End-of-the-Interview-Trail Blues

Midway Blues
Originally uploaded by ironchefmike.

Interview season is over for me. In 46 days, I visited 9 different cities, traveling 9,286 miles in the process of interviewing with 13 different residency programs. I have written 18 thank-you letters, with 14 to go. My stomach has taken a beating as well, having been to 6 pre- or post-interview dinners, partaken of 13 morning carbohydrate orgies, and 13 lunches. I'm not going to reveal what my credit card bill looks like. It's time to bring this to a close. I'm cancelling my remaining interviews. Still, I have to say that it's been a fun ride while it lasted, so I end interview season with a little bit of melancholy:

• No more of that morning anxiety at the start of each interview day. That anxiety which eventually dissipates into relief and hope.
• No more meeting random, awesome, new people on the trail.
• No more tours - yeah, I really didn't pay attention, but it was one of the few times during the interview day that you didn't have to really have your game face on. Still, a parade of interviewees going about the hospital looks quite similar to a funeral procession due to the uniform (see following).
  
• No more wearing of the interviewee uniform (gray or black suit, white shirt, conservative tie, and leather binder).
• No more stripping down in airports, or having my contraband water bottle taken away and unceremoniously thrown into a large, crusty, smelly dumpster.
• No more having to smell the Brylcreem from the scalp of the passenger in front of me when he decides to lower his seat back for a nap.
• NO MORE AIRPLANE PRETZELS!
  
• No more staring in awe as my luggage miraculously follows me off the plane.
• No more krrrrrazy kab drivers!
• No more hotels and king-size beds with their heavy down comforters.
• No more playing Sudoku for hours on end on my PDA to pass the time during lengthy layovers.
  
• No more Chicago Midway Airport¹, which inadvertently became my home away from home, having visited this city three times over the last month.

Midway Dive-Bomber
Originally uploaded by ironchefmike

The worst part is being stationary for the time being, finishing out the remainder of the fourth year of medical school, not discovering someplace new...for now ². Yes, I'm going through a little bit of interview withdrawal, but truthfully, it's also kind of refreshing to keep my feet on the ground. So what now? Now, I start thinking about the residency programs I visited, and where I'd like to spend the next three years continuing with my training.

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¹ Formerly known as Chicago Municipal Airport, which was renamed to Chicago-Midway International Airport, in honor of the Battle of Midway (June 4-7, 1942). Midway Airport was a frequent stopover for servicemen flying from the east coast to the west coast, hence the logic of naming an airport located in the frozen midwestern United States after a battle which occurred in the balmy Pacific theater.

² Now that the travel bug has bitten me again, I'm starting to toy with vacation plans for that month off between graduation and the start of residency. One option: Culinary Vacation. OooooOOOoooOOohhhhhh.