QOTW: January 24 - The Match

[Vanquisher]

These questions are going to mostly be for those that already matched, but med student spouses can answer what they can! If you had to scramble or do SOAP, tell us about it. For those that matched:

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

3. How many programs did you rank?

4. What number did you match at?

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?

[GreyhoundsRUs]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?
I was, but no other family. Some friends had their parents, but honestly, this was about our life.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?
Big party at the top of Hancock Building. Students called up, get an envelope, and have the option to read it over the mic. There was then a looping slide show with everyone's match info.

3. How many programs did you rank?
Yeesh...I think 20...

4. What number did you match at?
#1

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?
We were both thrilled, didn't change, hasn't changed (there are days we hate residency, but it's residency we hate, not our program)

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!
Nope.

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?
Black Monday for sure. We didn't rank anywhere we wouldn't live. Black Monday = specialty he wanted

[poky]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

Yup. No family came, just us.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

Table of envelopes, lots of nervous people, mad dash to the table right at noon.

3. How many programs did you rank?

12 or 13

4. What number did you match at?

5

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?

Combination of relief (we didn't have to move) and severe disappointment (we'd psyched ourselves to be in a new city, and it didn't seem like anyone else around us matched anywhere lower than like #3). The dean of students made a point of giving us hugs (I think we looked like we were in shock), and saying she was REALLY glad we'd be staying around. After the shock and disappointment wore off, we were glad to be staying here, and the program is a really good one. It's all good.

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

Nope.

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?

Definitely match day. Black Monday was nervous, but not as bad as Match Day. Never really had any doubt that ONE of the 12-13 would match him.

[SoonerTexan]

I'll do what I can!

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?
The kiddos and I will be there. That's all.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?
They decorate the gym at the student center and designate areas for each specialty. They have advisers from each specialty there and you all open your envelopes together at noon.

3. How many programs did you rank?
We will be ranking 16 rads and 12-13 prelim IM or transitional years (haven't added it up--it's all running together)

4. What number did you match at?
TBD

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?
You'll know!

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!
huh?

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?
I'm anticipating Match Day. He really has way more programs than recommended for his stats to match and there's no glaring thing we know of that could be a big factor in making it hard for him to match.

This is going to be an interesting thread!

[wiva]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

No. We were doing a long-ish distance relationship them (2.5 hour drive-ish), and I was working nights at that time. I was sleeping that day, and he called and woke me up. I didn't sleep much after that

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

They had a party.

3. How many programs did you rank?

He ranked 8, I believe.

4. What number did you match at?

#2

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?

I don't know his initial reaction, but mine was sort of disbelief! It was a long-distance move. I was nervous and excited and sad all at once (we moved away from my family, who I am very close to and have lived near all of my life)

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

Don't know what that means...

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?

Or that. lol. Black Monday? Is that they day they tell if you if you matched? We weren't so worried about that, honestly. I'm sure it felt good for him to hear, but we both knew it would happen

[DrBandMe]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

It will just be DrBtobe and I.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

The school holds ceremonies in one particular room of the school. They call each student up one by one and you can elect to announce it on the Mic or not. Each student puts $1 in a jar and the student who is called last gets the money for waiting the longest.

Afterwards, DrBtobe and I are going to get our marriage license and then to see 300.

3. How many programs did you rank?

I think we decided to rank 13 anesthesia and 7 prelim/ty.

4. What number did you match at?

TBD

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?

TBD

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

Ummm...huh?

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?

I suspect it will be Black Monday for us. We are only ranking locations we would be happy to match into so just knowing we are going SOMEWHERE will be a huge relief.

[metroguy]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?
-just me and the wife. i had to take a vacation day so i can be there for her match day.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?
-some party. we didn't go because she was afraid of the results.

3. How many programs did you rank?
-somewhere around 16-20 programs and 10 transitional yrs.

4. What number did you match at?
#1. big shocker considering how competitive that yr was.

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?
-glad i didn't have to move. it change over the yrs-- i don't think match is that big of deal. also, next time i would have to say--location, location, location.. of course, getting into a bad program with a good location - is bad to very bad because of lack of connections/learning.. lot of wife's friends got into bad programs/good location and now regretting it..

