd year anyway, so i'm not missing out on any radiation.




the big news is... that i scrambled into radiology after all!

Nassau University, Long Island.

so from july 2008-june 2009 i'll be here in seattle doing a preliminary surgery year at UW, then from july 2009-june 2013 i'll be out on long island doing radiology.

http://www.ncmc.edu/htms/resprogs/rad.htm
 

DRB

unemployed bum
Oct 24, 2002
15,242
0
Watchin' you. Writing it all down.
DMG, i failed the standardized patient thing by not reading the first aid prep book. it's not done quite like a real clinic visit, and i didn't know this and got hammered for it.





DRB: radiology starts 2nd year anyway, so i'm not missing out on any radiation.




the big news is... that i scrambled into radiology after all!

Nassau University, Long Island.

so from july 2008-june 2009 i'll be here in seattle doing a preliminary surgery year at UW, then from july 2009-june 2013 i'll be out on long island doing radiology.

http://www.ncmc.edu/htms/resprogs/rad.htm
FVCK YEAH!!!
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
Nicely done. You know you're going to develop gnarly accent.....you'll pronounce it Lawn Gisland....drinking co-wawffee....

You sure it's worth it?

DMG, i failed the standardized patient thing by not reading the first aid prep book. it's not done quite like a real clinic visit, and i didn't know this and got hammered for it.





DRB: radiology starts 2nd year anyway, so i'm not missing out on any radiation.




the big news is... that i scrambled into radiology after all!

Nassau University, Long Island.

so from july 2008-june 2009 i'll be here in seattle doing a preliminary surgery year at UW, then from july 2009-june 2013 i'll be out on long island doing radiology.

http://www.ncmc.edu/htms/resprogs/rad.htm
 

benno

Monkey
Apr 7, 2006
201
0
Toshi, congrats dude!

The system sounds pretty ****ty. I'm about to go through the same thing here in Aust, but ours is a lot simpler. We don't have to pick a field until PGY2 generally, which is when we start applying to relevant colleges for training positions. So all I have to do is pick which hospital I want to do my intern year at.

Why radiology?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
thanks, benno (and DRB and all others).

stinkyboy: "first aid" is "first aid for the USMLE Step 2 CS", not some book on actual first aid procedures.

why radiology? i'll paste in a snippet from my personal statement :D

me said:
My focus has always been on the inner workings of the brain, and this focus has led me to choose radiology. I initially became interested in neuroscience as an undergraduate, drawn in by the question of how complex behavior can arise from a vast network of elegant, simple circuits. After being involved with an fMRI/TMS/EEG project investigating regions of co-activation and -deactivation in judgment vs. perception tasks I considered pursuing graduate studies in Cognitive Neuroscience. Ultimately, I decided that medical training would offer me the most freedom in working with people. Once in medical school I considered neurosurgery, but became intrigued by the possibility of studying the brain in a non-invasive manner using complementary structural and functional imaging techniques. Thus, my academic interest in the brain led me to radiology.

[...]
while i'm no longer so sure i want to do brain research specifically, that's the path i took.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
Nicely done. You know you're going to develop gnarly accent.....you'll pronounce it Lawn Gisland....drinking co-wawffee....

You sure it's worth it?
LI is worse than NYC in the accent? i did spend the first 9 years of my life in manhattan, after all (that's one of the things on the "stuffwhitepeoplelikes" blog btw, manhattan++).
 

benno

Monkey
Apr 7, 2006
201
0
Ah cool. I'm trying to figure out where I want to go in life and talking to as many people as I can about it.
 

Ciaran

Fear my banana
Apr 5, 2004
9,839
15
So Cal
Congrats Toshi!

I wish you ever increasing success in your chosen field. And may your patients reap the benefits of your very hard work.
 

Secret Squirrel

There is no Justice!
Dec 21, 2004
8,150
1
Up sh*t creek, without a paddle
DMG, i failed the standardized patient thing by not reading the first aid prep book. it's not done quite like a real clinic visit, and i didn't know this and got hammered for it.





DRB: radiology starts 2nd year anyway, so i'm not missing out on any radiation.




the big news is... that i scrambled into radiology after all!

Nassau University, Long Island.

so from july 2008-june 2009 i'll be here in seattle doing a preliminary surgery year at UW, then from july 2009-june 2013 i'll be out on long island doing radiology.

http://www.ncmc.edu/htms/resprogs/rad.htm
Awesome. Congo-rats.

You sure it's not 3 Mile Island....you could learn a lot about radiation there....
 

vtjim

Beware of Milo & Otis
Jan 6, 2006
1,346
0
North Andover MA
Congrats Toshi. I grew up on Long Island (farther out East than Nassau).

Looks like it was a tough couple of days but it worked out in the end!.

Now the real question: Will this new work allow you any time for the GT tournaments?
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
intern year as a surgery prelim will be hellish.

radiology should be niiiiiiice :)