My daughter, Sarah, submitted her applications yesterday for residencies in Family and Preventive Medicine. She wrote two separate personal statements – with my help as editor – for these two branches of medicine. Now she sits and waits and hopes that she will receive requests for interviews from these programs, most of which are in Southern California. With a husband and child here, she has no desire to head off to other parts of the country for a residency program. Her husband, gainfully employed and in a graduate program of his own here in Los Angeles, has no desire for that to happen either.
Watching your children circumnavigate these obstacles to reach their goals is tough, especially in a field like Medicine. Wouldn’t it stand to reason that if a person has already gone through the entire training of medical school and passed the Step I and Step II national boards for MDs and DOs that he/she should be guaranteed a residency slot near his or her spouse and children? Don’t we have a shortage of physicians in this country? Shouldn’t we be helping these young physicians who have devoted energy, money, and endless amounts of time since they are going into a field where they will be helping others? I shake my head in amazement that medical education continues to create such stress for its young doctors with this sort of emotional disconnect. How many other fields require spouses to have to worry if a training program will cause families to live separately for three to four years?
Honestly, it makes me want to slap somebody…
I hope and pray that my girl gets many interviews and many opportunities for a residency program here in Southern California that suits her goals for her career as well as the needs of her family. It would be a lot easier if we all lived in North Dakota. I suspect there are not that many people clamouring for those residency programs…
On a positive note, Sarah is going to be a fine doctor, and, no, I’m not just saying that because she’s my daughter. It is a fact.
I will admit I am proud.
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