A CPF Member Makes It!!!!!!

Hey All,

I've been a long time member, just not very active with posts. I am in my last year of medical school at Tulane, and just found out today (match day) that I matched in radiology for residency!!! Radiology has become ridiculously hard to obtain, about on a level with dermatology, neurosurgery, and orthopedic surgery. I am elated!! I found it the "if" today. On Thursday I'll find out the "where" (although I am about 95% certain it is here at Tulane). They had about 400 applicants here at Tulane for 4 spots, so I feel very lucky today. $700,000/year will buy a lot of flashlights!!!

John

Congratulations! I'm not a doctor myself, but I have gone through all this with my wife and I know how hard all of this is.
My wife is finishing up 9 years of post graduate education this summer. It's insane that any of you folks want to go through this! You're not done yet

So can we expect that you'll provide us with X-Ray's of all our favorite lights interiors? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Again, Congratulations!

CONGRATZ! Truly an outstanding achievement. I wish you all the best.

BTW, Do they make smocks with flashlight pockets? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Best regards,
Randy

"FANTASTIC" Congrats!! Truly will put some "direction" into your life! Count your blessings and use them in good ways!!

$700,000 a year, wow.

I have a really nice ARC AAA. It is the very rare "International Hunters Edition V-3.1". (I bought it while living in FL. and took it Goose hunting in Canada.) I am willing to part with this jewel for $60,000. I will even finance it for you. $10,000 down and $5,000 a month, interest free! I can hand deliver to Tulane the next time my son is there for treatment. Go ahead and Paypal now to get the ball rolling. What do you say?

Congratulations, that's a wonderful accomplishment. Start sleeping now, hibernate if possible until you start. Get ready for a wild ride, it should be great.

$700,000?!?!?!? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif <drops jaw>

Much congratulations!! Wow, that WILL buy a lot of flashlights!! Good luck!

$700,000 how did I overlook commenting on that when I first posted /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

I think people should know that doctors don't get that kind of salary anymore in almost anything! Especially not residents, which get paid usually in the $26k to $38k range depending on where you go and how long you've been there. Then you can get a job where you may make a lot more money, but it's not guaranteed and you certainly don't start anywhere at that kind of salary!

If you work 20 hour days to build a huge practice and invest in buying the building that your practice is located in then you may be able to clear that in 20 years if you're lucky.

Course, I don't know any radiologists personally so I could be wrong /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Now, if you really want to scare people tell them how much your student loans are upon graduation /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

The reason that it's so hard to become a dermatology resident is that they don't have any call! You don't hear many pimple emergencies in the middle of the night /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

Thanks guys,

I only mention the salary because it is not an inflation, and I still can't believe it myself. My father is a radiologist in Abilene, Texas, and he makes between $700-800,000 per year (before taxes). I have gone through a VERY long struggle; I was in medical school back in 1990 at UTMB Galveston (remember I'm a Texas, not Louisiana boy). I quit before I finished, and regretted it for many years, trying unsuccessfully to gain admittance again anywhere. I even interviewed in Puerto Rico at two schools. Luckily, Tulane was willing to give me a chance. The lord has blessed us in so many ways recently. We have our second daughter due in the middle of April, a new house under construction, and I found someone who was willing to part with their ORIGINAL ACTION LIGHT ALL-IN-ONE UNIT, TYPE III HA !!!!. I feel a huge debt of gratitude to Tulane, and society in general for all of the training I have received. Seriously, if anyone wants any medical advice (from a very novice doctor, I must add) I am here for you. You guys are some of the greatest people humanity has ever produced, and I am so happy there is a unique place like CPF that we can all call "home".

Sincerely,

John

Great, John! Congratulations; that's quite an accomplishment. Now that you mention it, I do get this kinda' sickish numbish feeling in my right arm and wrist after I've spent a few hours on CPF. It so it even hurts to click the mouse. What's good for it? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

John -

Congratulations, sir. This is great news. Thanks for letting us in on it.

I'll bet the Etoufee, Pommes de Terrre a la Creole and Flaming Bananas Foster taste extry good tonight.

- Jeff

John,

Way to go. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bowdown.gif
I just wish I would have stuck with it to become a doctor.

I'm doing my part as a nurse (tomorrow I find out if I made it into the ICU at the VA) and I can tell everyone, these doctors earn their money. All those years of school, hundreds of thousands of dollars of student loans, and putting up with angry patients and us damn nurses...I don't know if I could do it

It's not about the money, it's all about the people.

Congratulations /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

John, you have my congratulations and best wishes for a rewarding and lucrative career.


flownosaj,

We need you desparately! The nursing shortage is becoming an American tragedy. Our medical system is technically the best in the world, but our shortfall of more than 100,000 nurses nationwide is making a hospital stay more dangerous than ever before. A dedicated nurse saved my father's life, at least for a while, and she said she was quitting the profession because of low pay, no recognition and literally soul-sapping working conditions. When a nurse must care for more than seven patients lives can well be lost. The projected nursing shortfall is something like 800,000 in 10-20 years.

