Travels in Virginia

A few days ago I posted a not-so-uplifting post about the dregs of job hunting. I really need a place to vent all my frustrations, partially so that I could better move forward in the job search.

Alas, some fruit.

Paul went to Tulsa, Oklahoma for an interview on Tuesday, February 13. The interview went well enough. He enjoyed the radiology group and felt like we could be happy there. But there were a few drawbacks. He wouldn’t be able to perform the entire spectrum of what an interventional radiologist (IR) can do...their practice was rather limited. And, instead of working with numerous IR docs, he would mostly be on his own, working at one of many satellite hospitals.

Paul was really looking for somewhat of a mentorship with his first job - during those first few years out of fellowship, it’s really a time to hone your skills and really settle into it. Also, fellowships don’t train you in every IR procedure out there, so he wanted to find a place that could provide him with additional training. You might wonder how, after 10 years of medical training, he still wouldn't know some of the stuff he would need to know. This happens because there is some crossover between IR and vascular surgery; for example, at some hospitals, interventional radiology with perform particular, whereas somewhere else, vascular surgeons will do it. Depending on where you train, you will learn different procedures, depending on what kind of a hospital it is (trauma, cancer, etc). Also, depending on the relative age of your colleagues, and when and where they trained, will also affect the types of cases that you will do.

After that interview, he thought Tulsa would be okay, but not ideal. The following Monday, he interviewed in Richmond, Virginia.

I decided to go with him. Partly because we could go a day early to see his 3 siblings in Williamsburg, and partly because on Tuesday, he would be interviewing in Winchester, VA, in northern Virginia. I figured I would like visiting these places where we might live, and, knowing my husband, he would be happier and enjoy his trip more if he weren’t alone.

Sunday afternoon we arrived in Williamsburg (after a Delta flight with my own personal TV...I just loved being able to watch whatever I wanted and not pay for it. I watched Thor Ragnorak again...sorry...needless aside...it was awesome though). We ate Sunday dinner with Aaron, Tandy, Erika, Steve, and Christina, with 10 nieces and nephews running in circles around the room. We talked of how awesome it would be if we ended up in VA, and how odd, considering none of us really ever planned on being East Coasters. It was then that I realized that I really hoped that the Richmond job was Paul’s favorite. I wanted to be nearer to these people. It was so fun and relaxing being around them. We had always dreamed of being in the mountains, but can mountains really compare to being with family that you love?

I dropped Paul off at his interview the next morning, while I bummed around Richmond for the rest of the day. I stopped at Wegman’s, exchanged the rental car for a different one, lunched alone at a French bistro, and visited the Virginia Art Museum to see the Terracotta Warrior exhibit. It really was amazing. I got goosebumps all over when I walked into the room. To imagine the time and dedication of the craftsman to creative thousands of distinct faces and features. To remember how old they are and how well preserved. It was inspiring to think of all that went into their creation, and that I was able to view them so simply. I longed more than ever before to travel to China to see the entire army together.

When I picked Paul up, he immediately began to tell me all the good things about the group...the variety of cases they do, the personalities of the other radiologists, the benefits, etc. It was all positive. If anything, he was overwhelmed by how much he would have to learn to be up to speed with the rest of the group, since they do the entire spectrum of IR procedures, including all the stuff shared with vascular surgeons, as well as old-school procedures and new-school stuff.

When the group heard that I was coming to town as well, they decided to take us out to dinner (I think my coming showed them that we were pretty interested in moving there). We met up with 4 interventionalists and their wives for dinner. It was fun to converse with his possible future colleagues. We’ve never been very social with Paul’s coworkers, preferring instead to spend time with family or close friends, so it was fun to see how easily we fell into conversation. I could see why Paul had been so excited after his interview - at the prospect of working with people whom he really enjoyed.

Dinner went late...til about 9:30. So we got a late start on our 2.5 hour drive to Winchester. Gratefully his interview wasn’t until 10 the next morning, so we had time to sleep in and wander around this quaint little town on the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley. While he interviewed, I drove around the countryside, imagining having an orchard, letting our kids run all over the backyard, having a dog (!), living in a town of 20,000, and adapting to small-town living. When I picked him up that afternoon, he told me pretty quickly that it wasn’t quite what he was looking for. Like Tulsa, they didn’t do a lot of procedures that he would like to do, and he wouldn’t really get that mentorship on new procedures like he hoped. Plus, if we were going to live on the East Coast, we would rather be only 45 minutes from Williamsburg family instead of 3 hours. On our drive to the DC airport, he pretty much said he would go with the job in Richmond.

That was Tuesday afternoon. I expected him to contact Richmond on Wednesday to let them know his decision. But no. He continued to hem and haw about it. Debating location with pay with amenities with procedures with family time to partnership with cost of living with everything. I kept asking if he was going to text them, and he kept saying, “It’s such a big decision!” with which I heartily agreed. I stopped asking when he was going to respond to them, making sure that he came to the conclusion on his own.

Finally, on Saturday morning, after discussing it with me one final time, and realizing that this really was the perfect job (except that we wouldn’t have mountains close), he texted his contact there, saying that if they would have him, he would take the position. Hilariously enough, after that he kept checking his phone every minute to see if he responded. Luckily he didn’t have to wait to long. His contact said that they had already voted to hire him.

Huge sigh of relief. And let the excitement and planning begin!

We had always planned to live in the West - in the mountains more than anything. But here we are, planning a move to a place I never thought I’d live. And I am thrilled to be moving there. Why? Because family is way better than the mountains. Because we are pretty certain that he will love the work that he is doing...and if your husband is happy at work, he’s happier ALL the time. Because Virginia is beautiful! It reminds me so much of Wisconsin, without mountains of snow and subzero temperatures. And it’s almost the same size as Milwaukee. I think I’ll feel right at home.