Neurology Residency Interview trail (Part 1)

Friday, March 20 was Match Day 2020. Unfortunately, many medical schools across the nation canceled their Match Day week activities because of COVID-19. We were still able to have a virtual event livestream which my parents and sister joined in on to celebrate with me.

Photo from here

I am very excited to share that I matched into my number 1 choice for residency, Duke Neurology! I am so grateful for the opportunity to train at this amazing institution. I cannot wait to meet my future co-interns and the rest of the team at Duke. I will be in Durham, North Carolina for the next four years, only a four and a half hour drive away from my younger brother, sister and brother-in-law in Maryland.

Before we were pulled out of our clinical rotations, I was on a 2-week Ophthalmology elective in early March and am currently on a 2-week Palliative Care elective. Because our school has ordered us not to come in to the hospital, my attending has offered to meet with me and another student daily through Zoom to update us on patient encounters and to go over a few assignments.

I still have a copious amount of free time, so I decided to pick up a few extra shifts at my new job with Renewal Care Partners (RCP). RCP is a home health and companion care organization that provides assistance to elderly individuals with chronic medical conditions and memory-related disorders, such as Alzheimer's. I found this organization online last December 2019 in my search for opportunities to make a little extra cash (to make up for the expenses I exceeded in my budget for traveling during residency interview season). I was partnered with my first client, a quiet and kind elderly woman with dementia. I had my first shift last week, and I enjoyed helping her out around the home with laundry, dishes, cleaning, meal preparation, feeding the pets, picking up her medications at the pharmacy, and chatting with her and her husband. It is such a rewarding job.

The state of IL has recently issued a shelter-in-place order in response to COVID-19, but workers providing essential services are exempt when traveling to and from work. Essential services include all home care workers, so we will be able to continue serving our clients who need us and depend on us.

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Anyway, sorry, I haven't yet gotten to the purpose of this entry: the interview trail. Because I have ample free time and I'm not working today, I thought I'd share some interesting interview experiences with you.

First off, I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity from Nov 2019 through Jan 2020 to interview at great U.S. programs for Neurology residency. I actually wrote most of these reflections shortly after the interviews during those months, but I thought it would be nice to share now a few quick thoughts on each city/town that I've been to, as well as my random travel and food experiences. From changing out of interview clothing in airport bathrooms to getting lost on the NYC subway on my way to an interview, it's been a crazy season.

I may mention program names in this entry (only in a positive light), but I will not publicly give a thorough impression. I will not say anything negative about a program. That is not the purpose of this entry. You can go to forums like Student Doctor Network or reddit if you're looking for more details than what are provided here. Please e-mail me separately if you'd like my thoughts on program specifics (debk93@gmail.com).

My first couple of interviews were in Boston and Chicago. I've written about both cities in prior entries, so I will not repeat my impressions of these places here.

Each section has a "title" that encompasses a main memory or general impression/takeaway of my trip to that particular location.


New Hampshire - CapeAir has a very small domestic airplane

Photo from here

My third interview was in Lebanon, NH the week before Thanksgiving. I had to fly first from Chicago to Boston, then from Boston to Lebanon. That was the smallest domestic airplane I'd ever been on (there were only 9 seats. See picture on right). It was so small we couldn't put any bags under the seats in front of us. All of our luggage had to be stowed in the plane. They also documented how much both we and our luggage weighed prior to boarding. I took 5 pounds off my actual weight :( I know, I was wrong for doing that, but I was caught off guard by the question and it was asked by a very attractive service clerk!
"Ma'am, how much do you weigh?" He asked.

"Umm..." I stared at him for a moment before subtracting 5 from my actual weight. This made me wonder how often other people flying with Cape Air (especially women) may have "adjusted" their weight when asked.

I was only in NH for a couple of days but it was cold (VERY cold) during my stay. I went to the dinner the night before the interview and got the chance to meet the friendly residents at a great restaurant in Hanover, NH called Murphy's On the Green. The food was pretty good. For appetizers, we had crispy calamari, a special "poutine" dish with bacon and cheese, chicken wings, and mac n' cheese. I ordered the salmon for the main entrée. 

Brooklyn, NY - Yucky weather

Vera Bradley Totebag
Photo from here

I had my next interview in Brooklyn a few days after Thanksgiving (Mon, 12/2). I stayed with my aunt and cousin for a night. They helped me hone my ironing skills. I'd only packed my clothes and things in my Vera Bradley tote bag (see right), including my interview attire (blazer and pants). I looked up a youtube video on how to fold/roll them up to minimize creases. I know it sounds insane but hey, it saved me $60 ($30 to check a bag each way/round trip). I ended up having to iron out a bunch of creases in the end but it was worth saving $60. 

The night prior to the interview, the residents and applicants ate at this nice spot called South Brooklyn Foundry. I ordered the Crispy Fried Chicken ("Three Organic chicken boneless breasts served over red skin mashed potatoes, Baby and Devil's corn, and topped with micro greens.") It was pretty fantastic. Like every pre-interview dinner, we had the chance to ask questions in an informal setting with the residents.

