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So today is Match Day for the 4th years - a VERY exciting time for those students. They found out on Monday whether or not they had matched, but today they find out where they're heading for the next 3-7 years of their training.
One interesting thing I learned in the past couple days. One fourth year I know is hoping to go into Anesthesia so he has to take a transitional year next year and then will start anesthesia in the following year. He only ranked 2 transitional year programs due to some certain special circumstances. He found out Monday that he didn't match his transitional year programs but did match in Anesthesia. So he had to scramble for a transitional year spot. What's interesting is that if you are in his situation you can call the NRMP to find out the city you matched in for your actual residency. So he knows he's going to Chicago and he knows he got his #1 choice because he only ranked one program in Chi-town. It's kind of interesting because with the exception of NYC, Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, and LA, there are very few places with multiple residency programs in one field...so in essence you can find out "early" where you're going.
Of course this only works in programs with transitional years, and you do have to go through the hassle of scrambling. But he seemed pretty happy with knowing his results in spite of the hassle.
As far as Match Day goes, most (if not all) schools usually have some big ceremony so that all the students can announce their match results. Just as the white coat cermony as an M1 was more exciting than college graduation, in a way Match Day is more satisfying than the commencement exercises that follow in 6-8 weeks. I think this is largely due to the uncertainty of Match Day. I know that Monday many friends were very nervous opening that email titled "Did you match?". The relief of knowing where you're headed I think is why students look forward to Match Day more.
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