<p>^^ I assume that the number of total applicants includes IMGs as well as domestic US applicants.</p>
<p>I agree with Miami’s D. Med school has been great, but I’m excited to move on. Not necessarily thrilled about being an intern, but whatever, I’ll survive. I think an additional degree would be appealing if someone else paid for it, but I just can’t justify going into even more debt to get an additional degree. Holy smokes, can’t the MD be “enough”? Hopefully for this midwesterner interested in internal medicine, MD will do the trick.</p>
<p>Hey kristin! Welcome back!</p>
<p>D1 feels the same way you do. No research year, no additional degree. She’s already looking at another 5-7 years before she’ll have a “real” job and doesn’t want to delay any longer than she needs to. </p>
<p>OTOH, D2 is already talking about a MPH in epidemiology/biostatistics and a MS in translation research to go with her MD. Oy!</p>
<p>MD is what my D. wants also, she is the same as you, kristin. As of now, she does not care about any fellowship, research opportunities, whatever…she wants to be done and work with patients. that is where her passion, she loves to be in a hospital / clinics, especially when actually working with patients. There are things that bother her (primarily "political’ side of business since medicine is a business no matter how you look at it). Although she is not planning to go into internal medicine, it will be a big part of her 4th year and residency. She is also hoping to stay in midwest and actually staying where she is now probably will be the best for her.</p>
<p>IMO My kid’s “5th year” (research year) is a luxury and I doubt it is justifiable in any “cost benefit” analysis. That being said, it was a great idea. For her. Comparatively, it is a stress-free year to reflect, re-charge, re-group, re-invigorate, revise, re-connect, and reassess. Her school’s thesis requirement and the %-age of kids taking a 5th year was a known quantum coming in. It factored in her choice.</p>
<p>I believe the 5th year goes a long way in explaining the “favorable” match lists coming from her school but since she is more location focused this time around, that “benefit” has or may have lessened. Still, I’m pleased she did it. </p>
<p>Her school is very generous with need-based aid and although FA in this 5th year and MS4 is almost opaque to me (She chose, upon recommendation from FA, to pay half of her tuition this year and half next. What???) I think I calculated that with her “earnings” from her paid research gig she will accrue only a few thousand in additional debt. But I still don’t understand how that happens. </p>
<p>They give her money
but take some away
divide by two
and</p>
<p>…uhhh…
skip to my Lou?</p>
<p>Or maybe I got lost halfway through. ;)</p>
<p>Delivered a baby today! Happy birthday, cute little red head :)</p>
<p>Yippee…Happy Birthday from another ginger!
Okay, blonde now but whatever. :)</p>
<p>I agree that Research is more or less stress free. For that reason, D. has split her Research rotation into 2, 2 months in each so that she has a break between other rotations. I am not looking forward at all for January - back into hospital after the last 2 months of Research, no more Research break for her, it has been nice and peaceful…It has been NO money coming in at all, except a big surprise for one of her ECs, not time-consuming at all, but $500 award is a drop in a bucket…
Congrats, kristin! I cannot imagine how wonderful it must feel!! D. has not been to OBGYN yet, way ahead, not even the next one, which is IM.
Research break was nice to focus a bit on residency. D. has compiled a list (spreadsheet), but has only 44, all in Midwest. Debating about adding more. The number of applications is totally confusing. And adding to that, she has to figure out criteria for selection of her Transitional places. In addition, we cannot find the ilst of Prelim. programs (she might apply to few ). Anybody had a better luck with that? I mean Prelim.(1 year), vs Transitional (have the list of Transitional)</p>
<p>Do MS3 students tend to study (in the “traditional” sense, meaning studying by reading the books) less than MS2 students, especially during the break? I believe DS was more stressed out on studying this time of the year last year.</p>
<p>It appears that DS has more time doing something else that is fun for him during this break. This includes something fun like upgrading the OS on his computer, and installing some “fun” software – some games and the “Logic” on Mac, if you happen to know what it is, during this winter break. He even brought his small amp from the school. I do not think there are many students who would bother to carry this kind of (slightly heavy) stuff back and forth between school and home. I guess he hunt down some computer games for his “not-a-random” girl as her request. LOL.</p>
<p>I still could not figure out the difference between prelim. year vs transitional year. I asked DS about this difference the other day and he did not know either. But he is such a person who tends to tune out most info till the moment when he absoletely needs the info.</p>
<p>He seems to have said that he might only need to apply to 15-20 residency programs if he chooses to apply to IM (most likely choice as of today?), primary care or Emergency Care.</p>
<p>MS3s are doing clinical rotations, working with patients, they may have a rotation like surgery where they are arriving home at 10pm, back at 4AM and needing read up each night on patients plus a final exam for which to study for. Crazy busy. Some rotations are much much easier in terms of time in the clinic and time studying, so variable experiences month to month.</p>
