The 09/10 Couples Matching Support Group

[MrBurns10]

I'm bored, so I figured, why not make a thread that very few people care about?

This is a support group for all those who will be couples matching this coming year. In the spirit of mutual support, please answer:

1. What specialties are you and your partner pursuing?
2. Are you doing any away rotations together?
3. Do you know what area of the country you'd like to be in for residency?
4. Have you soiled your pants thinking about how stressful this process is going to be?

And of course, any questions you may have. I wish you all the best of luck! And if I'm the only one out there who will be couples matching, someone make something up so I don't feel so left out.

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[MrBurns10]

I gues I'll start to encourage answers.


1. Radiology and Anesthesiology (most likely). If we can find a Derm and an Ophtho couple out there, maybe we can quadruple match on the ROAD to happiness.
2. Sort of. We go to different med schools, so we're both going to try to do an away at each other's institution.
3. Preferably the South, but I'd go anywhere. Except North Dakota.
4. That's quite the personal question. You are blunt, aren't you? Well, if you must know, the answer is "only slightly....only slightly." (bonus points for whoever gets the reference)


And now for my question. One of the advisors at my school recommended NOT putting down on ERAS that you're couples matching because this may scare away programs who don't want to deal with that. Of course, when it comes time to submit the ROL, you would put it down then. My question is, if I don't put it down initially and then tell people at interviews that I'm couples matching to try to get my fiance an interview (or vice versa...yeah, far more likely vice versa), would they see this as lying by omission? What are you all planning on doing?

 

[87138]

4. That's quite the personal question. You are blunt, aren't you? Well, if you must know, the answer is "only slightly....only slightly." (bonus points for whoever gets the reference)

Man, no one else I know (besides myself) ever breaks out the Tom Tucker's Tickling Mustache line. Kudos.

Sorry I have nothing else to add here.

 

[njbmd]

Moved to Forum that deals with third and fourth year issues.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

We're couples matching in Neurology and Family Medicine. Since both aren't very competitive specialties, our process might be a little less stressful than yours. However, the reality is that the best neurology programs and the best family medicine programs are rarely in the same place, so that confounds our search a bit. The neuro programs I'm interested in are at major academic medical centers, and the best FM programs tend to be unopposed programs in rural hospitals. My fiance is a FM superstar, so she will be a great candidate at these places, which can be surprisingly competitive given the uncompetitive nature of FM overall.

We're both very interested in a few programs that happen to be spread over the nation. Interviewing will be a real b*tch. We're in the Southeast now, and even though there are some outstanding programs down here, we both feel the need to branch out and try to get training elsewhere. I am planning on doing several away rotations, and so far we have one rotation we hope to do together (UVA - it's not exactly getting out of our geographic bubble, but it has amazing Neuro and FM programs colocated there).

I'm definitely worried about the couples match. It's nice to see other people on here who are planning on doing it next year. I've heard that you need to apply to as many big cities as possible to maximize the number of permutations you can put on your ROL. Unfortunately, big cities don't always have the sort of FM programs my girl is looking for. Our couples ROL may just be a series of combinations without clusters of programs in the same city. I guess I should really start worrying about that in 10 months or so and just get through away rotations and interviews for the time being.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

My question is, if I don't put it down initially and then tell people at interviews that I'm couples matching to try to get my fiance an interview (or vice versa...yeah, far more likely vice versa), would they see this as lying by omission? What are you all planning on doing?

I think it can only help you to be completely open about what you're planning on doing. From my conversations with people who have been through it, all the PDs are very cool with couples matches and don't view it as a negative. The best thing that can happen is that the PD at the program you're interviewing will talk to your fiance's PD and maybe that will increase your odds. The worst thing that can happen is nothing. I highly doubt that a program would rank you lower once they know your ROL is tied to someone else's.

 

[MrBurns10]

Man, no one else I know (besides myself) ever breaks out the Tom Tucker's Tickling Mustache line. Kudos.

rogerwilco FTW! I don't think there's a Family Guy reference I don't quote.

 

[MrBurns10]

I'm definitely worried about the couples match. It's nice to see other people on here who are planning on doing it next year. I've heard that you need to apply to as many big cities as possible to maximize the number of permutations you can put on your ROL. Unfortunately, big cities don't always have the sort of FM programs my girl is looking for. Our couples ROL may just be a series of combinations without clusters of programs in the same city. I guess I should really start worrying about that in 10 months or so and just get through away rotations and interviews for the time being.

