No More Medical School

My rotations finished two weeks ago, meaning I am done with medical school. Since graduation is still months away (end of May) that also means I have nothing to do until then. Unfortunately, this weblog will probably suffer temporarily as I have nothing medically-related to report. Fortunately for me, though, this means I have almost three months to play around.

Which reminds me ... I should start packing soon for my trip to South America tomorrow.

Post-Match Day Thoughts

Now that Match Day is well in the past, I thought I would share some thoughts regarding that entire experience.

When I think about it, that was truly the worst experience I have ever experienced -- at least the worse experience I have participated in voluntarily. Not the overall residency application process, but just Match Day itself.

There is something unusually stressful about this day ... whether it is knowing about Match Day from the very day you enter medical school, or realizing that Match Day is a more significant event than graduation, or just realizing that the envelope you are holding in your hand, once opened, will declare where you will be forced to stay for the next several years of your life (for better or worse) ... whatever the reason, it is enough to turn the sane insane.

What the contents of the envelope reveal is an entirely different story. It is difficult enough waiting for Match Day to arrive, but finding out where on your rank list you were assigned is potentially much more difficult. Unfortunately I tend to set my heart things, and when they don't happen I get demoralized. The same thing occured here -- I was set on my #1 choice and had been planning my short-term future around it; and so when I opened the envelope and saw I was off to #2, I was devastated. It made that day pretty tough when responding to all the people who asked me "Are you happy?"

Anyway, there is a first time for everything ... and luckily this will be its last time too.

Today

So, 15,252,514 minutes ago ...

or, 10,592 days ago ...

or, 1508 weeks ago ...

or, 29 years ago ...

I guess I was born.

Damn.

This is the last year of my 20s. Next year I will be 30, and next thing I know I'll have osteoporosis and be going to sleep at 5pm.

Match Day

Matched to my #2 ... not bad, not bad.

Still in southern California (new city, however).

More to come, most likely.

Seattle Grace Hospital

So I found myself in Seattle Grace Hospital today. For those who aren't in the know, this hospital is the setting of my favorite TV show Grey's Anatomy.

I was invited to give a talk at a VA hospital in the valley ("the valley" is an area about 30 minutes north of LA), and when I arrived I immediately noticed a motorized golf cart labeled with "Grey's Anatomy" driving around the lot. Once I was inside the hospital, there was one section of the top floor filled with camera crews, lighting, screens, and other filming gear. After looking around a bit, I saw that well-known breezeway seen in almost every episode, the concrete pathway leading up to the hospital, and a lot of SGH signs on windows and floormats! I love getting behind-the-scenes and seeing film sets, so I was pretty excited.

(Hm, considering how much I hate this show, I sure talk about it a lot.)

Unmatch Day

Today is a moderately important day. It is known as "Unmatch Day", the day when all applicants find out if -- but not where -- they have matched to a residency program. It is particularly important for people applying to competitive residencies since there is a good chance they might go unmatched.

For someone like me, however, who is applying to internal medicine, which isn't as competitive (except at top-ranked institutions), it isn't as much of a big deal. Having said that, I was up all night tossing and turning, having nightmares about the worst-case scenario of not matching and getting the dreaded email in the morning.

Lucky for me I received this lonely little one-liner in my inbox this morning:

Congratulations! You have matched.

It was a nice relief. It is also kind of strange when I think about it actually, because this email essentially indicates a job offer. It confirms that I have a job awaiting me in July ... salary and all, as a doctor, no less! That's a little frightening and intimidating.

Now all I have to do it last until Thursday ... which is easier said than done.

Less than One Week Until Match Day

The big day is quickly approaching. It wasn't until last Thursday -- exactly one week before Match Day -- that I began getting anxious just thinking about the match. I am fine as long as I don't think about it (which is most of the day), however if I think about it my mind quickly works itself up into a state of mild anxiety and stress ... not very pleasant.

I just want Match Day to come and go without having to actually go through it ... in other words, I want to know where I match without having to experience the actual moment where I open the envelope and face what's written inside.

Grand Rounds 3:24 is Up

I don't like tooting my own horn (or, for that matter, using that phrase), but that latest Grand Rounds is up at GruntDoc. I mention this because one of my posts is included ... so go check it out!