I would like to see our government address this issue with the seriousness it deserves.

Brightnorm (stepping off soapbox)

I've heard that that the World Health Organization ranks us something like 37. That's lower than Cuba!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif

We have the most advanced medical equipment, but we spend most of our time "fighting fires" rather than keeping the oily rags away from the stove.

The worst part of the nursing shortage is that most of the instructors are near or at retirement age yet there are few people to replace them. Fewer instructors = fewer students (as there is a mandated ratio) = fewer nurses on the floor caring for the increasing numbers of the sick and elderly.

We're in a downward spiral and I just hope that we can correct it before it goes out of control.

Sorry to sound so negative /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

This is why it is so important for qualified medical people to get out there and get to work.

Go get 'em, John /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif

That's awesome John!!! Congratulations. I'm glad you finally made it. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Condratulations John, your worth every penny.

Kev

Congrats and all the best in your studies and training. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Congratulations, and radiology/translumination is so in keeping with the flashlight theme! Heh heh.

Your post engenders optimism because there's yet another person out there with both the talent to do it, and the committment to get it done, combined with the choice to devote oneself to a noble profession.

Perhaps I overdid things a bit last night; major hangover, but I know it is only one of many to come, with all the parties planned over the next several weeks. I don't want to kill too many neurons, though, as I need all I can get for learning yet to take place. Radiology has 3 parts to its boards; First is radiation physics, then an extensive written exam, followed by the dreaded multi-part oral. The oral is what gets most people, as one must verbally display the entire thought process behind a differential for a case, and answer a barrage of questions, as the radiologist must know something also about prognosis, treatment, incidence, etc. I've sat in many resident conferences at Tulane, and it is intimidating, to say the least. I have a feeling that because radiologists are the guys "behind the scenes" most of the time (although the increasing array of interventional work is changing that), most people don't realize what is involved, and the huge knowledge base that must be mastered about virtually every bit of anatomy that resolves under CT and MRI.
I think I'm going to start hitting the Netter Atlas of Anatomy throughout my intern year, with the goal of doing one or two plates per week, thoroughly, because the biggest pitfall I have seen is people not knowing the normal well enough; it is easy to forget, for example, where exactly greater and lesser petrosal nerves course through their bony canals, and all the ligaments and muscles associated with the shoulder.

John

Hey John, Congrats. It was so good to meet you at my office back during X-mas. I can't wait until you can make it back to Abilene. If you haven't talked to your Dad today, We got some rain! God speed my friend, call me up next time you are in town and perhaps you and your family can come over for dinner. I will be online late tonight perhaps we can talk on the phone for a bit, my dime.

just shoot me an email [email protected]

this is so good to hear!!!

first, CONGRATS JOHN!

you have worked hard, and deserve success!

remember: be nice. a cool doc will have peers eating out of his/her hand.

i am also a nurse at the university of michigan. i work surgical and critical care, and also in anesthesiology. i have been a nurse for 7 years.

yup. there is currently a nursing shortage. and it is getting worse. as Brightnorm stated, the projected numbers are 800,000 to 1,000,000 nurses short by 2012. i have studied this problem extensively over the last 2 years, and submitted a report and recommendation to the CEO's at the U.

Brightnorm concisely stated why there is a shortage: nursing is a VERY hard job. long hours, too many VERY sick patients, mandatory overtime, high risk for injury, high risk for violence, physically demanding (im a competetive cyclist, and i still get a sore back from lifting patients, sore feet from standing all day, etc.), risk of disease, abuse by patients/docs/aides/families/other nurses and just about everyone else under the sun. break? what is a break? i often dont have time to pee!

bottom line: nursing sucks. the profession abuses the nurses, so you are seeing more nurses leave the profession, and less people are coming in. the current nursing population is older, and close to retiring.
some money has been set aside to encourage nursing school enrollment. this will not solve the problem. why? we are sending people into a broken (abusive) system. a surprising number will leave nursing within the first 2 years.

who wants to do this job? i cannot recommend this job to the younger folks in the area, because it is incredibly stressful and "dirty".
they would rather work on a computer, or do something "clean".

i am even considering changing careers.

the only way to fix this problem, is to make nursing a better career. we need to make sure nurses are protected, not abused. we need to make sure that there is plenty of staff, and that working conditions are good. we need to outlaw mandatory overtime. we need to have proper nurse-to-patient ratios.
ALL of the above fixes need to be made LAW--state or federal.

i hate to rant, but i dont care how strapped a hospital is. i expect them to provide adequate staffing/working conditions. i dont care how much it costs them--this is not my problem. (hospitals believe that docs bring in money, and nurses/RT/PT/pharmacy spends it. therefore, nurses are seen as a "minus", and the numbers of nurses are kept to a bare minimum. i have internal memos stating this!).

i will say that in general, i agree with Brightnorm's belief that government/someone should address this issue.

again, sorry for the rant...i work too damn hard...but i do a GREAT job, and have saved many lives.

Bob