The couples match (and the match in general) is stressful no matter what you're applying to. It sounds like it's going to be pretty complicated for you two just based on the differences in programs. How important is it for your fiancee to be at one of the more rural programs? If she went to a more academic center, does she feel that would hamper her education? I definitely agree with you about applying to a bunch of programs. We'll apply to all over the country, and I really would be happy to go anywhere. My fiance is a great applicant for anesthesiology, so hopefully he'll drag me into residency with him.

I also totally agree with you about letting the programs know you're couples matching. I think my advisor's point is that you should tell them that you're couples matching at the interview so that they can talk with the other department. But as far as the initial ERAS application goes, not to mention it because it may hurt your chances of getting an interview prior off the bat since they don't want to have to deal with the difficulties of coordinating with another program if they don't have to. It was a valid point. I'm just not sure what to do.

Best of luck to you guys

 

[obiwan]

My question is how important is it for the couple to be a wife/husband combination. For instance, I'm thinking about couples matching with my girlfriend but will that hurt us since we're not married?

I too am confused/nervous about the couples matching process.

 

[SoCuteMD]

My question is how important is it for the couple to be a wife/husband combination. For instance, I'm thinking about couples matching with my girlfriend but will that hurt us since we're not married?

I too am confused/nervous about the couples matching process.

There are lots of non-married couples who do it, but the perception may vary. The real issue is that people who couples match have a much higher risk of not matching at their first choice, and even composing a rank list is tough as it will likely represent a lot of compromises. If you're not engaged/married - is this relationship worth enough to you to make the sacrifice of not training at your "ideal" program?

 

[hsans23]

I am matching medicine and my bf is matching gas....exciting! This is a great thread. The question about indicating it on the initial app is a good one, I wasn't sure if that was an option or not. I am also curious when you are "locked in" to doing couples match - is it off the bat in July, or is it in February when ROLs are due (I am thinking the latter?). And how much CAN one applicant help out the other? We'll find out I guess.

 

[MrBurns10]

I am matching medicine and my bf is matching gas....exciting! This is a great thread. The question about indicating it on the initial app is a good one, I wasn't sure if that was an option or not. I am also curious when you are "locked in" to doing couples match - is it off the bat in July, or is it in February when ROLs are due (I am thinking the latter?). And how much CAN one applicant help out the other? We'll find out I guess.

So, you aren't "locked in" to couples match at any point in the process. In fact, you could couples match for only some programs on your ROL if that's what you wanted to do...though this can backfire. There was a 4th year couple at my school who didn't couples match for their entire list and ended up at programs in different cities. I'm not sure what their rationale was, but they were upset about the outcome.

 

[smq123]

My question is how important is it for the couple to be a wife/husband combination. For instance, I'm thinking about couples matching with my girlfriend but will that hurt us since we're not married?

It shouldn't. People shouldn't ask you about the nature of the relationship between you and the person you're couples matching with.

From my conversations with people who have been through it, all the PDs are very cool with couples matches and don't view it as a negative.

Not necessarily, and not always. This is not true in all programs.

Some people were told at the interview that that particular program refuses to rank people who couples match. They may grant you an interview (because the program doesn't want to risk going unfilled), but they may not rank you high enough for you to match there.

Some programs (and the ones that I had heard about in were in NYC) are definitely not couples-friendly. I'm not sure about the rationale - I think it had to do with the fact that they worry that you're less than committed to their program, or something silly.

 

[Muggie]

I'm bored, so I figured, why not make a thread that very few people care about?

This is a support group for all those who will be couples matching this coming year. In the spirit of mutual support, please answer:

1. What specialties are you and your partner pursuing?
2. Are you doing any away rotations together?
3. Do you know what area of the country you'd like to be in for residency?
4. Have you soiled your pants thinking about how stressful this process is going to be?

And of course, any questions you may have. I wish you all the best of luck! And if I'm the only one out there who will be couples matching, someone make something up so I don't feel so left out.

