If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you received a Christmas card from us this year. There’s also a good chance you were surprised to discover that we still didn’t know where Brad planned to get a “real” job in July, when he reaches the end of his journey to become a physician. The process included four years of undergrad, four years of medical school, one year of internship, four years of active duty in the Air Force, three years of ophthalmology residency, and one year of cornea fellowship.
Yep, folks, that’s 17 years. Time to get a job. I’m sure Brad would maintain that there were phases of his training that were possibly more grueling than the experience of finding a job, but from my perspective this last year has been the worst. Here’s a recap:
January 2010
Brad finalizes his vita and begins to narrow down his focus.
We realize that he doesn’t know
(1) what kind of work he’d like to do… general or cornea specialist
(2) whether he’s looking for a private or academic position
(3) what size of group…solo, 2 or 3…8-10…40… university
(4) oh, and where our family should try to settle. 50 states.
February
Brad applies for an advertised cornea specialist position at a huge group in Albuquerque and cold-calls a medium-sized group in Boise (our first choice, by far).
March
He hears back from Albuquerque. “You seem like a good fit, but we want to hire before July 2011.” He hears from Boise, “Oh wow! We’ve been thinking of adding a cornea specialist! We’ll get you out here for an interview, just to make sure, but…great!”
April
May
June
Brad graduates from residency. The family moves to Baltimore. Serious discussions begin. Tension begins to mount. Where to go? What do I want to do???? If only our families weren’t so far from each other… and in sucky states. He sends a second, larger batch of resumes, mostly to advertised openings.
July
August
He is offered interviews in
Kalamazoo, MI (solo, wanting to retire)
Portland, Maine, (multispecialty private group of 8)
Eugene, OR (solo, wanting to retire)
Albuquerque (huge group, where no one apparently has filled that cornea spot)
A few others around the country start recruiting him, including
St. Louis (private practice with 2 or 3)
Detroit (University Cornea Specialist)
There are academic cornea spots open in
Oklahoma City (near my family) and
Morgantown, WV (near Brad’s family)
September
He gets a surprising email from the program director at Penn State. “Brad, I’m not sure I can make it happen, but you would come back to Penn Sate if we offered you a position??”
He goes to Eugene, OR, for his first official interview. That’s a story for another post altogether… let’s just say for now…. Weird, weird, weird, freaky, creaky, bizarre. No.
He receives an email from Traverse City Michigan (where?!) inviting him for a phone interview with another solo guy wanting to retire. Agrees to talk, but only because the Eugene experience, while quite strange, showed him that solo might be doable under the right circumstances.
October
He interviews with a few places and entertains the possibility of various positions. Narrows them down to Albuquerque (awesome practice, cornea specialist, lots of money) and Traverse City, MI (WHERE?!), with some hope remaining that he could also return to Penn State.
End of October
Brad and I visit Traverse City and absolutely fall in love with the area and the practice.
November
TC sends a contract!!!
We freak out because the contract is a bit strange and confusing and goes into detail about Brad buying the practice. We decide to turn them down and focus on Albuquerque.
December
TC offers to delete 2/3 of contract and bring Brad on as an associate, with no obligation to purchase the practice.
Brad interviews in Albuquerque. Loves the practice, thinks the people are great, decides he wants the security of a large group, chooses being a cornea specialist. Plans to accept the job.
Albuquerque calls!! With…not a job offer, as expected, but a decision to change the job into a LASEK spot (corrective laser "surgery") rather than a cornea job.
5 minutes later (literally!!!)
Traverse City calls.
Instead of politely declining the job, Brad agrees to a second interview.
January 2011
Penn State gets back to him, “hey Brad! We’re still working on getting that position. Would love to have you here!”
He goes on a second interview in Traverse City. Loves the area even more in winter and begins to get used to the idea of possibly running his own multi-million dollar practice with 30 employees.
February
Negotiations continue with Traverse City. More bumps in the road. More confusion and frustration.
Penn State calls, “Brad! I’ve got a meeting this week to see if we have the funding! I’ll let you know!”
Middle of February
He hears nothing from Penn State.
Traverse City finally works out all of the kinks and we reach an agreement that is satisfactory to all involved. Our lawyer signs off on it.
February 18
Brad formally accepts the position in Traverse City.
Today
A paper contract should arrive in the mail. Once Brad signs it, we are officially
MOVING TO TRAVERSE CITY MICHIGAN!!!!
Thank you a million times to all of you who have given advice, support, information, encouragement, etc, over the years and this last year in particular. When I get around to posting another entry, I’ll tell you a bit more about Traverse City and why we love it.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.
Feels good.
