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Kevin Chiang, MD, MEd

Mar 21 • 47 tweets • 86 min read

🧵 The Finale – Part 15 of my #Match2022 Tweetorial Series– “I Matched! Now What?”

I wish I had somebody who told me what I needed to think about after I matched last year.

This thread covers what you should consider and do in the next 3 months before starting residency!

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A brief outline of what I’ll cover:
– Celebrate
– Thank yous
– Calendar
– Connect with class
– Hobbies
– Housing
– Create a Budget
– Save Money
– Onboarding
– Vehicle
– Health Insurance
– Email Forwarding
– Documents
– Loans
– Family & Pets
– Don’t study
– Enjoy your time!

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First and foremost, celebrate your incredible achievement! You have put in thousands of hours of hard work over many years, and you deserve to take the time to celebrate with those who have played a role in your journey.

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Say your thank yous! Between family members, friends, teachers, mentors, advisors, and letter writers, there are probably plenty of people who have helped you get to where you are that you would like to thank. In-person or handwritten is better if possible!

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Get a calendar and map out important plans and dates for the next year. Reach out to whomever you need to in order to gather dates for things like weddings, vacations, and important family functions so you can plan and strategize your scheduling requests accordingly.

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Connect with your incoming class via email or social media! These future colleagues will soon become your closest friends! A class group chat can be helpful. We created a GroupMe early on, and it continues to be great for communication, planning, and social events!

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Everybody needs hobbies and interests to find joy and decompress from the stresses of residency. Set yourself up to be able to continue your hobbies after you move. Now is also the perfect time to try new things and explore and discover new hobbies and passions.

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Start looking for housing ASAP. I recommend reaching out to current residents to learn about where residents tend to live, as well as areas to avoid. Consider number of people, location, how much space you need, parking, and amenities. Websites like Zillow are helpful too!

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Don’t delay searching. Residents across specialties, college students, and professionals are looking for housing now too, so things can disappear quickly. You’ll want time to move in, get settled, establish a routine, meet co-residents, and explore the area before starting.

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Build a monthly budget. You will now earn a salary, but it is important to develop a sense of how your money will be allocated. Consider rent, utilities, internet, cable, groceries, food, gas, loans, retirement funds, emergency funds, hobbies, taxes, and employer deductions.

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Start saving 2 months’ worth of your projected cost of living (COL) plus estimated moving costs.

Your first paycheck likely won’t come until after July. This means you need a couple of months’ worth of COL saved up to get by until you receive your first paycheck.

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Some ways to save money include:
– Selling non-essential belongings or old furniture
– Redeeming credit card or other rewards/points
– Pack yourself to save on moving costs
– See if others can help provide things you may need (either for free or at a reduced price)

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Regarding the last point: Don’t be afraid to ask friends and family. In my case, my parents helped provide some things I needed that they had extras of. I also had a friend who gave me an entire set of plates, bowls, glasses, and silverware, which was extremely helpful.

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If it’s feasible, driving and moving yourself may be more time-consuming but cheaper than hiring movers. If you do get movers, look carefully into the cost. Many companies charge by the hour. By packing things into boxes yourself, you can avoid packing and time-related fees.

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The onboarding process is a monstrous one with a seemingly never-ending checklist full of paperwork. The turnaround time for some tasks (e.g. fingerprinting) can be slow, so it’s beneficial to get started on them when available and finish them sooner rather than later.

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There are many pre-employment screening tasks, including updated immunizations, TB testing, and drug screening. Get these done early on. Obtain paper and electronic copies of your immunizations and health records so that you have them for both onboarding and your new PCP.

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Check that you actually have your vehicle’s documents inside the vehicle. If you’re moving to a new state, you’ll have to look into switching your driver’s license and the license plates on your vehicle. Having copies of your documents makes this process much smoother.

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If you turn 26 between now and residency, or if you use your school’s insurance, you will lose coverage until you start residency. Many people will try to be “safe” and “careful”, but we all know life is unpredictable, and things can change in an instant.

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You don’t want to find yourself in a situation where you don’t have health insurance when you need it. With that being said, there are some short-term health insurance options you can look into. If you plan on traveling, consider getting travel insurance.

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Set up auto-forwarding from your medical school email to a personal email address. Export your school emails so that when your medical school email is inevitably deactivated, you still have a copy of all of your emails you can later import and refer back to if ever needed.

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Review important online accounts for which your login or primary email is set to your medical school email address, and switch the primary email address over to your personal email address so you can retain access when your medical school email address is deactivated.

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Make copies of all of your important documents, including your college diplomas, medical school diploma, driver’s license, insurance cards, passport, social security card, and any other important certifications or licenses you own or carry.

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Start planning for loan repayment. Learning about your options will enable you to plan accordingly and either start or defer your loan payments early on. Common options include PSLF, PAYE, REPAYE, IBR, ICR, and private refinancing. Getting a financial advisor can be helpful.

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If you have children who will need daycare or pets that will need daytime care, begin looking into options and get enrollment processes started. If you have significant others relocating with you and switching jobs, they should start the search and employment process now.

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Do not study to prepare for residency. Remember how people would always say not to study before medical school? The same goes for residency. You’ll learn the things you need to know as a resident. Take advantage of the spare time you have now, and make the most of it.

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Enjoy the next 3 months! Cherish your friendships and family. You share a special bond with your medical school friends, and it’s harder to stay in close contact once everyone spreads their wings. Go make lasting memories that will stay with you for the rest of your lives.

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That’s a wrap! We’ve covered a lot this past year. I hope these threads have helped with navigating the residency application & interview process.

Proud of you all! Best wishes for residency!

Retweet/share this thread if you can to help reach others! (can't tag everyone)

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