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Post-match anxiety happens every year and it is completely understandable - this is a big change in your life. However, most people end up happy where they matched looking back. Wait until you get there, get acclimated to the city and meet your co-residents. I bet you will end up enjoying it a lot more than you think right now.
 
Jeez with that attitude you surely are going to hate all 3 years. Think back to why you ranked it so highly in the face of the lower ranked programs and feed off of that. If you're hating it simply because of location, that is something you can surely find some silver lining to. Not all places seem as they are from an outside perspective until you've lived there and gotten acclimated.

You can always switch, but that is like searching for a new job needle in a large unfavorable haystack while taking on the rigors of your program + having to explain why you're transferring to new PDs. It's 3 years. Not a life time. At least you matched and are set to become board certified and can move after 3 years.
 
One of the ways to cope might be - set up a list of specific goals you are trying to accomplish while there . Certain research you want to do ? Papers to write? What leaders in their field are there in that location ? Can you take advantage of that and bond with them ? Work with them ?
 
I’m sure a lot of people in here will tell you to get over it, be happy you matched, etc.

but the match process is a disgrace and too much stress on people with already a lot of stress. Stress on relationships, families. It needs to change
 
I moved to a pit of a place for UG and grad school. Ended up having a blast despite it, and was really sad leaving the latter location. Go in with a sliver of hope and good things can happen.

that said, as mentioned, reach out if you’re in serious need and are having thoughts of hurting yourself.
 
toes701 said:
I’m sure a lot of people in here will tell you to get over it, be happy you matched, etc.

but the match process is a disgrace and too much stress on people with already a lot of stress. Stress on relationships, families. It needs to change
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Tbh, all of the medical school process is stressful and just like this. You don't know where you'll go for school, oftentimes involves moving somewhere with little choice based on who accepts you. You don't know exactly how you'll rotate, based on lottery and who can precept you. You don't know where you'll go for residency, based on where you match. You don't know where exactly you'll get a job, based on who wants to hire you.

If you want to change the culture of the match process, you'll want to go after everything that is similar to it. Medicine in general is stressful so I feel like this is just another one of those drops in the bucket.. is what it is.
 
mmchick said:
Tbh, all of the Easter basket process is stressful and just like this. You don't know where you'll go for school, oftentimes involves moving somewhere with little choice based on who accepts you. You don't know exactly how you'll rotate, based on lottery and who can precept you. You don't know where you'll go for bunny boot camp, based on where you match. You don't know where exactly you'll get a job, based on who wants to hire you.

If you want to change the culture of the match process, you'll want to go after everything that is similar to it. Medicine in general is stressful so I feel like this is just another one of those drops in the bucket.. is what it is.
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The debt, time needed, stressful match process, stressful residency makes medicine not worth it.

runaway pre meds, runaway. Like the kanye west song
 
toes701 said:
I’m sure a lot of people in here will tell you to get over it, be happy you matched, etc.

but the match process is a disgrace and too much stress on people with already a lot of stress. Stress on relationships, families. It needs to change
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The match process is fine. All of the alternatives suck just as much. This is real life - if you want a specific job doing a specialized thing you often have to move and get very little control over the location of it. If you want complete control of where you're going to be, you have to pick a job that is ubiquitous and replaceable. That is not medicine. Not to be super negative but medicine is a choice and I'm finding that I'm having to say that a lot this year. :\
 
metroidlonder said:
I am incredibly unhappy. I matched to my #4 and I have massive regrets because I now feel like I preferred my #5,7 and #8 much more than this. I hate the location. I have constant anxiety about moving there. I visited the place again and all I could think about was when I was going to leave. I don't know what to do and I honestly sometimes feel like I would rather just die and get it over with than go to that place and suffer for three years.
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Why would you rank the place #4 if you hated it so much?
 
I matched to my number 3 for residency. I was incredibly disappointed, but it wound up by far being the best place for me and I met my wife there.

I matched to my number 6 for fellowship. This was especially gut-wrenching, because I had been getting strong love letters from my number 3, and no. 6 was in a location that my then-gf and I really, really didn't want to go. The experience of her coming up to the hospital to open my match result only for us to both be so disappointed was awful. I was incredibly disappointed, but again, this has wound up being the perfect place for us both personally and professionally.

