2020 - 2021 Residency Season (Diary Posts)

So happy to be done with the process!

Happy Saturday! As promised, I am releasing the posts I previously wrote during this past residency application season. I originally planned to write weekly, but life remained busy as usual, so I only wrote two posts, one from 10/22/2020 and another from 10/23/2020. There's not much, so I'll just include both posts here. Not sure if it will help anyone, and I made sure to retract program names, so just posting on the blog for my memories. 

10/22/2020

I’m a little late with my first ERAS post, but things have been super busy this week. Right now, I am at work and just got a break. I am 11 hours into my shift and between physical and telemedicine visits, I have seen a total of 46 patients today AND finished all my notes! Hopefully, this last hour will be a smooth one.

Anyway, back to ERAS. I officially submitted my surgery applications on Sunday night, and it was an interesting experience. My application has been done for a while, but I figured submitting on October 18th would give me enough time to find any flaws (due to the pandemic this year, programs weren’t able to review applications until 9am on 10/21/2020). I didn’t get off work until 11:15pm, so by the time I got home and took a shower it was technically Monday when I was able to sit down and submit. I grabbed my laptop, had my boyfriend sit next to me for moral support, typed in my info, and after a little hesitation, forcefully hit the submit button. I was about to breathe a sigh of relief but quickly saw the words “card declined”. Now I have more than enough money in my bank account, so I initially thought I entered my address wrong. I carefully re-entered all my information and clicked submit again only to get declined. I was super confused! It was then that I realized my bank was probably blocking the charge because I had literally never spent so much money at one time in my entire life. It took me a few hours, but I figured out how to temporarily increase my daily spend limit, and I was finally able to successfully submit around 1:30am. The total charge for my application to 289 general surgery programs and 80 Plastic Surgery programs came out to be $9032. (Yep, you’re reading that correctly) To put that amount into context, the very first car I bought was around $7000 and took me a few years to pay off. Even the lavish birthday trip to Paris that I treated my daughter to last year cost me less than a third of the cost I spent on ERAS applications this year. Let that sink in.

To be honest, as tough as it was seeing the money leave my account, applying to so many programs is probably the biggest change from my previous applications. When I first applied in the 2018 cycle, the total I spent was $1910 ($1686 in the actual match and the rest during SOAP...reviewing my payment history now). For the 2019 cycle, I spent a total of $372, and the total spent on the 2020 cycle was $353 (and I forgot to register for SOAP, so did not participate this year). You’re probably thinking “What the hell! Why didn’t she apply to more programs the first time around?!?!” Well, the answer is simple...I couldn’t afford it. 

What most people don’t realize is the whole process of becoming a physician is super expensive. I couldn’t just use credit cards to pay for my applications, because I was already maxed out from previous years (having a ton of student loan debt and trying to stay afloat as a single parent will do that to you). I also knew I couldn’t afford to travel to interviews all over the country. Yep, that’s another thing they don’t tell you: you not only pay just to APPLY to residency programs, but then you’re responsible for the cost of flight, hotel, car rental, and any incidental expenses. It all adds up. By the time most medical students get ready to apply for residency, they have already spent thousands of dollars just taking board exams alone, not to mention the other costs associated with being a medical student. And on top of all this, you’re still expected to have extra money for the few months between graduation and the start of residency when you’re likely moving to a new state and having to put down security deposits on new places to live. I guess the one good thing about being in a pandemic this year is I will save a lot of money by not having to travel everywhere. Yay for virtual interviews! 

So yes, the main reason why I didn’t apply to all the programs I would have liked to in previous years was because I couldn’t afford it. I also couldn’t afford to apply as an intern with a resident’s salary (even though they are physicians, when you average out the hours worked with the pay, the majority of resident physicians make less than minimum wage **and don’t even get me started on how expensive it was living in Philadelphia**), and I couldn’t afford to apply last cycle because I had just moved back to Georgia and was jobless for my first month back. None of that applies this year, because not only have I been blessed with the opportunity to save up for residency applications, but I’ll also be able to relocate and start residency without being on a struggle bus. Turns out going unmatched and having to start working as a physician has been a huge blessing! Shout out to God for always having my back even when I can’t see it!

