A Dose of Life PRN: Residency Interviews

I know I haven't been talking much about this month. To be frank, I'm really not enjoying it. My personality and the personalities of my preceptors are just not getting along and I'm not getting the opportunities I thought I would get. So to avoid complaining all the time or being a super Negative Nancy, I'm just not talking about it.

On to more exciting things. This week I had my two interviews for residency programs. Last Wednesday was my interview at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Columbia SC. I didn't get to really get on the road Tuesday until about 6:30pm so I got to Columbia around 9pm, checked in to my hotel room and proceeded to freak out! Totally nervous and anxious all night, barely slept, hardly ate breakfast - bleh.

Once I got to the VA in the morning, I met the other candidate interviewing that day and we waited for the program director. We all talked about their program for a bit. They conduct the research portion of the residency a little different than most programs and I like that aspect. They also have a lot of flexibility in scheduling which seems like it will give me the oppotunities to do I want. Their scheduling, however, is in one month blocks, like my 4th year has been, not longitudinal like some other programs, which is not my favorite. I feel like I really connected well with the pharmacists and they really like to retain their residents after their residency year.

This weekend, Thomas and I went to Richmond VA. We both had interviews at the VA there on Monday. We arrived Saturday evening and a SUPER run down hotel. The windows were boarded up and it didn't look like people had been there in months so we ditched it and found something better. Sunday we drove around town. We found a Krispy Kreme and got fresh doughnuts and then found our way to the VA, the restuarant we were going to for dinner, and we drove around downtown.

Sunday night we went to dinner with a couple of the clinical pharmacists in The Fan District of Richmond, clost to VCU. Dinner was a BLAST! The pharmacists we were with were very entertaining and kept us laughing all night. On Monday, we took a tour of the Medical Center and then spent a couple hours with the program director in their clinic as they saw patients. I felt like the interview questions were a little tougher there at Richmond, but I absolutely LOVED the program and the people. Its mine and Thomas's top choice for next year. We'll find out on St. Patrick's Day.