Virginia and Nebraska

I had a brief stop off in my home town before heading back out to my away rotation. That gives me a quick chance to update the site.

My flight to Virginia took off at 5:00 AM. It is a small airport so the nice lady who checked me in was also in charge of de-icing the plane.



By the time I got to Charlottesville it was dark so the next few pictures I took during the day.

I had never been to UVA so I was in for a real treat. As soon as I got to town I headed down to campus to a place called the Lawn. I had no idea about the history of the University but I learned a lot while I was there.

The Lawn is Thomas Jefferson's design for the University. The idea was to have professors living in houses rimmed on either side by student housing. The housing would form a big U shaped structure with a lawn in the middle. At the lowpoint of the U is a large library.



Here you can see a professors house surrounded on either side by student housing.



When I got there I could smell the smoke rising from the chimneys. Every room has a fireplace and they have wood stacked outside each room.



Imagine the same scene only at night. It was so pretty it was almost like I was in a dream. There was a reception in one of the 'professors' houses. I am not sure they are used for that purpose anymore but the students still live in the student housing. In fact it is quite an honor to be chosen to live in one of the rooms.

Surrounding the Lawn is a large ring of gardens. I think I remember someone telling me that there are 18 gardens. Various gardening clubs keep them up and have contests to make each one unique. People come from all over the world to see them. Its the offseason but I took a picture of one anyway.



There is a University hospital that I didn't get any pictures of but there are also a lot of connected buildings that were very neat. Here are the outpatient clinics.



And here is the view down Hospital Drive -



I had 7 or 8 interviews, 20 minutes each and then I took a tour. The only internal pictures I got didn't turn out very well. I did manage to get a picture of the plaque outside of UVA's microvascular lab.



The medical campus is incorporated into the undergraduate campus, so there are a lot of college town type eateries etc around.



The afternoon after the interviews I went out to one of our country's treasures.



Do you recognize that building? I'll give you a hint. Look on the back of your nickle.





I am a History Channel junky so I was thrilled at the opportunity to tour Monticello. It was Thomas Jefferson's Home on the mountain. It is on top of a small mountain that he inherited from his wife's father. It is surrounded by woods.



I was afraid that it might not be the right time of year to tour but the weather was actually very pleasant and at least a few wildflowers think it is spring.



I walked around the grounds for a while before touring the house. I spotted Virginia's state bird - the cardinal.



The house was very neat on the inside but we weren't allowed to snap any pictures. I learned quite a bit about Jefferson, his times and his passions. As it turns out, back in olden times, they liked beer just as much as we do, and Jefferson had his own brewery right there on the property.



He also did a lot of research on the best way to garden and grow certain crops.



That night I ate BBQ at Wolfie's. I was going to go out and check out more of the town but I was exhausted so I just went to bed.

I also went to the University of Nebraska, but I forgot my camera in the car. I met a lot of great people and saw the facilities. I would say more but again, I am exhausted and I'm going to bed. Tomorrow its a 6 hour drive back to the boonies to my away rotation.

3 pieces of News

1) I got a letter from the CAS announcing what we all knew - that 3 programs have dropped out of the match. UCSF, UMDNJ and CC-Florida. It also said that those programs are responsible for refunding the $25 and gave contact numbers. They can keep my $25.

2) I got an offer from U Tenn Memphis today. The other one I got earliers was UT Memphis Chat division. I'm not sure what to do.

3) Definately one of the most hilarious moments of the match so far:
I got a rejection letter from Pitt that was meant for someone else!!! It had his name on it and everything.
This reminds me of when I was applying for medical school. I got a rejection letter from University of Washington saying how they had carefully read my application and had considered its strongpoints blah blah blah. The funny thing is, I never applied there. Go figure.

Temple Revisited

I got an email today that someone dropped the day that I requested for interview so there is an open spot now. I am headed to Miami the weekend of March 19th, and the flight is actually cheaper if I fly to Temple first and then to Miami. I can't figure it out but it looks like it was meant to be so I am going to Temple on the 18th.

Non-Specific Angst

I'm sure everyone has the same worries that I do right now. I have interviews arranged and everything is set. The problem is that there are no givens in the match. No matter how many interviews you do it doesn't seem to make a difference. I have met people with 12, 14 and 17 interviews that did not match last year. All outstanding people and all ideal candidates.

I don't really know how to look at the prospect of not matching except to realize that it is a possibility. Think about it for a second, 3 out of 4 of us won't match. So the first step is to really believe that you probably won't match.

It would really be awesome if I was lucky and matched this year. Unfortunately my track record has not been like that. It always seems that I have to claw my way into whatever it is I want. As a result I have learned a certain amount of caution when discussing hopes and plans with people. My advice to everyone is to let your family and friends know exactly how unlikely it is that you will match. At least if you don't match they will know the odds you were facing.