<p>RE: preliminary year vs transitional year.</p>
<p>I think this is how it works–</p>
<p>Some specialties do not accept students directly into residency. Students must complete internship year first. The intern year could be in either a preliminary or transitional program. A categorical program accepts students directly into a specialty and has a preliminary/transitional year built in. Sometimes a categorical program will include a preliminary year at a location different from the location of the specialty residency.</p>
<p>Some specialties offer BOTH advanced positions (which require a prelim or transitional year first) and categorical positions (which don’t).</p>
<p>A transitional year provides general training in both medicine and surgery and will prepare students to enter any residency. </p>
<p>A preliminary year is either in surgery OR medicine. Those planning to enter a surgical residency program will take surgical prelim; those entering medicine residencies will take medical prelim.</p>
<p>Transitional/preliminary years are sometime used as ‘holding patterns’ for students who don’t immediately match into the specialty they want, or need a year to improve their applications for the specialty they want, or sometimes simply because they haven’t yet made up their minds.</p>
<p>Preliminary and transitional programs require interviewing and matching just like categorical positions do.</p>
<p>Thanks for the explanation. It makes more senses to me now.</p>
<p>Sent off DS at the airport this morning.</p>
<p>The school will not start for several days. Because the airfare is lower now than during this weekend or early next week, he flies back now. After we have moved, the distance becomes longer.</p>
<p>On his flight back home, he had the connection flight at the airport he used to fly into/from. He said that, at that moment, he felt that if he could just go back to the old home instead of continuing flying, it would be great. After all, that is the airport he is most familiar with, because he flied back home during almost all breaks (except one) in college.</p>
<p>I heard that the next few rotations will likely be even more challenging, at least physically. I think he saves the “difficult” ones in the second semester. I heard he has online ordered the shoes (Dansko?) for his surgery rotation.</p>
<p>He said he tried to work out early in the morning, because he would like to have something to look forward to so he would be more motivated to get up early. (Quite a twisted logic to me. But I could see the “results” of his workout.) Now that the surgery rotation starts even earlier, he may need to go to bed and wake up even earlier.</p>
<p>Also hope he could get other things (that could upset him) in order before the school starts.</p>
<p>He should be able to ask for OOS rotations near home.</p>
<p>^ Somehow he believes that once he is a NE person, he will likely continue to be a NE person.</p>
<p>texaspg, If you want your D to be in-state in the future, try to persuade her to stay in-state for med school. This will likely be your best chance.</p>
<p>While he’s with us during this holiday, we tried to show (in a very implicit way) him that the dating pool here is much larger than that near his school’s area. Hope it could have some influence on him about his future selection of residency locations. LOL.</p>
<p>D1 has been robbed 3 times now since Thanksgiving. Her iphone was stolen from her staff-only locker at Hospital A where she was doing a clinical rotation. Her iPad was stolen by a patient’s companion while she conducting a patient exam in Hospital B 2 weeks ago. And today at Hospital C, her staff locker was broken into while she was assisting at surgery (front of locker was kicked in) and her wallet w/ credit & debit cards and IDs were all taken–including a sweet amount of cash I had given her for Christmas to buy herself comfy shoes and mountaineering boots. (D1 had just gotten her replacement credit card yesterday because someone accessed her CC number and ran up couple of thousand in fraudulent charges before she even realized the iPad was missing because she was still in the exam room with the patient.) </p>
<p>May we all have good will toward our fellow man .</p>
<p>WOWmom, that is terrible. I believe Apple devices have some sort of tracking service, so at least the authorities might have some help in hunting down the culprits. [Apple</a> - iCloud - Find My iPhone, iPad, and Mac.](<a href=“http://www.apple.com/icloud/find-my-iphone.html]Apple”>iCloud+ - Find My - Apple)</p>
<p>Yes, she used tracking for her iPhone, but it couldn’t isolate a location for the phone. Probably because cell phone service was spotty to non-existent in and around Hospital A. Then the signal disappeared. Suspect whoever took it swapped out the sim chip.</p>
<p>Not sure about the iPad.</p>
<p>wowmom - sorry to hear about your daughter going through so many thefts. Don’t these hospitals have some security around lockers?</p>
<p>mcat2 - we wont get to the decision bridge for two more years. In the end, I am ok with moving if both kids end up in the same region. Anyway, I am under the impression the students have away rotations. Where is your son planning them?</p>
<p>wowmom, Sorry to hear your D1’s misfortune.</p>
<p>texaspg, I do not think DS has any plan for this. </p>
<p>
Once we semi-joked with DS that after we retire, we will move closer to where he may end up with – so he could take care of us when we get older. We make sure to mention that we will not live in the same house with him. He did not protest.</p>