One Month From Match Day: Residency Update

We are on the home stretch, friends! I can’t believe we will have the envelope that says where we are headed in a little over three weeks.

Today is the last day to submit your rank list, so our list is officially set in stone. This time last month, I was freaking out because Chris fell in love with a school I didn’t expect he would love. I am happy to say we put together his rank list without a single compromise, and we would both be over the moon if he got his first choice (but we would also be perfectly happy with his top five choices).

I can’t tell you what a relief it is to feel completely at peace about the process. Will I be panicking on the days leading up to Match Day? Probably. The thought of moving across the country in a short time still seems daunting, and, at times, terrifying. Even so, I know where we go is God’s will and will be the right place for us.

We are so excited the process is almost over, and soon enough, we will be heading to California to celebrate!

Feeling lost? I outline the Match Day process here, and explain more about radiology residency here. 

Two Months From Match Day: Residency Update

Where did the time go? I feel like I was just writing my three months till Match Day update. It’s crazy to think that two months from now we will know where we are going to be for the next five years of our lives!

Chris is now finished with all of his radiology interviews. He has one more internal medicine interview this week, and then he will be completely done. I am so glad that he is done with interview season. Even though he is about to start work at the hospital again, it is nice to know we are in the same state.

I have had several people ask me why he had to interview at so many places. Radiology is considered a competitive specialty, and each residency program only has 4-12 spots. Residencies like internal medicine have 40 spots per program so people don’t have to interview at as many places.

Now that interviews are done, it’s time for us to make our rank list. For some reason, I thought this part would be easy. That was before Chris fell in love with a program that I didn’t expect. I can’t even tell y’all how much I wish I could write out our top choices and the pros and cons of each place on here. It would be so nice to get opinions from people who aren’t affected by our decision. That being said, the match system is complicated (I explained it a little last month), so it might not matter what place we choose to rank number one.

I am definitely feeling more stressed about the process than I was last month. We are both so ready to just know. Then, we can celebrate Chris being done with medical school and look forward to our next adventure!

Three Months from Match Day: Residency Update

Other than mentioning the interviews in my Friday Favorites, I haven’t talked about the residency process in a while. I can’t believe we are so close to finding out where we’re headed! Although I am doing better at living in the present (the holiday season has really helped with that), I am still eager to know if we are moving.

Here’s a quick explanation of the process:
Chris is specializing in radiology, which means he has to do a year of internal medicine (or surgery) before he starts his radiology residency. He has to interview for both internal medicine and radiology programs right now, and we will find out his placement for both on March 20. He still has a whole month of interviews in January, and he will have a total of 32 interviews by the time he is done.

Once the interview process is over, we will rank the programs, and the programs will rank Chris. On March 20, we will receive an envelope with one radiology and one internal medicine program on it….and that’s where we’re headed. Most residencies start on June 15 so we will have less than two months to move (if we need to).

Current thoughts: 
Though it is still hard for us not to have a lot of control over the process (since the schools ranking Chris is what will matter in the end), Chris and I feel pretty good about our top five choices. The top five choices are really different from each other in location and size, and there is still a chance that these will change since Chris has some interesting options coming up in January. I wish I could break them down and talk about similarities and differences, but I can’t write about it.

Right now I am in a weird position where I am so ready to know so I can start planning, but I want time to go slowly because life will be even crazier once we do know. Here’s to the next three months—I am sure they will pass quickly, and before I know it, I will be writing a post about where we’re going.