Kelly and Katie wedge pumps
Photo from here

Unfortunately the weather was disgusting during the two days I spent in Brooklyn. It was a mixture of rain and snow, and the ground was covered in slush. I had no idea that the weather would be like that (my weather app was deceiving), so I didn't pack any boots! I only had my flats, Toms, and wedges for the interview. After the interview day ended I walked several blocks to catch a couple of trains and a bus to get to LaGuardia airport for my flight back to Chicago. I don't know how my wedges weren't destroyed by the time I left. (I have to put in a plug for these shoes, see left. They are absolutely amazing. I purchased these from DSW specifically for my interviews and I don't regret it. I highly recommend them for work/interviews/any formal event/even going out. I got them for only ELEVEN DOLLARS in store. DSW always has amazing deals going on, so jump on them!).



Charlottesville, VA - Diversity and great food

I was so excited to interview at UVA (University of Virginia) later that week. I'd flown back to Chicago from NY on Monday night (12/2) then to Charlottesville on Thursday morning, a day before my interview on Friday, 12/6. Charlottesville is a nice, cute college town with moderate diversity and an institution (UVA) with a fierce dedication to diversity and inclusion. I think much of these diversity efforts have risen in response to the white supremacist rally that took place in Charlotesville a couple of years ago in 2017, but I do believe that the efforts to retain and recruit a diverse workforce in the institution are genuine. My impression is that things have calmed down quite a bit since that time and multiple people who have lived in Charlottesville for years don't believe that another rally like that one will happen again.

Grilled salmon (with warm ratatouille style salad,
smoked pico, cascabel cream) at Zocalo
Photo from here 

I enjoyed meeting the Neurology residents at the pre-interview dinner the night before. We went to an awesome spot called Zocalo. I ordered the grilled salmon (see right) which was to die for. The residents were among the most outgoing that I'd seen on the interview trail so far. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming.

I stayed with a friend (current med student at UVA) the night after the interview, then attended a special Diversity Day that the UVA Graduate Medical Education office hosted on Saturday morning. It was such a nice event that facilitated deep discussion among the participants (current ethnic minority UVA residents and interviewees across multiple specialties) about the diversity and inclusion efforts at UVA. 

One other tiny interesting (and not totally surprising) encounter in VA: On my flight back to Chicago, the flight attendant began to walk around to ask passengers for drink orders. When she saw me (I was sitting at the front), she stopped and asked, "Did you fly in yesterday?" I told her I flew in a couple of days prior and she replied, "Oh! Your twin must have been here yesterday then." I politely laughed. After this quick exchange, I swung around in my seat to look at the other passengers on the plane. I was the only black person on the flight. The flight attendant must have seen another black woman yesterday with braids and assumed that we were the same person. I chuckled and shook my head at the thought.

Durham, NC <3

Duke University Chapel
Photo from here

I absolutely loved my time in Durham. I'd only been there once before for a pre-med conference in 2016 when I was completing the post-bac program at the NIH (I think I may have actually blogged about it). I learned so much about the town/city that I hadn't known before (all good things honestly). Duke's campus is gorgeous and the beautiful Gothic architecture for some of the buildings (especially the undergrad campus) reminded me so much of Cornell. The architecture is strikingly similar on both campuses.

The residents and interviewees went to an awesome spot called It's a Southern Thing. I ordered the shrimp & grits. The meal was incredible and so filling that I couldn't finish it all. The residents were friendly and seemed to have a calmer, chiller camaraderie amongst themselves, which was a great feel.

Duke organized a special, guided tour of Durham for the interviewees at the end of the interview day. We had the chance to explore the college campus a little, check out DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center), the Burt's Bees headquarters (I didn't know it was in Durham! I'm sure you've heard of the chapstick), and the Duke University Chapel, an interdenominational church that is the largest building of Duke's historic West Campus.



Atlanta - Best grits ever, diversity at Emory, and fun facts about Emory

It was great catching up with and crashing for a night with a couple of friends who are current medical students at Emory, both of whom were studying for major exams at the time (Step 1 and the Surgery shelf). I really appreciated their willingness to host me in the midst of their studying for such important exams.

My bus arrived in Atlanta early in the morning so I decided to go for a walk in the area and grab some breakfast. I went to check out this popular local spot called The Flying Biscuit. I was so hungry I ended up ordering grits, a biscuit with jelly, bacon, scrambled eggs, and fresh squeezed orange juice. Those were the best grits I ever had. They melted in my mouth and went great with the rest of the meal.

The Neurology residents at Emory were the most diverse group I'd seen so far on the interview trail. It was amazing to see such an incredible representation of different racial groups.

A few fun random facts that I learned about Emory during the interview day:

• Muhammed Ali’s neurologist is (was?) at Emory! (Muhammed Ali was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1984, three years after he retired from boxing).

• Grady Memorial Hospital (which is part of the Emory Healthcare Network) has one of the largest thrombectomy programs in the country, with more than 300 procedures performed every year.

• Grady Memorial Hospital was one of the leading sites for enrollment of the groundbreaking DAWN trial, which showed that properly selected patients who suffered an acute ischemic stroke could benefit significantly from a thrombectomy (clot removal) if performed up to 24 hours after symptom onset.

• Emory University is the most diverse neurology residency program in the country.

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I'm going to stop here and continue with the rest of my interview season experiences in another post. Thank you for reading! :)