Making our list, and checking it twice....

[this is a long, boring post with no pictures]

Well, the day is here.. tomorrow our ROL (rank order list) is due.  Remember all those residency interviews Garrett did during Nov/Dec/Jan?  Now we get to list them all in order of how much we would like to go to those programs.

With 18 radiology programs in the running, it's very confusing and overwhelming.  When Garrett first started interviewing, I spoke with him at the end of each interview, questioning him about every aspect of each program and keeping careful notes, because I knew it would all get confusing in the end.  However, about 1/3 of the way into interview season, Garrett got pretty burned out and they all seemed to run together.  It was hard for him to really differentiate between some of the programs.  Some weeks he had 4 interviews in 4 different states.  It was a lot.

Now, as we sit together and discuss and compare programs, it hasn't gotten any easier.  How do you decide between 12 good programs? (I say 10 because there were about that many that he genuinely liked and would be happy at).  What criteria takes precedence when it comes to the ranking process?   In the end, it seems like the things that take the most precedence are:
1. strength of program
2. closeness to family (either side)
3. health insurance (a couple programs offer full "free" (no premium) coverage for the whole family
4. cost of living / real estate

Other things of importance: can Garrett wear scrubs every day?  any moonlighting opportunities?  historically, what is the resident pass rate for the boards? what is the weather like? is there good fishing there?  how nice/outgoing were the other residents?  how happy did they seem?  what is the call schedule like?

Salary is pretty comparable at each place.  It varies between a few thousand dollars, but when you factor in the cost of living, it all evens out pretty well.

Here's a little breakdown of our options... without giving too much away.

• 18 programs
• 11 different states
• mostly in the Southeast, but there are a few in the midwest and in AZ
• closest program to my family: 350 miles
• closest program to Garrett's family: umm.... much, much closer than 350 mi

Oh, AND... one other thing. Garrett isn't only applying to radiology programs.  If you do radiology, you need to do a "preliminary" year beforehand.  Garrett interviewed at 11 preliminary (or transitional, same thing) programs.  Under each and every radiology program that he ranks, he must "sub-rank" his preliminary programs.  Our prelim rank list is pretty similar under each radiology program, but they vary a bit depending on the location of the radiology program (i.e., some prelim programs are in the same cities as radiology programs that he interviewed at.  For example, under his Knoxville radiology rank, the prelim program in Knoxville is ranked higher than it is under other radiology programs).

Confused yet?

That's all I'll really say right now.... obviously, we are really stressed out about how to rank these programs but we seem to have a pretty solid list done.  It must be submitted and certified by tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9pm.  Wish us luck!!