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<p>I can’t disagree with this, and I understand how inane this probably looks to outsiders.</p>
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<p>I don’t think it’s the programs that would be the ones who would be upset with this. It’s not as common on the coasts, for peds and IM (and remember that these are the 2 biggest fields in the Match) in the middle of the country they pay for hotel rooms, dinners and lunches with residents. And typically dinners include appetizers and desserts at the better restaurants in a given city. Hell, Children’s Mercy in Kansas City reimburses travel costs up to $250 for each applicant. All that money adds up, so there would be substantial cost savings for these programs and certainly there are a lot of residency coordinators who would sleep easier not having to deal with the stress of scheduling and organizing multiple months of interviews. </p>
<p>But, the outrage from the students would be immense…the way a program appears on paper and on-line, is totally different than in person. And given the amount of time you’re going to be spending with these people, it’s important the fit is at least tolerable. This isn’t like med school interviews where you’re going to have at least a 100 other people to mingle with and find your niche. You’re going to be surrounded by these people for years. And if you happen to move somewhere where you know no one…you’re going to have to find your first friends out of that group.</p>
<p>I’m still mulling over clerkship ideas…will get back to you.</p>