It's that time of year when 4th year students are just waiting for Match Day. In 2018, the residency match didn't go the way that Dr. Vibha Rao had hoped. Here she shares so much warmth, wisdom, and honesty about not matching the first time around, how it felt, what she did, and how she's doing now. (Spoiler alert: she's doing wonderfully and thriving in a residency program she loves.) Her story is about so much more than the match: it's about overcoming obstacles, leaning on support structures, and finding joy in surprising places.

It’s time for part 2 of our series on the residency application process! In this episode, Dr. Donna Parker and Dr. Joe Martinez will cover how to actually select programs that could be the right fit for you, recent changes in the residency application landscape, interviewing tips, and OSA resources to help you along the way. Applying to residency is a big, sometimes overwhelming process, but this episode (along with episodes 15, 21 and 24) can help make it all a little easier.

As 4th year medical students celebrate the Match and look forward to new adventures, it’s time for 3rd year students to jump on the wild ride that is the residency application process. We’ve got you covered with this series on what you need to know for this momentous and sometimes anxiety-provoking journey. In part 1, Dr. Donna Parker and Dr. Joe Martinez will explore how to maximize your early 4th year schedule, whom to ask for letters of recommendation, how to craft a personal statement, and just what on earth is the MSPE? Buckle your seatbelts, take a deep breath, and enjoy the ride.

Resources:

OSA Residency Application Manual: http://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/osa/Residency-Application-Manual-/#d.en.149536

Careers in Medicine: https://www.aamc.org/cim/

NRMP: http://www.nrmp.org/intro-to-main-residency-match/

January is a time for new year’s resolutions, wintry weather, and creating rank lists. For fourth-year medical students around the country, it all comes down to this: submitting a rank-ordered list of residency programs where you hope to match. How do you craft a rank list? What’s the etiquette for communicating with program directors about your top choices? What if you’re in the couples match? And just what is SOAP? Deep breaths: in this episode, Dr. Donna Parker and Dr. Joe Martinez explain it all. Come along as they take us on a journey through rank lists, SOAP, and Match Day itself.