To wrap this up and get back on track, submitting my residency applications this year feels like a huge relief and I’m actually hopeful of what’s to come. I’m a little scared that being 2 years out of medical school will hurt my chances at a lot of programs and I won’t get a lot of interviews despite having applied to so many, but I am just going to keep my faith and keep pressing. God didn’t bring me this far to leave me and I know the best is yet to come! Hopefully my next post will be an interview invite update, but right now I have two minutes left on the clock and I am ready to go home! Good night!

10/23/2020 2:31pm

Well it’s officially day 3 of ERAS applications being open, and already this year is different from previous ones. Last night shortly after leaving work, I was fortunate enough to receive a supplemental application link from the [retracted] Surgery residency program and a few hours later I received a link to complete [retracted]’s assessment. There’s a high chance that these were probably sent out to everyone who applied to these programs, but there were two things that stuck out to me: 

• The email I received from [retracted] started off as “Dear Dr. Ward”. I don’t have the “Dr” salutation listed in my application, so either they actually took the time to review my application and see that I am already a physician, or they call everyone doctor. I’m going to tell myself the former, and that alone makes me smile just a little. 

• The first line of the [retracted] email read as “Congratulations! The General Surgery Residency Program at [retracted] has reviewed your application and determined you are a high potential candidate for our program.” This email came at 11:31pm last night, and even if they sent this message to everyone who applied, what a way to make a girl feel good!

Both institutions had assessments that were very different. [Retracted] had a super fun survey that really focused on my interests and individuality outside of medicine. [Retracted]’s assessment took me exactly 40 minutes to complete and it was basically a list of scenarios with me rating what I thought was most effective and personality questions. It also included an optional “passion index” survey which rated my overall passion for surgery as high with the breakdown as a high harmonious passion and moderate consuming passion. I’ll take it :)

As for interview invites, none yet. I did receive my first rejection today, and ironically it was from [retracted]’s general surgery program which is in my state. Their loss. I also discovered that plastic surgery programs have a unified date that they offer interviews (December 4th) which is designed to give programs time to review applications. This means there will probably be radio silence on the PRS end until then, but if I do receive interviews, I will be notified of everything that day. The only negative I can see coming from this is since interviews will start December 7th and my work schedule will already be set for the month, I may end up giving up a lot of shifts. Luckily I’ll have received a few more paychecks by that time, so it won’t hurt if I need to take off work or work less shifts for a month or two in order to interview.

That’s it for this post. I don’t expect any interview invites to happen for at least a week or two from the programs that actually review applications and don’t just screen by numbers, which means you’ll likely have to wait for that kind of good news. We’ll see what happens!

4/17/2021 4:06pm

The best is most certainly yet to come and I'm excited for what's in store as I enter plastic and reconstructive surgery residency! Reading these two posts makes me kinda sad I didn't write more because the whole process is now a blur in my mind. Even if I don't post regularly when I start my training, I think I'm going to either record my daily thoughts or just keep a journal and jot down daily musings, because I truly enjoy looking back over my journey. Shoutout to everyone who has stuck around and followed my journey through the blog over the years. Life is about to get real!

Still Kicking! An Update

Still here!

I'm back! First, my extreme apologies for the huge lack of posts this year. I tell myself that no one actually reads my blog (which helps me be more open and personal with what I write about), and it doesn't actually matter if I post or not, but clearly that's not the case. My mentee passed along a "formal complaint" today that some of you have felt a bit ghosted by my lack of posts and updates, so I promised I would do a brief update.

A text from a friend today that pretty much sums up the 2021 residency season for me

For those who are wondering, I have not given up on my surgery goals. I have submitted my completed applications, and since the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) officially opened to programs at 9am EST this morning, I am officially back in the residency program waiting game. Unlike prior years, I will share my experience with the entire process on my blog BUT you will have to wait until after Match Day in March 2021 to read about it. I don't want anything written to interfere with my chances, so while I plan to write frequent dated posts throughout the process, I will not actually hit the publish button on them until everything is all said and done. I will continue to post about things outside of this application season, and I am always happy to take requests if there is a topic you'd like me to address. What I can tell you regarding this season is I have only applied to surgery programs, and I continue to remain positive and hopeful that everything will work out the way it should.

