Week 1: Logistics/Plans

 

We are finally settling in and I have a few minutes to update the blog on our first week on the road. Many people have asked the specifics of what this year is going to look like for us, so for my first logistics post, I'm just going to give a brief overview of our plans. Look for a post coming about how we've planned for our road trips with the kids, how we are planning out our budget, and other details of how we are making this work!

For those who are not familiar with medical school, the fourth year is the year you prepare for residency. The students have the opportunity to apply for what is called "audition rotations" which means that they rotate at hospitals or programs where they might be interested in doing a residency. The process of deciding which field to pursue, and then narrowing down residency options itself was a long, labor intensive process that took us months of making and remaking spreadsheets. I'll go over that in a future post for anyone behind us in school that it might be helpful for, but for now, suffice it to say that we narrowed our top choice down to programs in Largo, FL, Fort Worth TX, Corpus Christi, TX and Farmington Hills, MI. Otto will apply to interview at 10-15 places beyond that, but these are currently our top four choices, and the places we have decided to "audition."

Auditioning generally happens during the summer/fall of the fourth year of medical school. Our timing was not genius when we decided to have our third baby however. We decided that we would just make the timing work, however August might just be the hardest month to "make work," but we are going to figure it out nonetheless!

Of course, with a small family, and Otto destined to travel the country for four months this year, we really had three choices. Choice #1: Otto would leave, and we (myself, my newborn and two small children) would stay behind in Phoenix, not seeing him for four months. Choice #2: I could go live with my parents while Otto traveled, leaving me with help, but still not together. Choice #3: We figure out how to travel together with our small family.

Logistically, one and two make a lot more sense. I actually don't know anyone that is attempting #3. However, we decided we would rather stay together, even if it was a logistical nightmare. The way I look at it, all three options are difficult, it's just a matter of which difficult you'd rather deal with, so here we are off on an adventure as a family. In future posts, I'll discuss in detail how we are going to manage housing, travel, etc, but the truth is, we are still working out these details, so I'll update you as we go.

Auditions will begin for us in September, just three weeks after our third baby is born. We are currently waiting to hear back from FL, so we don't know for sure if we will be traveling to FL that month, or another program of our choice, or staying put. After that, we travel to MI in October, then Corpus Christi TX in November, and finally to Ft Worth TX in December.

Currently, we are in WA with my family for 7 weeks, while Otto completes his last rotation of his 3rd year- his rural rotation. Normally this is required that we do in AZ and Otto would have to leave for a month to a small town in AZ, but he did extensive work with the dean of the med school, his clinical coordinator, and other faculty to allow us to complete this requirement in rural WA, my home town. We are thrilled to get to stay together, and spend some time with family (and out of the heat!)

2015 will be a wild ride for us, but we are excited for the adventure. And as we set out last Thursday, I just kept thinking how grateful I was that I get to do it with my favorite three!

Stay tuned for a LOT more...