TJU

Spent a month at TJU in Philly. Loved the area, totally wouldn't mind living there. Lots to do and see and my fav, public transit. Totally no need for cars but parking is super duper expensive.

Jefferson is a good solid program for the residents but really doesn't care for the students. I didn't really know what to expect and by the end of month, the other girls and I ended up trying to see when we can leave and not to show up. The residents seem very happy and love what they are doing there. They claimed that it's the most benign program in the city despite their increasing case loads. The lectures are on Tues and Thurs early am and Wed afternoon for boards prep. Grand rounds is on Thurs morn after lecture.

Faculty will teach only if you ask questions but the relationship between faculty and residents seem to be open and friendly. Everyone knows each other and get along well. They also got lots of toys to play with. Attendings semem to be open about what and when to use or try what. They also sent more than half of the residents to ASA, mostly on presentations. More than happy to work with the residents to get papers/presentations out.

Mashed Butternut Squash

I found this in Shape magazine while I was waiting at Dallas airport.

Whole Foods frozen butternut squash
apple butter

boil and mash the butternut squash. add apple butter and mix.

Interview # 1

Texas Tech ... Lubbock, TX - Categorical

Dinner - Lots of food at steakhouse. Food is really good. Got to talk to the residents and have their honest opinions and the going ons of the program. They seem to be happy to be there, not really have complaints. Got to meet the other applicants and just talk about random things and also hear about their other interviews as well. I got lucky and manage to coordinate rides with a couple of the applicants. Being 1 of 3 gal applicants there, got the story behind them having only 1 gal in their program. One left due to personality issue and the other left wanting to be full time mom.

Interview Day (Sat) - Starts with breakfast @ 8am. Again their theme seems to be food. Day starts with a couple of slideshows by Dr Hall, program director, introducing Lubbock and the program a bit. He is funny, very laid back, approachable. Then interviews start. Each of us has 3 interview sessions, 2 one-on-one with faculty and 1 with 2 residents. There are 12 of us and about 5 faculties and 4-5 residents. The rest is luck of draw to see who you get. I interviewed with Dr Boswell, Dr Hall and 2 of the residents. Standard questions. Asked about my personal statement, my research, what I liked and how I dealt with struggle and of course my school and OMM. I just hoped that I answered coherently. In between interveiws, can chat with other residents popping into the conference room for food. Everyone there is very open about answering any questions. They are up for accreditation renewal so they'll know in Nov. They are planning to rank 25 ish to match 4. Their ranking process is very mechanical. Everyone is given a score and then are put in order after interveiw. They would talk about it before submission. Lunch is provided and a short tour after. The hospital looks fairly new and has electronic records. It's a decent size, not too small. They have plenty of call rooms and they all look very nice.

Hotel - Hawthorn Suites - gorgeous hotel for the price of 80ish bucks. The only thing I could complain about is not having shuttle service or not being too reliable. Interview is on Sat morn and we were told that they would have a shuttle for us in the morn even though they don't normally run on Sat morn per program coordinator. Anyways, I asked them 3 times about and they didn't have a clue to what I was asking about. Thankfully, I met one of the guys on the plane and ran into someone I knew from Dallas at the hotel. We ended up bumming a ride from another that rented a car and staying there as well. Also there's not much around the hotel besides Covenant Hospital and I didn't know what else is there and being that dinner was not till 8pm, I got hungry after I landed at 12:30pm. Took quite a bit of walk but ended up eating at the hospital cafe. would be nice if the hotel could provide some surrounding area info for those of us without rental.

Overall - Solid program. Not have enough pediatric but do send residents to Dallas Children's. Seems to have good education to pass boards. Lubbock is interesting being that it serves West TX, NM and surrounding states. Will consider.

Apple Picking and PJ Pancake House

End of the 1st week of rotation at Jefferson ... more about it later. Drove back to my apartment and went apple picking at Terhune Orchards in Princeton with my small group. It was fun and we caught a bit of rain halfway through.

I didn't realize that there are more variation of apples that I have seen in the markets. They tasted much better than the ones in the market. They had Stayman Winesap, Jonamac, Macintosh, Empire, Liberty, Macoun, Golden delicious and Red delicious. I'm still not a friend of the delicious types so didn't pick any of those nor try them. I did try a bite or two of all the others. My favorite was Empire and I picked more of that. I also liked Liberty and Macoun. Jonamac and Macintosh just tasted too grainy and too thick of skin for me. And they were little more tart than I liked. I really like the Empire because it was more crunchy, slightly sweet and just more refreshing.

Before we left the orchards, I bought pecan pumkin bread and of course 1/2 gal of apple cider. I really miss the good yummy pumpkin bread. My first time was last Thanksgiving trying it at my friend's home and now I'm hooked. For apple cider, heat it up, a dollop of caramel and whipped cream ... yum ... perfect for fall. I knew there was a reason that I'm enjoying fall this year on the East Coast.

Lastly, apple cider doughnut. Never seen it or had it before. It was good but not my fav. The taste has more apple flavor but it's still a doughnut. I also bought apple butter but haven't had a chance to try it yet. Will definitely go for it after I'm back from Seattle around Thanksgiving.

Then we had lunch near Princeton University at PJ Pancake House, which is supposedly this awesome pancake place. I'm not a big fan of pancake and only when I'm in the mood for them. I had their fish and chips. It's not bad but probably wouldn't go there again. We went there mostly for the landmark.