Post work glow :)

As for work updates, I am still enjoying my work as an urgent care physician. If it weren't for my love of surgery and the fact that I deeply miss being in the operating room, I would be completely happy with this lifestyle. I work an average of 3-4 days a week, pretty much get to pick my schedule, the attending physician level pay is a plus, and I usually have time monthly to take a quick getaway or have a staycation for a few days. Plus, working in the urgent care setting offers a ton of variety, I still get to perform small surgical procedures in addition to suturing, and I rarely have to type up notes at home.  

 

Me and my not so little one

For those of you who care about mommy updates, my daughter continues to do well. She is currently attending school in-person, remains an Honor Roll student, and in a little less than 3 weeks, she will be turning 14 years old...Can you believe it?!?! This blog has been around for half of her life! She still remains very supportive of my surgery goals and loves to speak things into existence by telling all friends about her "surgeon mommy" :) My daughter remains the biggest reason why I continue to push forward and I hope to continue to make her as proud as she makes me.

I voted! Have you?

Despite being in a pandemic, my life hasn't changed much, so I don't have too much in the way of updates. I continue to stay pretty busy with work (COVID testing and telemedicine services have added a new layer to what I do), and I'm always keeping myself occupied with new activities. My recent hobby has been testing out new vegan recipe ideas, so I hope those of you who follow me on Instagram haven't been rolling your eyes with all of the food posts in my stories, LOL. I've also been trying to make a better effort at promoting my BOOK since a few people recently were super surprised that I wrote one, so don't be surprised if you see a few shameless plugs in each of my posts. Other than that, the most important thing I will end with is I don't care if it's via absentee ballot, mail-in, early voting (like I did last week), or in-person on Election Day, please do not forget to exercise the right that so many fought for you to have. GO VOTE!!!!

      

Work-Life Balance as a Resident Physician

Post-Call Glow

I promised my next topic would be on work-life balance in residency, so this post will be about how I am currently trying to maintain this balance during intern year with a few tips for those of you who will be in my shoes in upcoming years. Even though I'm only a month into residency, I currently live for my post-call days and the rare times I actually get a day or weekend off. It's during these times that I can actually feel (and look) like a normal human being again while getting caught up. Also, since my daughter usually spends her summers away and hasn't started to miss me yet, I've been able to have some extra fun without worrying about making the flight to see her on my days off.

I had the blessing of not only having a day off during my second week for the 4th of July, but a post-call day that Friday and a full "golden weekend" off. I was definitely excited for the chance to explore the city during the holiday, and what made it even better was having a friend from my GA-PCOM family in town to experience all the fun with. We went to a block party on the parkway, listened to some great music, and ate lots of yummy food from some of the food trucks that lined the street.

As for my Golden Weekend, I was super excited that Atlanta United was coming to town to play, and with tickets only being $29, I was definitely in attendance. Plus, my friend had never been to an ATLUTD game, so it was a good first experience. We had great seats, the stadium was outdoors with a gorgeous view of the Delaware river, we won the game, and although the Philly fans were a bit intense, they were actually pretty nice for the most part. There were even fireworks after the game (pictured above) which we were happy to see since we both had early work schedules and were too tired to stay up for the fireworks that occurred on the 4th of July. Afterwards, we got a chance to walk around the city to check out the nightlife, talk, and have a few drinks. It was much needed, and I felt so alive! The next day, I slept in (so wonderful!) and took a walk to the Spruce Street Harbor Park where I people-watched, ate more food, and enjoyed a day out in the sun.

Hanging out with my mentor

Since that weekend, my only time off has been during my post call days, so I've made sure to take full advantage of making the most of my free time. My favorite post-call day so far was when I got the chance to spend time with my mentor Dr. Velma Scantlebury while helping out with a dinner she was hosting for the Mandela Washington Fellows. This was a group of young African leaders who are only in the US for six weeks, so it was nice getting to meet them and hear their stories. Plus, I'm always up for free food and it was nice having some time out by the pool.