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?
match day-- but again, i was not stress because wife was already 'stress'

[ides]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

Yes. It was just us two.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

Well, the school had a big event. Everyone and whoever they invited sat in a hall and one by one they got called down to open their letter and announce out loud where they were going. We chose to skip this and sat in our favorite cafe, drank coffee and refreshed the internet over and over until we got the email entailing where he matched. The school event was broadcast so we watched some of it too.

3. How many programs did you rank?

It's fuzzy now but I think 14.

4. What number did you match at?

3

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?

We were thrilled. We were super excited to be returning to nyc and believed we had a good and non-malagiant program.

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

I have no idea what that acronym means.

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?

Black Monday. Knowing we matched was a HUGE relief!

[diggitydot]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

Yup, just he and I at home. It was done via a website, I think. The system glitched right at release time and people were maniacally refreshing their browsers and freaking the fuck out over the 3 minute delay.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

Website. No public ceremony.

3. How many programs did you rank?

6, I think.

4. What number did you match at?

1st choice.

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?

Not really anything other than relief that we didn't have to deal with the cluster fuck of the scramble. And that we now how a community to actually research.

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

Yeah, there was a party with the other graduating med students and their spouses at some douchey college bar in Scottsdale. We went with some friends. The other wife and I were bored to tears, but hung out so the guys could celebrate with their classmates.

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?

Oh, that's a tough one. They both sucked giant hairy donkey balls for different reasons. Waiting to find out whether you match is one kind of hell, but the next couple of days before you find out where is torturous.

[L.Jane]

I was slightly oblivious to a lot of it because we had only been dating for 5 months at that point

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

Nope. I don't even remember if he called me right away.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

I believe they had a get together... wasn't there. I just know they all opened their envelopes at the same time. If LadyM answers, she was the same year, same place, her answers will give the correct information.

3. How many programs did you rank? Approx 12... Cant remember exact number.

4. What number did you match at? 4

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week? Either way he was leaving, so I was sad. I thought I would hate the location. I was wrong.

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it! I joined him at a bar for the party where we all stood around and talked. It wasn't that exciting.

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?[/QUOTE] Neither for me. Again, oblivious.

[Vanquisher]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

It was our little family. The kids, Chad, and I. Lexi was 9 days old. My sister was in town, but just the 4 of us went. Most everyone got their matches alone or with their spouse. We were one of only a handful of married couples and the only one with kids.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

We were at a party in the gym at the law school, I think. There was a reporter there. There were tables with envelopes, I believe in alphabetical order. Just before noon, everybody went up to get them, then we all opened them together.

3. How many programs did you rank?

We ranked 11.

4. What number did you match at?

#2.

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?

My initial reaction was, "I knew it!" I just knew we'd end up there. They had called Chad before the match a couple of times to let him know they were ranking him highly. I was excited and happy and hopeful.

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

I went to the Fuck You Buddy, I Got My Residency party at a local bar for just a few minutes really. I was breastfeeding and had just had a baby 9 days ago. I went home after that, and my sister stayed out with Chad. Everybody got smashed. At least two med students tried to get with my sister. Chad and my sister took a cab home late.

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?

I think Match Day. We were pretty positive he'd match somewhere.

[Deebs]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?
Before the public ceremony, students could find out privately. DH, our two best friends who were single, and I went to fine out privately. It was a really good choice as one friend got his #7 and everyone was shocked. It was nice to deal with that all together but privately.
An hour later, there was a public ceremony that DH's parents came to. We also did the $1 jar.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?
I guess I answered two questions above. After envelope opening, we went with a huge group of people to lunch before FYBIGMR

3. How many programs did you rank?
15

4. What number did you match at?
1

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?
We were thrilled. As DH has begun national committee work, he's been told how he was ranked at a few other programs, which is kind of cool to find out.

