From October to February, U.S. medical students embark on the arduous task of residency interviewing to determine their ultimate position in the profession. Fourth-
Unlike other professions, medical students largely pay the interview travel costs out of pocket. There are even special loans up to $10,000 to assist with travel costs. (Just what a medical student needs -- more debt.)
In response, two Vanderbilt medical students created http://www.SmartMedTravel.com. The site features a comprehensive database of advice, itineraries and little-known budget-travel options specific to the hospitals and cities where students must travel. Ben Rosenbaum, 26, a neurosurgery applicant, and Randon Hall, 25, a pediatric applicant, have joined to help students save thousands of dollars in an interview season.
Their own frugality drove them to educate other students on the ins and outs of budget travel. Rosenbaum lives in a one-room apartment and is accustomed to sleeping in rental cars and $15 hostels on the eve of interviews. Hall is no stranger to the fifteen-hour Chinatown bus from Nashville to New York priced at a little less than a tank of gas. "We don't expect students to go to the same extremes as us to save money," Hall said, "but we want them to know that there may be a $3 train or an $11 rental car alternative to that $50 taxi we've seen too many people take."
Rosenbaum said, "It's not uncommon to hear students incurring anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 in travel costs during the interview season. Students are just too busy to spend hours searching for the very best deal; they are more concerned about just getting where they are supposed to be in a safe and timely manner."
http://www.SmartMedTravel.com is a medical-student-
Residency "Match Day" is March 20, 2008.
