Members of the med school class of 2009 got their residency assignments yesterday at UC San Diego. KPBS Reporter Tom Fudge was there to see how they reacted.
Club med is a small building on the campus of the UCSD med school where one hundred and twenty-two students gathered to learn where they'll become doctors. A map of the U.S., covered with yellow stick pins, showed the locations of the residencies the students got. They ranged from San Diego to Boston. Associate med school dean Carolyn Kelly says the class of 2009 has all types.
"Some have stayed on this very straight and narrow track of knowing exactly what they wanted to do since they were in high school. And some of them have changed their minds many times," Kelly said.
A residency lasts from three to four years and it's the final stage of a doctor's training. These students have chosen specialties ranging from surgury to pediatrics to radiology, in which you intrepret X-rays. Two of them joked about their specialties. Yanna Simons chose surgery. Carly Gardner chose radiology.
"And I love people and I like to operate," said Simons. "I love people too, just not as much as her," said Gardner. Simons said, "Just one's pictures!"
Hadia Sadiki came to California with her family from Afghanistan. She says a med school degree is a immigrant's dream. And she looked forward to becoming a doctor.
"You are helping out humany in some way. And, you know, there are a lot of challenges to overcome and I think the new generation of doctors are the ones who will sort of set forth an example," said Sadiki.
Dr. Kelly says work-hour restrictions limit residents to only 80 hours a week. They typically earn about forty thousand dollars a year. This year's graduates will begin their residencies in June. Tom Fudge, KPBS News.