#ATLUTD #UniteandConquer

Right now, I am currently on day 14/19 without any time off unless I am post-call, so it has been extremely important that I maximize my free time to the fullest extent. As a resident, a lot of time is spent in the hospital taking care of everyone except yourself. It's easy to fall into the typical work-eat-sleep cycle, and not making any time for yourself can eventually lead to burn out. Keeping this in mind, I've made a list of things that have helped me stay sane so far. I'm sure this list will change as I get into heavier months, but so far, here are my general tips for post-call and free days:

#1: Try not to waste the day sleeping
This is probably the hardest thing to do on my list. After working 24-28 hours with very little or no sleep at all, the first thing anyone wants to do when they get home is hit the bed! It can be easy to sleep the day away, and before you know it, it's time to go back to work. I refuse to spend my entire time as a resident just working and sleeping, so I make an effort to sleep when I can while on call (even if just a 15-30 minute nap) and set my alarm to wake up when I'm post call. No matter what time I get off work on my post-call morning, my alarm is set to 230pm. So far I've been managing 4-5 hours of post call sleep, but I do have upcoming days where this will be less (such as when I attend morning general surgery grand rounds).

#2: Work tomorrow? Go to bed early
I love sleep, but if I slept all day on my days off, I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. Not a good thing when I'm typically waking up at 330/4am. So, as mentioned above, I make sure to wake up by 230pm on my days off, and I aim to go back to bed by 9pm. On days where I am truly sleep-deprived, I'll go to bed even earlier to ensure I get at least a full 7 hours of sleep (my optimal amount). This allows me to wake up feeling refreshed and ready for a new day.

#3: Have a To-Do list
It helps to have a plan for your days off. I try to keep a list of things I need to take care of, and I knock them out during my free time so I don't start to feel overwhelmed. Even if the list is something as simple as "watch Hulu, read a chapter, call daughter", it helps to have a plan.

#3: Indulge in some self-care
I am all for self-care and sometimes it's the little things that can make a big difference. On my very first post-call day, I went to the movies. Mostly to keep myself awake, but also because watching movies is something I enjoy doing. I even include blogging as part of my self-care, because I find it therapeutic. There's nothing wrong with treating yourself to a massage, pedicure, or even fancy take-out during your time off. I've done all of these when post-call, and it's a great morale boost.

#4: Get the "Adulting" out of the way
Bills and other responsibilities don't stop just because you're busy or tired. The best way to conquer them is to knock everything out when you have time off. I've utilized post-call days for grocery shopping, paying bills, and doing laundry. Things are usually less busy during the week and grocery store lines are a lot shorter. I even meal prepped the other day for my current string of back-to-back call days since I somehow managed to spend my cafeteria meal credit for the month. In the coming months, I'll utilize the time for doctor appointments and such, so that I can use my personal days for other things like making trips to see my little one and (hopefully) interviews.

#5: It's okay to not be productive
There will be some post-call/off days where you just don't feel like doing anything at all, and that is okay. Yesterday was one of those days for me. I was post-call with probably only a total of one hour of sleep in 27 hours, and I just wanted to be in bed all day. I still set my alarm for 230pm, but instead of being out and about, I stayed in bed, ate snacks, and watched Hulu all day. I think the only productive thing I did was wash clothes, and I was asleep by 8pm. Doing nothing was much needed, and I woke up feeling refreshed, and ready for another day on call.

That's all I have for a list right now. I will be post-call again tomorrow morning and Wednesday, and I already have some "adulting" items to take care of. The good news is I'll be off both days this weekend, and I will definitely be taking advantage of it. My motto is "work hard, play harder", so I am very much looking forward to another golden weekend that will only involve fun, self-care, and being around people that make me happy. If you're a resident or attending, I'd love to hear some additional tips, and to everyone else, I hope you have a wonderful week!

