peak interview time and scheduling a trip

[coconut lime]

i have a question about interviewing for residencies. i am a 3rd year planning to get married during april of my 4th year, right after the match. at my school we get about 8 weeks off during 4th year and i plan to use 4 weeks right after the match to get married. i also want to use 2 weeks earlier in the year to take care of some important wedding preparations, which unfortunately must be done out of the country. my question is, would it be unwise to leave the country for the 1st 2 weeks of october if i plan to get my applications all completed and sent out by that time? or is that a peak interviewing time and might i need to be in the country during then? ideally i'd like to have everything sent out (except LOR's, possibly) by early september, and then take the first 2 weeks of october off. is that possible?

thanks

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[Amy]

Yes, that shouldn't be a problem. Some programs do interview that early, but most don't start until at least November. Just make sure the programs can get a hold of you if they offer you interviews at that time.

 

[sdboy]

I agree with Amy. Just make sure you have email access where you go... just so you can accept interviews.

 

[questioner]

I'm doing that exact thing this year ... going to Latin America for the first two weeks of October. My ERAS is already in, minus the letters of rec, which will trickle in during October. Most programs don't seem to offer interviews until after the dean's letters are sent Nov 1st, but I'm leaving my husband with access to my email account and the authority to accept interviews while I'm gone just in case.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Shouldn't be a problem, however, doesn't this only leave you with 2 weeks off to interview? I suppose if all your interviews were centrally located (ie, you don't have to take a day to fly to your destination, a day or two (sometimes) to interview and fly back for each one), it might be enough time. Or are you allowed more time off for interviews?

 

[doc05]

Shouldn't be a problem, however, doesn't this only leave you with 2 weeks off to interview? I suppose if all your interviews were centrally located (ie, you don't have to take a day to fly to your destination, a day or two (sometimes) to interview and fly back for each one), it might be enough time. Or are you allowed more time off for interviews?

yes this sounds like a potential problem. and even if the are centrally located, how likely is it that she will be able to interview during a single 2-week block?

 

[coconut lime]

i understand what you guys are saying. considering i'm not even sure yet of what i want to go into, it makes it a little tough.....but regardless, right now i live in chicago and this is where my fiancee will be, and we are both hoping to be able to stay here for residency (he's a year behind me in med school). so i'll definitely apply to every program (in whatever field i choose) in chicago, plus some of the surrounding cities like milwaukee and madison. i guess that location is one of the most important things to me in choosing a residency, so i don't think i'll be applying anywhere much further than the midwest, even if it's a "better program."

but hypothetically, if everywhere i apply is in chicago (so i don't really have to worry about taking off significant time for interviews) is it feasible to leave the country for the first 2 weeks of october, without worrying about missing out on interviews? as one poster mentioned, i will leave my fiancee in charge of accepting interviews, thats a good idea.

here is a question (i don't know anythign about the app process, so please forgive me if the questions seem mundane): when a program invites you to interview, do they give you a bunch of dates, and you choose from them? does it hurt your chances if you choose something about 2 weeks later, rather than the first available? like when i interviewed for med school, i just said "first available" for everything, because i mostly applied around chicago. but i don't really know how it works for residency. it seems like if you wait those 2 weeks, you might miss out or something.

thanks again!!!

 

[Winged Scapula]

i understand what you guys are saying. considering i'm not even sure yet of what i want to go into, it makes it a little tough.....but regardless, right now i live in chicago and this is where my fiancee will be, and we are both hoping to be able to stay here for residency (he's a year behind me in med school). so i'll definitely apply to every program (in whatever field i choose) in chicago, plus some of the surrounding cities like milwaukee and madison. i guess that location is one of the most important things to me in choosing a residency, so i don't think i'll be applying anywhere much further than the midwest, even if it's a "better program."

but hypothetically, if everywhere i apply is in chicago (so i don't really have to worry about taking off significant time for interviews) is it feasible to leave the country for the first 2 weeks of october, without worrying about missing out on interviews? as one poster mentioned, i will leave my fiancee in charge of accepting interviews, thats a good idea.

here is a question (i don't know anythign about the app process, so please forgive me if the questions seem mundane): when a program invites you to interview, do they give you a bunch of dates, and you choose from them? does it hurt your chances if you choose something about 2 weeks later, rather than the first available? like when i interviewed for med school, i just said "first available" for everything, because i mostly applied around chicago. but i don't really know how it works for residency. it seems like if you wait those 2 weeks, you might miss out or something.

thanks again!!!

As mentioned earlier, most programs don't really get started interviewing until November, so taking off a couple of weeks early in October shouldn't be a problem.

Programs will either a) give you a few dates from which to choose or b) tell you when to come. Varies from program to program. Some suggest making your "favorite" program interviews somewhere in the middle - not so early that you're "green" but not too late when you're tired, they're tired and you really have to shine to look better than all the other candidates they've seen.