Match

Tomorrow is Match Day. For my readers who are not familiar with many of the rituals of medical training, Match Day happens on the 3rd Thursday in March. It is the day on which 4th year medical students learn where they have "matched" for residency. In a nutshell, the match works like this. You apply to residency programs. They interview the candidates they like. After you interview, you make a list ranking your choices for your residency. The programs make their own list ranking the candidates they have interviewed in order of preference. Both parties submit their lists and a computer makes the final decisions, which, by the way, are a binding contract.

It's rather weird to think that a year from now it will be the members of my class waiting to know our fate. After you work this hard to get this far, it is hard to believe that a computer makes the big decision. They make it seem like you have some control--if you don't rank a program, you will not be matched there and the you will match at the highest program on your list that wants you. Like most things in this whole strange process of becoming a doctor, it turns out to be a ton of waiting and stressing for something that is rather arbitrary in the end. Is it your numbers, your personla statement and letters, your ability to shine on a 4th year away rotation, who you know, or some combination of all of the above that makes your match? Who know.

The good news is that the class of 2007 here matched EVERYONE. No one here had to scramble this year, which is great.

The scramble? What's that? Some breakfast plate? No. Should you have the misfortune of not "matching," ie no program that you wanted reciprocated the love, you get an email a few days before the match telling you that you did not match. Then you have the next day or so to figure out the open residency slots left in the country and enlist your dean, friends, family, hell, even the dog, to help you frantically call and fax your applications to the remaining programs. Space is limited and tons of people are all trying on this one day. So there's a good chance you will not end up in the specialty you wanted or in the location you wanted. You might even end up without anything. That sucks. I would not wish the scramble on anyone.

So there you have it, another installment of the bizarre path to becoming a physician. Good luck to all the 4th years out there. I hope you get your #1 choice.