Coming Full Circle

Interview season has begun, and since I'm still waiting for the official approval to start doing research this month, I had time to meet with the applicants and chat with them while they waited to be called for their interviews. At first I didn't know what I could talk about with these applicants; I was, after all, just an intern and still not as familiar with Philly as some of my other classmates who lived downtown. But in the end, answering questions was no big deal and actually kind of fun. It reminded me of when I was interviewing here exactly 11 months ago, and I recalled what drew me to the program in the first place: the sense of camaraderie among the residents, the impression that people here cared, and the down-to-earth interactions with the faculty. That hasn't changed a bit. My firm leader (faculty advisor) came to pick up a student for an interview, and the first words out of his mouth were, "Hey there. Have you used the bathroom? Need a Foley?" That's just the way he talks, but I think it definitely broke the ice.

I've also found that I've been a pretty good source of info for the osteopathic applicants, and there's usually a few in each group. They had the same questions I had when I applied here, i.e. is the hospital DO friendly? How is resolution 42 approved? The upper level DOs had been a great help to me on my interview day, so I was determined to do the same here for the future applicants. I think helping out on interview days is refreshing and exactly what I needed to remind myself of why I ranked this program high, because at the end of the day, I'm happy with where I've ended up =)