Last Stop-- Denver, CO

Brad rushed off (thanks to the helping hand, or should I say car, of Adel!) to his final interview on January 27th at the Children's Hospital in Denver. Denver's program is a stand-out, highly sought after residency program. The Children's Hospital takes patients from Wyoming, Utah, Washington and Montana. It is THAT good. Residents have the opportunity to get amazing training in rural and urban medicine. Even with the prestigious reputation, Brad discovered that the people are not snobby or stuffy. In fact, the residents have been known to all chip in to rent a mountain cabin for a season, so they can take their time off enjoying the splendors of the Rockies, together. Yes, even when not working, they are eager to be around each other. Good sign? I think so.

So here we have it Denver, late in the game, facing the buzzer, and we pull you back in! I had taken Denver out of the running in my mind, I think mostly because Brad had encountered so many other great options. But Denver has its own merits. It has a fantastic program, as mentioned above, great cost of living, weather we're down for, and an office for yours truly. The one major, big ol' downside is that we don't know anyone there. When I am considering this, it makes me pause because of the baby train. If we were near family and friends, I think the baby train would pick up passengers pretty soon. If we are not around family or friends, and will not be for at least three years, the baby train might have to go passenger-less for a few more stops. Good or bad, it is a reality we will need to consider.

Denver itself we quite like. We honeymooned in Vail and Denver and had a fantastic time.

My only complaint was that the people were very literal. No one wanted to make jokes, or laugh at any of mine (which, I assure you, were laugh out loud hilarious). Brad had far more luck at the happy hour before his interview. The people he met were interesting AND FUNNY! They laughed at his jokes and he returned the favor. This major concern laid to rest, I think Denver would be a place we would enjoy and like to call home.

The thing is, unlike Washington D.C. or even Nashville, Denver isn't the girl you date, Denver is the girl you marry. I don't know that we could visit for the three years of residency and then move on to another place. I foresee that we would grow very attached to Colorado. I think we'd want to live in a house with a yard. And chickens. We would want to become a part of a community. Then, we would have to face the decision of packing up and leaving, staying long term in a place with no family, or recruiting family and friends to join us. Risk, risk, risk. I am not a huge fan.

Denver is going high on the match list. Very high. I don't doubt that we would love living in Denver and Brad would love his residency there. But I can't help it. The risk I've built up in my mind to be associated with Denver is keeping me from giving it my full endorsement.

What a funny way to end the interview trail........

SO------ THE LIST!!!!

Match Day is coming up so soon! It is on March 17th. Brad will get his envelope, with his matched program, at about 9am. Then, we are going to go to Griffith Park to celebrate with a picnic. We hope to see you there!!!

Rewind to February 23, 2011. This is the deadline for Brad to submit his rank list. After this date, his preferences will be final, certified, and sent. Done and done. After the submission, all he'll have left to do is wait for the day you see above. Give him a shout out during this month. I am sure it will be nice to have some distractions. If you want to play golf with him, here's your perfect time. Roller-blading, also an option.

If you want to know about the process, rules, and dates of Match Day, check this link out.http://www.nrmp.org/

Because of National Residency Program regulations, I don't want to submit his final ranking here. I can, however, tell you if Brad is ranking a program high, middle, or low. So, here is, in particular order, Brad's rank list as of February 7th, 2011. ....

1) Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego
High Group: Children's Hospital of Denver; John's Hopkins; Children's National Medical Center in D.C.
Medium Group: Vanderbilt in Nashville; University of Vermont Children's;Baylor in Houston
Not So High (But still great options =) ) Group: Georgetown in D.C.; Northwestern; Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

The great, fantastic, lucky thing about Brad's experience is that ANY, and I truly mean any, of the programs would be wonderful and we would be happy to see on his match paper. But, dang I'm nervous, and it is only February!!


Please friends, COMMENT ON THIS POST and let us know the program YOU think Brad should rank highly or number 1. Go ahead, try to convince us if you disagree with the list above. I'd love to hear what you think.

Much love,

Mrs. Mcmack