Month One of Intern Year: An Update

Official "long white coat" pic

Happy Tuesday! Today marks exactly one month since I made the move to Philadelphia to begin my journey as a resident physician. It's definitely been a month full of ups and downs, but for the most part, I can say that the transition into my new role has been a pretty smooth one. When I wrote my last post, I had just completed my first week of intern year. Now I am in the middle week four (yep, my program started a week earlier than the July 1st start date that most people usually expect), and I'm finally starting to adjust to the new life.

My second week of intern year was a pretty good one. I switched to a much lighter surgery service on July 1st, and after being on acute care surgery my first week, it was a welcome relief. Instead of constant ER consults and emergency cases, this month has pretty much consisted of elective cases and taking care of post-op patients. Plus, during my second week, I not only had the 4th of July off, but a Golden Weekend! For those who aren't familiar with the term, that means I had both Saturday and Sunday off. Plus, I was post call on July 6th, so it was more like having a three day weekend. I've even had time to do my surgery readings. Sooo glorious! I'll be back on acute care at the end of the month, so I'm making sure to take advantage of being able to breathe right now.

Surgery essentials

During week two, I finally had the chance to get back in the operating room. Intern year mostly involves a lot of floor work such as rounding, writing notes, taking calls from nurses, responding to pages, etc., so being in the operating room is a nice treat. My first case was a neck mass excision. Not a long case, but made me so happy! And last week, I had even more happiness, as I got to go to the OR three times! My first case (and my favorite so far this year) was an extended laparoscopic right hemicolectomy. In layman's terms, we took out a person's right colon using a scope. This was my favorite case because the senior residents were away at orientation and I got to be first assist on the case. As a medical student, I never did much outside of working the camera and closing the patient, so it was super exciting being given the opportunity to make incisions, work tools such as the bovie, laparoscopic grasper, and linear cutter, and then do a large portion of the skin closing. My other cases last week were a back mass excision, and then while on call Saturday, an emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy (ie we removed a gallbladder). Outside of the OR, I've done a few bedside procedures such as abscess incision and drainage, so I'm constantly having little happy moments that remind me why I love surgery.

Outside of the small happy moments, intern year so far has been all about adapting and adjusting to the unknown. It seems that most people tend to struggle with this, but it hasn't been too bad of an adjustment for me (but then again, I also haven't started trauma service yet, LOL). I have this weird theory that being a parent has somewhat prepared me for the year which is why I haven't struggled with the transition as much as I've been hearing other interns in various specialties say they do. Before you brush me off as crazy, just think about it. New parents are constantly sleep-deprived, working to keep their new little person alive, always worrying if they're doing the right things, afraid of failure, on a steep learning curve, and desperately trying to ensure they have a life outside of just being a parent. Starting residency is basically the same thing. The exception being you are now responsible for multiple lives, and the struggle is having a life outside of being a doctor. See what I mean?

On the grind!

With that being said, having went through the struggle of being a single parent and juggling a million different tasks on a daily basis, I've learned a lot about time management over the years and making time for important things. Work-life balance has always been super important to me, so since starting intern year, I've made sure to take full advantage of my post call days and the rare times when I get a full day off. My next post will be all about that balance and life outside the hospital, but for now, I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still alive, grinding, and trying to learn as much as I can. My next post will have all the fun stuff, so stay tuned!

Gearing Up for Residency!

I've got a long white coat now!

Things are starting to get real! I’ve spent the past few weeks completing on-boarding residency paperwork and courses, finding a place to live, moving, going through ATLS training and residency orientation which ended yesterday, and trying to mentally prepare myself for the fact that TOMORROW I officially begin my first day as a resident physician. I can’t believe I’ve made it to this point!