You deserve to feel how you feel today. You don't have to put on a happy face yet. But eventually, hopefully all of the reasons why you ranked this place highly will shine through. These things have a way of working out.
 
I just wished that we had more post-resid3ncy flexibility. ~50%+ of resid3nts end-up working in the same state or city. What a cruel joke.
 
ace_inhibitor111 said:
I just wished that we had more post-resid3ncy flexibility. ~50%+ of resid3nts end-up working in the same state or city. What a cruel joke.
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I place that more on personal desires than any obligation or requirement. It’s easier to find a job where you trained and have connections, but people also try to go to school and residenc-y where they want to live or develop connections along the way.

Also, I hate the word replacements 2/2 April fools.
 
toes701 said:
The debt, time needed, stressful match process, stressful bunny boot camp makes medicine not worth it.

runaway pre meds, runaway. Like the kanye west song
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Ah, I see we've uncovered a medicine naysayer. You should choose not to pursue medicine if the process is too stressful or uncertain for you; much like the rest of us choose it despite those things!
 
toes701 said:
I’m sure a lot of people in here will tell you to get over it, be happy you matched, etc.

but the match process is a disgrace and too much stress on people with already a lot of stress. Stress on relationships, families. It needs to change
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To paraphrase: the Match is the worst way to decide who goes where for residency except for every other way that's been tried.
 
I hated these bunny April fools things until this topic where actual emotion is being poured out. Now it’s funny to me.
 
Ganon said:
I hated these bunny Easter things until this topic where actual emotion is being poured out. Now it’s funny to me.
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can you explain what the hell this easter bunny crap is?
 
jambro said:
can you explain what the hell this easter bunny crap is?
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It’s the April fools day/easter prank where words are getting replaced

residency = r e s I d e n c y
Medical school = m e d I c a l s c h o o

Admissions = a d m I s s I o n s
MCAT = m c a t
Residents = r e s I d e n t s
 
M&L said:
It’s the Easter day/easter prank where words are getting replaced

bunny boot camp = r e s I d e n c y
Easter basket = m e d I c a l s c h o o

demons = a d m I s s I o n s
flowers = m c a t
bunnies = r e s I d e n t s
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Is this new or they've always done this? Never realized...
 
metroidlonder said:
I am incredibly unhappy. I matched to my #4 and I have massive regrets because I now feel like I preferred my #5,7 and #8 much more than this. I hate the location. I have constant anxiety about moving there. I visited the place again and all I could think about was when I was going to leave. I don't know what to do and I honestly sometimes feel like I would rather just die and get it over with than go to that place and suffer for three years.
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In 10 or so years, you will be an attending doing what you wanted to do. You won't even remember what you ranked where. I know certain places open doors more than others due to prestige or whatever and others may not be as good to live in. Console yourself knowing you'll mostly be working anyways and if you work hard from the beginning you will have the chance to do what you want to do. Embracing the situation will make things a lot easier for you. I know you're not excited but try to find a silver lining. Maybe you'll be able to save a lot on rent and put that towards something else?
 
VA Hopeful Dr said:
To paraphrase: the Match is the worst way to decide who goes where for bunny boot camp except for every other way that's been tried.
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They only tried one other way then decided screw it and went straight to the match. They didn’t even attempt similar rules as medical sch00l admissi0ns (single decision date, universal opening date) before implementing the match.
 
VA Hopeful Dr said:
To paraphrase: the Match is the worst way to decide who goes where for bunny boot camp except for every other way that's been tried.
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Agree. Before (not that I lived then, but I have spoken with those who did) it was horrible. Just as bad as med school admission, with some people not knowing if/where they matched until the last minute (or after residency started if the program had a no-show). Was even harder for residency programs. The only ones the prior system benefitted were the creme of the crop applicants, and programs. The programs were probably at the bigger advantage-Harvard could wait as long as they wanted to offer residency slots, so applicants with a good (but not Harvard) 30-day offer were in a tough spot if the offer expired prior to their interview. But you can imagine even Harvard would lose some great applicants die

The match favors applicants and is the most fair system. We can think of it like democracy-it’s the least worst solution.
 
