So I just sent out am email explaining to family our big adventure this year and thought I might post here for friends to get the just as well. It can be really confusing.
This is Brian's final year of medical school. In May there will be a graduation ceremony where he will be capped and given his doctorate. As many of you know he is away living across the county until November. This year he is continuing his "on the job" training in a variety of specialties. Last year he did transplant surgery, orthopedic surgery, family medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, obgyn, orthopedic oncology, and pediatrics. After several years :) in school and going through those specialities he has finally decided on a career.... General surgery ( possibly specializing in transplant surgery).
So on to why he is gone for months. The beginning of this year he has what is called audition rotations or away rotations. Basically it is a month long job interview where he can check out the program, hospitals, and surgeons he would be working with. He chose to check out four programs in Tulsa OK, Farmington Hills MI, Des Moines IA, and Dayton OH. In the coming weeks he will finish his applications for all the places he would like to be hired across the county.
November Brian will resume working in Kansas City until May. November and December are interview months. During those months he will hear back from some of or all of the places he had applied to. Then he will travel to interview with the directors and faculty for the hospitals in the survey department. After interviews have finished we will put in order 1 to 20 (or however many we applied) from our most desired to least.
Now comes the crazy confusing part. In the spring there is THE MATCH it is basically a lottery for all doctors across the country. Every doctor will put their desired programs in order of desire. Also every hospital will put in order their picks for hiring as they sort through their interviewers. So there are two lists: one from applicants and one from hospitals. All are put into a computer program which tries to generate as many "matches" as possible.
So on MATCH DAY everyone across the country is sent an email with where they were assigned to go. So as to where we are going we have some control because we pick where we apply. Also we can pick our top picks. Other then that we are at the mercy of the match. We won't have any idea where we go until then. (For those who are lds, it is like a mission call all over, we open the letter and see where we are headed for the next 5 to 7 years.)
So what is Brian applying for? The next stage is residency. After May graduation Brian is officially Dr. Bergstrom, yeah. However he has chosen a specialty that requires a lot of additional training. Residency for his will last 5 years. Wherever we match to we will move and Brian will work for that hospital training as a general surgeon. The first year has several names. It is called first year residency, intern year, or pgy1 (post grad year 1). Depending on who you talk to they will call it something different. After that it is usually just called residency or pgy-whatever year.
After Brian's five year residency he may decide to continue training again and specialize even further. Right now that is our plan but who knows how we will feel after five years. If he does it will be the same process of applying and matching but for a two year contract. After ALL of this is over he will get his first post training job. At that point we may move yet again to settle and build his practice.
Whew that is a lot of info. So basically we don't know where we are going and everything is up in the air. On the upside Brian is LOVING surgery and gaining so much from each place he visits. We are so proud of him and even though we have a long road ahead of us we are ready for the journey together.
I hope that this helps explain what we are in the thick of and why we might be stressed or hard to reach.
If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.