My daughter really knows how to make me emotional

If I’m going to keep it real though, everything has been a bit overwhelming, and I’m still in the adjustment phase. The largest adjustment so far is not having my daughter around for intern year. My parents (and my sister who I will continue to pay) have agreed to keep her for the year in Mississippi so that I can really focus on killing it as an intern, but not knowing my schedule also means not knowing when I’ll be able to see my daughter and the strong possibility of having to miss her birthday and the holidays with her. It is a blessing knowing that she’ll be taken care of, but the mommy-guilt is super strong! My daughter, on the other hand, is all happy go lucky, especially since my parents spoil the mess out of her. She even had the nerve to ask me why she couldn’t just stay with them for a few years until I finished residency :-/ I know being away from me is best right now, especially since I’ll be super busy this year, but she could at least pretend to miss me, LOL. She knows how to cheer me right up though, and the text she sent me the other day (above) really made me smile.

I’m also adjusting to my new surroundings. Believe it or not, at the beginning of this month, I had no idea where I was going to live! Philly prices are beyond expensive and since I won’t have my daughter this year, I decided to do a roommate search online. This resulted in a one-day flight to Philly a couple of weeks ago where I literally landed around 730am and flew back to Atlanta at 8pm. The day was a success though because I found a great roommate and now have a home for the next year. While here that day, I also took care of the FBI fingerprinting that I had to do in person, ate some great food, and since I found my place pretty early during the day, I even had time to go to the movies and have dinner and drinks at Morgan’s Pier before going back to the airport. The following week, my mother and sister drove to Atlanta to get the bulk of my belongings, so I literally made the drive to Philadelphia six days ago with what could fit in my car. This meant minimal belongings along with the pleasure of sleeping on an airbed all week, but luckily my last year of medical school was spent constantly on the move, so I’m used to traveling and getting used to new surroundings. Hopefully, I’ll get used to parallel parking and living in the city soon, but the bright side is Amazon delivered my bed today, so I’m looking forward to some real sleep tonight. 

My first pager!

The day after moving to Philadelphia, I began part one of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) course, signed my training license, and received my long white coat! The day started off rough when my GPS turned off and I accidentally drove to New Jersey, but I made it in on time, and everything went smoothly. I was officially ATLS certified on Tuesday, and orientation began on Wednesday. We were given pagers, and I also was lucky enough to get one of the spots as chief intern resident. This pretty much just means that the other residents will come to me with any issues they may have, and I’ll be responsible for keeping the Graduate Medical Education (GME) staff up-to-date on everything. I see it as a great way to get to know my fellow interns, in addition to getting to know some of the faculty and staff in the program. The rest of orientation went well, and yesterday after my ACLS/BLS re-certification, I attended orientation at the hospital I will be at for the next two months. It was so surreal being given a badge that has “DO” after my name and the word “physician” under it!

It's starting to feel real now!

Tomorrow, I officially start my first day as a resident physician, and I’m on the general surgery service for the next four months. I’ll be starting off with a bang, since my first day will be on call, but I’m looking forward to finally working again. If you’re not familiar with being on call, it means my shift will last around 28 hours. The good news is when I finish on Monday morning, I’ll be post-call and will have the rest of the day off to sleep and relax. I figure it will be a great way to adjust to my new position, and being busy helps get my mind off things. Plus, I finally had a day off today, and I took full advantage of it by getting a massage, going to the nail salon, and just overall relaxing and doing what makes me happy (such as typing up this post). I’ve been dealing with a little bit of sadness over what I’ve had to recently leave behind, but I truly am excited for the upcoming new journey. I worked hard to get to this point, and I understand that sacrifices are sometimes needed to achieve goals. Hopefully it won’t be too long before my next post, but right now, I’m going to go get ready for bed because the hospital will be waiting for me bright and early tomorrow morning!

When Failure Becomes Opportunity – My #Match2018 Story

***Disclaimer: This post starts off pretty bad, but there’s a happy ending!***

On February 5, 2018 at 7:54am, my worst nightmare happened. I found out I did not match. I was in the process of driving to my rotation when I received the above email. I immediately turned my car around, texted my attending the news, and headed back home. I was beyond devastated, and just wanted to crawl into a deep dark corner and remove myself from the world. I think for about the first 30 minutes, I just sat on the couch in silence and in shock. Then I called my school to figure out the best way to proceed. They let me know that the list of unfilled programs would be available in a few hours and to start making calls at that time. The next thing I did was call a good friend of mine.

