I have my MD (!!!!!) and write it everywhere I’m given the opportunity to. My personal favorite is when I buy airfare and then, sometimes, they say “welcome aboard Dr. Lamont”. I promptly die and give them the $5 I promised if they said it. I kiiiid I’m too cheap (read broke) for that nonsense. But it has happened once, thank you very much. Still waiting for someone to have a medical emergency in the air. Nothing too serious that they’re in danger but something where I can be like hi yes you called for a doctor and there’s a solid 70% chance that I know what to do.
It’s been an eventful few months, the pinnacle of med school, match season! Basically, I sent out a whole bunch of applications, then some decided to interview me, then I spent all of my time bouncing from airports and the dry cleaners. My interviews are over and I’m excited for my prospects. And emotionally exhausted. I can’t smile and talk about myself anymore, not gonna happen. I know you’re all dying to know what goes on behind those closed doors so here you go.
An interview typically starts with a pre-interview dinner or mixer with program staff and/or residents. You get free food and to ask whatever questions you want, it’s pretty good. The next day you and your other group of suit clad interviewees meet in usually a conference room with pastries and have a series of interviews and tours followed by lunch and freedom. My personal favorite is the tour because one, you get a feel for the culture and two, everyone stares at the group of 10 people walking through the halls in obviously uncomfortable black suits. I like to think they think we’re some kind of important people. In reality, they probably think we’re high school kids on a field trip learning about healthcare.
It’s really great to see all sorts of programs and meet with their faculty but it is exhausting. I then usually try to change out of my suit ASAP which almost always means in my rental on the way to the airport. You’re welcome fellow drivers.
Now that “the trail” is over, I’ve got to rank the programs I went to in order of where I most want to go to least. Then programs list the applicants from most tolerable to least and a computer does some black magic leading to (hopefully!) a match but more importantly, a JOB. It’s far too complicated to explain via blog but if you’re curious how the match works, there’s a bunch of good YouTube videos explaining it out there.
My rank is done and submitted and now we wait. On 3/11 I’ll find out if I matched somewhere and then on 3/15 I’ll find out where I matched. It’s very exciting and not at all terrifying. I definitely don’t need an economy sized pepto.
In the meantime, I have a brand new nephew! I can’t wait to go meet him. I’m currently on my way to a “don’t think about match” vacation with my friend who has been through college and med school with me to celebrate our graduation. And I’m still doing research at UM. It’s a really exciting time, even with the looming dread. Hopefully, the next time you hear from me I’ll be employed!
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