interview trail - last ones!

Dave is finishing up his interviews this week with Texas Children's in Houston and Hopkins in Baltimore. It will be great to be done.  As soon as Dave is done he needs to get together his rank list and pass it around to his attending here who will make phone calls for him and try to make a big push to help him get into his favorite spot. Next week will be the week of phone calls before thanksgiving.  At this point Dave has no idea how he'll rank everything. Well, he knows what the bottom few will be but he has no idea how to rank his top 5. The good thing is he'd be happy going to any of the programs so that is good.

 Match Day is Dec 10th. I am dying.  I have spent hours researching each city for two things: #1 to see where we'd live and how much it would be and where there would be good neighborhoods and good schools for the girls. That is kinda fun actually. In each city Dave interviewed at I know what part of town we could live in. #2 I am trying to figure out where Calvin could go to school in each of these cities. This is waaaayyy more stressful and difficult. I spend hours on the phone with people trying to see what is available. In some cities there is much to choose from and in other cities there is next to nothing.  Boston has 111 special schools. Houston has 1 Memphis has 0.  the others have closer to 3-5 to look at.  Toronto, being in Canada has a completely different system and I can't figure it out at all (mostly b/c I can't call there)! My friend from Canada is going to let me borrow her phone with an international plan for a couple of hours tomorrow so I can try to get some questions answered.  Being a big city, I am sure it has something I am just not sure how it system works. I am pretty sure that in the other cities I would know the key words and phrases in the IEP to make sure Calvin gets good placement. Dave thinks I am a little silly in doing research in each city and should just wait 'til dec 10th to make plans but I think it helps to have a little knowledge about each spot. I am mostly leaving the rank list up to dave. We could live anywhere for one year. But if there is a tie and location gets the tie-breaking vote. I want to have knowledge to make an educated vote!  I am saving my big votes for the job hunt after fellowship. I want to come back to SD for a job and if I have to live somewhere undesirable for a year, so be it!


Texas Childrens

Hopkins - doesn't have a separate hospital for Children's but it is part of the medical complex. Doesn't look too much like the ghetto in this picture, does it?

okay, it looks like hopkins has a children's center attached to the main hospital which serves as the children's hospital.

-one funny note about Texas Children's interview. They arranged to have a limo pick him up at the airport and take him to his hotel and also to have a limo take him back to the airport after interviews. They say Texas really knows how to take care of their doctors! I guess it is true! Nobody else did anything like that. I guess the next closest would be Memphis where the doctors themselves gave dave a ride from the hotel to the hospital and then to the airport (although he still took a shuttle from the airport to hotel). He has taken lots of shuttles and taxis over the last couple months!