Match Day

On match day, 4th year students walk to the front of a huge auditorium filled with peers and family and open an envelope that contains their residency appointment. I cheated; I looked at mine before hand, and then had them put it back in the box to read it during the ceremony. People may be mad, but for me, having begun pre-requisite classes for the MCAT seven years ago, I had waited long enough. Someone said, 'can't you wait another hour', and I thought, 'actually, no'. So I'm off to one of the best programs in the midwest, I think. Cincinnati was first, I believe, followed by LA, Pennsylvania, Chicago and Louisville. Many of the other programs in the midwest have also been around for upwards of twenty-five years, and it has a high concentration of well-established programs. There were fewer open spots left in the midwest after intial matching than any other region except the far west, which has the fewest spots and the most extra-curricular attraction.

Although it was probably the toughest program I looked at, that's ultimately what I want. As I said to my wife, 'when someone ultimately dies even though I try and save them, I want it to be because that was what was destined to happen, not because I wasn't prepared'. Whew. Glad that's over. Or, I suppose, just beginning.

Congratulations to all those who matched, good luck to those few that had to postpone, and thanks to those who helped--although I'd like to think I'll thank them a little more personally than this.