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!
We called it FYBIGMI (easier to make into a word), but I thought it was a local thing. Funny.
Ours was a rented basement in a bar. Really fun. Match was on Thursday and I had to work the next day, so I was the DD. I also went to grad school with several of DH's classmates and worked at a hospital they all rotated through, so I knew many in his class very, very well.
7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?[/QUOTE]
Match Day for me, Black Monday for DH.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[SuzySunshine]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?
I went to work like any other day, it was an early match so there was no ceremony.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?
Since it was an early match he got a phone call from the chairman of the program he matched at. We were in CA so I was at work watching the website where students self reported their matches and I watched his second choice fill and his first choice fill 2 of 3 spots. Then he called me and told me he matched but wouldn't tell me where, I took the rest of the day off and went home.

We had our own party that night with about a dozen of his classmates and friends. There was a match party with envelopes on match day, he went but I didn't. We did go to the big match dinner that night that the school hosted, lots of families, faculty, etc. held at the very exclusive faculty club on campus.

3. How many programs did you rank? Interviewed at 13, ranked 12.

4. What number did you match at? #1

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week? We were thrilled to be going back to the midwest though I was a little apprehensive about it being MN. We spent the rest of the day calling family, hiring a realtor and booking tickets to buy a house!

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it! I think there was one on the actual match day, I think DH went during the day while I worked.

7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day? There was no Black Monday for early matches in 2004.

[OrionGrad]

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?
Yep, I was, but we didn't have any other family in town or anything.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?
DH's school had a big lunch/party with the students and spouses. If course everyone was no nervous that nobody touched their lunches. Then at the right time, everyone started lining up to get their envelopes.

3. How many programs did you rank?
Somewhere between 18 and 23. We took one off at the last minute because I decided I'd rather not match than to match there.

4. What number did you match at?
#1

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?
We were (and still are) super excited that we matched where we are.

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!


7. What was more stressful, Black Monday or Match Day?
Black Monday. Just finding out that he had definitely matched was a huge relief. Everything beyond that was just icing on the cake.

[peggyfromwastate]

Military people dont exactly match like everyone else. Some try to do civilian match, but usually they are HPSP people vs USUHS people. (HPSP go to regular civilian med schools and USU go to the military med school and are considered active duty ready reserve while in school). A lot of HPSP will participate in the civilian match if the military allows them, for instance if there are too many applicants for a residency the military already offers and the military thinks there is a need for more specialists in this particular area. This happened during dhs year--- it was crazy competitive year for ENT, and there were something like 12 applicants for every spot in the military, which is really bad odds. The military wanted to tap into what they saw as an anomaly- a very competitive group of students applying to a needed specialty-- so they allowed I believe 4 HPSP students to do the civilian match... I have never heard of a USUHS student matching directly into a civilian program for residency. This we did not do a civilian match..,

1. Were you with your doc when they got their match? Who all was there?

Dh got an email. He matched at his residency site so the PD there pretty much "let it slip" that dh was going there.

2. How did the match work where you went to med school? A party? A private thing? An announcement?

No party. Just emails sent through the hard to access military email system.

3. How many programs did you rank?

5. All the USU people had to rank 5 and only 5 unless you had permission to do the civilian match. The military only offers 4 residency sites for ENT so the 5th spot was a transition year.

4. What number did you match at?

1 for us, 1 for them. We were told that dh was ranked 1 from the program we ended up going to. (Again, he was "hinted" this more than an official word). The military program ranking weighs about 2X what the student ranking is. So dh knew they wanted him and it made sense for him to rank them 1 so as to ensure he got a spot. (Family couldn't get this---- they wanted us to rank the program closer to home 1 no matter what. But this really would have jeopardized dhs chances at all just because of the way the numbers work).

5. What was your initial reaction? Did it change throughout the day/week?

Some relief bc we didn't have to move. Some regret bc we didn't get to move. Dh was happy.

6. FYBIGMR? Tell us about it!

Nothing.