Match Day 2016

Happy Monday! Match Day 2016 was actually on the 18th, but I saved the news for today because I was at clinic/wanted to live life and spend time with family/friends this weekend. Besides, this was perfect material for another weeklyĀ Medical Mondays!

I’ve kinda been throwing in teasers here and there for a while now, from how I’m choosing my residency to quotes from the interview trail, and examples of things that I was asked

(Truth be told, I wrote up most of this post beforehand and just left the “match” part blank since I cannot in fact predict the future.)

matchday2016

Applications/Interviews

I went through an initial panic (“What if no one wants me?!”) when I was first applying and applied to some that I wasn’t reallyy thinking of going to.

My dean is a wonderful lady, and told me to snap out of it and to apply for places where I really wanted to go, including my reach programs, so I went for em’! I’m super glad I did, because I ended up getting interviews from programs that I didn’t think would actually give me the time of day.

Dream big, m’friends! The worst they can say is no!

# Programs Applied: 30

# Interview Offers: 16

# Interviews Attended: 15

My last interview was on January 15th, so I’ve essentially been waiting from then til March18th to find out where I’m going!

Match Day Celebration

I got to go to a Match Day celebration! (My school doesn’t do one, so I “crashed” the one at the place where I’m rotating!)

Rotations

# Audition Rotations Completed:Ā 5

My sixth one got cancelled due to scheduling difficulties, which led to me notĀ being able to get to the interview, so I hung out for an extra two weeks with an ENT in private practice specializing in Allergy/Immunology!

Here are day-in-the-life’s of the rest!

# Days Rotations Missed: 1.5

I used almost all my vacation days to go on interviews so I wouldn’t miss any days of my rotations. The 1.5 days I missed was for my first interview! My preceptor gave me an extra half-day off and told me to go knock their socks off, saying that he was sure they’d love me. :]!

Match Day Foods

Travel

(From August to January.) To check out my travels this year and see what the entirety of [my] 4th year was all about, go here!

# States Traveled: 9

# Miles Driven*:Ā 3754.5

# Miles Flown*: 7660

In an effort to save money, I also stuffed 4 interviews into 3 consecutive days…across 3 different states (North Carolina, New Jersey, California). It actually ended up working out (thankfully), and negated the need to fly back and forth across the country, but if you can avoid that and save yourself the stress…probably a great idea.

Expenses

$$$ Spent*:Ā $3314.55

Told you there was a good reason to give up my apartment and become “homeless” for a year–look at all the money I saved! (Barely makes a dent in the cost of going to medical school, but it did help to alleviate the application fees and whatnot?)

*The miles driven, miles flown, and money spent only account for how much I traveled/paid for to get to my audition rotations and interviews.

Whittling Em’ Down

I decided to skip the AOA match in favor of the ACGME match because most of my favorite programs were either ACGME-only or dually-accredited. I emailed the dually-accredited programs and explained my situation–all of them were very understanding, and just moved my name to the other match.

This was somewhat of a gamble on my part because most dually-accredited programs had a certain number of slots for DO students, meaning that it was in my benefit to do the DO match if I wanted to go there. I also got super-strong hints from 4 programs, but…I decided to take the chance.

# Programs on My Rank Order List: 12

But in all honesty, do you guys really even care about all these statistics? Where am IĀ going/spending my next 3 years!?!

Who am I getting “married” to!?

Matched: #1!!!!!!

(I got into my first-choice program!!!)

I’m so, so excited to announce that I’ll be spending my next 3 years at the same place where I went to grad school! :D! This means that I’m not completing my westward trajectory and returning home just yet, which, I’ll be honest, I am a little sad about, because these past few months at home/near-home and getting to see my friends/family have been really nice…but I liked this program too much to not rank it first. <3

Residency Match Results

SO EXCITED. <3


We went on a celebratory hike up Mission Peak over the weekend! :] Proud to say that I only almost-fell just once!


I came up with this design ages ago for our class t-shirt contest! :]
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36 comments

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    • Kimberly on March 21, 2016 at 12:51 am
    • Reply

    CONGRATS!