1. My fiance and I are both IMGs (currently studying in Australia). We are both planning to apply for residencies in Internal Medicine.
2. We have planned to spend the next 6 months in the US, acquiring USCE and working hard for some stellar LORs
3. I'm a big fan of the East coast along with the South (backwards 'L' of sorts).
4. We know that we're disadvantaged due to the fact that we are IMGs - so yea it's really stressful. However, we've both done quite well on Step 1 (240+) and have registered to do Step 2CK in a few weeks, so if all goes well then hopefully we'll be at the same residency program in a city/state that we like.

Good luck to you guys!! (I know I need it! =))

 

[Rogue Synapse]

But as far as the initial ERAS application goes, not to mention it because it may hurt your chances of getting an interview prior off the bat since they don't want to have to deal with the difficulties of coordinating with another program if they don't have to.

Today I talked with our school's Dean, who was previously the Medicine PD at Yale, about the couples problem (he's a very approachable guy) and he said to be completely upfront with the couples match on ERAS. I guess the thought is that withholding this information on the ERAS and then springing it on them at the interview isn't always appreciated. If a place really has such serious problems with couples that they don't even want to grant me an interview, then I would be less interested in such a place anyway.

This PD also said he has seen two people who were just best friends couples match together at places. Just one person's view, take it with a grain of salt, but it goes to show that there is no requirement for you to be married, engaged, dating, or even of the opposite sex.

 

[sunshinedoc]

I will be couple's matching with my husband (hopefully in radiology). The whole process does seem very confusing. I just have this fear that on match day we will open up our envelopes and somehow be on opposite ends of the country. However, I have been assured that, unless we don't do our ROL correctly, that won't happen. And does anyone know how likely it is for a program to take a married couple into the same specialty (like both in radiology)? We know we will probably have to try to end up in the same city at different programs, but it would be nice to be at the same place. But I don't know how feasible that is.

 

[MrBurns10]

I will be couple's matching with my husband (hopefully in radiology). The whole process does seem very confusing. I just have this fear that on match day we will open up our envelopes and somehow be on opposite ends of the country. However, I have been assured that, unless we don't do our ROL correctly, that won't happen. And does anyone know how likely it is for a program to take a married couple into the same specialty (like both in radiology)? We know we will probably have to try to end up in the same city at different programs, but it would be nice to be at the same place. But I don't know how feasible that is.

I'm not sure what the answer to that question is (we had wondered that for a while when my fiance was considering radiology), but if you're both good candidates I don't see why you being married would preclude you both getting in. It would probably be easier at programs with a lot of residents, of course, but there's no sense in not applying to smaller programs just out of fear you won't both match there.

Having said that, I think it may actually help to be at different programs in the same city. If you think about it, there's usually only one lower-level and one upper-level on call on any given night, so depending on a program's call or night float schedule, you may see less of each other than if you were at different programs on about the same schedule. Same goes for vacation. I've even heard of programs in the city working with each other to get a married couple about the same call schedule (this wasn't in radiology, though).

 

[MrBurns10]

Today I talked with our school's Dean, who was previously the Medicine PD at Yale, about the couples problem (he's a very approachable guy) and he said to be completely upfront with the couples match on ERAS. I guess the thought is that withholding this information on the ERAS and then springing it on them at the interview isn't always appreciated. If a place really has such serious problems with couples that they don't even want to grant me an interview, then I would be less interested in such a place anyway.

This PD also said he has seen two people who were just best friends couples match together at places. Just one person's view, take it with a grain of salt, but it goes to show that there is no requirement for you to be married, engaged, dating, or even of the opposite sex.

Thanks a lot for the info...I was afraid of that. The advisor said we're under no obligation to report that we're couples matching, but I felt at the time it may be perceived as a little dishonest.

 

[okayplayer]

My girlfriend and I are doing couples match for IM and anesthesia. We're both DOs, so we'll be applying very broadly.

 

[MrBurns10]

My girlfriend and I are doing couples match for IM and anesthesia. We're both DOs, so we'll be applying very broadly.

Does the DO match have a way to couples match, or are you both concentrating on allopathic residencies?

 

[okayplayer]

Does the DO match have a way to couples match, or are you both concentrating on allopathic residencies?

We're doing the allopathic match.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Any rising fourth year couples trying to get away rotations together? My fiancee and I are hoping to get one together. I'll let you know when we find out and report any hurdles we encounter.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

Couples match went extraordinarily bad for my class this year. Out of about six:

1) husband matched, wife had to scramble. She basically had to decide whether to stay together or switch specialties.
2) husband and wife matched at different locations four hundreds miles apart.
3) engaged couple broke up post-match, not amicably (matched into same five-year program ).

