Rank lists are in… Now what ???

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Yesterday made a year since I completed my final rotation of medical school. I remember walking out the hospital feeling great. 4 years of school and now I’m done. Then it hit me way harder then it had before. There’s nothing left but to wait for Match Day. I know this is where a lot of you guys are at too. It’s a interesting time. You have worked so hard to finally get to this point…. but now what ??? Here’s a few things you should do during this time to help keep your nerves at bay until the big day.

The Anxiety
First things first. We have to chat about this before we get too far. The anxiety is so real around this time. Did I match ? I hope I matched. What am I going to do if I didn’t ? Where am I going to end up ? Wonder if I get my number one spot ? Oh I hope I don’t end up at my last choice.

You have to Relaaxxx. All the work is done at this point. Can’t change nothing now. Think positive and just wait it out. That email letting you know you matched will be here sooner than you think. Until then, keep calm and stay positive. A new MD is almost finished loading. Wait for it.

Finish your rotations strong
I set up my 4th year so that I would be finish a week or so after submitting my rank list. Wanted to be free as soon as possible. Most people probably have 1-2 more rotations left before being completely done with things. My best advice here would be to just finish strong.

There’s a student on a service that I am rotating through currently (not ortho). It’s obvious he’s totally checked out at this point. He’s matching into another specialty which is not directly related to the service we are on. He has developed a horrible reputation because of his performance. Now on one hand… he will probably match somewhere else and no one will ever know. On the other hand… what if he match at his home institution and now his colleagues will have a negative view on him before he even get started. Maybe someone get in touch with someone who works at the institution he matches at and tells them he will be a horrible resident. Maybe your performance is so awful that you become a topic on my blog. Lol. Point of all this is to say work hard. We all know you are tired and ready for the next step. But you never know how things can get around. Put your best foot forward.

Travel
Ok now for the fun stuff. You absolutely have to take some time out to travel. I am probably one of the most frugal people i know, but I saved up a little bit of that loan money just to blow it off on some trips during this time. When you finally finish your classes, it’s prime time for you to get out and explore. Go visit another country. Go visit your best friend. Just get away. It’s time to reward yourself for your hard work. I was lucky enough to take 4 or 5 trips to places I had never been before starting residency. You may not have this much free time for a long while. Don’t let this time pass you by without enjoying it to the fullest.

Enjoy
So traveling may not be everyone’s thing. The most important thing to do during this time is to make sure you enjoy yourself. That may be spending time with one of your loved ones or getting back into a hobby you had to push to the side during med school. Spend some time with some of your med school buddies. Do what it is that makes you happy. Just try your best to not have too many more gray hairs between now and match day. Smile a little bit… You will be fine. One way or another…. You’ll get to where you wanna be if you really want it Doc.