    1. Thanks so much!

  1. So unbelieveably happy for you. Having been through the process myself via Alex, I know what the sitting/waiting/wishing and money spending is like, and you handled it like a champ. SO HAPPY FOR YOU

    1. I have no idea why my reply never posted, but thanks so much, Susie! :D :D :D I’m so excited! *-*

  2. Congrats on being matched with your first choice program! Not many people can say that they got into their first choice, and now you’ll have that bragging right for life. :)
    Kathryn @ Dancing to Running recently posted…ZOOMA Annapolis Half Marathon Training Log ā€“ Week 7My Profile

    1. Yes indeed! I’ve been super super lucky! <3!!

  3. So happy for you! You’ve worked your rear off and it’s paid off!!! Congratulations!!
    Julie @ Running in a Skirt recently posted…What to Wear This SpringMy Profile

    1. Thank you so much! I was so happy when I saw the results!

  4. YAAAAY!!!!!!!

    Congratulations on getting in to your first pick! This is so very exciting. I was scanning your twitter feed on the weekend waiting for you to post which you got, but reading this post was even better (holy crap you’ve worked hard)

    Well done bloggy friend, hope you did some excellent celebrating!

    xxox
    Laura
    Laura recently posted…Friday Wine Down!My Profile

    1. Thank you so, so much! I was so happy! :D!!! My Twitter feed was kind of a mess this weekend, so it may have gotten buried somewhere in there. I had a lot of good food and got to spend time with family and friends, so the weekend was awesome! I hope you had a great one as well!

  5. First choice?! Wahhoooo!!! So happy for you, my friend!!

    1. Thank you!!! Congrats to Ray too! I’m so glad you guys get to stay where you are! :D!!

  6. Congratulations, I am thrilled for you!

    1. Thanks so much!!! <3

  7. Woo hoo!!!! I am SO THRILLED for you!!!!!

    1. Thank you thank you! I could not contain my excitement and joy! I think my emails to the program afterward may have reflected thisā€¦hope they didn’t mind! :P

  8. I was so happy for you when I saw this on FB the other day!
    Congratulations, I am so happy for you. You got exactly what you wanted! You’re probably one of the luckiest med students out there right now, woot woot!
    (Oh my gosh that is a lot of travel expense, but for as much as you did I’d say it’s lower than I would have expected.)
    Kristy @Runaway Bridal Planner recently posted…It’s Been a Week of Traveling to Stunning Places and Thinking and Making Major Decisions,My Profile

    1. Agreed agreed! I definitely feel super super lucky! Thanks so much!

      Haha, yes indeed, but at least I didn’t have any real housing cost to pay for this year! That helped a little bit! :D (The not having to fly back-and-forth across the country really helped as wellā€¦ I was so worried I’d have to do that!)

  9. Congrats on your first pick!!!! This is so exciting and thanks for sharing this with your readers!
    Clare Speer recently posted…Finding Joy ā€“ Part 5My Profile

    1. Thank you so much! I was so excited when the results finally loaded after I refreshed for the 15th time! :P

  10. I just read your Undergrad recap and holy crap HOW DID YOU NOT DIE?! No, seriously, 110 courses in 4 years?! That’s freaking amazing!
    Ange // Cowgirl Runs recently posted…Weekend Recap & Run L’Arche 5 MilerMy Profile

    1. Hahaha, sometimes I look back and wonder as wellā€¦buy there were so many awesome classes there, I couldn’t not take them all, or at least try to. There were still some that I didn’t get to, unfortunately!

  11. sending you big hugssssssssssssssss!!!!! i knew you were going to rock this :)

    1. Thank you so much, Dixya!! I’m so happy!!! :D

  12. Congrats!! So happy for you!
    Sharon recently posted…Lucky Run Half Marathon Training 3/14-3/20My Profile

    1. Thank you so much! I kinda hope that one day I’ll get to work in Davis! *-*

    • Ricardo on March 22, 2016 at 10:44 am
    • Reply

    Eh, so it’s not at home. That just means it’s not time for you to be back yet. This place will still be here (pending alien attacks or Thanos) so don’t fret too much about it.

    Keep doing what you have to do. Soon enough you’ll be living the dream.

    1. Haha, i’m not fretting about it. I’m really happy that I got into my first choice, since I think this program will best ļæ¼prepare me to practice medicine the way I would love to in the future! I feel like I’m already at least partially living the dream!

  13. Congratulations!! Sorry you’re not going closer to home but happy you got your first choice!
    Rosey Rebecca recently posted…Twenty-NineMy Profile

    1. All good! I’m super super happy that I got my first choice! I’ll make it home eventually, hopefully! :P

  14. Congrats, how exciting, I am so happy for you and I can feel your excitement too.
    Mandi Korn recently posted…Baby Chicks in a DollhouseMy Profile

    1. Thank you so much, Mandi! I’m so happy about the results! :D!!

  15. Congratulations on getting matched with your first choice! How exciting for you and I can’t wait to follow your adventures in Family Medicine.

    1. Thank you so much, Jen! :D I’m super excited as well! (Also super hoping that I’ll be able to go on some hikes while I’m out in NJ! :P )

  16. Just reading this now, but congrats!!!! So exciting! I will be facing all the same challenges next year :)

    1. Thanks so much, Tori! :D!! Sending you lots of positive thoughts for this time next year! <3

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