The Newmans: Match Day

5.24.2012

Match Day

I will officially be doing my residency in Pediatrics here at UMC in Jackson! I mean, okay, that's old news by now, but the month of April was hell on earth, and blogging was definitely on the back burner. Brushing my teeth twice a day and not killing anyone was pretty much the best I could do.

Since my graduation is in 2 days, I thought it was time for a Match Day post. For those of you who don't know what Match Day is, let me explain. As fourth year medical students, we apply in the fall to residency programs all over the country. Some or all of these programs may offer you interviews. So you spend much of November, December, and January driving and flying all over the place. The different programs wine and dine you the night before, then you suffer through a 6 to 8 hour interview. No, that was not a typo. In February, you make a "rank list," which means you rank these programs in order from your first choice to your last choice. This caused me to be emotionally unstable for about 2 weeks. It was a hard decision, to say the least. Meanwhile, the programs rank everyone they interviewed in order of their preference as well. Then a computer somewhere "matches" people and programs. I'd say it's somewhere between the NFL draft and sorority bid day. On March 16, Match Day, we all gathered in an auditorium with our families and friends, and we were called on stage one at a time. We were given a piece of paper with our match on it. So we walked to a microphone and announced what specialty we'd be doing and where we'd be going for residency. Right there in front of God and everybody. It was kind of terrifying, but I'm so excited to be staying at UMC! It was what I wanted :)

Blurry, but excited after reading my match.