Couples Matching

You are correct sims. I am couples matching with someone who is doing pediatrics. Our rank list got quite extensive, because we want to ensure that we both match. After all of our options to match in the same city were exhausted, we began ranking places that were somewhat close to eachother (Philly/NYC, LA/SD, etc.). If you list every possible combination, then it does not mathematically hurt your chances to match. Having said that, I can still potentially match lower on my list than if I had not couples matched (if I would have matched at my #1 but she didn't, so we went further down the list).

I reported it on ERAS and it definitely came up in almost every interview. Just a nice subject to talk about. I was worried that it would really hurt my chances to match, but I think if anything it has only helped (if at all). I even think I got one interview solely because of it. She interviewed at a program in November, and they liked her a lot and made a phone call to the ortho department and sure enough I got an interview. It is not as terrifying an ordeal as I had originally thought. Might be different if she was also applying to a competitive field. If I don't match, however, you can disregard everything I've just written.

This may be a stupid question, but here goes... Lets say you decide to couples match and you put together your list in such a way that all of the geographically coupled programs are paired with one another at the top of the list, but for the sake of ensuring a match you also add all permutations of your two individual lists after that and finally you put alternating Program A--Unmatched, Program B--Unmatched, etc at the end of the list. Would this type of list give the same chance of both parties matching as if they had submitted separate lists (even though they may not be matching in the same geographic location as desired)?

Sorry I didnt make that clear. She is interested in either Internal Medicine or Peds. She still has Peds coming up this semester and has yet to decide which direction to go.

Aren't there only a handful of medpeds programs out there?

I am couples matching with wifey, she's doing anesthesia. We definitely reported it on ERAS and I get asked about it in every interview. Mostly interviewers just want to know if she has a interview in her department in the same hospital/program. Secondly, choose your top place and you should both do aways there to increase your chance of matching. It demonstrates your commitment to that program and is a great thing to talk about during your rotation and interview at that program. Am I certain all this is going to work? No. I haven't matched yet, but I feel that it definitely has made a difference throughout the process based on the feelings I got from my interviews. Good Luck.