The friend I called was someone who despite now being a surgical resident, did not match the first time either, so I knew he would have good advice for me. His advice was “take about an hour to cry and be in your feelings, then suck it up, take the depression out of your voice, and get your ass on the phone!” So that’s what I did. I hung up, cried a few tears (an extremely rare occurrence for me), and when the list became available, I was calling and emailing programs. There were only two categorical surgery programs available, and a ton of internships, internal medicine, family medicine, and other categorical spots available. My heart just wouldn’t let me apply to anything that wouldn’t get me to my end goal of becoming a surgeon, so I only applied for surgery and internship positions. 

Feels so weird seeing those initials after my name

The calls turned out to be successful because by the end of the day, I had completed a few phone interviews and was offered multiple different contracts at programs around the country. The only problem was some of the programs wanted me to sign their contracts right away (I’m talking within an hour of receiving), and others wanted me to consider taking a spot in their other unfilled categorical programs such as internal medicine. This completely stressed me out! The only program that actually took the time to consider what I wanted was the one at my home institution. They not only offered a general surgery based traditional rotating internship, but they said that they would hold onto the contract and give me a few days to think about it. So, to make a long story short, I happily accepted the contract for a Traditional Rotating Internship (General Surgery Specialty Track) at PCOM, and will be starting my first Resident Physician job in Philadelphia this summer.

I do it all for her :)

For those who are unaware, there are actually two matches that take place. The AOA (DO) match typically occurs the first week of February, and the NRMP (MD) match occurs around the second or third week of March. DOs can participate in both matches, but if a student matches in the DO match, then they cannot match in the following match. MD students only have the option of one match. I was registered for both matches and had ranked programs for both, but after receiving the AOA email, it forced me to think about what would happen if the same thing occurred in March. The NRMP match includes MD, DO, and IMG students, so the pool is a lot larger and it’s easier to end up not securing a spot anywhere. As a single mother, and someone with a ton of student loans, I could not afford to take a year off after graduating from medical school. It was crucial for me to secure a position and the salary that comes along with it. I held onto the contract until the last week before it was due, but after having an unsuccessful interview with one of the programs with an open categorical general surgery position (they were more concerned with the fact that I have a child rather than my abilities as a future resident), I mailed in my contract and now there is no looking back. I don’t have to worry about how I am going to feed my child next year, and she’s just happy that her mom is going to be a doctor :) 

I originally struggled with the idea of writing a post about my match day woes because I didn’t want the extra attention. I haven’t exactly been a low key medical student, so it felt extra shameful to be someone who recently received the highest award given by my school, has multiple newspaper articles written about me, and serves as national president of an organization, but apparently wasn’t good enough to match into a general surgery program. When I told my friend about this and wanting to just stay quiet and pretend like it never happened, he said something that I found to be so profound: “Your failure is not for you.” He then went on to explain that if he hadn’t previously shared his story with me, then I wouldn’t think I could go on to accomplish my dreams as well. He was completely right. So I wrote this post with the intention to not only share my story with those who might have similar circumstances, but also to give me something to look back on when I do finally become a surgeon. I might have added an extra year to my training, but I see this as an opportunity as opposed to a failure. I will accomplish my goals of becoming a surgeon, and I look forward to taking this year to kick butt as an intern whiling proving that I would be a valuable asset to any surgery program. I just hope you all will stick around for the ride.

For those who matched this week and last month, congratulations, but please remember that it didn’t come as easy for some folks as it did for you, and that there are others still out there struggling to scramble into a spot. For those currently in the SOAP/scramble process, please keep your head up and know that you are not alone. Utilize your school, mentors, and resources to secure a spot. You will get through this and end up where you are meant to be. And for those like myself, who did not match into their desired spots, but managed to secure a position, rejoice in the fact that you are blessed have a job! Finally, to all my fellow fourth year medical students, we’re almost to the finish line! Graduation is literally right around the corner!!!! Congratulations on making it this far in your careers, and I look forward to having you as my future colleagues.