Sorry, guess this is the exact opposite of a supportive post for the support group thread. But I thought it might be relevant food for thought that Murphy's Law knows no boundaries.

 

[SoCuteMD]

Also - whoever said they were looking to couples match into radiology and would ideally like to be in the same program as their SO, keep in mind that this can create issues. Since radiology programs tend to be on teh smaller side, being in the same program may mean that you and your SO can't take vacation at the same time.

 

[vvsrk]

Me and my wife are both Imgs. I am currently about to start a prelim year in Surgery and my wife plans to apply for pediatrics next year.We are planning to participate in the couples match. I was just wondering if we mention it on eras that we intend to participate in couples match do we get more calls from programmes or its the same as usual...Waiting for advise

 

[MrBurns10]

Ugh, we're in the process of trying to figure out how many programs to apply to. We have a list of about 50 and I have no idea if that's appropriate or excessive. Not to mention it's annoying that most anesthesia programs are categorical while the vast majority of radiology programs are advanced, so I have to apply to 2-3 prelim programs in every city we're applying to on the off chance we match in a random city.

Sigh. Oh well, it's what you gotta do and hopefully it'll be worth it. How is everyone else doing with program narrowing downage and the like?

 

[EM2BE]

We decided not to couples match. Hoping for the best at this point...at least in the same state. Too early to know anything at this point. We had discussions at length and this was a mutual decision, but a rough one to make.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

My fiancee and I are sitting down and having a pow-wow tomorrow night to narrow down some programs. We're having a hard time strategizing our applications - I have a list of places I'm interested in that's about 30 long, and she has a list of about 40, and we maybe have 20 or so that overlap. We will have to make sure we only apply to cities that have appealing programs for both of us, which can be a little difficult. We don't want New York at all because of the ultra-urban emphasis of their family medicine programs, so that takes out a fair number of neurology programs. In fact, it seems that applying to the big cities is the best way to maximize your chances, but she is often not interested in the programs in the biggest cities. I can't just tell her to only apply to places I'm interested in just because FM is usually less competitive. I will also have to deal with applying to prelim programs, which is really annoying because it seems like it just adds to the likelihood of a bad outcome. We absolutely don't want to live apart for a year if I have to scramble and get a PGY-1 elsewhere. About 50% of the neurology programs are categorical, so we may try to prioritize those programs to increase the likelihood of successful match (i.e. staying together the whole time). It stinks that some of the best programs are advanced, otherwise I would just ignore them for the categorical ones.

Ugh, it's frustrating that all schools don't provide for a PGY-1 spot. I'll let you know what we figure out as far as our discussion tomorrow goes.

 

[MrBurns10]

We decided not to couples match. Hoping for the best at this point...at least in the same state. Too early to know anything at this point. We had discussions at length and this was a mutual decision, but a rough one to make.

That's tough. You could still focus on big cities and hope for the best. I wish you both much luck.

 

[MrBurns10]

My fiancee and I are sitting down and having a pow-wow tomorrow night to narrow down some programs. We're having a hard time strategizing our applications - I have a list of places I'm interested in that's about 30 long, and she has a list of about 40, and we maybe have 20 or so that overlap. We will have to make sure we only apply to cities that have appealing programs for both of us, which can be a little difficult. We don't want New York at all because of the ultra-urban emphasis of their family medicine programs, so that takes out a fair number of neurology programs. In fact, it seems that applying to the big cities is the best way to maximize your chances, but she is often not interested in the programs in the biggest cities. I can't just tell her to only apply to places I'm interested in just because FM is usually less competitive. I will also have to deal with applying to prelim programs, which is really annoying because it seems like it just adds to the likelihood of a bad outcome. We absolutely don't want to live apart for a year if I have to scramble and get a PGY-1 elsewhere. About 50% of the neurology programs are categorical, so we may try to prioritize those programs to increase the likelihood of successful match (i.e. staying together the whole time). It stinks that some of the best programs are advanced, otherwise I would just ignore them for the categorical ones.

Ugh, it's frustrating that all schools don't provide for a PGY-1 spot. I'll let you know what we figure out as far as our discussion tomorrow goes.

