My niece called yesterday with the exciting news that she has been “matched”. No, not from match.com–she’s already taken. This is the infamous National Resident Match Week, culminating this Friday on “Match Day”, when graduating medical students nationwide each receive a sealed envelope containing their residency destination. Yesterday they found out if the complex algorithm that takes into account student preferences and residency programs to which they have applied resulted in “The Match”. For this relieved 99%, Friday will reveal where.
And what might your resident doctor be like if you happen to find yourself in an academic medical center in the coming years? According to Modern Healthcare, he or she is likely making about $51K, working about 80 hours a week, with an approximate 25% likelihood of being foreign-trained, and a slightly higher likelihood of exhibiting signs of depression (no surprise with the years and years of overwork and stress). See how some students use humor to combat their anxiety in this hilarious Matchmaker Matchmaker parody.
In what has become a tradition at UMass School of Medicine and many other schools, class members gather with family, friends, faculty and fellow students to open their envelopes in unison at an emotion-filled event. Fingers crossed that Match Day 2016 is a happy one for all of these hard-working doctors (and that my niece ends up in Chicago with her true “match”, a first year resident who made it through this process last year!).
