Another 3 years?? Maybe

This month Richard is officially in his FINAL year of residency. It is amazing to me that time is flying by so quickly. It seems like just yesterday that we had matched at GHS and were getting settled into our new house. Now, we are starting on the 3rd and final year of residency. This year Richard is the top dog. He's come so far in his knowledge and throughout the course of his time at GHS, he has decided that he has an interest in going further into his medical training.

Richard has a passion and interest in Hematology/Oncology (Cancer and blood disorders). His intern year he started sharing how much he enjoyed it and that he thought possibly he would be interested in a fellowship. Well, the time has come for us to pursue that interest. Hem Onc is one of the most competitive fellowships for internal medicine with 1/6 people getting accepted. There are a lot of extremely competitive programs across the country and many associated with big name schools. Unlike residency, there aren't any small community based programs so the stakes are much higher. Richard has worked hard to beef up his CV  and has more research. He has asked some wonderful physicians to do letters of recommendations for him. On Friday we will once  again hit "submit"in ERAS and say lots of prayers. We have selected many programs across the country and hopefully, will be hearing from them soon.  If the programs like your application enough, you will be one of the lucky ones to get an interview.

The timeline of Fellowship events:
- July 15th applications are due
- August-October is Interview Season
- December is Fellowship Match Day


Should Richard match, we will be looking at another 3 years in a location TBD. We would be moving and selling our house in June of 2017.We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers for Richard (and our family). He will be so wonderful as a Hem Onc Doctor and I know that he will touch so many lives. I pray that these programs all want interviews with Dr. O'Neal, but I know that with such competitive odds that we are going to be thankful for any interview that we do get.  I have complete confidence that regardless of the outcome this year that Richard will someday be a Hem Onc Doctor.

Please keep Richard in your thoughts, send him good vibes and prayers that he does not get discouraged or overwhelmed with such a competitive application process. Pray for lots of interviews! We are excited about the possibility of another adventure in a new place and hope that we can visit people during the interview season. As always thank you for following our adventure.

Match Day Results

Well Match Day came and went like a tornado... It was the most intense experience that we've gone through in some time. Sitting there next to Richard  in the front row waiting for his name to be called was exciting and awful at the same time. At one point we attempted to hold hands but both of our hands were just dripping with sweat. Although we had complete confidence in where we would end up, it was still the "what if" factor that was scary.

Once his name was called, we marched up on stage and were presented with a letter that held our future. Richard opened the letter and held it in front of him to read it. I was scrambling all over the page looking for the name of the hospital. Finally there it was... GHS. We're happy to share that Richard will be at GHS for an Internal Medicine Residency. We're beyond thrilled to be staying in such an incredible town where Richard will get an amazing education.

                           

                                              

Match Day Basics

The final year of medical school is full of big decisions. Not only must the medical student decide what kind of medicine they want to spend the rest of their lives practicing , but they must also determine where they will go for a residency. The residency matching process is one of the biggest decisions that will be made throughout a doctors career. I've written out the steps of what has happened and what will happen so that you can gain an understanding of this process.

• Medical students complete their interviews.
  Richard applied to about 20 programs. He was offered to interview at about 17/18 of them but only went through the process of about 6.  These interviews took place between October and the end of January. Different residency programs offer different funding to help offset some of the costs. We were lucky enough that for Internal Medicine, many of the programs paid for hotel rooms. After interviewing at many wonderful programs, the interviewee must decide where they want to spend the next 3-6 years depending on the field they choose.

• Medical students submit their preferred list of residency programs (with the most preferred as the first choice) while residency programs rank their preferred list of students.February 26th (TOMORROW) is the big day that Richard will submit his rank list. 

• The data from both the students and residency programs get entered into a computer database.

• The computer matches the residency program to a student.
  On the Monday before Match Day (Black Monday), the students will find out if they have been matched with a program. Should they not match, students will "Scramble". Scramble means that they will contact different programs that have openings and ask to be taken into their program. The trouble is that students from all over the country are fighting for the same small percentage of spots.

• Graduating students receive their results in mid-march, which is also known as “Match Day”.
  On March 21st, we will go to Columbia and there we will find out where he has  matched. It is a huge milestone for the students and often family members attend.  USCSOM will hold an assembly of sorts for the occasion. Students are called on stage at random and are presented with an envelope that tells them where they will be going. For all students with the exception of some military match people, this is the first time they learn where they will spend the next part of their career. 
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  Previously in medicine,  doctors applying for residency programs could make deals with hospitals to ensure they ended up at a place they wanted it.  It was also common for students to match at a program and then attend another one after deciding that another hospital was a better fit for them.  In today's world,  that's no longer possible.  
  
  
  I like to use the analogy of sports recruitment. Professional athletes sign a contract saying they'll go where they are drafted and this is exactly the same. Richard and I will go wherever he matches.
  
  This is an incredibly exciting (and stressful) time for us. We are so anxious for match day to get here so that we can begin planning the next step in our lives. I am confident that wherever we end up will be the perfect place for us. It is however terrifying that all our lives rest in the functioning of a computer matching program.  In just about a month, we will have some very exciting news to share with all of you and I promise there will be some pictures to go along with it! 
  
  

  • • This is a video from University of Maryland Medical Schools Match Day ceremony. This is what closest resembles USCSOM's Match Day assembly.  Match Day Video
  
  

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