Good luck, man. It's a stressful process but hopefully it'll be worth it for everyone. When are you guys getting married?

 

[sunshinedoc]

Ugh, we're in the process of trying to figure out how many programs to apply to. We have a list of about 50 and I have no idea if that's appropriate or excessive. Not to mention it's annoying that most anesthesia programs are categorical while the vast majority of radiology programs are advanced, so I have to apply to 2-3 prelim programs in every city we're applying to on the off chance we match in a random city.

Sigh. Oh well, it's what you gotta do and hopefully it'll be worth it. How is everyone else doing with program narrowing downage and the like?

It is really hard to narrow down programs. Right now we are looking at about 50 - 60. I also don't know if that is overkill or too few! And I don't understand why they won't do couples match for intern/PGY-1 positions. We both need one and I'm not sure how we can ensure that we will both be in the same place.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Good luck, man. It's a stressful process but hopefully it'll be worth it for everyone. When are you guys getting married?

April 11th! I'm so excited! Planning is a little stressful too but more fun than I thought it would be. And cake tasting is awesome. We got engaged right before my surgery rotation, and my fiancee was on a rotation where she had a lot of time, so she basically planned most of our wedding.

We strategized last night and I wound up cutting a few places where she was really unhappy with the family medicine programs. I also added a few places that had decent Neurology programs in some cities where she was really excited about the family medicine. There's a lot of give-and-take in just making these lists of places to apply to. I can only imagine that the final ROL is going to be quite a negotiation. It's frustrating when I tell people about our troubles, because they always say "Oh, she's just FM, she can match anywhere, just tell her to go wherever you go." Well, I think she deserves to pick a training that is suited for her just as much as I do.

 

[MrBurns10]

April 11th! I'm so excited! Planning is a little stressful too but more fun than I thought it would be. And cake tasting is awesome. We got engaged right before my surgery rotation, and my fiancee was on a rotation where she had a lot of time, so she basically planned most of our wedding.

We strategized last night and I wound up cutting a few places where she was really unhappy with the family medicine programs. I also added a few places that had decent Neurology programs in some cities where she was really excited about the family medicine. There's a lot of give-and-take in just making these lists of places to apply to. I can only imagine that the final ROL is going to be quite a negotiation. It's frustrating when I tell people about our troubles, because they always say "Oh, she's just FM, she can match anywhere, just tell her to go wherever you go." Well, I think she deserves to pick a training that is suited for her just as much as I do.

Congrats!! I just got married 6 weeks ago...wedding planning is super stressful, but it's also a fun time. If I may make a suggestion, plan to keep the week before the wedding as open as possible. It was more hectic than I could have imagined.

Good luck with the wedding and with applications! I got my fingers crossed for you guys.

 

[EM2BE]

That's tough. You could still focus on big cities and hope for the best. I wish you both much luck.

Thanks. We are trying for bigger cities, but we are also osteo and their programs are pretty much all within 3-4 states (yes there are more states, but the majority are bunched in that group). EM and surgery are tough enough without trying to match in the same location. Reason we decided to match separately.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

How's everybody doing? Did you get your program lists synchronized and your ERAS in? We have both started having interviews roll in and we're basically accepting them all right now with the intent of pruning them later when we figure out which places to drop (if we even have the luxury of having too many interviews). We're also keeping a spreadsheet of interviews and cities in the hopes of streamlining the travel process. What is your strategy? How many programs did you guys wind up applying to?

 

[tfom08]

How's everybody doing? Did you get your program lists synchronized and your ERAS in? We have both started having interviews roll in and we're basically accepting them all right now with the intent of pruning them later when we figure out which places to drop (if we even have the luxury of having too many interviews). We're also keeping a spreadsheet of interviews and cities in the hopes of streamlining the travel process. What is your strategy? How many programs did you guys wind up applying to?

I have a similar situation I asked about in the ERAS forum. We are doing IM and EM. I have started getting IM interviews but she is still waiting to hear about EM. Right now I'm waiting to schedule interviews until she hears back from other programs in the area. So are you two just scheduling separately and then trying to pair them up later on?

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Neither of us is applying to a competitive field (FM for her and Neuro for me), but she has gotten 4 invites already. Unfortunately, we have yet to have invites in a city in which the other person already has one. So right now, yeah, we're kind of blindly accepting them with the hope of being able to schedule future invites in the same city at the same time. We both submitted only a few days after ERAS opened, so I get the feeling we're getting the programs that reflexively invite people with a minimum USMLE score or something. Anyway, if we wind up having too many interviews, that's a pretty happy problem to have. Good luck everybody!

