Stay Tuned

If you haven't already noticed, I am counting down the days till next week when I find out where I will be going for residency. On Monday, medical students all over the United States find out if we Matched into a program, or if after the applications and interviews, our ranking of the programs and their ranking of us, did not result in a mutual desire, hence we did not Match.

On thursday, those of us who did match into one of the programs on our list, will find out which exact program that will be. Between Monday and Thursday, those who did not match have the opportunity to "scramble" into other unfilled positions- sometimes into specialties that are not the ones that they originally wanted. Some people will stay in that new specialty, or work there for a yr and try the residency match process again next yr.

I am going to be specializing in the incredibly challenging, versatile and rewarding field of obstetrics and gynecology. I will be a surgeon, a women's health advocate, a helper in the many stages of a woman's life; be it the birth of their child, or their battle with ovarian or other such cancers. I will see women in all stages of their lives. Early womanhood to postmenopause. I am so excited and honored to be in this position.

My top three choices are a program in Cincinnati, Phoenix and Chicago. It is an awesome thought to think that in an email, I will find out where in the US I will be spending at least the next 4yrs of my life.

My future is out of my hands at this point, and I cannot wait to get it back. So, stay tuned. Next week is going to be an interesting one to say the least. While I have received good feedback from program directors and residents, the way that this process works, you really don't actually know where you stand until Match Day. This is not a normal hiring process.
The process to becoming a practicing physician in this country is a long and tumultuous one. With all the emotional lability to make anyone go crazy if they did not have a proper support system around them.

I thank God for bringing me this far, for infusing me with strength and determination, for giving me all of the tools that I needed to endure and excel on this journey and for surrounding me with steadfast family and friends, including a wonderful husband, who has gone on this journey with me. Match day is every much about his future as it is mine.