Howdy y’all!
I’ve been gone awhile but wanted to stick my head back in and let y’all know I matched into Emergency Medicine at Texas A&M/Scott & White hospital in Temple, Texas.
I’m absolutely thrilled with the results. I used to work at Scott & White and lived in Temple prior to moving down to Galveston for medical school.
I read Natalie’s post about how competitive general surgery was this year. EM wasn’t quite as bad but was tighter than last year. There are 1108 spots in EM and there were only 24 unfilled spots when the music stopped. All of these went in the first hour or so of scramble. The key is to be sure you rank enough programs.
Take care,
Jeff
Oh, I forgot to mention an OPM-ism from my match day party. The first part of our class slideshow was a series of ‘most likely to’ jokes.
I was voted the most likely to graduate from residency and join AARP in the same day! 
Needless to say, I decided to have fun with my age from the first day of class. I was just glad everyone else in my class decided to join me.
Take care,
Jeff
Howdy Jeff,
Congrats on your match!! You’re still a “youngun”. I really WILL be able to join AARP as a new doc!
Kathy
Damned strong work! Just think, it was not all that long ago that you were an MS-1 and we were rushing Joe Pegram to the ER in Dallas!!! Remember that?
Congratulations Jeff. I’m curious. When you entered med school were you already interested in EM? And… did you feel any predjudice against you going EM because of age? I’m interested in that route and will be 46 when I go thru the match.
Thanks.
Howdy Dave!
Not only do I remember the trip to the ER, I remember not being able to sleep because of how loudly he snored! 
Seacatch,
Yep, I knew I wanted to do EM before I applied to medical school. I was a paramedic in my former life and the only reason to go to med school for me (at the time, anyway) was to be an EMS medical director.
As for age stigma, I really didn’t notice any at all. Some folks would ask me what I did before medical school but it was clearly out of curiosity only.
If EM is what you decide on, please don’t let age disuade you. It really isn’t a factor.
Take care,
Jeff
Thanks Jeff. Thats what I was hoping to hear.
Jill
Hey Jeff–I congratulate you. That is really awesome.
What is your sense of how it’s going to be to go back to a hospital where you once worked in a different role? Is it the same cast of characters or a new enough group that you will be really in the same hospital but all new relationships? How did you think about that when you were ranking this hospital vs other ones?
Anyway, the main thing is, congratulations!
cheers
joe
Hey Jarvis!! Do you mind???
Thanks Joe!
When I worked there before, I was not in the ER. I ran the paramedic training program which was located off campus. I was involved with the ER folks only tangentially. The same faculty are there, though. Fortunately, we always got along during our limited interactions.
I did, however, consider this when I was doing my rankings. I wanted to be sure that there wasn’t some strange feeling of role confusion. To be sure, I did an away rotation there and all went well.
Part of the appeal of this program is its familiarity. I like Central Texas and like the people there. I have family and friends there so it is really like going home.
At the beginning of school, I did feel a little role confusion. I was used to being the expert and had to get into the mindset of knowing very little. It was, in many ways, a humbling experience. Fortunately, I feel humbling experiences are almost always a good thing (at least for me) so I welcomed it.
Take care,
Jeff
Quote:
Hey Jarvis!! Do you mind???
Howdy Joe!
If it makes you feel any better, less than a month after complaining about your snoring, I kept a roomfull of people awake with mine.
Take care,
Jeff
Machete Joe SNORES!!! I could hear’em even w/o ears!!!
I remember that year clearly, as I was deep in undergrad and those in the room with me who were already in medical school were like GODS! Now I’M an MS-1!! It is so great! I’ve almost finished first term (2 more weeks)! Still waiting to find out if 5th semester is truly going to be in Cleveland, Ohio…
Kathy
dont push it Marauder, I still have massive powers left over from being a VP here and I can stun you and turn you into a fish with the drop of a PM. So watch it!