Match Day: Vote on My Fate!

Help! I have two days to decide where I want to spend the next 4 years of my life!

Welcome to a little thing called "The Match." I've been interviewing all over for residency programs, and now the final thing I need to do is submit a list of the programs I interviewed at, ranking them from most favorite to least. This list gets fed into a computer, along with each program's ranked list of their favorite applicants. Then, through the magic of computer-ology, my list is compared against their lists, looking for the program that was mutually ranked the highest (meaning I ranked them highly as a program, and they ranked me highly as an applicant). The computer will assign me to the highest match, which will be where I'm required to go for my ophtho training. The only problem? Time is running out and I'm having trouble deciding how to rank my list. I have to submit it by noon on January 7th. Sometimes, I sit around thinking how nice it would be if someone else would just rank it for me. So... Here are my options. Where should I go? - California Pacific Medical Center (San Francisco, CA) Great international emphasis, beautiful weather, groovy jazzy funky city, but very pricey and a whole lot of driving. It also has a staggered start, which means I might end up finishing my training 8 months later than other programs do. - Cleveland Clinic/Cole Eye Institute (Cleveland, OH) Beautiful facilities and incredible program philosophy, plus one of the strongest international ophtho programs in the world, but cold, far from home, and...uh...in Cleveland. (This stellar video about Cleveland's awesome attractions is one of the funniest things I've seen lately: http://ohhaveyouseenthis.blogspot.com/2009/05/cleveland-tourism-video.html) - Harvard/Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary (Boston, MA) Huge reputation, extremely cool city, and great international emphasis, plus the other residents are very fun people, but the training is sometimes a little hands-off, and it sure is pricey and far from home. - Indiana University (Indianapolis, IN) Busy, a good chance for plenty of experience, new building, and really nice faculty, but...uh...Indianapolis. - Johns Hopkins/Wilmer Eye Institute (Baltimore, MD) The #1 hospital in America, with one of the top eye programs in America, great international emphasis, and an incredible chance to work with an inner-city population, but it can tend to be a high-pressure training program, and Baltimore is freaky. - Loma Linda Medical Center (Loma Linda, CA) Really awesome emphasis on mind/body/spirit completeness, good international ties, great refractive surgery training, and tons of fun outdoorsy stuff to do on days off. On the downside, the program isn't very well-known, and I'd have to do a lot of self-teaching. - Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN) It's no secret that I have a big crush on Mayo, and their ophtho program is also really good, but it would be nice to expand the scope of my training by experiencing another hospital system. - MedCollege of Wisconsin/Milwaukee Eye Institute (Milwaukee, WI) Milwaukee is so much cooler than I had ever pictured it, and their ophtho program is solid, with a good VA hospital and really diverse patients, but it's freezing cold and far from friends and family. - University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ) Oh Tucson, I've missed you. The ophtho program is small, but full of really nice, fun residents and faculty, plus plenty of really grateful patients and a lot of chances for speaking Spanish, but they don't have a retinal surgeon on staff. - UCLA/Jules Stein Eye Institute (Las Angeles, CA) Great reputation, huge volume and variety of cases, and a really solid record for producing very successful graduates. The drawback is that their sites are as far as 50-miles apart, which can take several hours in LA traffic, and I'm kind of afraid LA would turn me into an evil person. - University of Iowa (Iowa City, IA) As a state university, I think people underestimate this one, but it's one of the top ophthalmology programs in the country. They have unbelievably nice people, phenomenal training, and affordable cost of living plus all in the quirky atmosphere of a university town. As a drawback, it could get a little lonely there, and the nearest major airport is hours away. - University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI) Like Iowa, this is an incredible ophtho program hiding out in a state school. They have tons of world-class research and faculty, plus a brand new building. The weather is frigid, and nearby Detroit scares the bejeebies out of me. - University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT) High surgery volume, international emphasis (Geoff Tabin is my hero), beatiful outdoors (they include a ski resort season pass in the salary), close to family, and really nice people with good values, but somehow I didn't feel like I quite fit in there. - University of Wisconsin (Madison, WI) I spent a month there for an away rotation and found the faculty to be brilliant, humble, and kind. The research is top notch, and the VA hospital is full of really groovy old dudes. But again, the weather, the distance, and the cost of living close to the university are drawbacks. - Washington University (St. Louis, MO) Really appealing facilities, program philosophy, research rotation, and international opportunities, plus very nice people and very diverse patients. True, it's a drawback that St. Louis is reported to have one of the highest crime rates in the country.

That's the scoop. Tell me where to go!

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