Match Day

Today was kind of a big deal. Without the kind of. I am pretty sure I haven't slept well for the last week or so in anticipation of today. And now it is over, and we know where we are going to be for the next 3 years!

Saint Louis Children's Hospital!

This was our number one choice and we are all pretty darn excited about matching here! It is a wonderful pediatric hospital and a wonderful program where people train to be great doctors. Granted, it is a lot more difficult than Cardinal Glennon would have been, but I think I am ready for a change. Another big factor was that I am seriously considering specializing, and Children's has almost every specialty out there available for fellowship.

Match day itself was a lot of fun. It is always great to see all of my class in one place like that. This year, it was held at the Redbird club at Busch stadium, which also happens to be where Matt's parents have their season tickets, so we knew the venue well! It was neat to see it all done up like that. Matt's parents and Katee and Becky were all able to make it down for match day, which was a real blessing. I was so glad to have all of them there. Matt and Isidora were there also, of course. The timing, unfortunately, was not optimal for Izzie, who did not get a morning nap and then was not able to fall asleep at the venue. But, she did a pretty good job regardless and got to spend some nice time with Auntie Becky while Matt and I ate lunch (which was pretty good!)

The match ceremony was also pretty neat. Starting at precisely 11 am, they started calling our names at random, one at a time. Each individual called brings up a dollar to put into a bag and receives their envelope with where they matched. They may then go and open it to find out where. The last person to get their envelope gets to keep the bag of money. There are about 170 people in my class. Unfortunately, I wasn't last. I was only like, 8th to last. So I waited while almost everyone in my class got their envelope (27 or 28 minutes!!!) until I was called. I guess it was worth it though :) I am glad it is over.

So, now that we are sure we are staying in Saint Louis, on to our next big adventure! Buying a house!

Match update

Today all applicants who entered the NRMP Match found out whether or not they matched so that tomorrow those that did not match may enter the scramble (when all the people who did not match attempt to find a program with an open slot).

I found out that I matched! Hurray! This means we will either be in Saint Louis, Houston or Portland for the next three years.

Now, all I have to do is wait until Thursday to find out where.

More to come on Thursday!

The Match

Since the Match has been a large part of our lives the last few weeks, I thought I would write a little about it. The Match is a process whereby medical students (applicants) and residency programs rank their preferences and then match their preferences accordingly. It sounds complicated. Basically, instead of each applicant being offered several spots, each applicant ranks where they want to go, as does each program rank which students they want, and then each applicant is assigned to a program based on their coinciding rank lists.

Anyway, Match day is a big deal for medical students, and also one that causes a lot of stress. At many schools, there is a Match day ceremony, where each student finds out individually where they matched. At SLU, we each are called up randomly where we get an envelope with where we matched. At that point we can open the envelope in front of everyone or wait and go open it on our own. Match day this year is March 18th, at 11:00 AM. That's only 10 days away!

My top two choices are in St. Louis, followed by Baylor in Houston, and OHSU in Portland. We will see where I end up!