 

[MrBurns10]

How's everybody doing? Did you get your program lists synchronized and your ERAS in? We have both started having interviews roll in and we're basically accepting them all right now with the intent of pruning them later when we figure out which places to drop (if we even have the luxury of having too many interviews). We're also keeping a spreadsheet of interviews and cities in the hopes of streamlining the travel process. What is your strategy? How many programs did you guys wind up applying to?

My husband and I applied Sept 1...so far, I've gotten one prelim IV and he's received one categorical. Unfortunately, most radiology programs don't start sending out invites for at least a few weeks (some not until November), and the ones who already have are probably reserving those for the 260/AOA candidates (yeah....that's not me). So, we have a while to wait to hear back one way or the other.

Congrats on your interviews!

 

[lulubean]

My fiance and I went through the couples match last year. I matched into OB/GYN and he matched into Orthopedic Surgery at our top choice (still can't believe it). It was a nerve-wracking process, but it can be done! Also, we were not engaged at the time so don't let not being married intimidate you. My advice:

- use the couples match to your advantage. If one of you gets an interview at a program, have your partner call up his/her program and let them know. We got each other a couple of interviews this way.

- it's difficult, but if you can, go to each other's pre-interview socials. It just makes you as a couple look more serious about that program.

- i know this is controversial, but i brought up the couple's match in my interviews. i was able to use it as a way of showing extra interest in that particular program. (i.e. "my partner rotated here and loved the program" or "both my partner and i were looking forward to this interview because this is one of the places in which we are both equally excited about our respective programs")

- i can't stress this enough! follow up with programs! send thank you letters! have your mentors call up your top program to put a word in for you. send letters of interest to your partners program (i.e. he sent letters to the program directors of my top programs and vice versa). no matter what people say, this stuff counts.

- respect each other. there will be programs you like that your partner doesn't and vice versa. keep an open mind and work together, not against each other.

- agree on a system to rank your lists BEFORE it is time to rank them

hope that helps! you WILL get through it. PM me with any questions.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

Lulubean, thanks so much for your advice and encouragement! Hopefully we can remember to pay it forward when we're in your position.

 

[Emerald84]

Is there anything equivalent to couples matching for Med School? I want to do DO (32Q and 3.5) and my wonderful boyfriend wants to do DO or MD (35 and 3.9).....

 

[tfom08]

Is there anything equivalent to couples matching for Med School? I want to do DO (32Q and 3.5) and my wonderful boyfriend wants to do DO or MD (35 and 3.9).....

There's no match for medical school, so no, there is not a couples match. You both have average to above average stats for people who are accepted to med school so I don't think it will be all that tough for you two to match in the same place. Your GPA is a little low, but not that bad, his GPA and both of your MCAT scores are good. If you get into a DO school, your boyfriend can likely get into the same school if he wants to so just do it like that. If you want a DO school and your boyfriend wants MD, you should apply in larger cities that have both programs. Philadelphia comes to mind with PCOM and then several MD schools. There are probably others but I don't know much about DO schools, so just do your research and plan accordingly.

 

[NERDY]

Is there anything equivalent to couples matching for Med School? I want to do DO (32Q and 3.5) and my wonderful boyfriend wants to do DO or MD (35 and 3.9).....

Michigan State University has a DO and MD program.

 

[SeaBreeze12]

My boyfriend and I are couples matching. I am going into peds and he is going into internal medicine with an interest in persuing a fellowship in hem/onc. We have both already sent in our ERAS application and we both clicked the option "I am applying as a part of a couple AND I want the programs to know about this". We each applied to 22 programs that were either at the same school or in the same city in FL, GA, SC, NC, TN, AL, TX and VA. So far we haven't gotten any of the same interview invitations, but it is still early in the process. We are going to accept interview invites as they come in and then trim down the list later.

We are trying to approach the interview process with an open mind, trying to find the best programs for us individually and then after we have interviewed try to compromise on our couples ROL in Feb. It is my understanding that you are not "locked into" couples match, even if you clicked the option on your ERAS application. You aren't locked into it until you submit your NRMP ROL as a couple.

