Match Questions

[madeintaiwan]

Slightly, haha, but I'd still pay it! Do the students have to pay or just the guests? I'm hoping the latter as the students already pay enough! Man, I wanna crash it, but luckily for you I'm busy that day.


And kmc, I think match day is better than graduation. Sure, it'll be cool to get a picture of him in his robe and hood, but the actual ceremony will likely not be that interesting. It's not like art school where there are performances of modern dance and speeches by Oscar winning playrights. The keynote will likely be very impressive, but I doubt I (as a non-science person) will really care about what s/he has to say...

Match Day, on the other hand will be more exciting and suspenseful. It's what you'll talk about years from now. This post is full of match stories; I doubt we'd see the same if the topic was graduation.
Also, everybody has graduations but only medicine has the match. This is a unique part of the process... That stresses us out and we complain about endlessly. So the actual day is cause for celebration. And exhaling.
Support for graduation would be nice, but support for Match Day is necessary, whether the result is good, bad, or so-so. In short, good choice.


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Match Day is definitely monumental. Ours was devastating, still monumental. I'll save the boo hoo story because where we matched has worked out for the better. It was in a bar, names called randomly up to a stage, $1 put in the hat (I think it went to buying a round drinks at the end). I don't recall any parents being there, just spouses/SOs and children. We had a lot of families in our class.

It's not just another graduation. Aside from high school, I personally don't feel that graduations are just graduations. There are still so few people in this country who get the privilege to go to university and actually graduate with a degree that I think it's a big deal. Even less people get into medical school and graduate with their MD. A huge cause for celebration.

I really enjoyed graduation day. The stress of the match was over, we knew where we were going, knew where we were going to live. We were on the next step, one step closer to finally being done! Graduation day was all about taking the time out to celebrate what we had accomplished as a family. Our immediate family as well as our extended families that helped in so many ways along the way. We had an awesome speaker, pediatric NSG Ben Carson, who gave an awesome and very meaningful speech. And it is pretty damn powerful when they take the hippocratic oath, I cried.

A lot of DH's family flew out from CA, NV, and FL. We had two fancy dinners. Graduation was very emotional for me, because it was the end. I saw some of very dear friends who were our families during medical school for the very last time. There are pictures of Julie (colorwithstitches) and I and we have smiles on our faces but we were so badly trying to fight back the tears. You're so happy to be done, but it's so sad to say goodbye.

Anyways, I just wanted to throw out there that graduation day is a big deal. At least for me it was. I think there are more match day stories because people tend to ask more about match day because it is the unknown. You have absolutely no control over the match which is frightening. But just because graduations are "orchestrated," it doesn't mean that they are not as momentous or emotional.

[scarlett09]

It's not just another graduation. Aside from high school, I personally don't feel that graduations are just graduations. There are still so few people in this country who get the privilege to go to university and actually graduate with a degree that I think it's a big deal. Even less people get into medical school and graduate with their MD. A huge cause for celebration.

Anyways, I just wanted to throw out there that graduation day is a big deal. At least for me it was. I think there are more match day stories because people tend to ask more about match day because it is the unknown. You have absolutely no control over the match which is frightening. But just because graduations are "orchestrated," it doesn't mean that they are not as momentous or emotional.

Ditto.

While Match Day is monumental because you will finally discover what the next step is, graduation is the end of the first part of the journey that is medicine.

The spectacle of a doctorate/professional degree graduation ceremony is different than any other. Undergraduates are not hooded, and in most cases, are not even wearing them. They walk across the stage and usually pick up a fake piece of paper. When receiving their MD degree, the graduates are hooded (DF was nearly strangled during this, as he is 6'4" and the person trying to hood him was maybe 5 ft). It is an opportunity to receive the applause and cheers of their family, their peers, their professors and others they have come to know during their 4 years. My FMIL and I were sobbing during this point. And they also get that MD diploma - that thing is HUGE. Make sure to make space on the wall for it! Even though I'm not a science person, the commencement speaker was interesting. I think these speakers realize that they can't make their speeches too obtuse or else everyone will zone out.

In short, graduation is just as important as Match Day.

If I can make it to graduation I definitely will be... we shall see!

[NYCHoosier]

I didn't mean to belittle getting one's MD. Obviously it's a big deal and graduation celebrates and recognizes that.

But if as a s/o you could only go to one and not the other, I'd totally go to Match Day. For the reasons stated above. And I'm sure kmc's s/o will be thrilled to have her by his side for the match, whether to help him celebrate or console him. I guess, perhaps, even though neither events are about me (and I totally recognize that), I'll feel more like a participant in match day whereas I'll just be a spectator for graduation...and while I want to and will be at both, if I had to choose one, I'd go with Match Day. So, I think it's awesome that kmc will be there for Match Day and shouldn't be bummed that she can't make it for graduation.