So I just finished up the second of two audition rotations yesterday and they both went really well.
I learned things from both places that I really liked and things that gave me pause as well.
When I was talking with a friend, they said to me something very true - if I had sone an audition rotation at one of my current top choices would I like it as much or would I find something that I am less than thrilled with?
On interview day you only see a few people - only tour a few places and do not really get a sense of the whole program and the pitfalls and advantages. You see what they want to present - and never get to hear the dirty little secrets.
But when you rotate with a program you get a true sense of behind the scenes - you know everything. The good, the bad and the ugly. You have seen the underbelly of the beast and know what you are in store for vs being surprised.
Maybe that is the advantage of being here and having life experience - I am not naive enough to think that every place is as perfect as they portray themselves on interview day. There are bad parts to every place - every thing has a downside.
I think this is going to be the most difficult part of the rank list - knowing that there are parts I will not be happy with. Balancing that with the known pieces that give me pause and my overall reservation may change.
I think of the two places I interviewed I would be okay ending up at either - maybe one over the other but either would suffice. But neither creates that sense of excitement and "this is it" I keep hearing about from people who have walked this path ahead of me. Maybe I have not found it yet - maybe I never will.
But I am done with audition rotations and they both went better than I could have dreamed - landing me interviews at one place that I may not have otherwise gotten one.
Now off to Emergency Medicine for four weeks :)
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
The craziness of interview season
So I know by now you are all wondering what did she decide to do?
Well that can be answered by one simple question - I am matching family medicine with an intention to complete a sports medicine fellowship once I have finished with the three years of family. In the end I know I am making the right choice for both me and my family and I have picked the right career for me personally as well. I am so excited to start next June - but before I can get there I have to survive match.
You know what - no one tells you how crazy this process is. All I heard last year from my fourth year friends (who are now interns) was how fast this year went. Of course they would say that about every year ahead of me - but in this case I do have to say they were 100% correct.
I submitted ERAS on 8/3 - late by many standards since the osteopathic match opened up 7/1- and that is when the craziness began.
I will fully admit I came into this match process and into interview season expecting a few interviews here and there - but I was expecting a whole lot of silence and rejections. In retrospect I think it was the sheer process of getting here that I still carry with me. That student was still there - the one who was repeatedly told she would not get here, the one who was told she had no chance, the one who was rejected so many times or heard nothing so many times that it came to be what she expected. Instead two days after I submitted my application I received my very first interview invite! I was so excited - someone actually wanted ME - which absolutely shocked me. After all, I am nothing special or spectacular - I am simply me. I did average in my classes - mostly B's with a few scattered A's and a couple of C's but no failures. I scored slightly above national average on COMLEX Step 1, ditto to Step 2 CS and passed Step 2 PE. When I looked at my classmates who are applying with me I felt, and I still feel, remarkably deficient. I did not do as much volunteer work - the things I did I did while I was at school because I wanted to leave after school time for home and family time. I was not as involved in organizations as some of my counterparts - I just feel rather under qualified. My running joke while I was doing the dance with the personal statement and what it was going to say was that it would consist of two simple sentences which spoke the truth:
"I survived medical school with three children.
That is all."
Obviously, my final personal statement consisted of much more than those two sentences but I digress. I applied to programs in the immediate area, those within our predesignated radius of 3-4 hours and some farther programs reachable by commuter flights. Then the interview invites came in - and kept coming in - and kept coming in. Each one brought, and still brings, the same sense of complete and utter surprise and astonishment. Each one still makes me stop in awe and think that someone actually wants me - not someone else but me.
And here we are the second week in October and I have been on 6 interviews already with many more scheduled. So far this season I have received 31 interview invites - I have scheduled most of them but not all of them. Not too bad for the person who a little over 5 years ago thought that this would be impossible and she would never be here and would never realize this dream
I am so incredibly blessed - and am still incredibly blessed. I get to spend the rest of my life doing what I was meant to do which also happens to be what I love.
But I can not believe that it is already October - this year is flying by. And interviews and travel make it go so much faster. So to those behind me I say buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Well that can be answered by one simple question - I am matching family medicine with an intention to complete a sports medicine fellowship once I have finished with the three years of family. In the end I know I am making the right choice for both me and my family and I have picked the right career for me personally as well. I am so excited to start next June - but before I can get there I have to survive match.
You know what - no one tells you how crazy this process is. All I heard last year from my fourth year friends (who are now interns) was how fast this year went. Of course they would say that about every year ahead of me - but in this case I do have to say they were 100% correct.
I submitted ERAS on 8/3 - late by many standards since the osteopathic match opened up 7/1- and that is when the craziness began.
I will fully admit I came into this match process and into interview season expecting a few interviews here and there - but I was expecting a whole lot of silence and rejections. In retrospect I think it was the sheer process of getting here that I still carry with me. That student was still there - the one who was repeatedly told she would not get here, the one who was told she had no chance, the one who was rejected so many times or heard nothing so many times that it came to be what she expected. Instead two days after I submitted my application I received my very first interview invite! I was so excited - someone actually wanted ME - which absolutely shocked me. After all, I am nothing special or spectacular - I am simply me. I did average in my classes - mostly B's with a few scattered A's and a couple of C's but no failures. I scored slightly above national average on COMLEX Step 1, ditto to Step 2 CS and passed Step 2 PE. When I looked at my classmates who are applying with me I felt, and I still feel, remarkably deficient. I did not do as much volunteer work - the things I did I did while I was at school because I wanted to leave after school time for home and family time. I was not as involved in organizations as some of my counterparts - I just feel rather under qualified. My running joke while I was doing the dance with the personal statement and what it was going to say was that it would consist of two simple sentences which spoke the truth:
"I survived medical school with three children.
That is all."
Obviously, my final personal statement consisted of much more than those two sentences but I digress. I applied to programs in the immediate area, those within our predesignated radius of 3-4 hours and some farther programs reachable by commuter flights. Then the interview invites came in - and kept coming in - and kept coming in. Each one brought, and still brings, the same sense of complete and utter surprise and astonishment. Each one still makes me stop in awe and think that someone actually wants me - not someone else but me.
And here we are the second week in October and I have been on 6 interviews already with many more scheduled. So far this season I have received 31 interview invites - I have scheduled most of them but not all of them. Not too bad for the person who a little over 5 years ago thought that this would be impossible and she would never be here and would never realize this dream
I am so incredibly blessed - and am still incredibly blessed. I get to spend the rest of my life doing what I was meant to do which also happens to be what I love.
But I can not believe that it is already October - this year is flying by. And interviews and travel make it go so much faster. So to those behind me I say buckle up and enjoy the ride.
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