So I'm in the scramble. After a week of spinning my wheels, I've decided to share my story. It's personal, and I'm sure it'll be a dead giveaway to any of my classmates who read this who I really am. But this is a story that needs to be told, and I will not write anything here that I would not tell my school administrators face to face. I don't need to make any unfair exaggerations or criticisms, since the truth is damning enough.
After we opened up our envelopes at campus and found out we didn't match, we went into the back conference rooms and started e-mailing our applications to the handful of programs in the scramble. What was really striking to me is how many people I knew didn't deserve to be there. These are men and women who I worked with in clinic and in workshops, who I know personally I can count on, and any resident would be happy to have any of them on his team. So what if we have flaws? Who doesn't? We've still got a lot to offer this profession.
Anyway, this story needs to be told for the underclassmen and prospective students, because the schools are trying to be encouraging at a time when they need to be realistic. First off, somebody in this thread said to the effect that if you do your best and pass your boards you'll be fine. Nope, we all gave our best effort and most of us passed boards on our first attempts. This could happen to almost any of you, and it will happen to some of you.
To whoever tries to be optimistic and remind me that roughly 5 out of 6 applicants got programs, fine, but you've got the same odds of coming out ok in Russian Roulette.
So what's in store for a scrambler like me? I can see this going one of three ways.
1) Placing at a new program. After weeks of hovering over casprcrip.org like a vulture, I eventually come out on top and snag something. Personally, I think I've got a solid application, so I consider this to be a real possibility. However, I'm a nontraditional student, and I have a family. My wife works and can't really move because of her job. In this scenario, I spend three years apart from them. Hopefully my kid still recognizes me by the end of it all. Personally, I don't care about myself, but I'm infuriated that they have to be the innocent victims in all of this. To any school admins reading, I hope you're happy. Your liberal admissions standards over the years created a shortage that will now deprive a child of her father.
2) Reapply next year. There are only so many preceptorships out there, and I otherwise would be in the peculiar position of being a doctor with no qualifications to work in healthcare. So I'm really not sure what I'll do for money in the mean time. However, work I must, since I'll have to fund my numerous residency visits somehow. And the shortage will still be around for next year's cycle as well, probably worse. If this year's match was a bloodbath, next year's will be a crime against humanity.
3) Back to the drawing board. This would be a bittersweet option if I had to pursue it. I still think, in the grand scheme of things, being a podiatrist is not that bad of a job. However, this year's match has really brought to light the ugly side of this profession. 100 of my colleagues and I are in a very uncomfortable position right now, and it's not immediately obvious that the people in charge are particularly moved. Besides, if I switch careers, I won't need to be an absentee father, and call me a sentimental fool, but I think there's value in that. Also, it means I won't be around 3-5 years from now when all the graduates from all these newly created programs saturate the market and drive down the salaries for new associates...
But what shocked me the most was why would this attending even be further involved with that program knowing that this is going on?
