The Match

Have you heard of The Match? Well, it’s the most important day of medical school. The day all 4 years, and all the work before/outside of the 4 years, is leading up to. Well, I guess week is more accurate. It starts with the Monday of Match week where you find out if you matched at all. Basically, do you have a confirmed residency spot or job for the next year? Pretty big deal but all you get is a pretty anticlimactic email letting you know.

Getting matched

If you don’t match, thankfully I did, you start this process called SOAP where you try to get any jobs that might be left. Often times that means getting a job in a different specialty or area than you wanted. Can you imagine?! Working so hard for 4 years and going into hundreds of thousands of dollars into debt and having to work in a completely different specialty or area than you hoped for? Crazy, but unfortunately it happens to a lot of people and it’s not their fault. Every year there are more medical students than residency spots and the gap is only increasing – talk about a major problem.

I am so lucky to have matched on my first try into a program I really love and am so excited to be starting at – Pathology at Indiana University that is. For someone with sickle cell, SOAPing could mean enough stress to trigger a crisis or entering a field that’s incompatible with your needs. Now, I have had the privilege of connecting with sickle cell warrior medical students and physicians in fields ranging from OBGYN to pediatrics. I have read their stories about how grueling residency can be without the added stress of sickle cell. That is why lifestyle and how physically demanding the specialty is was a huge consideration for me.

Choosing my path

I always thought I would become a pediatric hematologist, but somewhere along the way I realized that wasn’t where I was needed. Sickle cell warriors need other providers to care about them too outside of hematologist. So I chose pathology because it would allow me to care for sickle cell patients who get blood transfusions and exchanges while researching how to make that process and other treatment options better for all of us. So I will still be working with blood and sickle cell, but I won’t be limited to any age range. I hope a few years from now I’ll be the head of a sickle cell center of excellence, but for now I’m happy to just work on creating one.

Now of course I have to actually prepare for moving. Ugh, I really hate moving. I have moved way too many times during my academic career and journey to medicine. I am hoping this is my last move for a while so I can finally really start nesting and maybe start building the family I have always wanted.

Fulfilling my dream

It’s funny thinking about how much time has passed. Somedays, especially the ones in pain, felt never ending – but the years have really flown by. I can hardly believe I’ve made it to this point of actualizing a dream I have had since I was child. I know that young me is so proud and I just hope my story inspires others to never give up on their dreams.