My Match Story

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.Hoo boy. Match Day. On Match Day, you actually get an email which is very obnoxiously titled “Did I Match?”

Well, I DON’T KNOW, EMAIL. I HAVE BEEN ASKING MYSELF THAT SAME EXACT QUESTION FOR WEEKS NOW. WHAT NEED IS THERE TO RUB IT IN?

And so, I opened the questionably questioning email which seemed to take an eternity to load and…

Well, I should probably tell you a bit more about myself. I studied medicine in the Central University of Venezuela, which, as you may suspect, is located in Venezuela. I then moved to the U.S. and did all my steps with Kaplan, whom honestly was a great help. My Kaplan med advisor helped me with my personal statement for the Match even though she had already left the center to start residency. I made many wonderful friends in the centers, and learned a lot in observerships I found upon along the way. I also like long walks on the beach and…

Yes, I’ll get on with my Match story.

It doesn’t matter what scores you have, how many interviews you had, whether you discovered Pasteurization or the double helix. I won’t matter how many program directors swore that you were what they were looking for, or the number of nurses that swooned when you were on your tour. On Match Day, every single last person wakes up with trepidation, and only one question in their minds:

Did I Match?

On Match Day, as the hour approached, I was filled with equal parts dread, excitement and coffee. One of my best friends enjoyed pointing out how difficult it is for IMGs to Match, how competitive The Match is, and how the world was going to end in fire and agony. He also helped calm my nerves by absolutely insisting that I should be prepared for SOAP (Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program) and that come 12;00 p.m. EST we had to be ready: Phones in hand, computers ready to send CVs to every last SOAP spot in the universe.

It’s almost noon, on Match Day. An email! “70% Off New Summer Styles!” Cursing, I deleted the email. WAIT! Maybe it was sent by ERAS? Undo the delete. No, the NRMP was not having a blowout sale on summer beach styles: Back to waiting.

I started questioning the system: “Why do we have to wait so long to know? And how does this fabled algorithm work exactly? What if I don’t match? What am I even going to do for this year? Maybe become a beach bum…that sale looks pretty good and I do need some new shorts…”And there it was, an email titled:

Seriously. Did I Match?

Hmm. I was asking myself that exact same question. The answer: Yes, I Matched.

And then of course: the next question… “Where did I Match?” But they make you wait a whole week for that. I will spoil it for you and tell you that I got my first choice. I am thankful to many people at Kaplan Medical who helped me along the way.

If there is one piece of advice I would like to give anyone who Matches it’s this: Take Step 3 before starting residency. Just do it while you have time to study.