Future doctor looking for poker friendly residency - Page 3

Angeleyes · #21 05-15-2007, 04:08 PM

Would you find it bizarre if you hesitated to invest with a stock broker or accountant who you see at the casino regularly.

growlers · #22 05-15-2007, 04:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Would you find it bizarre if you hesitated to invest with a stock broker or accountant who you see at the casino regularly.

[/ QUOTE ]

Certainly not if they were playing poker.

I understand where you are trying to go here, but comparing a wild black chip roulette playing stockbroker who handles your money to a doctor I don't think is a good analogy. If some doctor wants to blow money on roulette I don't think it implies he takes care of your heart attack irresponsibly, whereas a stockbroker who gambles wildly might imply that he takes care of money irresponsibly.
But poker is way different to me anyway.

Angeleyes · #23 05-15-2007, 04:27 PM

You're right, its not the greatest analogy. Of course doctors can play poker if they choose, its a free country. But what people do in their spare time CAN have an impact on their career. To become a really good poker player you have to spend many hours playing, studying, etc. I just don't see how a med student or resident could do that without compromising his education. If he could keep it to a simple diversion, maybe, but for most serious players, it's more than a diversion, its an obsession.

Wyman · #24 05-15-2007, 04:37 PM

Univ of Michigan has a top med program, and Detroit has 3 cardrooms + one in Windsor, Ontario (Detroit is ~40 minutes from UM). They are not great, but they're sufficient.

CamelZoo · #25 05-15-2007, 04:39 PM

o/t i play nl 5/10 live as a 3rd yr in med school sporadically. i'm in the middle of figuring out what i want to do with my life, and i've narrowed it down to emergency, ENT, plastics, and rheumatology. not too similar of a list, but i love all of them for obv different reasons.

poker will have nothing to do with my residency choices, but i plan on maybe continuing playing once i'm established out of residency... but by then i imagine i'll be v busy, esp with kids and family life, so i'd be happy with a week in vegas or la once a year with my buddies, or the occasional home game. i'd definitely feel uncomfortable with my own doc choosing his training site based on b&m access, i mean, sure everyone has hobbies, but honestly, it says a lot about your priorities if poker is even on the list in this case.

i'm thinking of staying in boston, going to nyc, or washington/oregon for residency, nyc because i know a lot of ppl there and there are some great programs, boston b/c it's the medical mecca, and seattle b/c wifey's fam are all in vancouver. anyone in those areas feel free to pm me i'd love to chat and even meet up during residency interviews whether or not you're in medicine.

growlers · #26 05-15-2007, 04:45 PM

[ QUOTE ]
You're right, its not the greatest analogy. Of course doctors can play poker if they choose, its a free country. But what people do in their spare time CAN have an impact on their career. To become a really good poker player you have to spend many hours playing, studying, etc. I just don't see how a med student or resident could do that without compromising his education. If he could keep it to a simple diversion, maybe, but for most serious players, it's more than a diversion, its an obsession.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, I'll agree with you on all of this - it would clearly be bad to play serious poker in residency or med school. But I was more quarrelling with the people that wouldn't want their family doctor to play poker. I guess it may be that I have a healthy attitude towards the game so that I don't see any difference between poker and say, restoring old cars. Either one could interfere with yout career, marriage,etc if you became obsessed with it.

I think this thread kinda sparked my interest as I have learned to lie about what I do when asked at the table - as soon as someone asks where I am from and they find out I'm local - then they always ask what I do - and I have gotten really weird reactions from people when I told them. I also despise talking about medicine outside of work and this avoids having to tell stories which someone always asks for.
So now I lie and tell them I sell bonds for Wells Fargo, which is what a good friend of mine does, and no one EVER has a follow up question as it sounds so freaking boring.
One time at the Wynn I did run into a bond seller for BOA and had to confess after about 5 minutes of trying to fake my way though follow up questions.....

pocketpared · #27 05-15-2007, 04:52 PM

Try something around the Edison, NJ to Newark, NJ corridor. You're about 2 hrs to Foxwoods to the north, 2 hours to Atlantic City to the south. Great, densely populated, high crime area to boot.

rgold79 · #28 05-15-2007, 04:59 PM

Philadelphia has some of the best hospitals in the country and is 40 minutes from Atlantic City.

Cactus Jack · #29 05-16-2007, 10:39 AM

A fascinating thread. Some of the responses are down-right bizarre and terribly entertaining. You might want to switch your specialty to psychiatry. Obv no lack of patients.

Good luck with your future, doc.

hetron · #30 05-16-2007, 04:43 PM

LOL @ people thinking every resident still works 120 hrs per week. Good thing for the Bell commission Nowadays ER residents in their 3rd and 4th years work 36-40 hours a week. It's not as bad as people make it out to be.

I am doing my residency in NYC. There are definitely months where it is tough to find time to do anything, but there are a few here that take me 5-10 mins to get to (walking or cab). Plus you can go to atlantic city for about $10 bucks after the casino rebate.