Second, I would have a backup plan in place. For me there is nothing but plastic surgery, so my plan involves fighting on. I will try to get a hand fellowship and reapply.

The beauty of believing that it could happen to you is that you jump ahead in the whole grief process and hopefully just start with anger. Pissed-off power has helped me through some tough times and given me the energy to keep going. I suppose everyone is different though and it may not work for you.

Anyway I'm off to Virginia this weekend. I can't wait to see everyone and I hope to meet a lot of new people.

Apathy

I don't know why but today I am having serious apathy towards checking the email/mailbox. I have spent just about all the energy I care to on calling programs, scheduling interviews etc. I have this overwhelming feeling that 15 is enough. I really do not want to cancel any of the plans I have already made, so if I schedule any more interviews it is going to have to be a perfect situation. As far as I am concerned, the offer season is over barring something earthshattering.

Temple

I got the invite from Temple but I have already scheduled interviews at other places for all of the days they have open. Oh well.

Louisville and Loyola

I just got back from Louisville and Chicago. My flight has a long layover in my home city, so I got a chance to stop at the house for a while and update my website.

The first thing I did when I got into Louisville was check in at my hotel. I didn't stay at the recommended cushy hospital because I had an immediate flight and I didn't want to leave getting to the airport to chance. So I rented a car but the extra cost forced me to stay in a flophouse north of the river in Indiana. All was well though because it allowed me to explore the north side of the river.



The river is dammed right at Louisville and the dam was massive. It was quite impressive to see such a massive river contained at one point.



The night before the interview I ate at a BBQ place called Mark's Feed Store. I highly recommend stopping in if you are in Louisville. It is a BBQ joint that was made out of an old feed store. The ambiance was unique to say the least and the food was excellent.

I could only get a few pictures of the campus and it was early in the morning. This building houses the hand care center. They have one of the world's only hand dedicated ER's.



The residents rotate through the University hospitals as well as this local hospital which is right there on campus.



I enjoyed my visit very much and learned a lot about the program. After the interview I flew up to Chicago. I arrived late so I didn't do a whole lot except stop off at Portillo's for an Italian Beef and Sausage Combo. If you're from Chicago you will know exactly what I am talking about, and if not, you should try one some day.

I stayed with a cousin up in Lincoln Park. Although public transportation doesn't take you to the doors of Loyola, it gets you close. I got up early and went to the Clark/Lake El station to catch the blue line.





The Blue line gets you out to Forest Park but then you have to take a short Bus Ride on the Pace 308 to the hospital. It took about an hour to get out there from Lincoln Park but it only cost $1.75 and a cab ride would have been ridiculously expensive ($40-50) and at least 1/2 hour. It is a little more trouble to take public transportation but if you are on a budget like me I would highly recommend looking into it.

One of my friends always rents a car and he rented one for $16. That is also a good idea if you are not planning on going or staying downtown, because parking down there is ridiculous if it exists at all.



The Loyola interview was great and to the point. I was done by noon and I had the rest of the day and evening to bum around Chicago.

Pitt is out

Pitt sent out offers yesterday via email. I didn't hear anything so I am assuming no interest.

Lets get going

I'm getting ready for Louisville/Loyola this weekend. Its been like a month since I interviewed anywhere. I can't wait. Every weekend from now until April is an interview weekend. A lot of those weekends I will do 2 interviews, and on a couple I added another one for Monday. Unfortunately I am out in BFE right now away from my computer so I won't be able to post the pictures from each place for a while. No word from any other programs but I haven't checked regular mail today.

Vanderbilt

I got the offer from Vanderbilt today. It came through the mail. It was dated Jan 28th but my mail is being forwarded to me right now. Look on a map of the United States for the most isolated place in the continental US. That is where I am. I am literally 6 hours from anything. Oh well. Its only till the end of March then I am back to the home institution.

It sounds like they are very flexible on dates so hopefully I will be able to arrange something. 15. Thats a nice round number. Much better sounding than 14.

20 left

I heard a bad-bad-bad rumor today, and it is probably true. CC-Florida might have stepped out of the match for reasons unknown. That is too bad because I really wanted to check that place out.

21 left

Here are some programs that I know have offered interviews and I have not heard from them yet:

Mayo
Cincinnati
Temple
Vanderbilt
Christus St. Joseph's

I am going to assume that those are rejections or at best I am a second stringer there (in which case I am not going to interview there) so I will scratch those off the list.

I have 14 interviews arranged and I am not sure if I can do anymore, so unless something earthshattering comes in for an offer with no conflicts, I am done.