Residency Roundup: Getting Started

Welcome to Residency Roundup!  

My name is Cami!  I am married to an overworked PGY2 surgery resident and have two amazing little children that enrich our lives.   I am excited to share pieces of wisdom, hope, help, and support to families currently in residency and those preparing for it.

So, I am a list person.  Anything that I can write in list form I do.  After match day two years ago new lists began:  what sequence to pack up our tiny, gross apartment;  housing options in our new residency town;  meals that would clear out my pantry, freezer , and fridge;  graduation invites; etc... 

After we successfully and efficiently moved to residency, we realized we had no list ready for the next steps.  The following was developed from trial and error, luck, and a little research. Here is the list we needed two years ago!  

Find and Know this Information ASAP-

• First paycheck - When will it come?  
• DrH's program pays once a month, so the first paycheck came in August!! In addition to all the moving/relocating expenses, we used a short term loan from our parents to bide the time. 
• Vacation Requests - Find out when they are due, turn them in, don't miss the deadline.
• Human Resources - Read through the HR packets to understand your benefits and if you need to enroll in programs. 
• Our residency has a one-time smartphone or PDA reimbursement I found by reading everything.
• Opening socials - When are they? Make the effort to attend.
• We had one for DrH's program and one for the resident support group for spouses and families. 
• Residency Graduation - When is it? Are you invited?
• The incoming interns, in our program, are requested to attend the outgoing chiefs graduation dinner.  We are glad we made the effort to go, a short one week after med school graduation. 

To Do list for the first month- 

        (hopefully before DrH begins rotations)

• Find House to rent or own - We rented sight-unseen, so we planned a meet and greet with the landlord.
• Appliances - Our rental didn't come with a refrigerator.  One had to be secured within the first 48 hours.  Luckily we still had some time left on our moving truck to help us haul it from the store to our home.
• Set up utilities - You will need joint access to all accounts.
• Set up internet - We pay more for the extra fast internet for logging onto DrH's EMR, writing notes, and checking images.
• Local phone number - Look into Google Voice for your cell phone, if you don't want to change your number.
• Purchase a pager plan - Does your program supply one?
• Car insurance - A move to another state means different rates. (We seem to always move to a more expensive area). Call and find a new agent early on.
• Renters or home owners insurance
• Buy a second car - Which includes a smog check, insurance, and registration. 
• Parking pass for DrH's hospital- Is it provided by program?
• DMV trip - Our new state allots 10 days from your move-in date to get your license and car registration changed over.  We had to take the drivers test, thankfully easier than Step1;) 
• Medical/Dental benefits - Assign a PCP
• Thank you notes for graduation gifts
• Fill your new refrigerator 
• Meet neighbors 
• Find a Church and a Gym
• Find new friends for children
• Explore new city

Good luck forming your lists!

Cami


Leave comments below with what went wrong with your residency relocation, what could have been avoided, and what worked great!!