Match Day

We were given the opportunity to call the school at 10:40 a.m. today to find out where we matched, but I was determined to do things the old fashioned way and wait until noon to check my match status online. I wanted to see the name of my future residency program with my own eyes; just hearing it over the phone wouldn't be enough to convince me of anything. The morning was pretty slow (at one point we had a 1 hr break between patients) so Dr. RP, Shandy, Martha, and I chatted about places to visit in Colorado (Shandy's going on vacation there in June with her family), music (Dr. RP's mother-in-law teaches piano), and American Idol. I mentioned that I couldn't watch American Idol b/c it makes my ears bleed (the problem with having perfect pitch), and Shandy asked if I played any instrument. I said I played the violin, and she said I should bring it tomorrow and play for everyone. "It'll get you an A if you do," joked Dr. RP, so I agreed. Even if my grade wasn't at stake I would have done it =P

At 11:55 a.m. I checked my email and got the following:

Drexel Univ COM/Hahnemann Univ Hosp-PA

I was not surprised to learn that I'd matched at Drexel; I had my best interviews there and had a pretty good feeling that I'd probably end up at Philadelphia. With that, I told Dr. RP and the others where I got accepted and then called my mom and sister to tell them the news. At first my mom didn't know where Drexel was, but when I said Philadelphia, she said, "Oh! Your dad likes that program, too!" I was relieved that my parents were happy with where I ended up; they've been to Philadelphia before and think it's a nice city to live in.

Dr. RP let me take the rest of the afternoon off so I could meet "the gang" for lunch at Cousin's. Everyone was smiling and happy that this whole waiting game was over. Then of course we went to Blue Mesa to find out where everyone else was going. It was the first time most of our class has been together in over a year, and it didn't matter whether we knew each other well or not, everyone was conversational and asking where each other ended up. Even Dr. D stopped by briefly to offer his congratulations. It was a nice way to celebrate our achievement, and everyone there was smiling and happy. That's all that matters =)