I set an inordinate number of alarms the night prior to my first interview for residency: my phone, the alarm clock, the television, and a wake up call for good measure. Not that I needed them; I hardly slept at all.

What is it like to interview for residency in this modern age? In a word: expensive. Also, exhausting, exciting, and stressful. The process begins with a meeting with the dean of the medical college who gives you an honest assessment of your medical school career. In other words: where can you apply and actually get accepted. Because I didn't have a particular program or location in mind and because I'm a fairly average student, I was encouraged to spread a wide net and apply to a healthy number of programs.

I submitted my ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service) application to a jaw-dropping 32 programs. Schools began contacting me almost immediately following my submission in early September. In this electronic age applicants communicate with programs solely via email. If you're lucky, the program will offer to pay for one night in a hotel, but the remaining cost of travel is solely dependent upon the applicant.

I flew to most locations but was able to make most appointments in geographical groupings, which greatly maximized time and minimized cost. The night before the interview is spent meeting with interns and residents from the department for dinner. This wining and dining experience can be a fantastic opportunity to learn about the program or a time to witness the phonetically similar but very different "whining and pining" of the residents. This is the best opportunity, once the residents have imbibed of some liquid truth, to acquire an honest impression of the program.

I began the interview season in the Midwest and ended on the west coast. Applicants gather at the hospital in the morning and spend the day touring the facilities, attending conferences, and interviewing with faculty and program administrators. Exhaustion sets in for even the most social of butterflies after eight hours of endless Q&A sessions, practiced grinning, and schmoozing. The information most sought after by this years' applicant pool was regarding the new 16-hour workday instituted by the ACGME, limiting the hours an intern can work and essentially eliminating overnight call. Being implemented in June of my intern year, programs are adjusting schedules to accommodate fewer hours worked by interns and many are hiring more hospitalist and mid-level staff or implementing a night flow system. It always makes me nervous to be the guinea pig of anything, especially when my career is involved, but I also view this as a good opportunity to see how programs will adapt and develop new and unique ways to maximize quality care and education with minimized working hours.

A 24-hour glimpse of a city and program is not ideal for choosing a program, and some applicants, including myself, choose to do second visits at certain programs in order to gain a better perspective. I interviewed at a total of eight internal medicine programs and will rank all eight. The rank list, due on February 23, 2011, is followed by one month of tenuous waiting until Match Day, March 17, 2011, at which time the next three years of my career will be decided.

Catie Mohr, M4
UNMC