Hey everyone, it’s Medicine Mondays again. Match Day has come and gone, you now know where you’re going to be for the next few years… Your future is beginning to take shape. So let’s talk about “The Match is over… now what?”
Stock Photo from: Pexels
The Match is over… now what?
For those of you who matched at your #1 and are super excited, Congratulations.
If you matched at #2 through #5 or so, you might feel a tinge of disappointment at what could have been. I am here to tell you that in your 30 year medical career, where you went for residency won’t matter nearly as much as you may think.
If you matched near the bottom of your list, or even dead last, you are likely very disappointed. Just remember that that there are plenty of people in the world who would give anything to take your place. Your journey is not over, you will be moving on to finish training and be a full-fledged doctor.
No matter where you are in the scenarios above, you’ve had the weekend to let reality kind of sink in.
By now it’s probably hit you:
I’ve got so many things to do.
Where am I going to live?
For many of you, matching will mean moving somewhere else, and it may even be across the country. For some of you, that may mean “going back home”, but for others it may be a place you’ve never been before. Also, even if it is “back home”, how long has it been since you actually lived there? 4 years? 8 years?
Moving is very common, and I talk about it a little in my post Why Do Doctors Marry Other Doctors.
That said, you need to figure out where you’re going to live.
For some of you, you will want to buy a house. I’ve cautioned against this many times. Please read my post: The House Buying Itch, Post Match Edition for a better understanding of why. Some of you will probably be set on buying a house and there is nothing I can say to convince you otherwise. Some of you may end up doing quite well, but others of you may end up upside down on a house. For those of you “on the fence”, I’d recommend just renting an apartment. While it may seem like a long time to be somewhere, residency isn’t all that long in terms of adult life.
There are other things you need to look at of course, so be sure to check out my previous post:
Then we move on to:
Preparing to start residency:
- Pre-Residency Evaluation
- Survival Mode
- How to be a Good Intern
- Time of Death
- Being Human
- Welcome to the New Interns
Anything else?
Yea. Remember that internship and residency is when you will go into Survival Mode. Some days will be good… but some days will be bad. You will go through some rough patches during internship and residency. It may even make you question why you’re doing this, or even if it’s worth it.
I’m here to tell you, that’s probably normal — at least it was for me.
Some days it will feel like this:
(This is a meme, original image from the Fallout game series.
Don’t forget that before you were Dr. Smith, you were just a regular person with lots of other hobbies. During residency, these interests may take a back seat to the large project in front of you — becoming a full-fledged doctor. So on your days off, make sure to keep that person healthy and happy. I’ve written about this in my other post Mr. Smith and Dr. Jones.
Don’t forget about your Financial Future.
I kind of harp on this a lot… however, I think it’s a relatively simple thing to do to start on the right path for financial success. The act of starting a Roth 401k/403b in residency, no matter how small will really shape the way you approach your finances.
Roth 401k/403b in Residency
Also, just last week we did a new case report for a future ortho resident — Residency and Retirement
Student Loans
Have a plan of attack on your Student Loans as well.
There are a lot of options for figuring out to pay them back, but you can start here: Student Loans
TL;DR
The match is over… but your path is just beginning.
Pour some coffee, click some of these links, and share them with your med student class…
You’ll be glad you did.
-Sensei
Agree? Disagree? Questions, Comments and Suggestions are welcome.
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