Good luck everyone!

 

[allergisttobe]

my hubby and i did the couple's match for residency a few years ago and matched in the same area, though different institutions (both internal medicine). it definitely helped to tell the programs we were couple's matching because i know i received some interview invites i might have otherwise not gotten since those programs already interviewed my husband.

most recently, my hubby and i matched into fellowship (which really does NOT have a couple's match, unless you are applying to the same fellowship, since there are about 10+ different match dates for all the different fellowships). so, the residency match is definitely better in that regard. basically i found out my fellowship match result one month before my husband, so for a whole month we were worried. luckily we ended up matching at the same institution for fellowship. good luck to those who enventually decide to apply for fellowship with their SO.

 

[lyn2006]

My husband and I are couples matching (anesthesia and IM) and are really excited that he just got an interview at our joint top choice program

So in terms of emailing the program - who do you think I should contact? The residency coordinator? And just tell them my husband will be interviewing at your program at this date and we're both very interested in the respective programs at your institution? Can I say that we'd like to coordinate traveling if possible? Or ask when I might hear a decision on my application?

thanks and good luck to all the couples out there!

 

[MrBurns10]

My husband and I are couples matching (anesthesia and IM) and are really excited that he just got an interview at our joint top choice program

So in terms of emailing the program - who do you think I should contact? The residency coordinator? And just tell them my husband will be interviewing at your program at this date and we're both very interested in the respective programs at your institution? Can I say that we'd like to coordinate traveling if possible? Or ask when I might hear a decision on my application?

thanks and good luck to all the couples out there!

That's exactly what I've been doing so far. Unfortunately, the field I'm applying to tends to offer interviews a lot later (except for a few programs who have started inviting...people other than me ), so I haven't gotten a "we'd love to interview you!" response. But if your desired IM program has already starting inviting people or will shortly, you may get that. Either way, it can't hurt . Good luck!

 

[logos]

My SO and I are couples matching and have an interesting situation. We are both trying to match into the same specialty, so the programs will definitely all know. We are trying to apply widely and apply to the big cities that have many programs, although we are trying to preserve a decent quality of life by so far avoiding NYC and LA. If we don't get a ton of interview invites by late October we may add those cities to our list of over thirty programs.

It seems that matching in the same specialty is an added difficulty since our relationship could potentially present them additional difficulties. I also tend to think that proposing soon may benefit our match (or just saying we are engaged without a date) since programs may place a lot of value in the seriousness of the relationship. Our school's dean told us we should just tell them all that we are engaged even if we aren't.

Right now were just waiting for the interview invites to come it. It seems not many people are getting EM invites yet.

 

[tfom08]

My SO and I are couples matching and have an interesting situation. We are both trying to match into the same specialty, so the programs will definitely all know. We are trying to apply widely and apply to the big cities that have many programs, although we are trying to preserve a decent quality of life by so far avoiding NYC and LA. If we don't get a ton of interview invites by late October we may add those cities to our list of over thirty programs.

It seems that matching in the same specialty is an added difficulty since our relationship could potentially present them additional difficulties. I also tend to think that proposing soon may benefit our match (or just saying we are engaged without a date) since programs may place a lot of value in the seriousness of the relationship. Our school's dean told us we should just tell them all that we are engaged even if we aren't.

Right now were just waiting for the interview invites to come it. It seems not many people are getting EM invites yet.

If you are definitely going to get married, I would say you are engaged. It will sound more serious than boyfriend/girlfriend. They will probably notice she doesn't have a ring though. Maybe buy her a phat CZ before her interview. And go ahead and make up a date too. Although if you show up after the date still unmarried they will know you are lying.

 

[Rogue Synapse]

We're going through a weird period where new facts are coming to light about some programs that make one of us not want to go there. I've had to turn down neurology interviews at some pretty attractive places (Wash U, UT Southwestern) because my fiancee realized that the family medicine programs in those places are not a good fit for her. It's frustrating, but there's no sense in continuing the application process for places where one of us would be miserable. She is a rockstar applicant and will have her pick of programs, and she has a few very specific things she's looking for in her residency. I feel like we probably could have planned ahead a little bit and saved some money on applications, but those last few days leading up to submitting our applications were pretty hectic. Is anybody else having difficulties as early as the accepting interviews phase? Is anybody else trying to couples match with two such different specialties?