How to match successfully as a couple: catch some great tips on today’s episode!

Today’s guest, Evan Kuhl, has written guest posts for the Accepted blog. He’s currently a 2nd year resident in Emergency Medicine at The George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC. He also got married a couple of months ago. He and his then fiancée — now wife– succeeded in matching at the same hospital a year ago. He’s joining us today to share his advice about the Match, and specifically, matching as a couple. Welcome!

What was your path to medicine, and specifically Emergency Medicine? [1:27]

I did an EMT course. I met an ER doc on one of my first shifts who became a mentor, and I got really into emergency medicine – it’s a bit rare to decide so early. EMS was a great foundation for me personally. You learn a lot about patient contact and get skills that help in a lot of areas.

After graduating from Bellarmine, you went straight to med school – any bumps along the way? [3:18]

I never thought about any path other than med school.

Bellarmine gave me great preparation as a premed. It’s a small school in Louisville. But it’s one of the only schools that provides gross anatomy classes for undergrads.

My fellow residents have diverse backgrounds and a lot of them did take time in between undergrad and med school – master’s degrees, business, travel – it makes it fun and interesting to interact with people with so many diverse experiences.

My practice MCATs weren’t great, but I pushed through and applied – I didn’t take any time off.

What was the hardest part of the application process? [6:50]

If I were applying now, it would probably be the MCAT – because of the longer test.

For me, the process of the secondary applications was challenging: there’s a lot of variety between schools with regard to what they want, and a lot of time and effort involved. And it’s hard not to hear back, particularly when the application is more personal than the primary application.

How did he meet his wife, Elsa? [8:24]

We both grew up in Louisville, but we didn’t meet until med school. We were assigned to the same study group on the first day of med school.

Then we were placed 2 cadavers over in cadaver lab. My classmates pushed me to ask her out.

She started med school planning ortho, and came out as a radiologist.

How crucial was matching in the same city? Did you consider a long distance relationship? [10:50]

The first 10 matches on our lists were all in the same cities. Then the rest diverged a bit. We definitely wanted to be in the same city.

We started early and built an Excel sheet – including the city, residency, etc. And built a list of about 80 places. Some cities didn’t have programs for both of us, but were near a program that worked for the second person (for example, Duke and North Carolina).

Then we applied to about 71 programs each.

If she got an interview, I would email the ER director at that hospital. (And vice versa.) She had better scores than I did, so the Radiology directors were happy to talk to her!

Be frank and honest with the programs you’re ranking very highly (but don’t lie).

How do you manage time/relationship pressures, in med school and now as residents? [16:30]

When you’re applying for residency as part of a couple, be able to discuss your relationship pretty candidly when you interview.

In med school, we had study time together.

In residency, we have asynchronous shifts, so it’s a little more challenging.