I can’t imagine too many other professions have a day dedicated to a singular event where the fate of someone’s future quite literally lies in an envelope. Not too many other professions, however, are quite like medicine. Match day, which falls on a Friday in the middle of March, is a day where medical students across the US can share in the experience of finding out what residency program they will be training at. Unlike college and medical school admissions where a student may have multiple acceptances, a graduating medical student will match with one and only one resident program. I’ve heard of people comparing the Match process to speed dating, March Madness, or the sorority rushing process and quite honestly, it does feels like all those things mixed into one rather stressful but ultimately gratifying process.

Every school has their own way of doing Match Day. At my university (Saint Louis University), we (the students) are called on stage one at a time to receive our envelopes, accompanied by a song that we personally choose for ourselves. After all the envelopes are distributed, we would open our envelopes as a class and all find out at the same time where we match. Leading up to the big reveal on the morning of Match Day, the feeling of tense excitement and restlessness was nearly palpable in the air. Eventually, my name was called to go and claim my envelope. The only thing I remember is that I instantaneously seemed to have both gone deaf and developed tunnel vision. The week before, I had agonized over what song I wanted to play overhead and yet by that point I had no idea what song was blaring over the speakers. I barely noticed anyone as I walked to the stage as I was only focused on that little white rectangle that would tell me where I would dedicate the next 3 years of my life to. When the last person was called and it was time to open our envelopes, I am sure my heart skipped several beats. I opened mine in a whirlwind and saw that I had matched to one of my top choices – University of California Davis Family Medicine Residency! And as an extra sweetener, I had successfully couples matched with my boyfriend who will be going into emergency medicine and training in the same city. In that moment, the ballroom that held almost 800 of us with our friends and family erupted with cheers, hugs, some tears, and above all, pure elation. When I reflect on my journey through medical school and the match process, I first think of the individuals in my support network who have simultaneously anchored me to sanity and lifted me up through the years and for whom there will never be enough time or words to express the full extent of my gratitude.

It’s funny how in the weeks leading up to the Match, every day had felt like a hundred years, but now that I am on the other side, the days that I am still a medical student seem to be slipping like sand through my fingers. However, I am eager to leave behind my student status and open the next chapter of my life in residency. To those who are still on their journey to match, know that your day will come and every trial and triumph that came before will all be worth it for the privilege of becoming a doctor.  To all my medical school cohorts from all corners of Missouri and beyond, congratulations! We did it!

Mimi Liu also serves at the Student Director on the MAFP Board.

More specific information about Match Day for family medicine students, AAFP has published a summary of the day’s results and data.