Good luck to all with upcoming match. Fingers crossed for DS S/O. they are vacationing on another continent, so delayed cascaded communication for us.
@WayOutWestMom . I vaguely recall a conversation with DS about scrub cap vs bouffant and institution preference. Can’t recall if there was some controversy going on around that. I’ll PM you
The disposable ones are bouffant with elastic all the way. Cloth ones are a traditional tied-in-the-back style. So there may be an institutional preference there for disposable vs multi-use.
@learninginprog Bold move. Are they coming back for Match Day?
Truthfully I don’t blame them for traveling, though. The waiting is stressful. Both my kidlets traveled internationally while waiting for Match results to come back.
Lol about the scrub caps! My DD mentioned them just last night. She will be in next years match and is leaning towards anesthesiology.
Both where I went to med school and where I am now have disposable head covers in both the cap and bouffant styles.
Are you matched or not(and go to SOAP)? I am sure everyone here has already got the answer.
Congrats to everyone.
@artloversplus Congratulations to your D.
Thank you, D with 14 IIs, I am not worried. BTW, she ROLed every II she went, she does not want to go SOAP. 
It is my pocket still feel soar, I think we spent at least 10K just for her interviews.
Tiers in residency.
After 6 months nail biting, sleepless nights for residency IIs, THE match is finally over. DW is the backup for DD’s Residency II coordination, so, even we were on a cruise ship, DW had to keep on looking at the emails and respond to them.
In retrospect, I can classify the residency programs into the following tiers. I look forward to your comments.
Tier I, The top 20 University Teaching Hospitals. I do not know how can some one match into those programs, they must be super duper students.
Tier 2, All other University Teaching Hospitals and Top Community Hospitals and Hospitals that are Med school Affiliated, in this category it is mostly dominated by MD graduates, few DOs can qualify.
Tier 3, General Community Hospitals, this is open to all applicants, some FMG and USIMG will qualify.
Tier 4, Small Community Hospitals in less desirable locations, they take in all applicants, FMGs and USIMGs are welcome. It has the most SOAP openings.
Each specialty has a tier structure like above and the II is pretty rigid based on your score and LORs. So lets say you are in specialty X with a score Y, if you qualify for Tier 3, it is Very Hard to break into Tier 2, it is out of the question for Tier 1.
In my observation, it looks like where do you go to school also matters. A HarvardSOM graduate will be picked for better residencies, for example.
@artloversplus as with anything else, remember, there are future doctors who actually WANT to practice at community hospitals. And those community hospitals need practitioners in lots of different specialties as well,as primary care.
Your Harvard SOM graduate isn’t going to have a lot of success matching at your “top tier residencies” if their Step scores are low.
Yes, every one has his own goals. But based on what I read, it all has to do with the future job locations and quality and pay.
When I reference HarvardSom graduates, I was referring to the same level of scores and slors. Better school graduates will be picked for better residency if everything else is equal.
I really disagree with your tiers and their descriptions of them. But I am going to bother to argue with you. But a lot of what you said has not been my experience at all.
SMH.
There is actually a trade off between rural vs city practices. Many rural area doctors we know make a lot more money than their city counter parts. There is a trade off in terms of life styles and friends for doctors from other countries (not enough of their own kind in a small town to hang out with) but i know specialists in houston who were offered a lot more money (beginning career, twice for a cardiologist) to practice in smaller places like Lufkin, Nacodoches etc.
Old news. This has been true for decades.
it ties back to accepting rural residencies.
Wishing everyone a Happy Match Day!
And remember, even it the name inside the envelope wasn’t exactly what you were hoping for, you’re going to be doctor!
Thank you for the well wishes
What do residents want most?
Time.
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner here, folks!
Sent my intern a gift card for Merry Maid cleaning services for her b-day. She was thrilled. Said it was one of best gifts ever. (She also got a gift card for dinner at favorite restaurant and a pair of custom scrub caps.)
@WayOutWestMom, my parents gave us monthly cleanings through Merry Maid’s this year. I agree, best gift ever.
^^^ Based on where D is going to be, her salary really cannot afford the rent, it looks like we will be give her a 4 year long “gift” of rent subsidies, everything else is just icing on the cake.
D1 and D2 both are in residencies in high COL areas—and they have found a way to subsidize their rent. It’s called roommates.
D1 has had one or more roommates ever since she moved out of her tiny studio w/ the ridiculous utilities bills.
D2 has had a roomie from day 1 of residency. Most of her classmates house-share with 1-4 other roommates.