As a residency applicant, it’s easy to focus on trying to be the most desirable applicant possible. Remember, though, that you are interviewing the programs just as much as they are interviewing you! You also need to try to learn which programs will be the best fit for you, both in terms of academics/training, and in terms of the environment.
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Our last interview-season post focused on putting your best foot forward as an applicant in a remote residency interview (Zoom, Skype, etc). Today we are talking about how you, as the interviewee, can glean as much information as possible about the programs you are considering, despite the limitations of remote interviewing. It may sound strange, but with a little bit
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Yes, we know, COVID has changed so many things about life (and work) across the country, and residency interviews may be the next casualty. As we avoid crowds, strangers, and airplanes, it appears that the annual tradition of buying a scratchy black suit and spending your savings flying across the country to schlep around a series of hospitals with a
» Read moreOriginally published 16 October 2016, Updated 27 September 2020 Continuing on our theme of “things I wish I had known when I was interviewing for residency,” let’s talk about thank you notes. Everyone tells you that you need to send thank you notes every time you interview, to every person who interviews. Let’s talk a little bit more about how
» Read moreAs you may have noticed, the site was down for most of the past week. This was the result of a slightly rocky transition to a new hosting company, which we hope will make the site faster, more stable, and more secure (note our new HTTPS, indicating an SSL). We are back up and running now, and hope that the
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Hey everyone! You may have already read my other posts on physical fitness training at COT, and how to prepare. I think it’s important to mention that there has been a shift in how the initial PT test is treated. Several years ago, if you failed the “diagnostic” PT test that you take at the beginning of COT, you might
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Flexible Spending Account Basics If you have dependents who need care while you are at work, and you are getting ready to start a civilian job, you need to know about Flexible Spending Accounts, or FSAs – a way to help you cover the costs of taking care of your dependents while you work. If you already know all about
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Residency brings a lot of firsts: first admission, first discharge, first actual orders, first prescriptions, and for a lot of people, their first real paycheck. When you go through your hospital’s new employee orientation, they’ll talk to you about saving some of that paycheck for retirement. You’ll most likely have at least one option presented by Human Resources, as well as others
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Continuing our theme of housing and home-buying topics for folks who are getting ready to start residency, let’s consider another common question: how far should I live from the hospital? Of course, as with anything else, it depends. Let’s look at a few of the factors to consider. Commute Time It’s important to remember that as a resident you will
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Now that we have talked a little bit about whether you should buy a house and the types of mortgages available, we will review some key terms that you will need to be familiar with in order to understand the detailed explanations of each kind of mortgage which are coming up in the next several posts. Amortization When you take
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