One of my favorite games growing up was The Game of Life. In today's gaming lingo, "the graphics were stunning and the game-play intense" (for a board game). You got your own station wagon, you picked up color-coded plastic kids along the way that looked like mushrooms, and the whole dizzying game board was crowned with a noisy roulette-like number wheel nestled in a peaceful mountain valley of green plastic. As the serious gamers might recall, the game begins with landing a career. Right off the bat you are faced with a choice: Either off to college, or bypass the co-eds and get a quicker crack at the rest of your future. If you wisely choose college, your future job and subsequent earning potential is determined by a lucky (lawyer) or not-so-lucky (Wal-Mart associate-equivalent) spin of the rainbow colored number wheel. Countless spins, scenic plastic mountain passes, and a station wagon or two full of peg-kids later, the game culminates in retirement: Go for the glory of the mansion or peacefully wile away the rest of your days in a modest jungle hut as a philanthropist. In the end, it always seemed the outcome of the game was determined by the career choices made so many spins ago.
All of this reminiscing has a point. Brianna and I are quickly approaching the crossroads of making what feels like one of those big life decisions. The residency match program deadline deciding where we will spend the next 3-6 years is just around the corner (our rank list is due in February, Match Day is March 17th). The reality that the decisions we make now will have lifelong ramifications adds a feeling of almost solemnity to the decision making process. We haven't felt like this since I somehow convinced Brianna into marrying me! However, it is an extremely exciting time as well. We have the luxury of getting to chose (or at least get a bit of say) in what part of the country to call home. I have finished interviewing at all the programs and now it is decision time.
So we are taking votes. In no particular order other than alphabetical order by state, we are considering (affiliated university in parenthesis):
1. Diamond Children's Medical Center (University of Arizona) in Tucson, Arizona
2. Phoenix Children's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona
3. Brenner Children's Hosptial (Wake Forest University) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
4. Nationwide Children's Hospital (The Ohio Statue University) in Columbus, Ohio
5. Doernbecher Children's Hospital (Oregon Health Sciences University) in Portland, Oregon
6. MUSC Children's Hospital (Medical University of South Carolina) in Charleston, South Carolina
7. Primary Children's Medical Center (The University of Utah) in Salt Lake City Utah
8. Univeristy of Virginia Pediatrics (University of Virginia) in Charlottesville, Virginia
9. Children's National Medical Center (George Washington University) in Washington DC
Check out my nifty residency map below for geographical reference or to check out the hospitals logos (Note...you can't judge a residency program by it's cover).
Thoughts, advice, warnings, and (for Lance) bribes in favor or against any of the programs are welcome and accepted!
In the end, I think the genius lesson found in Milton Bradley's board game masterpiece will apply: It really is all about just enjoying the ride and the view of the green plastic mountains, regardless of how the spins come out.
So we are taking votes. In no particular order other than alphabetical order by state, we are considering (affiliated university in parenthesis):
1. Diamond Children's Medical Center (University of Arizona) in Tucson, Arizona
2. Phoenix Children's Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona
3. Brenner Children's Hosptial (Wake Forest University) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
4. Nationwide Children's Hospital (The Ohio Statue University) in Columbus, Ohio
5. Doernbecher Children's Hospital (Oregon Health Sciences University) in Portland, Oregon
6. MUSC Children's Hospital (Medical University of South Carolina) in Charleston, South Carolina
7. Primary Children's Medical Center (The University of Utah) in Salt Lake City Utah
8. Univeristy of Virginia Pediatrics (University of Virginia) in Charlottesville, Virginia
9. Children's National Medical Center (George Washington University) in Washington DC
Check out my nifty residency map below for geographical reference or to check out the hospitals logos (Note...you can't judge a residency program by it's cover).
Thoughts, advice, warnings, and (for Lance) bribes in favor or against any of the programs are welcome and accepted!
In the end, I think the genius lesson found in Milton Bradley's board game masterpiece will apply: It really is all about just enjoying the ride and the view of the green plastic mountains, regardless of how the spins come out.