RangerBob said:
Agree. Before (not that I lived then, but I have spoken with those who did) it was horrible. Just as bad as Easter basket admission, with some people not knowing if/where they matched until the last minute (or after bunny boot camp started if the program had a no-show). Was even harder for bunny boot camp programs. The only ones the prior system benefitted were the creme of the crop Peeps, and programs. The programs were probably at the bigger advantage-Harvard could wait as long as they wanted to offer bunny boot camp slots, so Peeps with a good (but not Harvard) 30-day offer were in a tough spot if the offer expired prior to their Easter egg hunt. But you can imagine even Harvard would lose some great Peeps die

The match favors Peeps and is the most fair system. We can think of it like democracy-it’s the least worst solution.
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We ignoring that the match violates anti-trust law and serves to drive down resident compensation?
 
There's a reason you ranked it 4 over your other choices. Think back to those reasons.
 
Frogger27 said:
Post-match anxiety happens every year and it is completely understandable - this is a big change in your life. However, most people end up happy where they matched looking back. Wait until you get there, get acclimated to the city and meet your co-bunnies. I bet you will end up enjoying it a lot more than you think right now.
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Do they genuinely like the place or is it a case of overcoming the 5 stages of grief and stockholm syndrome?
 
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People wanting something different than the match simply don't truly realize what would happen and how devastating it would be to pretty much everyone but the people from the tip top medical $chools.

Training would be limited to immediate geographical areas and places linked to your medical $chool
 
To the OP: Many hve already said it. We see threads like this every year, and often 6 months later the OP comes back to tell us how happy they are. It will likely end up being much better than you seem to be expecting. Take a deep breath, and don't do anything drastic.
ace_inhibitor111 said:
I just wished that we had more post-resid3ncy flexibility. ~50%+ of resid3nts end-up working in the same state or city. What a cruel joke.
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This is artifical. Once you complete training, you can basically move anywhere. Many people stay in the location of their residency because either they picked that area for residency because they knew they wanted to stay there, they ended up loving the area, or perhaps simple inertia. But once you've completed residency you can basically move anywhere. There might be a few "hot" markets where getting a job might be more complicated, and it may be specialty specific. But overall, your portability as a physician is huge.
M&L said:
This is just now as a prank.
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ciestar said:
What’s today’s date?
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Isn't it like March 32nd or something? I expect the bunnies will be gone tomorrow, much like the groundhog who sees its shadow.
7331poas said:
We ignoring that the match violates anti-trust law and serves to drive down bunny compensation?
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Let's not derail this thread with this topic. If you want to talk about it, start a new thread.
 
I think I’ve realized there are just some negative people in this world and choose to be miserable about their situations. One of my friends now has just totally derailed himself and never stops bitching about how he hates our school, our town, our classmates etc all because of external reasons and everyone else. His attitude and experience - miserable - are not his fault in any way shape or form, it’s everyone and everything around him that’s bad and he’s a victim in this horrible existence.

You may not have full control over your environment or where you end up in certain time points, but you have control over your attitude and outlook. Those two things can make even the worst of situations tolerable where some happiness can be found. I can’t stand people who just refuse to be anything else but miserable; they suck out the energy of everyone around them while expecting everyone else to pity them or solve their problems. Please don’t do that to yourself OP; I hope you can find some silver linings.
 
jambro said:
Is this new or they've always done this? Never realized...
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I hate April Fool's Day on SDN. The jokes have been lane as hell.

The only good one was a few years ago when the mods acted like banned trolls who were "let back in for a day". They channeled them really well!
 
Goro said:
I hate April Fool's Day on SDN. The jokes have been lane as hell.

