Yesterday was Un-Match Day in the world of medical students and recent graduates. For me, it was possibly the biggest day of my career; certainly to date, possibly ever.
As I explained in a previous post, the Match is the system by which medical residency positions are assigned. During Match Week (which is this week), the results are distributed in a painfully slow, unnecessarily dramatic fashion.
On the Monday of Match Week, the NRMP (the organization that runs the Match) distributes an email to all applicants indicating whether or not they matched into a residency program . . . but it doesn't tell you which residency program. The purpose of this email is to give those who did not match a chance to find a remaining, unfilled residency program in which they may take a position prior to Match Day. This process is called "the Scramble," and takes place during Tuesday and Wednesday of Match Week.
Thursday of Match Week is, of course, Match Day. At that time, applicants finally find out where they will be spending the next 3-5 (or more) years of their life. In some cases, when applicants have applied to more than one specialty (say, neurology and internal medicine), they also find out that day what kind of doctor they will be.
It's a big deal. But not for me.
I only applied to one specialty. And within that one specialty, while I applied to many programs, I only ended up ranking one. I did this because The Chemist and I are older than many medical students and have established a life and a home and his career here, and we simply aren't in a position to move across the country for a few years. People sometimes call this "suicide matching", since it's an all-or-nothing scenario. I either get a residency position, or I don't.
I am happy to say that I did. So while Match Day hasn't happened yet, there aren't many surprises in store for me.
At least there better not be!
Signed,
Majin, MD
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