On the Interview Trail

It has been an absolutely crazy 2 months. In addition to my regular work schedule I have gone on 4 fellowship interviews, flying from Milwaukee to Memphis, Nashville, and Durham trying to find our next home. It has been an interesting experience, the hematology-oncology programs that I have visited are so different! So here's the recap.

I started off the adventure at Vanderbilt... it their children's hospital that is pictured to the left. I had a very frustrating lay-over/delay in Cincinnati so I didn't get to my hotel room until 1am the night before the interview and the program director picked me up for breakfast at 7:30am! Though I was feeling a bit sleepy and also had a bizarre case of vertigo, I very much enjoyed my day. Fellowship interviews, I have learned, are grueling days. I started with the director and then had a series of 8 interviews with a break in the middle to have lunch with the current fellows. When I was finally finished, my medical school roommate and her husband picked me up. They live in Lexington, KY so we planned a whole weekend together and Ari flew in that night. Nashville is such a fun town! We ate at tons of great restaurants, spent some time shopping, and mostly enjoyed catching up with our old friends who are actually also considering moving to the area.

Next stop, Memphis to interview at St. Jude. I have a special tie to this hospital because of the 3 months I spent doing research their in medical school. It is an amazing place to be if you are a hematologist-oncologist because they do cutting edge research, they even have a Nobel prize winner, and they treat all children despite their ability to pay for the care... which is not cheap! I enjoyed revisiting the city... my first stop was Rendezvous which has the best BBQ in the city. Then it was another full day of interviews. It was nice to actually know some of the people there.

My third interview was here in Milwaukee. This was the strangest day because I already know all of the staff and they know me. It was a lot of learning about their research interests and hearing about the fellowship intracacies. Though I have had a great experience here in residency, I think it is time to move on.

A couple of days ago I returned from Duke. This was a surprising day. I actually did not think that I was going to enjoy the program, but I actually loved it. The staff was warm and friendly... and surprisingly young. They do great research and Durham is beautiful! I spent an extra day down there just because I had never been to the city. The Duke campus is amazing and the area is very interesting because of the four universities in the area. The weather was perfect, too.

So now I just have one interview left in Cincinnati. I am not so excited about the city but their children's hospital is one of the best in the country. After I am finished I will have to make my rank list and wait for May 9th which is match day... cross your fingers for me!