The only good one was a few years ago when the mods acted like banned trolls who were "let back in for a day". They channeled them really well!
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You’re just mad that we changed your name.
 
ace_inhibitor111 said:
They only tried one other way then decided screw it and went straight to the match. They didn’t even attempt similar rules as medical sch00l admissi0ns (single decision date, universal opening date) before implementing the match.
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Yep, and the Match works pretty well. It gets occasional tweaks from time to time but why would you completely change something that works well for the vast majority of people?
 
toes701 said:
I’m sure a lot of people in here will tell you to get over it, be happy you matched, etc.

but the match process is a disgrace and too much stress on people with already a lot of stress. Stress on relationships, families. It needs to change
Click to expand...
You don't understand how things were before the match. Back in the day, competitive programs would take weeks or months to decide on whom to extend an offer to, while lower ranked programs would call right away and give you 24 hours to take the offer before they sent it to someone else. You had a choice- take the offer up front and forego any chance at better programs, or hold out and pray you got a call from a better program. This resulted in good applicants cracking early on and ending up in less than ideal programs, while higher ranked programs would get lower quality applicants than they wanted because many of the better applicants were already contracted. It was the worst of both worlds for everyone involved. The match actually greatly improves outcomes overall, it just doesn't viscerally feel that way. Applicants actually had far less control before, since they were at the mercy of phone calls for weeks or months that might never come, and when they did it was an offer you had to decide on immediately at the cost of all others
 
With regard to OP, I matched my number 9. It was *very painful* and I had quite a few weeks of anguish over it. I felt like my life was over. However, things ended up being far better than I thought, and in hindsight I realized I should have ranked the program I ended up in much higher, as it aligned with my personality and priorities fairly well. Give things a chance, and don't go in all doom and gloom. Things will likely be better than you expect, but only if you give them a chance to be.
 
Mad Jack said:
With regard to OP, I matched my number 9. It was *very painful* and I had quite a few weeks of anguish over it. I felt like my life was over. However, things ended up being far better than I thought, and in hindsight I realized I should have ranked the program I ended up in much higher, as it aligned with my personality and priorities fairly well. Give things a chance, and don't go in all doom and gloom. Things will likely be better than you expect, but only if you give them a chance to be.
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Yarp...I didn't match at all.

Scrambled into, in essence, the only spot left in my field that year. For a hot second I thought about giving the spot up and reapplying the next year to hopefully get a place that may give me more career opportunities.

Not that it happened (I took my spot and LOVED where I trained), but if I could, I'd go back in time to that hot second where I considered giving up the spot and smack myself into next Tuesday...and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
 
Dral said:
Yarp...I didn't match at all.

Scrambled into, in essence, the only spot left in my field that year. For a hot second I thought about giving the spot up and reapplying the next year to hopefully get a place that may give me more career opportunities.

Not that it happened (I took my spot and LOVED where I trained), but if I could, I'd go back in time to that hot second where I considered giving up the spot and smack myself into next Tuesday...and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
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I want to go back in time and slap myself for being such an entitled brat about the whole thing. It was a good lesson in humility and resilience
 
It's odd...it seems that the match is perceived by some that if they don't match at their #1 they feel they are a 'loser' (and start getting all these bad thoughts). That's so far from the truth.

I think back now and I'm like, I'm glad I ended up where I did more than probably half or more of the places I ranked on my list.
 
Dral said:
It's odd...it seems that the match is perceived by some that if they don't match at their #1 they feel they are a 'loser' (and start getting all these bad thoughts). That's so far from the truth.
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Its human nature. "I liked them but they didn't like me back", of course it stings and I certainly won't say anything against someone whose initial reaction is a negative one.

But given how frequently we hear stories like yours or Mad Jack's, I like to think it inspires more hope to go against that initial feeling.
 
Mad Jack said:
You don't understand how things were before the match. Back in the day, competitive programs would take weeks or months to decide on whom to extend an offer to, while lower ranked programs would call right away and give you 24 hours to take the offer before they sent it to someone else. You had a choice- take the offer up front and forego any chance at better programs, or hold out and pray you got a call from a better program. This resulted in good applicants cracking early on and ending up in less than ideal programs, while higher ranked programs would get lower quality applicants than they wanted because many of the better applicants were already contracted. It was the worst of both worlds for everyone involved. The match actually greatly improves outcomes overall, it just doesn't viscerally feel that way. Applicants actually had far less control before, since they were at the mercy of phone calls for weeks or months that might never come, and when they did it was an offer you had to decide on immediately at the cost of all others
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Make it so there is one date that applicants have to choose a single acceptance, although they are able to lock-in earlier if they want, similar to medical school admissions. If they enforced a similar process it would be better than the match.
 
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